Best maritime school to attend in U.S.- Need opinions/experiences

This is the first I’ve ever heard of anything like that. Can you elaborate?

I would move that significantly higher simply because it’s free.

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The senior cruise is necessary because that’s when you get your STCW assessments signed off. Even the SVO kids have a senior cruise they have to do.

Honestly, I say fondness but… I think the more accurate word in hindsight would be indifference.

Even if the experience didn’t help, it didn’t hurt.

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Maine Maritime Cruise/Labs/Maintenance is 12 guys standing around watching one guy turn a wrench. How much of freshman cruise is spent mopping the main deck passageway? You do get a cadet ship after sophomore year.

The KP cadets always have their signoffs. They need to clean a purifier, tighten valve packing, start a DG, line up a fuel transfer… They get to actually see this stuff and work on it with the engineers. Always seemed like a way better program than going on a training ship.

I think there is a certain level of gaming the system that goes on aboard the training ships as well. They know how to do just enough to get by on them with the staff they’re familiar with, where on commercial ships they’ll get ripped to shreds by their officers if they play games.

The outgoing Provost at SUNY threatened to reinstate engineering cadets who were about to get sent home for cheating on tracings and other exams. They were actually allowed to stay and complete their cruise. Folks like him in the administration see dollar signs on the kids foreheads. The shipping companies don’t need them and could care less if dead weight is kicked off.

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But they are getting the first purpose built training ship.

During last summer’s cruise the ex-commandant taught a VSO class and sign-off on all the kids VSO endorsement training even though the class on the cruise was only 20minutes and didn’t meet the qualifications. Was reported to the CG by professors and the USCG would not issue VSO for the super seniors then all the 2020 seniors had to do the training over a whole weekend. There was several weekends they could sign-up for. Then there some controversy with some sort of vote of confidence for the guy and the provost was at odd with the rest of professors. Lots of professors were/are now leaving or retiring. Then the provost ended up resigning this past year. Last I heard the guy was still working at the school even though he supposedly fraudulently signed-off on training. Then when the 2020 license were issued (very late) they were missing the VSO endorsement and had to be mailed stickers.

Gotcha. On another note, I think VSO should have a sea time requirement and giving it to academy grads with no real experience is ridiculous.

I see that VSO courses privately are around ± $500 and last 3 days.

I don’t remember specific sign offs when I cadet shipped. . . and I didn’t sail on any motor vessels until after school, but I certainly did a lot of menial work, and also was allowed to handle the throttles during maneuvering. . . and typical steamship operational stuff.

Wow: Some of the posted comments bother me. Here are some from an old guy: Maine Maritime: Class 1958. The Regiment took me, a kid from Brooklyn, and taught me to stand straight; take my hat off when in a building; don’t eat with your hat on. It taught me that you had to learn to take orders before you could give them; taught me to salute our flag and our country: allowed me, an immigrant’s kid, to become an Officer in the US Navy, and an Officer on a merchant ship, etc, etc. Established, for me, a love of life long learning and education: BMS; BS; most of an MBA and a JD. If not for MMA, and the hard working people in the State of Maine I met, I probably would have become a cab driver in Brooklyn. (not to demean cab drivers).

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The KP cadets I get have the STCW/OICEW signoffs as part of their sea project. I always tell the cadet to bring their binder down to the ECR. They can work on questions during maneuvers, plus the officers can see what the cadets need for signoffs.

Last Maine cadet had the same exact fucked up binder/questions I had during my time at maine. “What does the fireman do during manuvering?” Was still in the diesels section :roll_eyes:

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I mean it’s really not that hard though. Don’t let anyone onboard without documentation and call the authorities if someone shows up who’s not supposed to be there. Most kids are taught this concept when mommy goes to the store without them for the first time. If the braindead security guards at most US ports can handle this, I think someone with a degree and a license can too.

Great post Condor!. My Dad is a '57 grad from Fort Schuyler and my Uncle (now gone) was a '63 grad from Ft Schuyler- both have a lifelong connection with the school because of exactly the same experiences in school that you are listing- (and had careers in the Navy and Coast Guard followed by careers in manufacturing and shipping respectively). The guys who went to school with them don’t feel constrained by the military aspect of their schooling and don’t seem to have suffered- they had diverse careers- one of Dad’s friends and classmates is a world famous ballet dancer and director- clearly it didn’t affect Edward Villella negatively! Although I went to VMI - and had a career in the Army followed by a career in manufacturing- I have never regretted going to a military college- I learned that success anywhere in the world is about resilience, understanding that there are often much bigger things at stake than just you, that success is a team effort, and that to be a good leader requires that you can take orders you don’t like and understand just what you are asking your people to do, and that if you don’t have personal integrity and the strength of your convictions- you got nada when things are hard. Mass Maritime is running a series of commercials on WBZ in Boston every morning advertising itself as “Massachusetts Leadership Academy”, and is stressing that those are the values it inculcates in its Cadets. So like you- I don’t understand the negativity about the Regiments. Shared values and shared experiences tie you to the place , long after your pet peeve about having a Saturday Morning Inspection is forgotten.

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10 posts were split to a new topic: Leadership and the Maritime Academies

Took the BST and ERM/MEECE/leadership revalidation courses at Maine. They weren’t great. The firefighting revalidation was uniquely terrible. The same powerpoint from 10 years ago with the bullet points repeated. Not much discussion of any recent shipboard fires. Almost no discussion about shipboard fixed systems. No mention of water mist at all. Then you go and train with the Ellsworth FD. They cant wait to play around and show off for the mariners there. You go into a room and spray a burning haybale… One of the Ellsworth FD guys asked the instructor: “Whats the difference between a structure fire and a shipboard fire” After thinking for a bit he simply said: “You use less water fighting a fire on a ship” That’s it!? Thats all he could come up with? I don’t know why this guy is teaching AFF.

They could get any CM who had been sailing to do a better job teaching the class. Of course he would probably make way less money and would have to live nearby.

Actually, Massachusetts Maritime Academy is getting the same ship if I’m not mistaken. They were both comissioned at the same time.

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I’m actually set to attend Massachusetts Maritime in the fall, and from what I’ve seen of the Massachusetts, Maine, and SUNY maritime academies, Massachusetts seems to be a good middle of the road cost-wise, and their facilities seem great. Maine was a little to expensive, but they have a really nice campus. For me it mostly came down to cost, because the cost to return ratio seems about the same with all of them, 1:1.

Look at YouTube Channel. Mass Maritime Experience 777.

Most of the maritime academies produce a good end result, It depends on your effort to get through the things you don’t like about that particular school and focus on the reason you are there in the first place. Regardless of cost wherever, it is pennies in the long run.

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