Choosing a Major

Here are some progressions we have seen with our sponsor mid family, keeping in mind everyone gets a BS with a solid STEM core, which opens up a wide variety of career paths.

Below is a sampling of major, military field, civilian role.

I do think IT-related majors make sense for Cyber paths.

Honors English>Marine logistics>mid-level executive systems engineer for major tire company

Q Econ>Navy Air>healthcare company finance department

Physics>Marine ground>clandestine service>owns brew pub

Oceanography>surface warfare>active field agent for major ABC agency

Aero>submarine warfare>CFP and investment advisor

History>subs>divinity school and youth pastor

Poli Sci>Marine ground>executive with national financial services company

Computer Science>subs>Microsoft (this seems very logical!)

Math>Marine ground>major athletic apparel company in marketing

Aero>Navy Air>Marine Air>Air National Guard full-time (quite a story)

Systems engineering>surface warfare>executive at an investment banking firm

Aero>Navy Air>has a gym franchise

Mech E>EOD>govt consultant DOD contractor

English> surface warfare>HR with national credit card firm

Systems E>intel>career placement director at a state university (couldn’t face working in buildings with no windows anymore)

All have advanced degrees obtained on AD or with GI Bill.

When I worked at USAA, there were dozens of SA grads, NROTC/OCS/OTS former/Reserve/Guard officers, with every conceivable combination of undergraduate degree and military specialty, working in every line and staff division. It’s the same as the company I am at now.

If you look at LinkedIn, and do an Advanced Search, pick any large or well-known company (Amazon, Microsoft, Grumman, Under Armour, USAA, Coca Cola, etc.), and insert one of the Service Academies for “school,” you’ll see the profiles pop up. You can often figure out the career path and major from the profile.
 
DS is excited about Ocean Engineering. Any other major I would not think twice about, but is I do wonder if this will limit his post navy career options to a coastal region?

DD is an OE major. It's a good program with elements of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. With her USNA degree and military service I have no concerns about her post Navy career options. No matter what your DS chooses for a major, with the USNA degree and service time he should be very marketable.

Current mids/very recent grads think that your USNA major is important for your military career and/or later in life. Those of us who've graduated, served and moved on to other careers know it's not.

I did not go to USNA or serve and I can say the same about my civilian engineering degree. It has helped me in my career for sure, but I am not working, and never have worked in the specific engineering field of my major.
 
Here are some progressions we have seen with our sponsor mid family, keeping in mind everyone gets a BS with a solid STEM core, which opens up a wide variety of career paths.

Below is a sampling of major, military field, civilian role.

I do think IT-related majors make sense for Cyber paths.

Honors English>Marine logistics>mid-level executive systems engineer for major tire company

Q Econ>Navy Air>healthcare company finance department

Physics>Marine ground>clandestine service>owns brew pub

Oceanography>surface warfare>active field agent for major ABC agency

Aero>submarine warfare>CFP and investment advisor

History>subs>divinity school and youth pastor

Poli Sci>Marine ground>executive with national financial services company

Computer Science>subs>Microsoft (this seems very logical!)

Math>Marine ground>major athletic apparel company in marketing

Aero>Navy Air>Marine Air>Air National Guard full-time (quite a story)

Systems engineering>surface warfare>executive at an investment banking firm

Aero>Navy Air>has a gym franchise

Mech E>EOD>govt consultant DOD contractor

English> surface warfare>HR with national credit card firm

Systems E>intel>career placement director at a state university (couldn’t face working in buildings with no windows anymore)

All have advanced degrees obtained on AD or with GI Bill.

When I worked at USAA, there were dozens of SA grads, NROTC/OCS/OTS former/Reserve/Guard officers, with every conceivable combination of undergraduate degree and military specialty, working in every line and staff division. It’s the same as the company I am at now.

If you look at LinkedIn, and do an Advanced Search, pick any large or well-known company (Amazon, Microsoft, Grumman, Under Armour, USAA, Coca Cola, etc.), and insert one of the Service Academies for “school,” you’ll see the profiles pop up. You can often figure out the career path and major from the profile.

This is WOW I’m so many ways. Thank you for sharing. And thank you for sponsoring! I am also sharing this with my Mid. I truly rely on and value the information shared here. And am also comforted with the amazing stories and great points shared by all.

