3rd Mate licensing as a graduate student

Good Evening All,

I am considering applying to the International Transportation Management masters program at SUNY. I will earn my B.S. in management in the fall of next year. I have read up on the program and have a basic understanding of the progression and how it works. I am looking for feedback from anyone who has gone through the licensing track as a graduate student or has knowledge of the program from a student life perspective. I would like to know more about the regiment and how graduate students fit into the whole thing. I am a Coast Guard veteran so I have an idea of how it works but any additional experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

As a grad student you will be basically ignored by the regiment and left to your own devices. You will probably be put in the “Day Student” company, where you only have formation twice a week. As long as you keep a low profile and mostly have your shit together it’s a breeze. Of course nothing is written in stone and sometimes they change stuff like that from year to year, and being in the “Day Student” Company is a “privileging” so there’s never a guarantee they won’t decide to fully integrate you but its extremely highly unlikely.

On top of your graduate coursework you’ll be taking the undergrad level license courses to get fully qualified an all your assessments done and whatnot. You’ll also have to do cruise, during which you’ll have no higher status accorded to you due to being a day student; for MUG cruise you’ll be a MUG. Of course if you bring professionalism and valuable experience with you, then you’ll maintain respect with the upperclassmen and regimental officers so you’ll be treated accordingly.

Thank you for the insight. I kind of figured it was along those lines. As a former Machinery Technician with sea time which from what I hear equates to a QMED rating I definitely bring some experience, however I appreciate the fact that I will be starting over fresh and am willing to keep my mouth shut and my ears open in order to learn their way especially since I would be switching over to deck after spending my entire career in the Coast Guard as a snipe. Do you know if any of the other academies offer a license option for grad students. I have dug around on the the other academies websites and haven’t seen found anything that says yay or nay. Thanks again for the information.

[QUOTE=BTylerXU;169152]Do you know if any of the other academies offer a license option for grad students. I have dug around on the the other academies websites and haven’t seen found anything that says yay or nay. Thanks again for the information.[/QUOTE]
Yes, Texas A&M offers a Master of Maritime Administration and Logistics (with License Option). http://www.tamug.edu/mara/mmal/index.html

As far as the Corp is concerned, you would be put into Victor Company, which is for prior enlisted folks, where you would be in good company. Much like suny’s day student program, you can live off campus, and only have to attend two formations a week, and not worry to much about the regiment stuff. You will do your cruises and attend STCW classes as well.