College Credits and Maritime Academy

[AtomicPhil]

Well I have been reading some topics about maritime schools and I am currently looking up on Suny Maritime Academy since from what ive read that they see floridians as in-state. Well I wanted to know if i can use college credits towards suny or any other academies or the S.I.U schools, or is there a possibility that i can take a semester in increments instead of going the whole few years they require and still work and upgrade from what ive learned? I saw in the suny site that they do accept credits. but my point is to make things go quicker but dont want to be in school for so long.

[AtomicPhil]

Oh dam havent slept over 24 hours...... trying to focus, ok the department im going for is engineering any advice what schools is best and what can help me before going in the school?

[NAUTICART]

Oh dam havent slept over 24 hours...... trying to focus, .............................

I'll type it again..... Drink some milk and get off the 'puter.

[Capt. Phoenix]

Most of an academies approvals require graduation from the school to get anything. Lifeboatman is the only exception. General education credits will transfer; like english, writing, math, physics, etc. It is not unheard of for people to finish in three years with prior school. If you want to be an engineer take calculus, physics, statics, dynamics, and english classes elsewhere.

(I can't comment more specifically without seeing the classes required by SUNY. Look through those and it should be obvious which ones can be taken elsewhere.)

[Third Coast]

TMA also accepts out of staters as in staters and you wont have to live in the cold with all the yanks. they also accept transfer credits. although im a deckie i got out SUPER fast.

[wmoser]

I transferred a lot of credits in when I went to Maine. It was almost all of my humanities and general electives. It is up to the school you are transferring to what they'll accept for what, so try to talk to the school where you want to end up. For example, a basic engineering class, statics, may not be called the same every place or may be calculus based or not. Trying to transfer in a non-calculus based into a program that requires calculus based probably won't work. A course guide with descriptions from both schools will help the registrar decide what's equivalent. I've also appealed to engineering profs before by showing my work from the other school, to show classes were equivalent and they've gone to bat for me with the registrar. I've sat through a lot of college pitches where they try to sell you that their credits are accepted anywhere and while that may be true under accreditation rules, they may only be accepted as general education credits and you may have to essentially repeat the class again. Make sure to get everything you can in writing and save it. It sucks to be a senior and told you can't graduate because they lost the slip of paper where they said they would accept a transfer class. It almost happened to me but I was able to produce my copy of the paper of which classes I was transferring in were accepted for equivalent classes.
One other consideration is that when you go to a maritime academy, everyone goes through indoct. When I got to school, I spent all my none class time with my indoct class, polishing boots, standing around being counted, etc. but was in classes with sophomores, junior and seniors. Most the time it doesn't matter but some things like study groups may be harder to form. I'd recommend going right through in the academy if you are able to. Student loans get a bad rap but there's a big difference between federal loans and private loans. Do some research until you're certain you know the difference and talk to the financial aid and admissions office at the academys. They're used to dealing with this sort of thing all the time.
Edited: Fixed some grammar, spelling, and run-on sentances.

[wmoser]

Also as far as work and upgrade while in school; school seatime is only good for the program you are enrolled in. If you drop out last semester senior year, you can't roll your school cruise, cadet/commercial cruises, watches, and misc class seatime in towards an AB or QMED. It is essentially lost unless you complete the program.

[cmakin]

I am not sure about SUNY, but at USMMA, you need to go through the four year program. I understand that you can be given credit for equivalent classes (Moser, I hope that English wasn't one of the classes you got credit for), but still need to spent the four years at school, including the cadet shipping. As far as the state schools, there may be a federal requirement in the CFR as far as time spent in school.

[Matthew Stopha]

I am looking to change my profession and want to get working on Ships and or Yachts. Can someone point me to a list of occupations and the requirements for each? also thinking about an Academy. Any suggestions? I am from the USA.

Thanks in advance for your help.