I worry no more. Follow your passions son!! So exciting to watch them grow. And know that I helped make them who they are.
 
My current CEO is a Navy grad who laughs about how he found his way from his major to his warfare specialty to his current path. He often comments he surprised the heck out of his company mates, as he was “Joe Average” mid. He credits USNA and his AD time for laying the groundwork for his success.

We have a sponsor daughter who now works in NYC for a major financial services firm. I looked up the USNA grads there via LinkedIn, and realized I knew one of the EVPs from AD time. I sent him a note about sponsor daughter. He got her into his mentoring group and has watched over her transition to a civilian career. He keeps a special eye out for all the vets there and is active in their internal vet group, but that USNA bond is special. Despite inter-family joking, the SA grads also look out for each other.

As other posters have advised, choose a major you will enjoy and do well in. You’ll get everything else you need to succeed in a variety of paths on AD and in the civilian world. The discipline, mental fitness, leadership and resource management skills honed via commissioning sources and AD lay a solid foundation for a breathtaking range of opportunities.
 
I started out in the great class of '87 as a mechanical engineer, but quickly switched to history. I have often referred to my major as "historical engineering". Despite majoring in history, I was required to take chemistry, physics, electrical engineering, basic thermodynamics, weapons systems engineering, calculus 1 & 2, and differential equations (among other technical courses in addition to my major courses). As a Marine officer, the math and science helped me better understand interior and exterior ballistics (I was artillery) and explosives, but the major itself helped me become a better writer and made me a better attorney (my current profession). Regardless of your major at USNA, you'll be challenged. Do what interests you and remember that the ultimate objective is to graduate and get a commission. There were several of my classmates with history majors who went nuke power and did just fine.
 
Time is on your side. The Academy works with you to help you choose your major. You have much more guidance than at a civilian college. Currently, Mids need to declare their major before Spring Break 4/C year
 
Not trying to diminish the importance of choosing your major but, I will say that you definitely have time. If I remember correctly, you do not have to choose a major until the end of your 3C (sophomore) year. I'm pretty sure there will be many decisions to panic about before you have to panic about this one :)
Majors are decided the spring of their plebe year- however thy attend many briefs,open houses and such to decide
 
Kind of ironic that in NROTC you have to choose your colllege major while still in high school but at USNA the decision time is more like a normal civilian college. Needs of the service.
 
Pulling this up, for input, as I have none to offer my Mid. Currently, he is a ME major and is considering switching to maybe general engineering. The thought behind it is to bring up the GPA, which is not where he wants it. He isn't unsat or anything like that. Obviously he wants to be able to select a service, etc that appeals to him and GPA is a big part of that. He would be equally happy with either degree. I'm posting with his permission.

I have a really hard time trusting the 'it doesn't matter what your degree is' as far as the civilian life when he gets to that point. So I’m not the best one to ask. And if he doesn't leave and stays as a career, his point is that he wants to be able to select a community where he is happy. Makes sense. What say you?
 
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My DS has selected history as a major, which his where his passion is. As an engineer, I was concerned but he put it this way: if I make Navy or Marines a career, my leadership experience will be my most marketable attribute for the second act. If I five and dive, and I decided to then pursue engineering, I’ll have my first two years plus in the bag, some money in my bank account and can get an engineering degree in two years. I can’t argue with that logic.
 
Currently, he is a ME major and is considering switching to maybe general engineering.

This is not an uncommon move....back in the day there was a common saying among the Engineering majors "Sooner or later you will go General...." This was usually not a voluntary move -- there was usually a professor in each discipline who was notorious for "facilitating" the change. Time have changed, and the Dean of Admissions and Dean of Academics are dedicated to ensuring academic success regardless of your major.
 
Remember, many/most companies consider the USNA degree to be Engineering no matter what Midshipmen THINK that they're majoring in.
I am living proof of this.
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This might have something to do with 90-100 credits of Engineering, Science and Math that all midshipmen take.
 
Not trying to diminish the importance of choosing your major but, I will say that you definitely have time. If I remember correctly, you do not have to choose a major until the end of your 3C (sophomore) year. I'm pretty sure there will be many decisions to panic about before you have to panic about this one :)

Plebes declared this past week....

There were many seminars and orrprtunities to learn about all the majors during the first semester.
 
