I am currently looking at maritime academies and Northeast Maritime is the best option for me (geographically speaking and GPA/sat requirements). Myself having limited experience in maritime, would this be possible to become an officer in the merchant marine after graduation?
The schools are for people with no maritime experience, so yes.
The school you are looking at will prepare you for a QMED or AB job, from there you could hawspipe and get a license.
That being said, I would strongly suggest you look into one of the maritime academies. You start with a 3rd’s ticket, more expensive and a bit harder to get into but still do-able, if you live in Mass the cost is about the same.
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Id suggest going to a maritime academy. It really isn’t that hard to get it… speaking from experience as a recent graduate of mass maritime
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In the highly unlikely event that you cannot get into one of the six real maritime academies, you should consider a different career
Northeast Maritime Institute is not a “maritime academy”. There are six state maritime academies and one federal maritime academy. That’s it.
Northeast Maritime is a USCG license prep school that has morphed into some sort of college. I do not know anything about Northeast Maritime, and I certainly wish it well, but it is NOT a maritime academy.
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I have worked with cadets from most of the different academies. Northeast Maritime may work for some but I don’t think you get half the education the others offer judging by the graduates I’ve worked with. You walk out with a 100 ton master 200 mate for 2 years time. I got the same license at Sea School in 2 weeks.
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If worse comes to worse, and can’t get into any of the state academies, at least I should probably be able to get a 100 ton here, even if it does take a while. Thank you.
Take the Bristol Bay fishing job and get a real education. Get paid for it too!
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If you can’t spring the whole 4(+) year experience of one of the state maritime academies, some offer a 2 year associates degree that will result in a 1600T mate’s license. I know SUNY has a degree like that. I went with the 4 year degree and the unlimited license but the 1600T license is sort of a hidden gem.
You can only get the same at Sea School if you already have the sea time to sit for a license.
SUNY Maritime is the only one with a 2-year program for Mate 500/1600 GRT. The Maine Maritime program is 4 years, but they do have a 2-year Mate 200 program GRT.
Apply to all of the state academies. You want to be an officer, but an officer on what? A ship? A tug? And OSV? Make the commitment and go to the state maritime academy you can get into that offers you the best financial offer. Your options will be much greater with a degree and an unlimited license. There is no easy way to get into the wheelhouse in this industry, but the academies will certainly give you the best shot.
NMI is a waste of time. It’s a joke. Go somewhere where they are going to get you what you deserve.
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I just took my lifeboatman course through Northeast Maritime. I cannot speak for the fully in person courses because I did a blended online with one day in person. Over all I think this organization is a scam. Their product is not worth the price they charge. Their online interface for the course is unprofessional and lacks useful content. It fails to address the breadth of course information required to pass the course. It is riddled with typos and apart from a video demonstrating a life raft release, uses branded west marine adds as course content. When I took the course in person I was given the wrong address in the email, then bad directions to find the restroom at the facility, then bad directions to find the building we were actually taking the course in. I got the vibe from the instructor that this is just what he does to fill time between hitches. He managed to turn a full day course into a 3 hour event which I was thankful for because sitting in a basement listening to his sea stories was not what I had paid for. To top it all off, I did not receive my certificate for several months. When I was getting my paperwork together to submit for my upgrade, I emailed them to ask for a copy. Their response was that I had not completed the course because I was wearing headphones during my online exam. Ok, my bad, but when were they going to tell me this?! The software they use for exams does a room check and okays you to start, then at the end told me I passed. Why would I think to go back to that software after completing the course to check if they had revoked their statement that I passed? Overall I found this organization to be a waste of time and money. Go elsewhere if you can.
That’s crazy two years for 1600 ton!? How is that allowed ?