Navy Officer Candidate School

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jamesd96

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How hard is it to get into Officer Candidate School? I'm only a sophomore in high school, but my goal is to go to the U.S. Naval Academy or attend a civilian university with an NROTC Scholarship, but if neither of those work out, I would like to attend a civilian university, then enter Officer Candidate School after graduation. If all goes well, I intend on majoring in Computer Science.
 
Not sure how hard it is to get selected- but last Friday I attended the Navy OCS graduation/commissioning of my niece's fiancee in Newport. I think that the OCS class had 42 in it- there is another class that will graduate 3 weeks from now (I believe )and there was a class behind that which had already reported, so there are clearly a fair number of candidates who will be commissioned in the course of 12 months. I talked to a couple of new Ensigns- I would say that they all had very strong college GPA's and like their NROTC brethren - sounded like they were all Eng or Math/ Science majors.
I think that his course was a tad over 3 months long.

BTW- In the interests of giving you an opportunity to get a few more comments I am moving this into the ROTC forum

Good luck
 
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I don't think anyone can give you a true answer because realistically you are talking about 6 yrs away for OCS on a good day. There is too much upheaval in the military right now for anyone to plan that far ahead.

Had it been 5 yrs ago, I am sure people would say the chances are strong, but now after seeing fewer scholarships going out people are seeing that nothing stays the same.

It really has to come down to what their manpower need will be in 2018 and that is because OCS will increase or decrease depending on the amount of commissions coming out of USNA and NROTC.

The best any advice anyone here can offer you is this:
Make sure in HS you are competitive for USNA or NROTC scholarship so that OCS will not become your Plan C.

That means you are taking the most rigorous course load you can handle, you have EC's, hopefully some sports, and can do well on the CFA/PFA.

Also, the one issue that kids your age tend to not pay attention to is medical. They do not realize that although they have what they deem as a minor health issue, i.e .never kept them from playing sports, it can be deemed as a medical DQ. Sometimes these issues can receive a waiver, but it is best if you know of it now to get it taken care of. For example, certain prescribed meds can cause a DQ, because you have not been off them long enough, yet the candidate never knew that this med would cause an automatic DQ.

You are doing a great job by being in front of this so early, and realizing you need back up plans, now it is time just to do great in school so you can choose which plan you want to select.
 
jamesd96 said:
How hard is it to get into Officer Candidate School? I'm only a sophomore in high school, but my goal is to go to the U.S. Naval Academy or attend a civilian university with an NROTC Scholarship, but if neither of those work out, I would like to attend a civilian university, then enter Officer Candidate School after graduation. If all goes well, I intend on majoring in Computer Science.
Click to expand...

You don't mention if you're after a Navy slot or a Marine slot. If Marine, you should also consider the Platoon Leaders Course as Plan C and OCS as plan D.
 
I think it also depends on what community you're thinking of. I was in Army ROTC and got sucked into the Navy's nuclear program/OCS. I think the Navy's always hungry for nukes, so with decent grades in your comp sci major, they'd probably be knocking on your door.
 
Posters above make excellent points. Recommend searching Forums for other threads on Navy OCS, and going further back on the actual OCS/OTS forum.

OCS is an "intake valve" for new officer accessions. That is, intake numbers can be tweaked up or down, depending on, most importantly, the needs of the Navy, and inflow from USNA, NROTC and other commissioning programs, such as various enlisted commissioning programs. OCS is also used to commission enlisted personnel who have obtained their college degrees on their own time, perhaps using Navy Tuition Aid, and need some of the polishing touches at OCS. OCS is also used to bring in those candidates, especially those getting degreed at engineering schools around the country, who had not previously contemplated attending a service academy or ROTC. Ditto for those with dependents or age issues for USNA qualifications.

As a Plan C, it has its risks. There is no way to know what the demand will be when you graduate from college. If USNA or NROTC do not pan out, then excellent grades and a competitive major will be your best shot at OCS - or anything else you might want to try.
 
I'm not sure OP is still with us, but doing ROTC without the scholarship is perhaps a more sure route to commissioning. Perhaps other scholarships can be won to ease the cost of college. It's the path my DS is following. I expect OP has considered it, but didn't mention it.
 
Contrary to popular belief, NROTC, the USNA, OCS, and the various enlisted-to-officer programs are not the only commissioning programs for the Navy out there. The following are not well-known and are limited to specific duties, but you may be interested in them. The biggest benefit is that most (if not all of them) provide stipend/pay, and participation in the NROTC program is not necessary. Most of them are really just a variation of OCS, where you attend OCS as a still-in-college student rather than as a graduate. This is true of other branches of the military; I was surprised to find smaller, lesser-known commissioning programs out there, but they do exist, like for the Air Force.

Navy NUPOC - http://www.navy.com/careers/nuclear-energy/
and
http://www.navynupoc.blogspot.com/

Navy CEC - http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjo2/a/cestudent.htm

Probably the one most applicable to you: Navy BDCP (Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program) - http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjo2/a/bdcp.htm

A general site for all officership programs in the Navy:
http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/noru/orojt3/generalofficer.htm

Not sure if there are more out there... I'll check and see. Sorry if none of these apply to you, just thought I'd give a heads up. NROTC might be a great experience but it isn't for everyone: 5 AM morning PT, scheduling NROTC around your own academic schedule, etc. These might help you find a way to maneuver your way to a commission without interfering with your education. If you're interested in the Marine Corps, there is also PLC (Platoon Leaders Course): http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/marinetrng/a/marineplc.htm

Good luck. You're still in high school, you have a lot of time.
 
Good legwork by bshrman92. There are programs out there to fill specific needs. Some good googling work on sites with .mil or navy.com official officer recruiting sites will help. I didn't want to get too far down into the weeds, but glad bshrman did! I was at OCS with NUPOCs, prior enlisted personnel and others.

If you are interested in Navy JAG, or the Navy healthcare providers, there are officer and pre-comm programs for those.

Your local strip mall Navy recruiting office will have recruiters who are focused on enlisted personnel, but they should know how to put you in touch with the nearest officer/pre-comm program recruiter. The officer recruiters are usually in a regional recruiting HQ in a major city, and are the ones who visit colleges, med schools, law schools, handle OCS, staff Career Days, etc.
 
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