Have a few miscellaneous questions as a prospective

Hey everyone,

Recently been considering applying for the MT major at CSUM, but I had a few questions.

  1. Since these considerations have come after Nov 30, I have a year before I would apply again. Let’s assume little to no marketable experience in the industry, as I’ve been majoring in history at community college up until this point. I’ve heard MT is an impacted major, so what can I do to increase my chances over the next year?

  2. How true is the ‘Casual Maritime’ cognomen? Has there been any recent administrative changes or movements to alter this?

  3. I’m likely going on a campus tour in a week and a half, anything I should grab/do while there?

  4. Does the course-load prohibit a part-time job? If so, are there any money-making opportunities on campus?

  5. Is McAllister hall any less spartan than Upper? Is McAllister difficult to get into/reserved for seniors?

Thanks for any answers. Hope to see you there.

don’t disparage the place…it is the CSU California Maritime Academy

Not my intention, but sorry. Edited. Meant it endearingly. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against regimentation, but I’d probably join the navy or apply to KP if that’s what I wanted. I know there’s some at CSUM obviously, but not as much as other acadamies, or so I’ve heard.

[QUOTE=Denode;130332]Hey everyone,

Recently been considering applying for the MT major at CSUM, but I had a few questions.

  1. Since these considerations have come after Nov 30, I have a year before I would apply again. Let’s assume little to no marketable experience in the industry, as I’ve been majoring in history at community college up until this point. I’ve heard MT is an impacted major, so what can I do to increase my chances over the next year?

  2. How true is the ‘Casual Maritime’ cognomen? Has there been any recent administrative changes or movements to alter this?

  3. I’m likely going on a campus tour in a week and a half, anything I should grab/do while there?

  4. Does the course-load prohibit a part-time job? If so, are there any money-making opportunities on campus?

  5. Is McAllister hall any less spartan than Upper? Is McAllister difficult to get into/reserved for seniors?

Thanks for any answers. Hope to see you there.[/QUOTE]

  1. get good grades
    2.The commadant resigned a month ago no word on long term replacement yet but yes comparitively we are casual
    3.Ask questions on the tour
  2. not really weekends are usually free
  3. the tour will talk about the dorms but Upper res is freshmen, freshmen license track have one semster on the ship, Sophmore and some juniors take McAlister(super) sophmore juniors and seniors take Lower

Take classes that you can transfer toward your degree…government, history, humanities…etc.
I guess its casual compared to KP or the Military. I used to think it was the most casual until I had a cadet a couple years ago show up to the ship with a full beard. He was from GLMA
I worked about 20 to 30 hours a week while taking engineering classes. Your MT degree should allow even more work time. (sorry just a slight dig there). They also use to hire cadets to work on the ship. Not sure if they still do, but they did pay.
cant answer the hall questions as we only had upper and lower res when I was there. The rooms were pretty much the same but less stairs to get there.

there are plenty of on campus job opportunities. Mail room, mess deck, boat house, golden bear, book store, tour guides, ect. basically most places on campus have work available for cadets.

We have a few Cal Maritime grads where I work, and they seem to have it together. It’s a nice location to go to school so if you have the opportunity, ask good questions, keep an open mind, and good luck.

[QUOTE=catherder;130496]We have a few Cal Maritime grads where I work, and they seem to have it together. It’s a nice location to go to school so if you have the opportunity, ask good questions, keep an open mind, and good luck.[/QUOTE]

I sailed with a few Cal grads “back in the day”, and don’t recall having anything bad to say. . . . . and that is a compliment from me. . . .

So you want to be a Marine Transportation Major.

  1. Talk to Admissions. Ask what you could do. You could still get in for the Fall semester if you are lucky. As far as increasing your chances, contemplate ROTC or the SSO Program and applying to that. It supplements a good chunk of the cost of CMA.

  2. Cal Maritime i would say is by no means casual, you still wear a uniform, you still have grooming standards, you still have to act professional and even dress Formal at times (all easy to do but the biggest thing people whine about) Why do we have to do this? and its because you could be at Maine Maritime right now freezing your ass off in -10° formos. These are the simple things the Acadmey asks of the cadets in exchange to be a Maritime Academy. The Root of it having a long History with depths of tradition that I am slightly sad the academy has lost an appreciation of in recent years. As far as leadership, the Cadets lead the Cadets, as a 4/C cadet, you constantly look towards the 1/C 2/C and 3/C deckies for help and understanding of the subjuect matter. This is where we get casual. We as a whole, intereact a lot more with our upperclass and for bonds with them especially over cruise where they are the ones mentoring you the undersclass and showing you around the ports, and making sure you can make it up the gangway. You also have some pretty cool Captains that have been around the block a few times and have great stories, though not always pertinent to subject matter can make for a great laugh.

  3. Go to Burrito Truck down sonoma, or La tapatia Market (broadway and Tennessee) for a great Burrito.

4)The Course Load is what you make of it. You can have a lot of time, or no time. If you play sports, that eats a little more time. but you can grab a part time or weekend job around the bay area that has a bunch of cadets as deckhands(great Professional Experience). For on Campus, you are only allowed to work 8 hours a week or something like that and it can range from minimum wage to 10 something an hour. Boat House is awesome, and Mr. Muller is a great Supervisor to work for, good luck on getting in though.

  1. Housing, with the influx of enrollment, there is no telling where you could go. You might end up in Lower Res Off Campus, or in the back of a car, but yes, usually Upper res is reserved for Freshmen, but it offers a great view, and good community (if you want it). McAllister may be available, but so is offcampus as wel if you are over 25 or a Veteran.

If you have any questions, dont hesitiate to ask.

Oh man the roach coach on Sonoma and Ohio? Was the best. Carne Asada burrito please. Of course back then the food at the school sucked. I went back a couple years ago and ate in the chow hall it was much better than before. I bet now with the new hall it’s even better

[QUOTE=brjones;131557]Oh man the roach coach on Sonoma and Ohio? Was the best. Carne Asada burrito please. Of course back then the food at the school sucked. I went back a couple years ago and ate in the chow hall it was much better than before. I bet now with the new hall it’s even better[/QUOTE]
The food was better last year… they serve the same thing every night.
We have already sent out acceptance letters so no they wont let you in this year… go take a math and english cource at a cc and apply as a lower division transfer.
We are casual in the way that we do not have PT and we dont march in formation from class to class.

When I was there the only thing worth eating was biscuits and gravy Wednesday and Mom’s deserts everyday. Last time I did some work on the Bear, they had a pizza bar, sandwich bar and the food was 10 times better. Still though roach coach, Hop Hing’s and an occasion pizza pirate are always awesome