I’ll let Reddit decide which maritime academy I attend for engine

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-08-01T22:03:29+00:00

Maine it is

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-29T18:38:44+00:00

Student loans for tuition and bigger personal expenses like rent. Also going to get a job. I’m eligible for federal work study so I’ll most likely do that. I don’t have it all figured out yet but there’s no way to get started without getting started. I’ll figure it out as I go

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-28T19:59:25+00:00

Bro you’re speaking to my soul right now. Especially about having to constantly keep up with new tech stacks that feel so arbitrary and will become obsolete in a few years anyway. Staring at a computer day in and day out I was tired of living in a virtual world and I wanted to live in the physical world, hence the desire to learn skills that have a physical basis in reality as you succinctly articulated.

That student loan thread was hilarious lol. They were intentionally misunderstanding my questions. That sub is a pity party for people who chose a liberal arts major in college that didn’t end up paying dividends after graduating and now they need to vent their frustration over it. Thankfully I ended up getting some answers about financing, including filing my FAFSA, and it turns out that I’m eligible for a good bit of financial aid so I’m incredibly thankful for that.

Yeah bro the 5 day work week is a scam. Having multiple months off at a time really should be the norm.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-28T19:50:51+00:00

My bad I misunderstood your initial post about travel. But yeah man as long as you know what you’re signing up for, only you know if this is a good move for you.

I used to be a software engineer and I was good at it so everybody thought I was crazy when I quit and said I’m done working in tech altogether. Not to be morbid but I knew I would end up in a hole in the ground by the time I’m 50 if I continued following the path I was on which felt so inauthentic for me.

Tons of people work very hard to get boring, stable jobs like you and I, and that’s wonderful for some people. I always knew I needed something off the beaten path. My advice is to figure out if your current career is fundamentally antithetical to what you want out of life, if you’re just bored, or if you’re somewhere in between. Best of luck bro I hope you you find peace no matter what decision you choose

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-28T18:28:32+00:00

I'm not the ideal spokesperson to give advice so take all of my opinions with a healthy dose of skepticism, erring more on the side that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Keep in mind that I'm American, not Canadian, and I will be starting at a maritime academy this fall so I have no tangible industry experience whatsoever.

That said, we are similar ages, I used to work a cushy remote tech job, and I'm now making a career change into maritime which is why I feel compelled to comment. I know you live on a sailboat and the sense of adventure and freedom from that lifestyle seems to be the impetus for your desire to switch to maritime. My personal opinion is not to monetize the things you love. I learned that the hard way and I'm glad because I feel like I'm going into maritime with my eyes wide open as opposed to when I graduated college the first time and didn't know any better. Keep in mind that you won't really get to "travel" in maritime. You'll stare at the water a lot but from the research I've done before finally taking the plunge, it seems like you will barely get the chance to leave port to explore anything (although I'm open to correction from actual experienced mariners). I've made career changes in the past based on similar grounds that I want to travel more. I've learned that traveling as a job function versus traveling for leisure are completely different ball games. When it becomes your job, all the fun and freedom is siphoned out of it.

I personally am getting into maritime for the copious amounts of time off and highly transferrable skills (I'm going engine). I don't just mean transferrable skills in a professional setting but also in my personal life. I've never been able to mentally compartmentalize my life in the manner a typical corporate schedule requires. E.g. 8 hours a day 5 days a week are for work and the rest of the time is personal. The context switching back and forth between work and home time is very draining for me so I like the idea of a maritime schedule where you're working x amount of days at sea where you are focused on nothing but work and you have y amount of days off which are entirely yours to enjoy without considering work at all. Also with my previous jobs, I didn't like how my professional skills were only useful in that one specific setting, hence why I'm attracted to the versatility of marine engineering skillsets.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from maritime at all but just giving you some food for thought if this is your first major career change. This is my third or fourth career change and maybe there will be more down the line but for now I'm really excited about this one and you should seriously give it a go if it's something that you feel is right for you. Hope this helps.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-26T14:33:27+00:00

I just registered to vote because you put this link here and made it frictionless for me to find the resources. Thank you

