Best Majors at USNA

A good pick is always mech engineering as you can pretty much go anywhere with it. Higher level engineering , MBA, law school etc. Its a very versatile and sought after degree. Though you should only pick it if it's something you're interested in
 
My daughter is an Ocean Engineering major and she LOVES it!
Son was Mech E, and he tolerated it, but didn't love it.
 
Why Computer Engineering of course! Uh, cough, cough, that is the major of DS and he seems to be enjoying it so far. He and several of his peers got cool internships for the summer too...
 
@bandad
My DS is considering a Computer Engineering major. Where did your DS and his peers do these cool internships? And when do they manage to fit in time for internships with the summer training?
 
Hands down aero. Tough but where there's a will, there's a way. Some internships include working with major aerospace engineering companies (i.e. Boeing, Lockheed, Northrup, NASA) or with the Naval Test Pilot School or one of the VX squadrons. Can't speak for the Astro side of the house, but they were always JV anyway to the Aeros :thumb:
 
SoCalmom - There are three blocks in the summer: blocks 1, 2 and 3 (not counting block 0). DS and several friends are
finishing their Youngster year, so all of them will be doing PROTRAMID for one of their blocks this summer. Several of
the Comp Eng Mids are doing internships at Naval Post Grad School, MIT Labs, and another one in Florida (cannot recall exactly where).
There are a lot of options for internships for Computer/Electrical Engineering Majors and probably for the other
Engineering Majors as well. Seems like DS applied for other internships at John Hopkins and a Navy location in DC. Most of the
Mids will be on leave for the third block.

As far as selecting a major, DS talked to a lot of folks at USNA during/after Plebe Summer, attended the
Major Night events, and talked to folks at USNA before selecting his major. Also, Comp Eng and Elec Eng are pretty close,
so DS had the option to transfer to Elec Eng if he didn't like Comp Eng and some Mids will double major in both.
If you have any specific questions on Comp Eng Major, please reply or shoot me a PM. Be glad to share the little I know.
I think the most popular Engineering Majors at USNA are Systems Eng and Mechanical Eng. Congrats to your DS and the best to him.
 
Does anyone know if humanities majors are viewed as lesser than their classmates? From this forum I can clearly tell that engineering majors is the majority, but how would a major like Economics be looked upon by your classmates?
 
There are at least three good ways to get information about the majors (below). Remember that majors are not picked until the spring of plebe year, so there is plenty of time to help plebes make an informed decision.
1. Visit the department/major website and view their briefs. Some give a good indication on what career paths the major can lead you down (both in Naval service and after).
2. Talk to MIDN from different majors (if practical -- hard for non-MIDN to do this) to see how the major impacts their time at USNA.
3. Attend the plebe major "meet and greets" to meet the professors and MIDN in that major and be able to ask both parties any questions you have.
 
USNABGO08 - Agree with your thoughts and I would like to make one small addition. Although most plebes will select their major in the spring of plebe year, high validators will select their major in the fall. Applies to a few MIDs but some who are impacted might not be aware.
 
Physics...a physicist can be an engineer but an engineer cannot be a physicist.

But most importantly, study what interests you. With few exceptions (cyber maybe) it will not matter for your navy career.
 
@bandad
Those are cool internships. Thank you for the information. So it sounds like the internships will last for the length of one block? Is this the block where they do not have training or is the internship in lieu of training? I think I understand that they have training for two summer blocks and then leave for one? We are so excited for the new adventure that my DS is about to embark on!
 
usnabgo08 said:
2. Talk to MIDN from different majors (if practical -- hard for non-MIDN to do this) to see how the major impacts their time at USNA.
Click to expand...

I'm not a MID but I think as a college student like anyone else it's easy to see which majors are harder than others. I have a lot more work with my MechE major than my Econ friends.
 
MDN18,

That is probably a true statement (although, I don't know if I agree with "harder/difficult" but might be more "time intensive"), however, my post was geared more to prospective candidates not already in college (and was not in reference to USNAHopeful88's post). Obviously, if you are in college, your major "experience" will be similar to, but NOT the same at USNA. Talking to a MIDN would still help to provide insight to the USNA program (especially if you are almost certain of a major) and how the military/leadership aspect impacts the academics (or vice versa).
 
OK. Yes, MechE major is more time-intensive than an Econ or Entrepreneur major, but I guess every major has its challenges. I've compared the MechE major requirements at my school and at USNA and it's pretty much the same. I could never be a Chem or BioChem major because I just hate Chem. English majors put so much time into reading and typing essay, and I wouldn't want to do that.

I guess I'm biased because of my major, but I'm fairly certain that it's harder to master Thermo or Finite Elements than it is to learn how to make a Powerpoint in a Communications major. But yes, we do need to have STEM majors experience the liberal arts too.
 
BLUF....major in what interests you most. You will excel in the things that interest you most, no matter what they might be. While it might typically be "harder to master" EE or ME, being a management major from USMA I sure do have a lot of EE, ME and CS majors that report to me. ;)
 
Word of advice - your service selections is based on your GPA. They do not take into account what your major is when selecting you for a warfare community. A lot of kids who aren't very intelligent pick Aero as their major and fail out into our General Engineering major. So, if you decide to take MechE and get a 2.0 you might have been better off taking Political Science and getting a 4.0. Plus, the tears of group 1 and 2 majors make the Severn flow.
- History Major, 2018
 
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