I’m new to the forum and am interested in attending one of the academies. I’m 36 married and already have a degree from another proffesion. GLMA seems like a friendly place for the non traditional student. Some of what turns me off from the other academies is the regiment. The idea of being yelled at or having to jump off a path as some twenty year old walks by doesn’t appeal to me at this stage of my life. However, I want to do Blue Water sailing more so than Great Lakes sailing. I also want to be very competitive for employment and it seems as though GLMA is viewed as (less) of an Academy than some of the others. Any GLMA folks want to chime in.
[QUOTE=Tugboattim;35839]check with suny’s day student program, allows you to just do the classes and none or not so much of the regiment[/QUOTE]
I’m pretty sure the undergraduate non-regiment program at SUNY Maritime does not lead to a license. The graduate program has an option of being non-regiment and getting the 3rd Mate license.
Unless you’re set on an unlimited tonnage program, you might consider the 500 Ton programs at SUNY Maritime and Maine Maritime. The SUNY program is (I think) part of the cadet regiment, the Maine program is not. The Maine program is 4 years, SUNY Maritime is two (I guess there’s “less” regiment in the sense that it is half as long). In both, you take the same courses as the 3rd Mate program, the only difference is how they get you sea time, in the 500 ton programs it is assignment to commercial vessels of under 1600 GRT (there may be one training ship cruise with the 3rd Mate/3rd AE cadets at SUNY). The Maine program is discussed here:
There are also 500/1600 ton programs at Pacific Maritime Institute and MITAGS.
If you do decide on GLMA, make sure to enroll in the “ocean option” program. That gets you an oceans license and STCW, the “regular” program gets you a near coastal license which limit5 your blue-water employability.
Thanks for the responses. I’m looking into a masters program with 3rd mate license option at Sunny. It has the regiment. Maybe it will add to the experience. If nothing else it’s a right of passage that many have taken…I can respect that.