Medical Waiver & 11x Route

[mrosenhamer]

Hello all, my name is Matt R. I just recently turned 26 years old and am currently a student. I graduated from Emporia State University (Emporia, KS) with a B.S. in Health and Exercise Sciences, and also competed in collegiate football while attending. I have traveled around the Midwest completing internships under different athletic performance staffs (strength & conditioning). I am hoping to sign as an 18x candidate with my medical history still pending. I do not possess a great deal of emergency medical knowledge, but I have attained knowledge related to human anatomy and physiology, especially within the exercise and kinesiology fields. These are the areas in which my degree focused on primarily.

If I may, I would like to ask a few questions regarding my medical processing, along with some avenues I was advised on. Going back to my medical process pending, I had a past injury of a pars fracture on my L5 vertebrae in high school from football. After the injury had healed, I continued with two more years of sports in high school and five more years of collegiate football. As you all know, injuries to the spine can be disqualifying for different reasons. My medical went from open to disqualified, and my recruiter is trying to attain a waiver for me.

Researching further, I have read that it is tough to get into airborne school with medical waivers, let alone into the SOF community. I have been told to go this route:
-enlist under 11x
-directly after OSUT I will be able to talk with SOF recruiters and get waived for airborne school, seeing all of my other medical is sound (SOF medical overrules initial medical/MEPS, so I was told)
-from there I will be guaranteed a chance to drop my packet for SELECTION (I would be required to show up at my unit first)
-my training would parallel that of the 18x candidates, meaning I would go through pre-sfas as well

Might any of you have any knowledge or first hand experience about going this route? If I decide to go 11x first, will there still be a chance that I will never be qualified for airborne school or selection due to my previous injury? I understand that there are individuals that are recruited or volunteer for SOF in basic as well. Would this be similar to an individual going from one MOS to an 18x contract when volunteering in basic? Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your help and guidance!

Matt