I have a really hard time trusting the 'it doesn't matter what your degree is' as far as the civilian life when he gets to that point.

It really doesn't matter what your USNA undergraduate degree is in as far a civilian life.:) Seriously. It's rare that anyone even asks what you majored in . . . and that becomes more true the longer you've been out of college. What does matter is that you have a degree from a recognized university and having one from USNA is golden. Some jobs/grad schools require specific courses (e.g., organic chem for med school), but if you decide to pursue one of those, you can always pick up those courses later via community college, on-line, etc.

In terms of "dropping" to General Engineering, as noted above, in my day it was relatively common when someone was literally failing or getting all Ds in an engineering major. In our day, this happened a lot -- meaning Ds and Fs were common, especially in engineering. Today, not so much.

The answer to the question depends on your DS's class rank, his projected trajectory in academics and what he wants to do in terms of service selection. I suggest he talk to his advisor or to one or more profs in his major that he likes and trusts. They can look at where he is struggling and advise whether that struggle is likely to continue or ease as he gets deeper into his major.

Also, what does he want to service select? If he wants to be a SEAL, he needs to have a high class rank. If he wants to go SWO, class rank affects ship selection, not the ability to go SWO. My guess is that aviation is somewhere in the middle -- pretty much available other than to those in the bottom of the class (but will defer to a more recent grad on this one). And for USMC, doing well at Leatherneck is critical. Here, he can talk to officers from the community(ies) in which he is interested. He will know who the key folks are. They obviously want to "recruit" great mids to their communities and can be great resources for how best to make that happen.

You are absolutely correct that you aren't the right person to answer your DS's question. Not sure anyone here is either. But there are lots of folks in the Yard who have every vested interest in making sure your DS is successful, both at USNA and beyond. He should avail himself of those when he returns from spring break.
 
My suggestion is to start down the most restricitive path... that is, if you are interested in engineering of any type, take the freshman/sophomore engineering classes (Calc, Physics, Chem, etc). This would work for chemistry as well I would imagine. And if you can fit one of the foreign languages in there too, pick one and do that. Then you will be prepared when it is time to pick a major.
 
Not following the above. For USNA, you are required to take (or validate) calc and chem first year and physics second year. Not sure what you mean regarding taking a language. Unless you are a Chinese or Arabic major (the only language majors offered), you are very unlikely to have time your plebe year (at least first semester) to take a language. Chinese and Arabic majors are selected during PS and take a slightly different course load so that they can take four full years of language. You can certainly take other languages and can even minor in them. But language is not a requirement for STEM majors.

Unless things have changed, for USNA purposes, any midshipman can generally select any major (other than Chinese and Arabic where you must also demonstrate language ability). Overall, ~65% of each class must select a STEM major and, if that quote may not be met, some mids may be "steered" toward a STEM major.
 
Would a Chinese major (with proof of intermediate level college credit, 200 level) provide an advantage in the application process, along with strong STEM academics, leadership resume and strong CFA? Of course, this is an opinion that I'm asking for feedback.
 
Would a Chinese major (with proof of intermediate level college credit, 200 level) provide an advantage in the application process, along with strong STEM academics, leadership resume and strong CFA? Of course, this is an opinion that I'm asking for feedback.

> Just my opinion, but if everything else was equal (STEM, Leadership, and CFA, etc. ) sure, demonstrated achievement in Chinese would help help distinguish you from the masses. That said, I don't think USNA is going out of its way to look for people with specific language skills. Language aptitude (some people are simply better at learning /using foreign languages than others) is probably what stands out, not the specific language -- if you have the aptitude, the Navy has an outstanding language program for those that need it.

By the way, the qualifier I used " if everything else was equal" is the big elephant in the room -- No two candidates are equal; sure its possible to have identical scores (GPA, College Boards etc), but things like Teacher evaluations and BGO interviews are largely subjective.
 
And there are others who graduated with an engineering degree and feel that it structured our thinking and taught us problem solving skills that have been useful in everything we have ever done. On top of that the math enabled some of us to excel in graduate studies beyond the military and which brought success in the civilian world. So it may not have mattered if I studied Mechanical Enguneering instead of Electrical Engineering, but engineering vs Pol Sci would have been a significant difference in my life.
 
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