NUPOC or NROTC and By Chances of Becoming A SubO

[TheGoodGuy]

Hello, I am a 2nd year Computer/Electrical Engineering student. For the past year, I have been participating in my college's NROTC program as a college programmer (which means I have no scholarship). I joined NROTC with the intention of becoming a Naval Submarine Officer.  My grades in my major classes are as followed: Engineering lab A, Calculus 1 B, Calculus 2 A, Physics A, Physics lab F, Chemistry C, Chemistry Lab A, Computer Programming B. Plus i have taken two NROTC classes and I have an A in both.

I plan to retake my Physics lab and take Cal 3 this summer. Even though I will retake physics lab the failing grade will still be on my transcript. It won't hurt my GPA too badly being that it is a one credit hour class. After this summer I will be enrolled in: Physics 2, Physics 2 lab, Differential Equations, Circuits 1and circuits lab.

I recently became interested in the NUPOC program. It seems better than NROTC, due to benefits like: monthly pay, no drilling, and etc. I talked to a couple of my NROTC advisers, and they told me that it's not guaranteed that I will get into NUPOC and that NUPOC doesn't make you a good officer (NROTC gives better training).

I want to know if I retake my physics lab over again and get an A or B, will I have a chance at the NUPOC program (make it to Washington D.C.)? I know that I will have lots of studying to do to pass my technical interviews and I will have to nail my interview with the Admiral.

Furthermore, I know NROTC is an excellent program and lots of Naval Officers come out of it, however I just find it so tedious and stressful at times and I am not even on a scholarship. Would you (as in anyone who responds) recommended me leaving the NROTC program for the NUPOC program? Can i even serve as a Nuke officer with an F on my transcript?

[spekkio]

Talk to an officer recruiter about your eligibility for NUPOC with an F.

It is patently false that any commissioning source produces any better officers than the other. By the time you are sub qualified no one will be able to tell how you commissioned.

 If you list subs as #1 and your F doesn't disqual you, you have a good chance of getting it. Few people in the NROTC program typically ask for it, and some commands have had to tell their middies that subs has to be listed in their choices because of shortfalls.

If you think NROTC is stressful and tedious then you might want to reassess your career choice. It's often regarded as the easiest route to a commission.

You also have to disclose on your OCS app if you were previously in a commissioning program and why you left. That could be a show-stopper but an officer recruiter would know better. I honestly think that the ship has sailed on the NROTC vs NUPOC issue for you because you already enrolled in one.

[HeavyD]

Question for clarity;

Since you are non-scholarship within your NROTC unit, are you guaranteed a commission when you graduate?  I would think that if you are not guaranteed a commission, then your participation in NROTC would not count as being in an officer commissioning program.

GC is the resident expert and I would expect him to drop into this thread sometime soon.

Spekkio definitely had some solid advice, find an officer recruiter and talk to them.

Best of luck.

[Gamecock]

Question for clarity;

Since you are non-scholarship within your NROTC unit, are you guaranteed a commission when you graduate?  I would think that if you are not guaranteed a commission, then your participation in NROTC would not count as being in an officer commissioning program.

GC is the resident expert and I would expect him to drop into this thread sometime soon.

Spekkio definitely had some solid advice, find an officer recruiter and talk to them.

Best of luck.

I never met a "college program" guy who got commissioned.  All the ones I have known either earned a NROTC scholarship or left the program prior to start of their junior year.  Start of junior year is significant because you incur obligation at that point.