USMMA vs USNA

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laker7745

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Well, I want to be a Marine and my top option is the Naval Academy thus far, however I was just curious as to if anyone had any reason as to if I should consider USMMA as my top option and while the USMMA is my back-up plan, what are the pros and cons of the academy? Any info anyone knows would be great.


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laker7745 said:
Well, I want to be a Marine and my top option is the Naval Academy thus far, however I was just curious as to if anyone had any reason as to if I should consider USMMA as my top option and while the USMMA is my back-up plan, what are the pros and cons of the academy? Any info anyone knows would be great.
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If your primary goal is to go Active Duty USMC then I think your order is correct - 1) USNA; back up either USMMA or an NROTC with a good USMC program available. That said all three are great choices and offer great opportunities both while there and upon graduation. There's a lot of other threads here and elsewhere on the forum that describe them so rather than rehash them I just suggest you search through the threads here on the USMMA forum as well as the USNA and ROTC forums here. Good Luck!
 
Wrong School !!!

My DS '15 was overnight guest of 3 USNA mids a few months ago. After answering their questions about KP, sea year, license, multiple options upon graduation.......two of the three declared that they were at the wrong school. Gave him a warm fuzzy feeling. ("But dad, the Naval Academy campus is incredible."):smile:
 
It doesn't fall into any branch of the military. It is part of the Department of Transportation.

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Correct answer

davidlee0154 said:
Does anyone know which military branch the USMMA falls into?

Thank You,
David
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USMMA "falls into" the US NAVY. All mids carry USNReserve ID cards. This is not a perfect answer, but is more accurate than the moderators reply.
 
CW2 said:
USMMA "falls into" the US NAVY. All mids carry USNReserve ID cards. This is not a perfect answer, but is more accurate than the moderators reply.
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I disagree. The Academy falls nowhere into the US Navy. The individual midshipman is a member of the Naval Reserve; however, that is a different and very important distinction.

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I agree with KP2001 on this. USMMMA has the Navy represented on campus but if you follow the organizational chart up from the merchant marine academy to the president you wouldn't find the Navy along the path.
 
I think the OP is confused. The Merchant MARINE Academy has nothing to do with the US MARINES. One is a training ground for civilian ship officers, the other is a military service. While you may be able to commission upon graduation to USMC, the school does not prep you for it.
 
I strongly agree with KP2001 on this one, saying USMMA falls into the Navy is like saying VMI or the Citadel fall into "the Army"... and for very similar reasons.

USMMA is governed and authorized by a very different set of laws than USNA and is meant to serve and provide gradates, primarily, for a very different and unique set of reasons than USNA, USMA, UACGA or USAFA.
 
Spud said:
I think the OP is confused. The Merchant MARINE Academy has nothing to do with the US MARINES. One is a training ground for civilian ship officers, the other is a military service. While you may be able to commission upon graduation to USMC, the school does not prep you for it.
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No I know what I'm talking about, you can fulfill your time at the academy by active duty military service as a commissioned officer, it's just a coincidence that I want to be a Marine and attend the USMMA
 
Why on earth would you want to go to KP if you want to be in the Marine Corps? That's like saying "I want to go to medical school so I can be a mortician."

You probably realized your GPA was too low for USNA. I hope you like commercial shipping, when the Marine Corps runs out of spots, you'll be running grain to west Africa. Good luck.
 
beyond said:
Why on earth would you want to go to KP if you want to be in the Marine Corps? That's like saying "I want to go to medical school so I can be a mortician."

You probably realized your GPA was too low for USNA. I hope you like commercial shipping, when the Marine Corps runs out of spots, you'll be running grain to west Africa. Good luck.
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If you play football, no GPA is too low for USNA. :wink:
 
CW2 said:
USMMA "falls into" the US NAVY. All mids carry USNReserve ID cards. This is not a perfect answer, but is more accurate than the moderators reply.
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Its less accurate ... The M/N "falls into" the Navy, the Academy does not.
 
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beyond said:
Why on earth would you want to go to KP if you want to be in the Marine Corps? That's like saying "I want to go to medical school so I can be a mortician."



