I am a High School Student looking at academies. I live in Michigan, so am looking heavily at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, however I do not see it talked about so I question it’s reputation. How is it viewed in relation to the other academies? Thank you.
from what i have heard it is very casual up until recently atleast they only got a an associates degree but i believe its a bachelors now. They get great lakes pilotage which takes a lot more work their senior year but they can also go deep sea. you should go down to maritime colleges with this most of the info is there and everyone here will destroy you for not using the search function
GLMA has been off the radar for so long because it is such a small school. For many years the graduating classes were around 20. Now that enrollment is up and graduation rates are at all time highs( in the mid 40s/year) GLMA is starting to be known in the Industry outside the Great Lakes. I enjoyed my time at GLMA and like any school what you put into it affects what you get out of it. I have sailed with officers from all the academies and I’ll put my GLMA education right alongside their’s. Doing two commercial projects will give to you a leg up on the other academies that only do just one commercial cruise. Doing sea time on the lakes and writing the pilotage will make you visualize a lot more and understand piloting, wether you are the mate/first class pilot on the lakes or you step aboard as 3rd mate and are ringing up engine orders for the pilot and keeping the bell book up. GLMA offers a Bachelors now and you will graduate with a 3rd Mate Oceans, First Class Pilot- Great Lakes, ECDIS, Gmdss, and a lot will get their tankerman PIC - (DL). You should pay a visit to all the academies you are considering and definitely do not write off GLMA. It may have been an unknown school at one point, but the times have changed. I graduated over two years ago and it was the best decision of my life, I just wish I had known about it right out of high school instead of 6 years later. Good luck.
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[QUOTE=GLMASailor;181703]GLMA has been off the radar for so long because it is such a small school. For many years the graduating classes were around 20. Now that enrollment is up and graduation rates are at all time highs( in the mid 40s/year) GLMA is starting to be known in the Industry outside the Great Lakes. I enjoyed my time at GLMA and like any school what you put into it affects what you get out of it. I have sailed with officers from all the academies and I’ll put my GLMA education right alongside their’s. Doing two commercial projects will give to you a leg up on the other academies that only do just one commercial cruise. Doing sea time on the lakes and writing the pilotage will make you visualize a lot more and understand piloting, wether you are the mate/first class pilot on the lakes or you step aboard as 3rd mate and are ringing up engine orders for the pilot and keeping the bell book up. GLMA offers a Bachelors now and you will graduate with a 3rd Mate Oceans, First Class Pilot- Great Lakes, ECDIS, Gmdss, and a lot will get their tankerman PIC - (DL). You should pay a visit to all the academies you are considering and definitely do not write off GLMA. It may have been an unknown school at one point, but the times have changed. I graduated over two years ago and it was the best decision of my life, I just wish I had known about it right out of high school instead of 6 years later. Good luck.[/QUOTE]
How is the engineering program at GLMA?
[QUOTE=GLMASailor;181703] ECDIS, Gmdss, and a lot will get their tankerman PIC - (DL).[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the insight. I do not know what these are, or (just as importantly) how common they are for other academies to graduate with.
[QUOTE=cmakin;181734]How is the engineering program at GLMA?[/QUOTE]
I sailed with an engineer from GLMA years ago. I would sail with him again any day.
I’ve also sailed with a few mates and engineers from GLMA. Would be a pleasure to work with them again. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but their graduates are also much less cliquey than the east coast schools.
I graduated from the engineering program last year. Overall I say it’s pretty good. I definitely hold my own against graduates from other schools. There are definitely some major differences between Great Lakes and the other schools though. Great Lakes is small, I graduated with about 15 engineers, and I had only two instructors for engineering related classes the entire time I was there. At times it felt like a one room school house, most of my classes were held in one specific room. The pro to that was you were engaged the entire time, discussions and interactions were happening every day in every class. Both of my instructors were great, seasoned mariners who could relate the topics directly back to shipboard applications via a sea story. I’ve heard this is a weak point at other academies, apparently their electrical classes are usually taught by a guy who is an electrical engineer with zero maritime experience and often times English is a second language.
