Naval Academy vs Coast Guard Academy

jm15

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Messages
8
I am a high school senior, and have recently been accepted to USNA and USCGA for the Class of 2027. I am very excited about the prospect of attending one of these schools, but I cannot figure out which is best for me. Coast Guard seems to have a great familial atmosphere and exciting summer programs, but Navy is Navy (the #1 public school in the country) and Navy is also a lot closer to home: 1 hour drive compared to 5. Both seem fairly similar besides the size difference, but I could be mistaken. Careers after both academies seem exciting, but also seem pretty similar. If anyone has any advice or tips I would love to hear it. Thanks!
 
This may sound a bit odd, but it makes sense in the service academy realm: Don't pick the school based off the school. Pick it based off the branch. Your four years at the Academy are temporary Both schools offer similar programs: rigorous academics, military/professional activities, summer trainings, etc. I'd do some more research into the missions of each service. While the branches do have some crossover, they do have missions unique to them.

I guess a question I'd ask is what do you want to get out of your service?
 
There are a million answers, the relevance of which will depend on your interests. Navy travels the world and Coast Guard largely stays around North America. Coast Guard deployments are typically shorter than Navy deployments. There is a broader range of things to do in the Navy, but the Navy requires more specialization than the Coast Guard so you likely won't do more than a few of them in your career. You get into command positions earlier in the Coast Guard. You get to blow things up in the Navy. Both services fly, but the Navy has some cooler aircraft. The Coast Guard does lots of real SAR work every day, so it's more than just training, plus you get to do a lot more environmental work if that's your thing. The Navy is huge and the Coast Guard is small, which is both good and bad when you look at resources for keeping equipment current, or how frequently you run into people you know, or how frequently you run into people you know that you thought you were done with. None of the scale things are absolutes, of course, because Navy people are always running into old classmates and Coasties get moved around and dropped into anonymous new cities all the time.

There are a lot of these posts every year in many of the forums, so read all of them. Often a good insight is raised when someone is comparing Army and Air Force, for example. What often emerges is counsel that you need to talk to a bunch of people about what you might want to do and then see which service is likeliest to get you there. If you aren't sure then the Navy does everything, but it's a maybe little easier to move around within the Coast Guard if you get placed into something you're not a huge fan of. Good luck, and remember this is two winning tickets so the "wrong" choice is still pretty cool.
 
.
The degree programs at CGA are a small fraction of what USNA has …

USNA offers about all the Engineering disciplines, along with the Hard Science degrees too …

In the engineering dept, CGA only offers EE, ME, Naval Architecture … but they do offer Marine Bio, where USNA doesn’t …
.
 
Last edited:
I’ll add, what does each branch offer as a ‘depth chart’, for you, if you don’t receive your desired community? I would suggest considering which service offers the most communities you would be ok with. Not every gets their ‘1st choice’ when service assignment rolls around.

As tempting as it is to look at the SA, is MOST important to look beyond those 4 yrs. That’s what really matters.

Congrats! Excited to see what you choose!
 
Your decision should be weighted based upon the Service Missions mostly. These two SA's are very different in size, location attributes, resources. Both are great: ask "Where do I see myself in 5-10 years out? The USCG primary missions are quite different from the US Navy.
 
To play a bit of devils advocate.

I am on my second in the family at a SA. The first one had no clue what they wanted to do after graduating until they were forced to make a decision.

The second one has kind of a soft feel what they might want to do but that could change at any time.

picking an academy because of the type of job after would not have worked for them. I believe many come in wanting one thing and being happy with something else at the end.

How does amy 18 yo know for sure what they want 4-5 years from now? And why should they know?


Both of mine attended a SA within an hour of home.

Both would say that was a really big positive deal for them. I have some Idea about how they would feel about a SA 5 hours from home because of prep school. They both would opt for closer.

I would assume the cultures of the school s are different ? Majors are different. If so I’d want mine to be at a school they were less miserable at. And where they felt the best fit at as far as school and had the best chance of graduating.

Talking about jobs after graduation is important but you first have to get to graduation, And that is far from a given.
 
Last edited:
Where you go should be more about what you see yourself doing AFTER the 4 yrs are over. College rankings are subjective and shouldn't play much of a role in deciding where to go. Even if you choose Navy, hopefully you realize you could be assigned to any number of places in the USA or any number of foreign countries. Being 1 hr away from the Academy means nothing once you graduate. Have you visited both and talked with those who are currently there to understand the various career opportunities?
 
To play a bit of devils advocate.

I am on my second in the family at a SA. The first one had no clue what they wanted to do after graduating until they were forced to make a decision.

The second one has kind of a soft feel what they might want to do but that could change at any time.

picking an academy because of the type of job after would not have worked for them. I believe many come in wanting one thing and being happy with something else at the end.

How does amy 18 yo know for sure what they want 4-5 years from now? And why should they know?


Both of mine attended a SA within an hour of home.

Both would say that was a really big positive deal for them. I have some Idea about how they would feel about a SA 5 hours from home because of prep school. They both would opt for closer.

I would assume the cultures of the school s are different ? Majors are different. If so I’d want mine to be at a school they were less miserable at. And where they felt the best fit at as far as school and had the best chance of graduating.

Talking about jobs after graduation is important but you first have to get to graduation, And that is far from a given.
Thank you so much! I am not really sure what I want to do after I graduate, so I am leaning more towards USNA in that respect because there are more majors and a larger force
 
Thank you so much! I am not really sure what I want to do after I graduate, so I am leaning more towards USNA in that respect because there are more majors and a larger force
I have this same thought in my decision making. Also remember that USNA has the option of Marines, so that is a very different option and trajectory if you end up leaning that way as well.
 
