I am a junior in high school and trying to figure out what academy would be right for me. As of right now I am at a tie between SUNY, Cal, and Texas A&M. How is Texas respected in the maritime industury in comparison to the other schools because it is not really discussed?
I’m sure among other Academy graduates, some schools “rate” better than others. As far as reputations in the industry, it is not what school you attended but your performance as an individual that counts. Any of the schools will get you the license; my advice would be to base your decision on 4 things: degree plans, location, budget, and most important - fun factor.
Right now Texas is the only school without their own training ship. They split their training cruises between Cal and Maine. I haven’t had to deal with the texas cadets yet but I haven’t heard much good about them.
Like Captmike said, it really depends on you. I have worked with alot of Texas grads just out of school, some were outstanding, others were terrible. All were well educated and knowledgable but it was their work ethics that set them apart.
good luck
Like said before, I’ve worked with good and bad from every school (Even KPer’s believe it or not! -good ones I mean-)
Visit the schools, they shepherd you around pretty good, show off the good stuff, down play the bad (keep that in mind if at one of the schools they seem to make a point of skipping something important on campus, like the gym or the mess deck). Talk to the student guide, or any other students you can, filter what they say, like a olympic judge, throw out the high and low scores, average the rest…
Like captain mike said compare the academic programs, all will get you a license, but what else can you learn? what kind of electives and minors are available? One interesting thing, one school I attended, when they saw my HS transcripts they started pushing me to enroll, GUARANTEED acceptance. Now I was your average B student, not your Ivy League applier like some of my friends. It actually turned me off to that school if my grades, as they were, were good enough for that treatment. Made me think, “what are the academics here like?”
Cost is ALWAYS a factor, you don’t want to be paying for your schooling still in 40 years…
Location; do you like the big city? better do if you go to SUNY. You will be living there for 4 years, so no matter where you go, make sure you can deal with it. Students (mainly city people) have been known to quit Maine Maritime because they couldn’t stand the “isolation.”
Fun: what kind of clubs, sports, programs do they have that your interested in? what is available in the community? The internet being what it is these days, this info isn’t hard to find.
Captmike, hope you don’t mind me expanding on your idea…
[QUOTE=CMA_Decky;10421]Right now Texas is the only school without their own training ship. They split their training cruises between Cal and Maine. I haven’t had to deal with the texas cadets yet but I haven’t heard much good about them.[/QUOTE]
CMA decky,
WHERE are you getting your data?? Texas Clipper III is tied up there now. I deal with her all the time. She used to be USNS Sirius, which I’ll bet most of the ex-navy guys here have gone alongside during their careers.
Thanks for the info it is going to give me something to remeber when I go vist these schools I am going to vist Texas A&M this spring break SUNY this summer and hopefully Cal towards the end of the summer.
[quote=Retired Rat;10445]CMA decky,
WHERE are you getting your data?? Texas Clipper III is tied up there now. I deal with her all the time. She used to be USNS Sirius, which I’ll bet most of the ex-navy guys here have gone alongside during their careers.[/quote]
Both of you are misinformed. Texas does have their own ship however they are unable to sail because it does not meet MARAD standards.
And as for what CMA_Decky thinks he heard of Texas cadets he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Most of them are fun and overall good guys. I should know my father is one and I sailed with them for 2 months on board the Golden Bear.
As for which academy to attend, I would prioritize them by these factors in this order…cost, location, what you want to do with your license.
If you want to sail deep sea I would choose Cal, Sunny, or Maine. If you want to sail in the Gulf on OSV’s or tugs, I’d pick Texas. If you want to sail on the Great Lakes well the choice is Great Lakes Maritime Academy. All offer about the same education. All have numerouse qualified and experienced instructors. It just becomes a personal choice in the end.
Good Luck,
See you on the water
[quote=Retired Rat;10445]CMA decky,
WHERE are you getting your data?? Texas Clipper III is tied up there now. I deal with her all the time. She used to be USNS Sirius, which I’ll bet most of the ex-navy guys here have gone alongside during their careers.[/quote]
I lost track of the succession of Texas Clippers. Unless the Texas Clipper III is newly delivered to Texas, it is not going to be used as a training ship. The ship they had as of about a month ago was no longer inspected (thus cannot get underway). When the school wanted to use it as a dormitory, the Coast Guard OCMI would not allow cadets to be housed on it due to the disrepair and lack of inspection status of, among other things, the fire protection system. They also had concerns over it being used for any training purposes due to its lack of inspection status.
The solution for this was that MARAD will, in the short term, base a ready reserve ship there for (non-underway) training, and in the long term, get a new training ship. I can’t remember which ship it will be, only that it has a steam plant (an issue for Texas with their old motor training ship).
All 3 of the Navigators that I served under, in the Navy, were graduates of T A&M…All 3 were very competent …
One is currently a Master Unltd, with USNS…One is a Navy Captain and Desron Commodore…The other is a multi Millionaire in the oil industry…Not too shabby a career path…
I went to Texas and really enjoyed it.
My reasoning for going there was that i sailed os and ab on ships and the officers that had an impression on me were TMA grads. With any college/university, you get out what you put in… Each school will teach you roughly the same stuff to get your license/degree. Another thing that I really liked about TMA is that you are at a normal small college and you just one of the guys/gals that weres khaki. Also your graduating from Texas A&M UNiversity and have have a huge alumni association. You would be about 45 minutes from the port of houston so you can learn alot about a port works. I worked a longshoreman for a little extra money while I was in school.
I am glad you are considering state maritime colleges. I encourage you to visit our website and Twitter pages to learn about our academy - but, if you decide to not include Massachusetts Maritime Academy in your college search - all of the maritime colleges are great options.
I wish you well,
Fuji
Roy “Fuji” Fulgueras
Director of Admissions
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
1-800-544-3411
FAX 508-830-5077
Fuji@maritime.edu
www.maritime.edu
http://twitter.com/MMAAdmissions
There is one maritime academy that rises above all of the rest.
Maine Maritime Academy!!
All of the Maritime Academies are excellent
Calvin: I hope you will report back after your visits and further investigation into all the schools. Personally, I would favor the most cost-effective school that gets you to your goal. Why pay out of state fees when you don’t have to? That leaves KP and the school that is your regional state maritime college. Apply to both (KP takes a lot of work and if you are entering your senior HS year, get cracking…) Good luck, take lots of calculus, chemistry and physics and get good grades this year, especially in the Fall!
Calvin,
May I ask how your Maritime Academy search is going?
Fuji
thats cause they are all from louisiana.
na im pretty sure that we do just fine when we take over your ship, and we do have one now.
OP pm me if you have any questions about TMA and I will be happy to answer them.
after +23 years in the industry both afloat (deck officer & captain) and O&G logistics work ashore, my observation is that Maine has the best reputation.
Hi Calvin
I would like to suggest best Maritime Academy for you ie. Varren Maritime Academy in Navi Mumbai. Varren Maritime Academy, popularly known as VMA, has been working diligently to provide the best to its students in terms of training, facilities, and infrastructure; giving them an opportunity to explore their potential and emerge into successful sailors that the academy can be proud of.