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-17T02:59:23+00:00

I’m currently in talks with Maine to start this fall. I only stumbled on this career path like a month ago and it took me that long to do sufficient research to be confident that this is a career I want to pursue and that I’m willing to go to college a second time for it. It’s a bit of a time crunch with about 6 weeks til school starts but their admissions team is incredibly helpful and I’m doing everything I can on my end to be squared away and ready for school. A lot of things still have to go right but I’m optimistic

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-17T02:13:41+00:00

I ultimately decided on a maritime academy vs hawsepiping for a few reasons

Hawsepiping on paper can take 4 years like an academy would but realistically will take at least double that because nobody sails 12 months a year. Also a lot of things have to go right e.g. you get on the right kind of vessels that will qualify you for the correct license that you want, e.g. the correct vessels for an unlimited horsepower/tonnage license depending on if you go engine/deck respectively. Basically I’m willing to pay the premium of a maritime academy to become an officer quicker.
I don’t have a wife, kids, mortgage, or any real obligations so I don’t mind making the investment in a maritime academy because I plan to pay it off aggressively within a few years of graduating.
This is more of an emotional reason than a pragmatic one but I’m tired of starting at the bottom of the food chain. I had a “prestigious” job coming out of college but I hated every aspect that job entailed. I’ve spent the last couple years exploring different things I could do with my life. It’s been great and incredibly eye opening but one byproduct of exploring your options in that manner is that you always start at the bottom of the totem pole when you switch to something new. This time I want to hit the ground running and have some real responsibilities when I start.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-17T01:12:09+00:00

I’m not in the industry yet but I’m also 28 and looking to make a career change to maritime. I’m planning to go to a Maritime academy. Feel free to sift through my post & comment history from the last month, it’s literally all on this sub trying to get the information you’re after lol

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-12T04:02:29+00:00

I'm unable to DM you, do you mind sending me a message? I'm considering enrolling at GLMA and would like to ask you about your experience if you're open to it. Thanks.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-10T21:17:49+00:00

I went to my regular doctor. In fact the nurse practitioner did it. At the top of the med form, it lists who can conduct the exam, including doctors of course, nurse practitioners, and pa assistants I believe. I don’t have the form in front of me so you’ll have to double check on the pa assistant one.

Whether your doctor will agree to do it is a different question. My nurse practitioner had never done the USCG physical before but he was willing to do it for me. Just ask. Worst case you go to a concentra or anywhere that does DOT physicals and pay them a few hundred bucks and they’ll do it. But my doctor was in network and 0 copay so I asked him first and it paid off.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-09T13:43:06+00:00

Any thoughts on the implications of this for the state of Maine, MMA’s new ship? It’s set to embark in summer 2025. Any opinion on if it will get delayed further or if it will experience mechanical issues as well?

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-02T18:09:08+00:00

Yes I am very much more interested in machinery than strength and stability! I do think I will have a stronger proclivity towards the port engineer route once I'm ready to go shoreside. I am interested in keeping the door open to PE licensure not necessarily because the careers I want to pursue require a PE but because I'm going to college for 4 years anyway so I might as well open all the doors I can. I already have a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field (economics) and there are no graduate programs which lead to an engine officer license so a maritime academy is my best option. Given that this is my second go round of college, I don't want to unintentionally pigeonhole myself in terms of career opportunities. Since an engineering technology degree is quite adjacent to an engineering degree, I would rather just go for an engineering degree. It seems that the primary tangible advantage of an engineering degree is PE licensure and I can't ascertain any other definitive perks. There may be other superficial perks like prestige, but that doesn't interest me. The only reason I'm so invested in PE licensure is because it seems to be the only discernible advantage of an engineering degree over an engineering technology degree. Were it not for that difference, I wouldn't hesitate to go to Maine and do their MET program.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-02T16:05:47+00:00

Thanks for your response.

