How often does the USNA change the majors of midshipmen?

According to the USNA website: “... While the majority of midshipmen will choose their majors freely, the needs of the Naval Service take precedence.” How often do changes like this happen?

I'm positive that someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that piece of information is more geared toward what you will do in the Navy. I don't believe they just arbitrarily change your major, but your major may not match what you will be doing in the Navy.

I have moved this to the USNA forum.

I have never heard of it happening. "Needs of the Navy" will always trump personal interest, but I agree that this is more of an issue with Service Assignments than selection than majors. I am also pretty sure that "needs of the _____" is common to all the Service Academies.

With respect to USNA majors, I would expect that any USNA major would qualify you for service in any of the major warfare specialities. For example, a Poli Sci major has enough technical education that he/should be able to succeed in Nuke School. The exception maybe the new Cyber Warfare community , but I really don't know what they do.

this was covered at BGO training. basically, they need a certain percentage of mids in STEM majors.

in theory, if 90% of mids chose Poly Sci, they could reject that choice, and put you in a major you didn't choose

but they said that never happens, and just about everyone gets the major that they request

A6E Dad said:

they need a certain percentage of mids in STEM majors.

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I don't know if the requirement is statutory (which means that it can't be waived), or aspirational (which can be waived), but USNA has had the objective of no more than 30% Group 3 (non -STEM, "Bull" majors like Poli Sci, History, Econ, etc) for as long as I can recall. The Navy is technically oriented, an thus the emphasis on STEM /technical majors. Navy doesn't publish the WCS algorithm, but I do recall discussion (at BGO training long ago) that the Math SAT/ACT is weighted heavier than Verbal, in order admit more technical oriented candidates.

My understanding is that it's a CNO mandate for 70% of grads going into the USN (not USMC) to be STEM majors. To make sure this is met, USNA tries to ensue they start with well over 70% of all mids as STEM majors at the outset because they don't know who'll end up going USMC. As noted, they try to admit folks who have a strong interest in STEM so this typically isn't an issue.

They've also recently changed the economics major (which was a humanities major) to a "quantitative economics" major, which is now a STEM major -- I assume b/c it has more math. That should pull those who were previously were econ (humanities) majors into STEM and help with the numbers.

If they were short on STEM majors, they would probably first strongly encourage those who have the aptitude to choose STEM over a "humanities" major. If they really needed to, I suppose they could "force" someone into a STEM major -- have never heard of it happening.

As a reminder, even the humanities majors take a majority of courses in STEM/leadership/nav, so everyone gets a large dose.

usna1985 said:

My understanding is that it's a CNO mandate for 70% of grads going into the USN (not USMC) to be STEM majors. To make sure this is met, USNA tries to ensue they start with well over 70% of all mids as STEM majors at the outset because they don't know who'll end up going USMC. As noted, they try to admit folks who have a strong interest in STEM so this typically isn't an issue.

They've also recently changed the economics major (which was a humanities major) to a "quantitative economics" major, which is now a STEM major -- I assume b/c it has more math. That should pull those who were previously were econ (humanities) majors into STEM and help with the numbers.

If they were short on STEM majors, they would probably first strongly encourage those who have the aptitude to choose STEM over a "humanities" major. If they really needed to, I suppose they could "force" someone into a STEM major -- have never heard of it happening.

As a reminder, even the humanities majors take a majority of courses in STEM/leadership/nav, so everyone gets a large dose.

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Would you say that if you’re going into a STEM major then there is a very little chance USNA would change it?

FlyingWings said:

Would you say that if you’re going into a STEM major then there is a very little chance USNA would change it?

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As I read this, I had to chuckle...there was an old saying ..."sooner or later you will go General [Engineering]." I know a lot of Classmates that "involuntarily" switched majors., but it had more to do with survival than STEM quotas.

All through high school, my DS said he was going to major in some form of engineering (I'm an engineer, both of his older brothers are engineers). He recently announced he intends to major in history at USNA. I'm okay with that - it's his life and he should do what he has a passion for. Can't say I'm not a little concerned that 10 years down the road he won't wish he had majored in an engineering discipline but that's not going to be my problem. But I'm wondering if there will likely be some "pressure" to declare a STEM major when the time comes in semester two - particularly because he will probably validate out of the first year of Calc. I've read they have presentations from each department before Plebes chose there major but do they do a bit more in terms of "encouragement"?

ders_dad said:

All through high school, my DS said he was going to major in some form of engineering (I'm an engineer, both of his older brothers are engineers). He recently announced he intends to major in history at USNA. I'm okay with that - it's his life and he should do what he has a passion for. Can't say I'm not a little concerned that 10 years down the road he won't wish he had majored in an engineering discipline but that's not going to be my problem. But I'm wondering if there will likely be some "pressure" to declare a STEM major when the time comes in semester two - particularly because he will probably validate out of the first year of Calc. I've read they have presentations from each department before Plebes chose there major but do they do a bit more in terms of "encouragement"?

