I felt the same way when I was in the pipeline. I would study for hours the night before the test only to get a 2.5 while others went home at 1600 and got a 3.5. It's frustrating to no end. Keep in mind that they need you in the fleet and they already have a lot invested in you. Keep showing that you're willing to put forth the effort and they will keep you. As far as the GPA, it really doesn't matter all that much. I had a 3.0 in A school and a 2.67 in Power school and I still made ETC in just over 9 years. People put too much emphasis on grades and not enough on people skills or devotion to duty. As a prototype instructor, some of my favorite students were in the bottom 10% of the class. The anchor man is rarely my worst student. In fact, some of the bottom students from power school are 20% ahead of the curve before they go to crew because they know how to talk to people and they simply try harder. I will tell you that being a bottom half guy does wear on you. You will work more hours than most top half guys and you will catch a lot of grief if you're the kind of guy that struggles with quals in prototype or at sea. I realize that I had to work harder than the average sailor to get where I am. Because of that, I appreciate it more. When I came out of my prototype board and my RO board on the ship, I had tears in my eyes because I felt that I had accomplished something that no one, myself included, believed I could do. Keep trying and I'll see you next year up the road.