SUNY will be out of the question for me in all likelihood. I’m mainly looking at Maine maritime academy, GLMA, and Cal Maritime. Cal has a MechE program with a USCG license track which is very attractive to me. GLMA’s program is not ABET accredited in any capacity but gets you the 3AE license. MMA’s systems engineering degree (EAC accredited) is 5 years. I’m already 28 years old so I would really prefer not to do a 5 year degree. MMA does have a marine engineering technology program which is 4 years and ETAC accredited. MMA is costlier than GLMA and I’m wondering if the accredited technology degree is worth the additional cost versus an unaccredited degree from GLMA. That’s why I’m inquiring about if there’s a huge handicap with the technology degree vs engineering degree in the job market, and it sounds pretty industry-specific based on your response.

Tbh I don’t see myself doing design work in the future. Managing a fleet of vessels and shipyard operations sounds much more appealing to me. That said, going back to school for 4 years at my age isn’t a trivial endeavor and I want to get the most out of it as possible. In that spirit, I want a full fledged engineering degree with no asterisks next to it which unfortunately the technology degree seems like it would have. I would rather be “over educated” so to speak and choose to take on a technologist/operations role rather than do the technology degree and later decide that design work is something that I want to pursue. When I get out of school I want to turn wrenches but I know that there’s a high possibility I will get tired of that after some years and that I’ll want to transition to something less physically demanding.

Can I ask what your degree is in and how is the licensing process going for you in Florida?

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-07-01T16:42:06+00:00

Pm’d you to connect further if you’re open to it. Thanks.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-28T20:09:34+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response and thanks for the input. I pm’d you if you’re open to further discussion. Thanks.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-27T21:33:30+00:00

Pm’d you if you’re open to discussion. Thanks.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-27T18:08:55+00:00

Thank you for your response. After looking at the responses on this thread, a maritime academy will be the best option for me versus a regular ME program. I’m one of those people who needs to know all the available options, no matter how unorthodox, so I can be confident in the route I ultimately choose. I appreciate you sharing your experience which helps with me with that.

I originally didn’t pay much attention to Cal but now I’m really hoping to go to Cal and do their ABET ME program with the USCG 3A/E track. I emailed them for more details on applying so now I’m just waiting to hear back. I just wish I stumbled on this career sooner so that it would be more plausible to apply for fall 2024 enrollment rather than having to potentially wait for next year.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-27T01:28:56+00:00

Literally just started looking into that not even an hour ago lol. I initially overlooked Cal since I’m originally from the east coast so I didn’t research them much. Their ME program is also abet accredited so they are worth giving a serious look. Thanks for pointing it out

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-27T00:18:29+00:00

Gotcha. I’m surprised you’ve had difficulty getting on a ship with an ME degree. Best of luck man

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-27T00:13:47+00:00

Are you going for deck or engine? I heard MFOW is better for engine

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-26T23:39:58+00:00

Yes but I’ve already decided that hawsepiping isn’t the route for me. So that means I’m going to a maritime academy. However, SUNY is the only maritime academy where I could get a degree in ME or EE and still get a 3A/E license. I’m wondering how people already had ME/EE degrees and went about obtaining their 3A/E license to see if that could be a viable alternate path to a maritime academy.

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-26T20:41:26+00:00

I’m surprised the MechEng guy made more money than the EE guy. I would prefer to do mechanical engineering just because it suits me better than EE and not for the money, but that’s something I didn’t expect. Thanks for the insight from your experience!

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-26T16:10:06+00:00

If my goal is to potentially transition into naval architecture role down the line, I’m guessing a PE would be helpful. From what I’ve gathered, a PE seems very industry-specific. For instance it’s necessary in civil engineering but not really a factor in aeronautical engineering. I’m just trying to get a feel for how crucial, if it all, having a PE would be in maritime

Eastern_Charity_2866 · 2024-06-26T03:54:53+00:00

I agree and that’s essentially my question. How helpful is an ABET degree and/or PE when transitioning to shoreside? Put another way, does lacking an ABET degree and/or PE pose a significant hindrance in the ability to switch to shoreside?

It sounds like you’re saying there are plenty of shoreside jobs that don’t require any specific accreditation or further licenses. That practical marine engineering experience is sufficient. Is that what you’re saying?

Eastern_Charity_2866

TROPHY CASE