You probably realized your GPA was too low for USNA. I hope you like commercial shipping, when the Marine Corps runs out of spots, you'll be running grain to west Africa. Good luck.
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One of the bigger jerks on this forum, no actually, I like the idea of doing something unique and far from the normal college life, now I don't know about you but serving as a Junior Officer aboard a Merchant Ship or USN SeaLift Ship, and then when I'm done with that I get a commission In the Marine Corps or Air Force for me is pretty damn awesome, plus this is a great university, and you truly showed your ignorance by your above statement, besides if you knew anything about the Naval Academy you would know that they don't look at your GPA as much as they do Standardized Test Scores and Class Rank, which they want more than the GPA. Way to tell me who's boss... *Edited by Mod*
 
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You've find that most people are ignorant about USMMA, and a large number of people are ignorant about the two smaller service academies, USCGA and USMMA.

Eventually you stop carrying. If I had a dollar for every time I had to correct a Navy or Marine Corps officer about the Coast Guard, I would have between $50-$100. They tend to know, without a doubt, what they're talking about.... and more often than not, they don't.

It will annoy you. It will anger you. But eventually you'll just be comfortable and confident knowing you're more enlightened. :thumb:
 
laker7745 said:
One of the bigger jerks on this forum, no actually, I like the idea of doing something unique and far from the normal college life, now I don't know about you but serving as a Junior Officer aboard a Merchant Ship or USN SeaLift Ship, and then when I'm done with that I get a commission In the Marine Corps or Air Force for me is pretty damn awesome, plus this is a great university, and you truly showed your ignorance by your above statement, besides if you knew anything about the Naval Academy you would know that they don't look at your GPA as much as they do Standardized Test Scores and Class Rank, which they want more than the GPA. Way to tell me who's boss... *******
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Bro I go to KP. You really don't get it.

Replying to this would be futile. Carry on.
 
beyond said:
Bro I go to KP. You really don't get it.



Replying to this would be futile. Carry on.
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Bro?... Ok, well, anyway, if you did go to KP you would know it's a great university and is not second class, get out of here, no way in hell you go to Kings Point
 
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It's true, you kinda do stop caring

LineInTheSand said:
You've find that most people are ignorant about USMMA, and a large number of people are ignorant about the two smaller service academies, USCGA and USMMA.

Eventually you stop carrying. If I had a dollar for every time I had to correct a Navy or Marine Corps officer about the Coast Guard, I would have between $50-$100. They tend to know, without a doubt, what they're talking about.... and more often than not, they don't.

It will annoy you. It will anger you. But eventually you'll just be comfortable and confident knowing you're more enlightened. :thumb:
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=D I agree with this statement. You really do stop caring about a lot of the ignorance after a while. I think it's because it just becomes so much of a pain and hassle to try and correct people that are uniformed.

@Laker7745

I am a member in the upcoming USMMA Class of 2018. I don't want to waste your time explaining my story, but I did go through a similar process (wanting to be a Marine, applying to USNA) before ultimately accepting an appointment to Kings Point. Just know that I understand where you're coming from.

With that said, I would recommend you consider USMMA and USNA like Apples and Oranges. They are two very different schools. They have very different missions and that is most evident in the products they produce.

Ask yourself this one question:

Do you want to be a Professional Mariner?

That is the product of Kings Point. Granted this is a simplified way of learning how to decide whether or not Kings Point is a path for you, but I would argue it is the most strait-forward question and cuts through a lot of the crap.

If you cannot answer this question with an honest yes, or at least be able to see yourself performing that kind of job, then let someone else take your slot at Kings Point.

Now with all that said, if you are just looking for some friendly competitive comparisons, just always remember that both Annapolis and Kings Point are capable of producing Naval Officers and Marines. Only Kings Point can produce a professionally license and trained Mariner and thus she alone retains the pride of servicing our Merchant Marine.

Go Mariners! Beat Coast Guard!!

(love the Coast Guard though, y'all do great stuff so thank you so much!)
 
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