Degrees at USNA

[mdn18]

Hi. I have a question about the degrees at USNA. I know that everyone gets a B.S. due to all the math and science courses that are mandatory, but what exactly does your chosen major do for you? Does it affect your service selection? When do you get to use your degree (ex. post-military)?

Many people have said that it doesn't really matter what you choose, but I feel as if it would have to have some sort of effect. Any answers?

 

[nuensis]

Aerospace Engineering will give you points for Naval Aviation (they use a point-based tracking system to rank all midshipmen for Navy Pilot and NFO).

CS, IT, EE, and CE majors are more competitive (especially dual majors) for SWO-IP/IW and Restricted Line IP/IW.

The rest I'm not sure about, and it's not healthy to speculate.

The main point is to not worry about picking a major for the purposes of getting a specific service selection, but rather to pick a major that you are interested in so your four years by the bay aren't miserable.

 

[BGO83]

Degrees at USNA and their Impact on Service Selection

The Nuclear Power Programs (Submarine and Surface) grenerally prefer Engineers and Science/Math majors. there have always been a decent number of non-technical majors who get selected, but the academic interviews conducted at Naval Reactors in the fall cover a lot of engineering.

From what I know, USNC and SWO really don't care about your major and the majority of avaitors were not Aero Eng majors. In fact, when I was at USNA some folks who wanted Navy Air avoided engineering majors and took Poly Sci instead to get a higher GPA and a higher class rank - back then, service selection was almost entirely by class rank.

 

[Memphis9489]

... back then, service selection was almost entirely by class rank.

Back then, it was actually called "Service Selection". Now it's called "Service Assignment". Also, back then, there were virtually no discussions of quotas. People almost always got what they wanted, provided they were qualified. The big killer back then, of course, was losing your 20/20 vision during your stay at the academy - for those who wanted to be pilots. Those who entered the academy with less than 20/20 already knew, from the very beginning, they were never going to be a pilot.

I didn't know anybody in my class who didn't get what they wanted. If they wanted to be a Marine - they became a Marine. If they wanted to fly - they flew. If anything, Nuke Power was very selective. It was also a very popular choice back then - unlike today where they have to practically coerce midshipmen in order to fill their quota. Today, most midshipmen do not relish the thought of serving in a metal tube, underneath the surface without internet service. Also, it's hard to imagine what roll an ICBM-carrying, nuclear powered submarine plays in the war against terror.