Looking into TMA

Maritime Academy Texas A&M Maritime Academy
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For anyone looking into joining Texas Maritime Academy, I want to give some information about the school.

The school - It’s a small campus, easy to get around but poor parking at times. The corps of cadets which include license option deck/engine and nrotc, stay in three dorm buildings on campus but that could change each year. Some dorms have small kitchenettes and some dont have anything but a bathroom. Cafeteria has been expanded in size. Food is meh. Library can be packed at times and needs expansion. Classrooms are decent in size and equipment, not too much to complain about them.

Training ship - Small, but running. Much better condition than the last ship here. Cruises are limited to the states and mainly in the gulf. As the years go on, I see better and farther ports coming into play. Maintenance is done weekly by licensed option cadets. Watch is scheduled on a monthly basis. Best advice to sail with TMA for training cruises is keep up your grades, because this how they pick who goes and who doesn’t.

Corps of Cadets - Uniforms daily M-F. Formation three times a week in the morning. Rooms are subject to inspection. Marching in the fall semester every so often. There are several companies dividing the cadets up. One company is for older cadets with college degrees, families, military experience, age, etc. Freshmen of course have the biggest restrictions in the corps. They aren’t allowed tvs, have different haircuts, must go to study hall every night excluding fri-sun. A retired USAF Colonel is in charge of the corps followed by an army major and sergeant.

Tips for incomers - learn to put up with bullshit from every angle of the school. It sucks but its only 3-4 years of your life for the opportunity to have a great career. Have and keep good grades. With limited shipping spots on training and commercial cruises, grades are everything to get a spot or be far behind the rest. There are good staff and bad staff but that is going to be anywhere just learn who is who and deal with it in your own way that works. The school has been going through changes in the past few years with staff being the biggest and the training ship following behind. Some change has been for the better and some for the not so good. This article is not intended to bash this school or anyone here only to give you a small insight of how it is here. Good luck!

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This campus is an extension of Texas A&M University, a tier 1 research university. Cadets get degrees from Texas A&M Univeristy, they are full students of the College Station institution, receive Aggie rings, have sports passes to all Aggie sports in College Station, follow the traditions of the main campus. Ranked in the top 10 of extension campuses in the US by US News. Courses outside the Marine Transportation department are taught by first class profs with excellent maritime industry credentials. Offers a minor for cadets in Maritime Business Administration. From what I know, all MARAD academies have cadet corps that are Mickey Mouse - honestly the USCG neesd to reconsider the need for such an organization at the academies. This outpost is supported by a billion dollar plus endowment and has added several significant and modern class buildings in the last few years.

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[QUOTE=mara421tcf;104479]…From what I know, all MARAD academies have cadet corps that are Mickey Mouse - honestly the USCG neesd to reconsider the need for such an organization at the academies. [/QUOTE]

You said it yourself, the Coast Guard doesn’t require a regiment. MARAD does (See 46 CFR 310 et seq.). The Coast Guard will approve programs that don’t have a regiment, e.g. the PMI “workboat cademy” and the (non-regiment) Mate 200 and Mate 500 programs at Maine Maritime.

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Mate 1600 as well at Maine now.

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I recently got my acceptance letter and will probably be attending next year. Are the Corps of Cadets held to any physical standards and how is the gym at TAMUG? Could I get a brief description of what a cadet in the SSO program does from day to day? Just curious. Thanks

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If you will be in the SSO program, you will physically train with other SSO and NROTC cadets two to three times a week as a group. The rest of the corps does not participate in that. Each summer you will most likely have to get a USCG physical in order to sail on your cruises. The gym here at school is ok. There is a variety of equipment to work out but the gym could use an expansion to accommodate the growing campus. I am not in the SSO program so I do not know every detail of their weekly schedule, but most of it is just like the other cadets. Classes everyday, study hall in the evenings, formations during the week, and then additional things that SSO cadets do with the Navy guys here on campus.

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Also for SSO you would have two extra naval science classes to take, “leadership lab” every Friday from 0800 to 1000 for all 4 years, “divo time” if you not in victor company for your first year on sundays from 1800 to 1845, and occasional other crap to deal with. You then do everything the standard License Option person does as well, maintenance, watch, etc.

On the plus side, you may get $4000 per semester out of it.

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Are the Corps of Cadets held to any physical standards? Yes… and it has been the standard ever since the early days, we have more girls pound for pound than any college in Texas!

