Maritime academies

MaritimeGirl11

MaritimeGirl11

10-Year Member
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Sep 12, 2006
Messages
329
I don't know if you know this but Mass maritime is the only maritime academy that is all regamented so if your looking for the most regamented MMA is where it's at.
 
And it is nicely located on the Cape Cod Canal. I've been through there a few times on my ship, what a great location. Looks like there's a pretty nice running trail down the north side of the CCC.
 
My son looked at MMA along with SUNY Maritime (Ft Schuyler) before ultimately deciding on VMI (He wants to be an Army Officer and received an Army ROTC scholarship there). I must say that MMA came across very favorably to us though because it is the only state Maritime college that has 100% of its cadets in the regiment , and the admissions office and the coaching staff were extremely proactive in following up and anticpating questions my son or my wife and I may have had. It's a nice school/ good location with a solid engineering program and I think that I would recommend it highly to my nephew who is in his Junior Year in HS who is primarilly interested in a hands on mechanical engineering curriculum with a small college environment. I've hired a couple of MMA graduates as engineers and they are solid guys with good work ethics which speaks highly of their alma mater

It does, however, have a major and rather odd disadvantage compared to Ft Schuyler (New York) and Maine Maritime - Mass Maritime does not host or even have nearby as a cross town option a NAVY/Marine ROTC program which means that you can not use a Navy or MArine scholarship there (we confirmed this with both the school admissions office and the Navy). Sure you can get a commission and a small stipend thru the MMR/SIP program- but that pales compared to what the ROTC scholarship offers. They do have an Army ROTC program option on campus as a cross town with Boston University (although BU's Army ROTC program must have the least proactive recruiting staff in the Country when a career 2 military parents dependent kid with 2000 on his SATs and 2 varsity sports on his resume can't get either a call back or an email response to a note and phone call asking for an information interview) - but for a school like MMA that clearly attracts kids of a nautical bent to not be able to focus on the Navy as a career option- it is strange. If I were MMA I would be working diligently to recitify this hole in their offering.
 
MMA Does offer NROTC and AROTC. Also if your interested in the USCG you can join the reserves like a handful of coasties I know on campus. They are ALL GREAT :)
 
Maine has a nice Maritime Academy also, but I think I will stick with the west coast if the CGA doesnt come thru.
 
Hey!

So I'm also interested in Maritime Academies, not just USNA. Any pointers on where to start searching?
In the States and abroad?

Thanks!!
 
Katienavy? said:
Hey!

So I'm also interested in Maritime Academies, not just USNA. Any pointers on where to start searching?
In the States and abroad?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

California Maritime Academy outside of San Francisco got some really high scores in the US NEWS and WORLD REPORT... and they also have what looks like a great reserve program either MMA or CGA.. I posted a link up there ^
.. in a previous post.
 
I believe Cal Maritime is part of the CSU system, whose deadline was Nov 30.
 
Katienavy? said:
Hey!

So I'm also interested in Maritime Academies, not just USNA. Any pointers on where to start searching?
In the States and abroad?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

that's a pretty broad question. There are 5 State Maritime Academies - NewYork (SUNY Maritime) at Ft Schuyler is the oldest and largest, Massachusetts Maritime Academy- Buzzards Bay on the entrance to Cape Cod) ; Maine Maritime- (Castine Maine); Texas Maritime - which is part of Texas A&M at Galveston, and California (Vallejo). (There is also the Great Lakes Maritime Academy -Travers City Michigan but it is significantly different than these others). Finally there is the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point (see the USMMA site on this forum). All of these schools have a lot of similarities - they all have a regiment of Cadets under some degree of military discipline- (important point- they are training Merchant MArine Officers- not US Marines as their primary focus so this is not the same level of discipline and physical stress that they would experience at say VMI- it is appropriate to what they are trying to accomplish) and they all require Cadets to be in the regiment if they are pursuing a license. All of the cadets at Mass Maritime are in the Regiment even if they are not pursuing a license. All of the State Schools conduct their ship board training with dedicated Training Ships and have a sea term either in the Winter (Mass Maritime) or in the summer (all of the others). I believe that all of them are now encouraging Cadets to sail on a commercial ship for one semester in lieu of one of the 3 training ship cruises that they need to get thier sea time. Not all of them have NROTC units - for example Mass Maritime Does Not- although it does have a Naval Science department and you can get get commissioned in the Navy thru the MMR program (Merchant Marine Reserve). Finally- I believe that all of the State Maritime Academies have regional programs which grants in state status for tuition to residents of selected other states (those that have an agreement with the college) that do not have a Maritime Academy of their own. So for example most of the eastern sea board and even many of the gulf states are in a regional agreement with Mass and/or New York for example - (unless you live in Mass then you can't go to New York as an in-state student) Additionally, Cadets at all of these schools have the opportunity to participate in the Marad (Maritime Administration) SIP incentive program so Cadets pursuing a license and commission thru the MMR program get an annual stipend of around $4k annually.

All of these schools are roughly on a par- with very similar curricula and very similar ratings in the US NEWS ratings. They all have a different feel though- Buzzards Bay is definitely different than New York City etc.... Their graduates are all well trained - all have virtually 100% hiring after graduation and have a good network of graduates in the Maritime industries.
You ought to start by asking what are you interested in and then start looking at each with your desires in mind.
Hope this helps
 
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For the benefit of those who seek any maritime profession, USMMA should not be overlooked. With their Sea Year experiences and acceptance into any branch of services, it is well worth the time to research. Princeton review tends to greatly discolor the Academy from what I've seen and heard from Midshipmen currently attending so I would look elsewhere for better (& true) information. Applicants should be aware that USMMA does require a nomination as it is a federal service academy. There is much to be researched in the USMMA threads about service obligations, nominations, DODMERB, ect. For more information, go to: www.usmma.edu
 
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