Life Hits Hard (Rant/Situation Update)

Meowspike13

Meowspike13

C/O 2026 Applicant
Joined
Jan 18, 2021
Messages
85
Hello to all,

I received a letter in the mail from Great Lakes stating that my waiver for mild red/green color deficiency was denied. Because of this, I do not qualify for my NROTC Scholarship Navy-option (as to go for an URL officer slot since that is the main purpose for NROTC). It's hard to process that a childhood dream of mine since middle school has gone towards another route that I didn't expect. The only thing to do is adapt and overcome but I guess I'm still trying to process this.

The only other options that are placed on the table are:
- Possibly go Marine-ground option as there are no restrictions (aside from becoming an aviator and other specific jobs)
- Go to the Navy Nurse Corps

I've had to contemplate and consult many officers and people for the past few days in order to weigh out my options. Here are some information about both the Marine option and Navy Nurse alternative that pertain to me or just in general.

Marine-Option (not guranteed since all Marine slots are filled for this year)Navy Nurse alternative (through the NCP)
  • able to choose any MOS I want out of TBS
  • able to grow in character due to the high physical and mental stresses
  • serve minimum of 4-5 years as an officer
  • possible to keep NROTC Scholarship (?, will call more people to get more information for my situation)
  • able to go to UCSD and participate in NROTC San Diego
  • will go through Nurse Commissioning Program at a CCNE Accreditted School like SDSU, CSUF, UC Davis (I mention these schools since I have been accepted to these schools so they give more options on the table)
  • able to serve in the Navy through the Nurse Corps
  • able to find stable job outside of the Navy once exiting the service since health care professionals are in dire need of nurses
  • more appealing lifestyle and arguable more family friendly (since the possibility of starting a family while I'm in the service is something that may/may not occur)

I am leaning towards the Navy Nurse Corps so that I am able to still have that opportunity to serve in the Navy, and that I have the will to keep pushing Navy. But leaving the ability to choose any MOS without restriction in the Marines is enticing to an extent.

Some questions I have are:
  • If I choose to attend a non-accredited CCNE school, like UCSD, go into their BSN Program, and decide to transfer to a CCNE school; is that worth it? Will be units be transferred over to the next CCNE university?
  • Does anyone have any insight on here as to what the process is like to submit a package for NCP? What life is like as an NCP'er? How to prepare for ODS? Though I am only a HS senior, I would love to know what I should be planning for and what I should do.
  • What is life like as a Navy Nurse Corps officer? Are you still able to be stationed on a ship despite some medical requirements?
  • Is it worth it to try to appeal the waiver? What if the Navy or DoDMERB still say "no", would I just drop my scholarship completely?
  • Since it is late to transfer to any BSN programs at the schools that I applied to, should I attend community college to get some of my GEs out of the way? Or should I go to one of the colleges that I was accepted to and try to transfer into the BSN program to the other CCNE university?
I know I will have more questions and/or information, but I can't think of it right now as I am pretty exhausted mentally to think about everything. To anyone that may provide input on this thank you so much in advance. God bless.
 
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You would have more options as a marine, your only beginning college so going into nursing means you only have one choice. You have a very high chance of changing your mind. There is also a strong chance you don't find nursing what you expected and you don't like it. The marines are also family friendly, its just a different culture. Don't go into nursing for the sake of sailing on a ship. Go into nursing for it's own sake. I am c/o 2026 as well, if I were you I would go marines.
 
I say this having served in navy medicine but with the Marines.

If you think you want to be a nurse I don’t see a down side to going nursing. There are lots of different type of jobs to do if you do go this route . Hospital work is by far most likely. If you do deploy with the Marines you will most likely be working in extremely important life saving support not tip of the spear under fire type of work.

Serving on a navy ship? I “assume” that happens to only a small few nurses.

I have seen enough unhappy AD Marines to know that picking the Corps should be something that you really want to do above almost every other type of career path. For me it was the only thing I wanted to do. There was no close second.

”I am leaning toward the Navy Nurse Corps”

That does not spell USMC to me.

Question: How much control would you have in picking a USMC mos? Is it a pick of one mos or a wish list with more than one?
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
”I am leaning toward the Navy Nurse Corps”

That does not spell USMC to me.

Question: How much control would you have in picking a USMC mos? Is it a pick of one mos or a wish list with more than one?
Click to expand...
Great point @Small Team Bacsi . Doesn't feel like USMC would be the right choice.

Unless they change it, MOS selection out of TBS is a "lottery" where you put in your top choices and then a combination of class rank, tiers, and needs of the USMC combine to assign your MOS. (admittedly, a very simple explanation).
 
Two thoughts given above should be emphasized - with my caveats:
- “I have seen enough unhappy AD Marines to know that picking the Corps should be something that you really want to do above almost every other type of career path.” Very true - you need to be absolutely certain you want to be on active duty as Marine because they will expect 110% of your focus 100% of the time;
- “the Marine Corps is family friendly.” Well….Family are welcome for te ride, but they are secondary to the mission - always. My daughter is married to a career Marine officer - 22 years….8 moves, 5 deployments to war zones, two deployments on a MEU, plus humanitarian relief deployments ….means a lot of family moves and time away from family…be prepared.
 
I'm married to a retired AF Nurse (Midwife) who teaches under grad Nursing now and all I can add is that Nursing is a calling. It's not like weighing finance and marketing. Nursing school is rigorous (a lot of times more so that the college's other schools) and you're preparing to have lives of people in your hands. It also will call for difficult shifts and possible on call situations. So think hard about what career you feel pulled to.
As for credits transferring, that varies between schools for all classes. You would have to look at specific colleges and specific courses to know this.
Then about the career opportunities for nurses. They'll always have solid choices upon leaving the military. But don't look at the current situation as fluid - the dire need could subside in 5, 10 years. For example, already some states are taking steps to increase the number of students in their colleges' nursing programs. But there will always be a need for nurses.
As a last note, the military is a great career path for nurses looking to become NPs, Certified Nurse Midwives, Nurse Anesthetists, etc. and having the service pay for grad school.

Good luck!
 
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Just a note about USMC MOSs… some will be off the table for you with red/green color blindness. Comms, air traffic controller, air defense and probably a few others are off the table. Being able to discern red/green on radar scopes or red/green wiring is key to those jobs.
 
I can kick myself today for not going and getting a BSN when I went back to school after AD. IMO being a Navy nurse would be a great way to spend 20 years.

Navy nurses have the same thing going for them that makes the Marine Corps so special——they have Navy Corpsman to depend on :)
 
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