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[QUOTE=keepwalking;108357]Are the Corps of Cadets held to any physical standards? Yes… and it has been the standard ever since the early days, we have more girls pound for pound than any college in Texas![/QUOTE]

Yes, and you get this cool little thing called a sports pass, and let me tell you, those c-stat girls and fine as hell. You will be going every game day. Not to mention its sec stomping time.

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I know this means nothing because I was not a student there, I only visited once to give a brief lecture to a senior class about our contract with MarAd, but I got a good overall vibe from the staff and students. Everyone was cordial with not a trace of an attitude. It is a small campus indeed, so plan accordingly regarding motor vehicles. You will be a full fledged Aggie, so be proud! Congratulations and good luck to all of you who are heading there.

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Can somebody shed some light into victor company at TMA for me, I am looking into this but I have not gotten many detailed answers?

I would greatly appreciate any insight.

Thank you

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Company for veterans, older cadets past a specified age, previous degree obtained, married or primary care giver to children kind of company. They get breaks on formation attendance and possibly O-Week if I can remember correctly. They still have to wear the uniforms, stand watch, participate in mandated activities, but they aren’t required to live on campus.

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My responses below may seem negative (they are), but overall I enjoyed my time at TMA/TAMUG. The professors are pretty good (and some great), it’s a small campus so you get a lot of opportunities to participate in stuff, and Galveston is a pretty good town for a college (not a “college town”, but they know we’re an important part of their economy). You also have the resources of the main campus if you know to look. TMA/TAMUG has my recommendation.

[QUOTE=leftfoot24;123272]Can somebody shed some light into victor company at TMA for me, I am looking into this but I have not gotten many detailed answers?

I would greatly appreciate any insight.

Thank you[/QUOTE]

It’s the “I don’t give a fuck” company. They don’t. They just want their diploma and license and go get out of there as fast as possible. They don’t care about the football games, traditions, campus activities, or anything that a regular straight-out-of-highschool student does, and are less professional then their non-reg counterparts. To get them to do anything or to show up, you have to threaten them that they’ll have to repeat a semester. They’re the worst thing to happen to the academy since they got rid of Echo company (E-co was for all the engineers, in the last few years they integrated them with the other companies which fucked shit up for the engineers).

[QUOTE=TMAsailor;104398]Food is meh.[/QUOTE]
The food used to be good. Then the lady in charge of the cafeteria got a job up in College Station. She was replaced by another lady who decided to have “textbook, healthy” meals. The quality of the food went down after that.

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E co is back for the engineers. With so many people, they now have A, B, C, D, E, V1, V2 co.

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The food used to be good. Then the lady in charge of the cafeteria got a job up in College Station. She was replaced by another lady who decided to have “textbook, healthy” meals. The quality of the food went down after that.

Yep, even with the new cafeteria, the food has not been great. The sandwich line, salad bar, omelette and skillit station are nice however, but always have long lines. It improved this year as they hired a third party to run it.

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[QUOTE=screwdriver;123366]My responses below may seem negative (they are), but overall I enjoyed my time at TMA/TAMUG. The professors are pretty good (and some great), it’s a small campus so you get a lot of opportunities to participate in stuff, and Galveston is a pretty good town for a college (not a “college town”, but they know we’re an important part of their economy). You also have the resources of the main campus if you know to look. TMA/TAMUG has my recommendation.

It’s the “I don’t give a fuck” company. They don’t. They just want their diploma and license and go get out of there as fast as possible. They don’t care about the football games, traditions, campus activities, or anything that a regular straight-out-of-highschool student does, and are less professional then their non-reg counterparts. To get them to do anything or to show up, you have to threaten them that they’ll have to repeat a semester. They’re the worst thing to happen to the academy since they got rid of Echo company (E-co was for all the engineers, in the last few years they integrated them with the other companies which fucked shit up for the engineers).

