Being more competitive for the Officer Selection Board; OCC dates

[DarkRed]

Hi all,

I'm a fourth year undergraduate student at UCSD interested in becoming a Marine. I originally wanted to enlist, but after speaking with an OSO, I realize applying for an officer position may be a better route.

With that decision made, I am going to put forth all my time and energy into being the best candidate I can be. With recent budget cuts, downsizing, etc. this is going to be a tough race and I am going to give it my all. That means making myself as competitive and appealing as possible in the upcoming weeks and months.

Besides doing crunches, pull-ups, and running my butt off for all of the foreseeable future to up my PFT score, as well as trying to raise my GPA, what else can I do? What sorts of things goes into the "package" that the Officer Selection Board sees?

Also, I read elsewhere on these forums that there are no OCC slots until 2014 (except for those in reserves), though my OSO said I (if selected) could go to OCC as early as October (of this year) or even June. Can I get a confirmation of either?

Additionally, I know those who take the PLC path are given a choice after graduation whether they'd like to commission or not. PLC is not an option for me as I am a senior already. Does OCC offer the same choice, or are they assumed to automatically commission as an officer?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

[josephd]

Has your OSO made you aware that OCC has reserve only seats available, no active duty?

As far as going in front of board goes I would say your PFT is the biggest factor as to whether or not you'll get selected. You need to be in the 275+ range just to be competitive, and you better be pushing 300 if you really want to be selected. With that said your whole package needs to be pretty solid especially considering you are in an area that will have a lot of competitive packages from potential candidates. One of the biggest things that helped me and a few other guys when I put my package in was having your actual OSO know who you are personally. Make yourself known, no matter how annoying you think you me getting. If your OSO knows your interested and this is what you really want they can make a case for you when they sit down and go through the packages. Although this was back in 2006, I got selected for PLC with a 265 PFT and 3.2 GPA. You would be laughed at with these scores now.

[DarkRed]

Thanks for your response. I'll definitely keep in contact with my OSO then, and work really hard to improve myself physically. My academics aren't that great and I don't have much time left to raise my GPA; I expressed this concern but he said to give it a shot anyway.

My OSO said nothing about active vs. reserve seats; I'm not even sure what that means... He made it sound like following my graduation this June I could leave for OCC in October.

[josephd]

Thanks for your response. I'll definitely keep in contact with my OSO then, and work really hard to improve myself physically. My academics aren't that great and I don't have much time left to raise my GPA; I expressed this concern but he said to give it a shot anyway.

My OSO said nothing about active vs. reserve seats; I'm not even sure what that means... He said that following graduation this June I could leave for OCC in October.

Last I was told.....Right now and through fiscal year 2014, you can only go reserves through OCC. All the active duty seats are going the PLC candidates and graduates. Pretty much what I am saying is that unless its changed recently(last month or so) by going to OCS via OCC you'll have to be a reservist.

[MKOZ07]

That is true what josephd said. OCC is only accepting reservist and females. I had just talked to one of the OSO's down here in Indiana and was told it could be sometime before an AD slot becomes available because they went to sending 15 or so Candidates to OCS and now they can only send 5 to 6 a year. He also said that unless you are in a lot of clubs, in some type of sporting event, or doing something unique. You will be waiting a very long time for a slot and it is almost not worth it because it is still not guarantied since OCS is a selection process and how well you preform.

[DarkRed]

That is true what josephd said. OCC is only accepting reservist and females. I had just talked to one of the OSO's down here in Indiana and was told it could be sometime before an AD slot becomes available because they went to sending 15 or so Candidates to OCS and now they can only send 5 to 6 a year. He also said that unless you are in a lot of clubs, in some type of sporting event, or doing something unique. You will be waiting a very long time for a slot and it is almost not worth it because it is still not guarantied since OCS is a selection process and how well you preform.

I see. I am female so luckily this doesn't apply to me. However, I'm sure it's still competitive, so with regards to: "in a lot of clubs, in some type of sporting event, or doing something unique"-- what exactly do you mean? Like school clubs/extracurriculars? IM/club sports?

[MKOZ07]

Yes and it helps