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I was a history major at USNA... want to guess what I do now? I am an engineer. I now have 3 masters... One includes a MS in engineering. I didn’t feel behind when I started. Long story short... it was actually my soft skills, problem solving, analytical skills and drive that quickly saw me promoted and put in more roles. The lead engineer after a few months said... I don’t care what you majored in... you are the best engineer we have, you are on my team now. Then grew to lead the team. Never looked back since.

NavyHoops. Thanks - that is really good to know.

Good Question,
Congress mandates that 2/3 of Midshipmen graduate with a STEM major. These include group 1 majors (Engineering) and group 2 majors (math and science). The academic office strives for around 70% of midshipmen to pick STEM majors to ensure that over 2/3 of midshipmen are STEM majors by graduation a day. As far as selecting a major goes, essentially everyone gets their first choice. If the trend conitues, over 70% of mids will want STEM majors. I have never heard of someone not getting their first choice.

ders_dad said:

All through high school, my DS said he was going to major in some form of engineering (I'm an engineer, both of his older brothers are engineers). He recently announced he intends to major in history at USNA. I'm okay with that - it's his life and he should do what he has a passion for. Can't say I'm not a little concerned that 10 years down the road he won't wish he had majored in an engineering discipline but that's not going to be my problem. But I'm wondering if there will likely be some "pressure" to declare a STEM major when the time comes in semester two - particularly because he will probably validate out of the first year of Calc. I've read they have presentations from each department before Plebes chose there major but do they do a bit more in terms of "encouragement"?

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Similar to what NavyHoops stated, I was an International Security Affairs (Poly Sci) Major at USNA and my post Navy employment included being an Engineer, Senior Engineer and then Principal Engineer at GE and a Principal Engineer at Lockheed. One of my roommates was a Latin American Studies (Spanish) Major and his post Navy jobs included a job as a Rocket Scientist (head of a major site/lab for a key contractor).

This question get asked a lot one that has many answers. I double down with NavyHoops. Doesn’t matter what you majored in college. It is more important what you do in your career. Grad schools will certainly prepare you further as you choose your specialty and path to management careers. I majored in History in college but had enough STEM including advanced Cal, Physics, Electronics to be tech and STEM savvy. During my career I worked for high tech company evaluating semiconductor, communications, computer businesses. I also work in private equity doing buyout deals closing complex financial and business transactions. Your math skills in performing these jobs are not near what you need in Cal III and IV. But it is the ability to be creative and lead with confidence the engineers, lawyers, business leaders and financing teams around the world that will enable you to close complex transactions.

My DS started his Plebe Year with a desire to major in History. He consistently got grades in 99-100 in History and Govt classes during his Plebe Year. So we thought he is right on with History major. Then he considered Cyber and now he’s committed to Quant-E major. So MIDNs have many talent and options due to the Academy way of preparing MIDs. I’m very happy with his choice because he chose a major I know he will enjoy and excel. Although Quant-E can prepare him well for Law and Business grad schools in the future, so can any majors at the Academy.

I believe it is the Academy and the Navy leadership experience he will benefit from the most to prep him for managerial career throughout his life.

Congress mandates that 2/3 of Midshipmen graduate with a STEM major

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Could be wrong but don't think there is a legal requirement (i.e., Congressional mandate) to graduate STEM majors. I believe it comes from the CNO and it applies only to USN grads because the USMC doesn't care what you major in. That said, a CNO directive is required to be followed and, as noted, USNA doesn't know when plebes are choosing majors who will go USN vs. USMC so has to apply the percentage to all grads. Plus, USNA is a STEM school so the overwhelming majority of grads will have technical majors.

The main reason someone could be "forced" to change their major would be if they are not meeting the requirements for graduation. As Hoops said, most often it happens with engineers who are moved from a specific engineering discipline (e.g., mech E) to "general engineering." I think "General Science" was an option (at least in my day) for Group 2 majors (e.g., math) who were struggling. The goal was to ensure the mid graduated by providing a somewhat easier path to success. I've never seen anyone go from Group 1/2 to Group 3 (humanities) -- voluntarily or involuntarily, though it's probably happened.

While "needs of the Navy" always takes precedence, I've never seen/heard of anyone who didn't get their first choice of major.