There are weak points to Great Lakes though. Because all my classes were small and related directly to shipboard engineering, I don’t know how I’d fare on a shoreside job or at grad school where a more generalized education would probably be more helpful. I remember hearing a statistic that like 80% of GLMA graduates are still sailing after 5 years, whereas the other academies it’s less than 50%. I have a suspicion that may be due to a lack of opportunities rather than deep and abiding love for going to sea.
That being said, whatever academy an engineering student chooses, I would highly recommend trying to get on one of the last remaining steamers on the Great Lakes as a sea project. Those ships are a great learning platform for the engineer, not to mention you have guys that have sailed on those specific ships for the last 20-30 years. I’ve never met a mariner who loved/took ownership of their vessel more than those guys, and in a few years those ships will be converted and those sailors will retire.
I have been getting a few 3AE from there the last few years and most have been top notch. They all have had a pretty good work ethic.
Same here, I’ve worked with 3 engineers from there in the last few years. All three were very sharp and had a great attitude about their job.
[QUOTE=Navy2MSC;181747]I graduated from the engineering program last year. Overall I say it’s pretty good. I definitely hold my own against graduates from other schools. There are definitely some major differences between Great Lakes and the other schools though. Great Lakes is small, I graduated with about 15 engineers, and I had only two instructors for engineering related classes the entire time I was there. At times it felt like a one room school house, most of my classes were held in one specific room. The pro to that was you were engaged the entire time, discussions and interactions were happening every day in every class. Both of my instructors were great, seasoned mariners who could relate the topics directly back to shipboard applications via a sea story. I’ve heard this is a weak point at other academies, apparently their electrical classes are usually taught by a guy who is an electrical engineer with zero maritime experience and often times English is a second language.
There are weak points to Great Lakes though. Because all my classes were small and related directly to shipboard engineering, I don’t know how I’d fare on a shoreside job or at grad school where a more generalized education would probably be more helpful. I remember hearing a statistic that like 80% of GLMA graduates are still sailing after 5 years, whereas the other academies it’s less than 50%. I have a suspicion that may be due to a lack of opportunities rather than deep and abiding love for going to sea.
That being said, whatever academy an engineering student chooses, I would highly recommend trying to get on one of the last remaining steamers on the Great Lakes as a sea project. Those ships are a great learning platform for the engineer, not to mention you have guys that have sailed on those specific ships for the last 20-30 years. I’ve never met a mariner who loved/took ownership of their vessel more than those guys, and in a few years those ships will be converted and those sailors will retire.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the insight. I totally agree about a steam plant, too. . . the first six ships I sailed on were steam. Good to hear about the instructors, too.
[QUOTE=cmakin;181734]How is the engineering program at GLMA?[/QUOTE]
As I stated in an earlier post, I have sailed with an engineer from GLMA. Top notch guy and excellent shipmate. GLMA is a good school. They turn out quality graduates just as the other schools do. Perhaps the only criticism or short coming might be is the degree one receives in addition to the 3rds license. It is a BS in Maritime Technology. If one is looking to go ashore, that degree will play 2nd fiddle when compared to the straight up engineering degrees the other schools provide.
[QUOTE=Chief Seadog;181951]As I stated in an earlier post, I have sailed with an engineer from GLMA. Top notch guy and excellent shipmate. GLMA is a good school. They turn out quality graduates just as the other schools do. Perhaps the only criticism or short coming might be is the degree one receives in addition to the 3rds license. It is a BS in Maritime Technology. If one is looking to go ashore, that degree will play 2nd fiddle when compared to the straight up engineering degrees the other schools provide.[/QUOTE]
Unless you’re applying to a design company or a non Maritime engineering firm they probably won’t care. If you did engineering at an academy they probably consider them all the same for most superintendent it port engineer jobs and the like.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;181959]Unless you’re applying to a design company or a non Maritime engineering firm they probably won’t care. If you did engineering at an academy they probably consider them all the same for most superintendent it port engineer jobs and the like.[/QUOTE]
After a few years of experience, the title of the engineering degree is not as important as the experience. The biggest problem could be if one ever desires to become a registered PE, as states often make it arduous for “technology” degrees.