As of yesterday 19 of the hundreds of freshmen have applied for the reserve program and $32,000 scholarship. There are 16 positions so 3 will be cut…
We have like 40 SSO freshmen alone at our school, and they all obviously want the SIP. Your saying there is only 16 nation wide for the $4000 this semester?
These kids have been raised during war. Theyve also been told how much money theyll make in a few short years. Its understandable there is not much interest in signing up for the military, in any capacity. Also, being non-committal is standard for young people these days.
[QUOTE=Slick Cam;118639]These kids have been raised during war. Theyve also been told how much money theyll make in a few short years. Its understandable there is not much interest in signing up for the military, in any capacity. Also, being non-committal is standard for young people these days.[/QUOTE]
And if anybody has been following the news, theres no end in sight…
[QUOTE=Starboard Ten;118626]As of yesterday 19 of the hundreds of freshmen have applied for the reserve program and $32,000 scholarship. There are 16 positions so 3 will be cut…[/QUOTE]
since you’re spreading this in multiple posts…
the enrollment of CMA for all undergrads is approx 885, and only 2 of their 6 majors are on a specific track for USCG license (and one of those can be adapted by taking an additional 29 hrs course credit), so I don’t think it’s fair to say that “hundreds of freshman starting” is truly applicable to current thread of SSOP “scholarships.” unless CMA has doubled in size since last year, the license track majors are only a portion of your “hundreds” which is probably 230 at best.
the percentage of license track undergrads applying for that money is a lot higher than your 19 out of “hundreds” would suggest.
As of today Cal Maritime has 309 freshmen out of a total student body of 1,030ish…
19 is actually a pretty good number of applicants considering only license track students are able to join. The SSOP program at CMA has grown significantly over the past five years. It’s a shame to have to turn people away now but IMO not a bad thing because there have been some people in the program in the past that relly had no business being there.
Out of approximately 250 license track freshmen, only 16 ended up applying for the Kings Point style Naval Reserve Commission (SSOP). Not sure how many passed the physical training / body fat index requirement.
That’s only 6.4% of potential mates and engineers who are willing to accept a free education ($8,000 per year covers tuition) in return for an opportunity to serve their country in the easiest and safest capacity I’ve ever heard of. As I’ve mentioned before, in the long history dating back to the Korean War, nobody from the Merchant Marine Reserve Programs has ever been activated to do almost anything at all unless they requested to participate.
I find this embarrassing. Sure the industry is booming enough now for everyone to find good work, but it will contract again as all industries do and when it does, having a Navy job always on stand by for you is sweet insurance.
I understand like most everyone that Kings Point should be less funded or eliminated completely but at least those young men and women are accepting their commissions. I even have had a conversation with a Cal Maritime cadet here who said he was wanting to accept the commission when he applied to Kings Point…but when he didn’t pass the physical due to an old administrative issue, he went to Cal Maritime and rejected the same commission and free education. And he is not alone. I believe that many State Academy cadets would have gone to KP had they been accepted… Yet once in the more comfortable and casual positive environment of a State school they let gravity take charge and run the path of least resistance. And there is that peer pressure to focus more on the maritime industry, academics and the better social world that is available without the extra military discipline (or bullshit depending on how you look at it).
Good luck to those in the SSOP. They are making a very smart choice. You will hear from many of your classmates in the future saying that they wish they had taken that path way back when. I was in the program from 1984 until 2006 and enjoyed the networking, training and the way I could ignore it for years then jump back in whenever I wanted to. It led to some great work and money.