The food used to be good. Then the lady in charge of the cafeteria got a job up in College Station. She was replaced by another lady who decided to have “textbook, healthy” meals. The quality of the food went down after that.[/QUOTE]

Anyone reading this post, please excuse Screwdriver here from his ignorance of Victor company. It can be easy to confuse what Victor company is by just observation alone. Victor company consists largely of Veterans…of course there are post grads, some college and others, but many of us are Veterans. We’ve already been in the military…or other things, had to put up with more life experiences than most other cadets in school, and because so, we are in fact more focused on our futures and getting back into the field…anything else can be explained/seen as a distraction. Football games are important to kids, traditions are part of the college experience, but for those of us who’ve been part of the real world for so long, many with kids and/or have held professional positions, these things just don’t seem as important as becoming a licensed Mariner. Much appreciation can be given for these things but many choose to focus on the future, put our heads in the books and soldier on.

To say Victor company is the worst thing that happened to the academy since the riddance of Echo company is a slap in the face to every Veteran in Victor, but rather, we should show respect for those that have sacrificed to allow you to attend this university. Maybe he’s had some sort of negative experience with Victor company, but to be honest, we are here to get our degree and license, to make the best grades as we individually can, to prove ourselves to the many professional Mariners that mentor us, and build an outstanding resume with outstanding skills, which will hopefully impress a potential employer. We are not here to impress other cadets, but I’m sure if you ever ask for ANY help or ANY thing, most Victor will go out of their way to help.

Lastly, I’m sorry to burst yours or any other cadet’s bubbles, but I’ve seen you guys march, your uniforms, your attitude, and listen to you guys talk…you’ve got a long way to go before you can lay judgement on Victor, a soldier, or even another cadet.

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[QUOTE=leftfoot24;123272]Can somebody shed some light into victor company at TMA for me, I am looking into this but I have not gotten many detailed answers?

I would greatly appreciate any insight.

Thank you[/QUOTE]

I know this is a tad late, but here’s my reply:

Victor company is only required to attend morning formation on Wednesday’s…this might or might not change next semester. Very few of us live on campus, many of us have families…and being over 21 living on campus sucks. I’m 30, stayed on campus my first semester and it was not a great experience, mostly because everyone on campus is under 21 and the age gap makes meeting friends very hard…you look around and only see kids, plus it’s very expensive to live in the dorms. The costs are somewhere over $1500 per month, if you want to live alone, which includes the [U]required[/U] meal plan; most of us don’t have parents to foot the bill. We are required to wear uniforms, if you’ve got ribbons, you can wear those too…there are many guys with stacks on their chest that wear them proud. Otherwise, in Victor, we concentrate on our grades, on our own time, and are only required to attend the required formation. If you are over 25, you qualify. If you’ve been in the military, have a child, and I think a wife will work too, you qualify and will be in Victor. You don’t have a choice, you are placed in Victor automatically, so don’t worry about having to apply.

TMA is a great academy, we have great professors, who I see almost as mentors, and staff. I’m not sure what it’s been like in the past but I’m proud to attend currently. Now, please don’t tell anyone…we already have too many students…wink, wink.

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Anyone have any input or graduated from their Masters in Maritime Logistics & Transportation program? I live in WA State, 36 years old, have my Bachelors and have been going back and forth on attending PMI for my 1600 or an Academy to get my 3rd U/L. Seems like the MMLT program may be the best fit for me. Any feedback regarding this program would be great appreciated.

Also, how are the job opportunities for full time students while attending? (waiting tables, etc). Thanks for your time and feedback!

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[QUOTE=DavidLR;152484]Anyone have any input or graduated from their Masters in Maritime Logistics & Transportation program? I live in WA State, 36 years old, have my Bachelors and have been going back and forth on attending PMI for my 1600 or an Academy to get my 3rd U/L. Seems like the MMLT program may be the best fit for me. Any feedback regarding this program would be great appreciated.

Also, how are the job opportunities for full time students while attending? (waiting tables, etc). Thanks for your time and feedback![/QUOTE]

For the 3-year Graduate program with U/L license option, TMA is going to be your least expensive option Amon the maritime academies that offer this program. If it were me, this would be my first consideration. To the extent that you are planning a career at sea, you are not going to be using all the management-logistics coursework. If, on the other hand, you actually want to study business, then I’d advise going for an MBA at real business school, not a maritime academy.

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I am planning a career at sea. Yea, in-state tuition definitely helps! I would prefer to stay in Seattle and attend PMI then test for my U/L after a few years; however, the maritime degree will give me more options if I decide to go shoreside in a decade or so. I look at the current state of the GoM and the more options you have the better you’ll be it seems…

I just wonder how ill afford simple bills while attending the academy. Are there opportunities for part time employment? I’d like to hear students feedback on this.