Son going to MEPS next week. He is 23yo, 5'3" and weighs 160.

He is a volunteer firefighter with a bunch of certs has about 40 credits mosty liberal arts college courses.

He passed ASVAP with above average scores. He missed a couple of ratings he wanted by 1 or 2 points. 

When he goes to MEPS can he still ask for a rating that he didn't qualify for? How strict are they with the scores?

Of the rankings he qualified for he is interested at hands on rates DC, AD, AM and AME as well as GM and GSE and would like to volunteer for AIRR. He believes he wants to make the Navy his career and wants to do something that doesn't get repetitive or boring or where he sits behind a desk (such as IS although I think this would be a cool job).

We Googled and Yahooed but it's a world of confusion. And we looked up the ratings on the COOL website and also looked at the published rank openings.  

What is life like for these hands on rates? What are the ranking possibilities moving forward. 

Sorry if this is long but any advise/comments would be appreciated.

Thanks