anyone ever go to the United States Merchant Marine Acedemy?

My husband is a KP graduate in Engineering, so I'm admittedly a bit biased. This school is the 'silent' sister of the US funded military schools (the other sisters being West Point (Army), Annapolis (Navy), and I will admit that I am not aware of the names of the schools for Marines (do they even have one?) or the Air Force Academy. The graduates of this academy graduate with a degree, an UNLIMITED LICENSE (I'm not sure if the maritime schools do the same, though they might as long as their students have the requisite sea time on the 'big HP' ships to sit for their Third's license), and a commision in the US Naval Reserve (Ensign). While technically you would be required to fulfill your Naval Reserve duty, almost to a one, KPers tend to take care of this requirement by sailing on board US pre-position fleet ships for 2 years; these ships supply our armed forces worldwide (MARAD and MSC). Your degree would be a Bachelors, though the number of credits you would earn would simply be about 10-15 short of a Master's should you decide to continue your education. You will be required to have a year at sea, in which you technically work 'for free' on a working ship, earning the sea time necessary for your license. This is also a way for you to see if you really have the ability and adaptability to work on a ship. This is not a school for sissies, no matter all the KP bashing; you still get dirty in the engine room, you will get seasick working the lines as a deckie, you will be away from home and country for months at a time, and most of the time you will not have free time to take in the sites in foreign ports.

Getting into Kings Point is like getting into West Point - you need a ridiculously high GPA, SAT scores, a recommendation from your congress representative, etc. The classes are relatively small, so the competition is pretty fierce. There is NO tuition (unlike the maritime colleges), your food, housing, uniforms and books are provided by the school; you will need to pay for any personal sundries. The campus is a small one in a beautiful location on the waterfront - to your left you would see the NYC skyline, just across the bay and under the Queensborough bridge you would see SUNY Maritime, which is the state maritime college. The school has a decent sports department though admittedly it's hard to have consistently winning teams if certain members of the team are on ships. If you check the ratings of this school with other colleges (not merchant marine), it ranks really high in caliber (the Academy's ranking in the 2011 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Colleges (North), was 3, http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best... Mind you, this is still a military academy, so you will have 'boot camp', when you're a plebe you will be treated like dirt from your upperclassmen, and you will live a very regimented life while on campus.This is a coed school, though the number of women is small (yet this was the first of the federal academies to admit women, NOT West Point as most people think).

As for the 'hatred' of KPers, while it may have been true in the late '40s when the school was created since many of the early graduates had zero sea experience but tons of reading and were immediately outranking long-time searfarers - this is like saying that West Point graduates are bullied by enlisted (disclosure - my dad was enlisted) - it's simply the type of education that you get.

Many KPers do not actually sail once they graduate - almost the majority of my husband's graduating class were head-hunted right out of school to work in the oil and electric industries since they have the experience to run the plants (at least in the engine side). Those that sail will find that even with union membership, many ship companies prefer KPers (good ol' boy network where they take care of their own, and many KPers will add 'KP plus the year they graduated' after their name when corresponding with each other, or even on correspondence.); several of my husband's ships were almost competely crewed in the licensed/officer side by KPers. Sort of sad when you consider the number of really good qualified non-KPers out there, but business is business.

KP is a DRY school (there, I burst your last big bubble, lol) - you can and will be expelled for positive drugs, alcohol, pretty much any behavior deemed not befitting an officer. The surrounding towns are fairly affluent, so there are several nice rows of restaurants/bars/clubs, and NYC is a trainride away (you can catch a LIRR train to Penn Station once you get into Great Neck).

Before going there I'd make sure you know what you're getting yourself into, career-wise. As a deck major you'll be spending 6-8 months a year at sea, working 12 hour days, every day, for a minimum of five years after graduation. As an engineer you'll have more options. You can also join the military.

In terms of reputation, I'd tend to agree more with the first answer. The problem with that school today is it is mostly populated by rejects from the other academies, which are harder to get into. They have little interest in sailing and graduate with a chip on their shoulder for not having gotten into Annapolis or West Point, and as a result they try to pretend that they're somehow special anyway, and this attitude has tainted the reputation of Kings Pointers in the maritime industry. The students are also told how rich they're going to be when the graduate, and they start to believe it. In reality, sailing today is a middle-class job. The school is defined by a culture of complaining that you would think shouldn't be present with kids getting a free college education. They spend their time moaning about how they don't have the long vacations of civilian colleges, can't drink and party, and have too little free time. They seem to have forgotten that they signed up for all of that. Anyway, there are good, humble graduates out there, but they seem to keep to themselves, all you'll ever run into are the arrogant tools.

To summarize, I refer you to a definition on the Urban Dictionary website, apparently written by a (typical) Kings Pointer.

In school wise, yes, its a great school for learning the trade but from everyone on the water and people in which you will work with later on will most likely have a disliking towards you. The school will teach you the fundamentals but most people that go through the school there have been disliked by a bunch of people just for going there! Since most come out and give a bad rep for the school because of being overly cocky and thinking they know the ins and outs of the whole trade without having any history in it. Not meaning all people that come out of there are cocky but that is what the stereotype of that school has come to be. Sadly. But there are plenty of other Merchant Marine schools in the U.S. to go too! I happen to go to the Texas Maritime Academy in Galveston, Texas but it was the closest for me so it was an easy choice but has been very well to me so far. Plus it is nice to know it is the cheaper in tuition out of the schools in the U.S. but hope all this helps! And what I was saying earlier was just the basic stereotype of the graduates from that school but doesn't mean all of them!