Thank you so much! I am not really sure what I want to do after I graduate, so I am leaning more towards USNA in that respect because there are more majors and a larger force
USCGA is a harder 4 years than at USNA because there are more eyes on you because of its smaller size, so there are more chances of getting restricted for things that aren't even considered at USNA. In addition to the hard classes at CGA, you have to be on your toes for attention to smaller details and perhaps even more paperwork. My DS knows this from his frank discussions with midshipmen and cadets, but he is passionate about marine biology and knows USNA is limited in that department compared to USCGA. Plus, he liked the swim coach at USCGA over the USNA coach. USCGA has a higher rate of officers continuing past their minimal obligation service time. Think carefully so there are no regrets with your decision.
 
You know....my question is simply this: what excites you?

I was accepted to several SAs...and I had a plan for each. I would have been excited to attend any of them as I had a career path in mind. If you can't say that, then you have a serious "come to me meeting" needed. The mission of the Coast Guard and the mission of the Navy are very different; they have very serious roles in the USA's defense. Which fits you?

That's the question you have to answer.
 
I have one at each...three things they agree on: Food is better at USCGA, Swab summer is more difficult than Plebe summer, and 4th class at USCGA have more liberty than 4th class at USNA. In all seriousness, it really depends on which service suits you. My type A is at USNA:) They are both exactly where they should be.
Have you visited both? Spent the day as a mid/cadet?
 
I started off with USCGA as my first choice (different time, of course). I ended up at USNA. Below were the factors for ME. YMMV - and, times have changed making some of the below OBE (overtaken by events).

I went to a really, really small h.s. (60 per class). When I visited USCGA, it felt like h.s. in that I was constantly seeing the same people over and over again -- and that was in a long WE. I wanted a college where I didn't know everyone.

AT THE TIME, USCGA was under the Dept. of Transportation whereas USNA was under DOD. When Reagan came in as President in 1981, he increased DOD funding and cut almost everything else. Thus, USCGA lost its band and other stuff just at the time I was about to enter.

The women's uniforms AT THE TIME looked like flight attendants, complete with red scarf. Not kidding.

I'm not a fan of New England or their winters.

AT THE TIME, there were a lot more opportunities for women in the USCG than the USN and I thought their missions were really interesting! However, primarily the first item above is what motivated me to choose USNA. I must confess that there were times (during the days when opportunities for women in the USN were very limited) that I somewhat regretted my decision.

I would say your decision should be partly the SA and partly the service. I say this b/c, for those who don't stay past their commitment, the time period is roughly the same (4 vs. 5 years). Does a smaller environment appeal to you? (For example, if you attend a h.s. where there are 1000 students per class, you might really appreciate a smaller "college"). Do you want to do drug interdiction, ice-breaking, SAR, etc.? Do you want earlier chance for command -- of smaller ships and facilities? Do you want the option to go USMC? Do you want to be a nuke?

Both are absolutely terrific schools. I've had more than a few candidates turn down USNA for USCGA and been very happy. So, great choice to have!
 
Again, choose based on the service, not the school, but some itches won't scratch and you need to know if you won't be happy without something that one or the other can't provide. Sports can be that kind of thing: USNA is D1 for sports but CGA is only D3. That means two things: mandatory football games on Saturdays in Annapolis and a much lower bar to participation in NCAA sports in New London. The intramural, company teams at both schools range from outstanding to family picnic quality so there will be places to play if you're not a D1 athlete (and in fact you'll be compelled to participate.) But CGA has nationally ranked wrestling, for example, if you're looking for competition in that area that falls below the best but above club. They also have ranked women's rugby and rowing and have produced a few All-American runners in the past few years.
 
Have you visited overnight at each? My DGD was also accepted at both and was sure she want CGA until visiting both and seeing the size and culture of each. She is very happy at USNA in her plebe year.
 
....the time period is roughly the same (4 vs. 5 years). ...
It looks like USCGA time commitment is 5 years according to their website.

 
Do you want to drop Bombs ...or Life rafts ?

Seriously, there are big differences between the two schools as well as subsequent service. There are definitely pro's and cons to both-- don't think you can go wrong either way.
 
....the time period is roughly the same (4 vs. 5 years). ...
It looks like USCGA time commitment is 5 years according to their website.
Sorry, I was imprecise. I'm very aware that both schools have 4 years at the school and a 5-year AD commitment.

A lot of folks say to focus primarily on the service b/c that's where you'll spend most of your time. However, if you only stay in the service for 5 years (your AD commitment with some exceptions such as pilot), you spend 4 years in school and 5 in the service. Thus, the academy component (4 years) is about the same as the commitment on gradation (5 years). Thus, I think it's important to consider which SA life you want (no matter which SA) in equal measure with the service life upon graduation b/c the amount you spend on each (4 vs. 5) is roughly the same. That was my point.

I realize that many will stay beyond the initial 5 years. But many others won't. So, you don't want to say, "I love the Army but I can't see myself at West Point" and then go to West Point." Or, "I love West Point and really want to go there but there's nothing in the Army that interests me." The SA and the service go hand in hand and should be considered that way -- at least IMHO.
 
To be honest when our son had options I counseled him to think about the majors, the career path, the backup options to dream career paths, the potential lifestyle of active duty, and the duty station options.

That was solid advice.

Now, with him three years in, I might still give the same advice. But I might also add that if you don’t love the “academy” you are living and breathing, you might not choose to sign for the years beyond the initial ‘try on phase’.

There’s a lot to think about and unpack. And it is different for each applicant.
 
Back
Top