More "Can I get in?"

[wayfahrer]

So, I turned 25 in May.  I graduated HS in '99 with a 3.5 or so, did decent on SATs, but as far as college goes things aren't so shiny.  That is to say, I screwed up good and proper.  I'm a pretty smart guy, I'm just lacking direction I guess.  With a good score on the ASVAB, what would you say are my chances of getting into the Nuke program?  I guess what I really want to know is, do I have any chance.  Thanks.

[smoothtoaster]

You must be less than 25 years old to enlist in the nuke field.

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smoothtoaster

[Fermi2]

Get a C an Algebra, keep your nose clean and make the ASVAB score.

Dop they still give age waivers? My three Nuke school room mates were all in their late 20s and early 30s. I was the youngster at 23.

Mike

[huyner]

Since I can answer some of your questions, I've decided to take this opportunity to make my first post, introduce myself, and answer your questions.

I am a recent DEPer (June) who is leaving for Great Lakes on Aug 30, 2006 from southern California. I am 24 (HS c/o '99) and had to run quite a few waivers before I got into Nuke. The first waiver I had to do was an age waiver because when I went to MEPS, the earliest opening for  Nuke was February '07, which meant that I would be 25 by the time I reached bootcamp (my birthday is in Oct). The second waiver was about my father who I have not had contact with since the day I was born. And the third waiver was for a misdemeanor I had when I was in college. This misdeamor was later re-classified(sp?) as an infraction by the Legal person at MEPS. Once all my waivers were complete, a contract was sent to my recruiter and now I am waiting to ship at the end of August.

I did well in HS (Salutorian) and was accepted into every college I applied to, including the Naval Academy. However, I decided to stay close to home to be closer to my mother, my gf at the time, and my HS friends. I attended UCLA and graduated with a Microbiology degree in '03 and have been working in the Biotech industry for 3 years. In February '06 I took the ASVAB (97) and the Advance Placement test (71) and was told that I had qualified for the Nuke program as long as my waivers passed. I was told that with my degree I could apply for an Officer but in the end, I chose Nuke (I'm not sure if I made the correct choice here, only time will tell.)

So to answer your question on whether or not your age will affect your acceptance into the Nuke program, my answer is maybe. Since graduation from college, have you done anything productive such as earning a college degree? Or have you just been sitting on your a** watching the idiot box? My recruiter told me that the age waiver is to make sure that the person wasn't just sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing. As long as you have been productive since graduating from HS, e.g. attending college, there shouldn't be a reason for you to not pass the age waiver.

Sorry for the long post, but this is my 1st post and I wanted to introduce myself.

Huy

[Wirebiter]

I did well in HS (Salutorian) and was accepted into every college I applied to, including the Naval Academy.  I attended UCLA and graduated with a Microbiology degree in '03 and have been working in the Biotech industry for 3 years.

Ok Huyner, please, please listen to me.  As an elisted nuke with 10+ years in the Navy, I beg that you serve your country by being an officer.  Nuke officer if you can.  You already have demonstrated the ability to learn, (degree) and function (3yrs experiance) in a professional field.  I personnaly feel, and I bet there are several other enlisted (and former enlisted) nukes who would agree with me to the death on this one:

       *You would do better for yourself and the Navy, if you became an officer*

Pay, job diversity, experiance, future employment,etc..  All of these are significantly better for an officer as opposed to an enlisted man.  Don't get me wrong, serving as an enlisted member of the nuclear community has its bright sides, but there is a reason why more enlisted nukes are lost to officer programs than for any other reason.

Its not to late to change your mind.  Look into Officer candidate school in Pennsecola(sp?) FL., and decide for yourself.  You still have an option until you swear in at MEPS, after that.........

As an enlisted nuke trying to go officer (after 10 years I see the light) please seriously consider the Officer path.  PLease.

[Mike_Koehler]

As a former enlisted nuke I must agree with wirebiter wholeheartedly. The enlisted nuke school class I was in had several degreed professionals and, with only 1 exception, they were all miserable as enlisted. With your degree and OCS then nuke school you should be able to get a really good job in the industry......

Mike

[Fermi2]

Without a degree or OCS or nuke school you can end up with a darn good job in the commercial industry.

Mike

[Roll Tide]

Is there a penalty for piling on?

I agree with Wirebiter and Koehler (and BZ, but that may be off topic) that you need to quickly get an OCS package together. As a former enlisted nuke, I can assure you that you will be better served by OCS. And the Navy will receive better service from you.