Bill0510

I thought I would venture over to the friendlier side of town and ask a question.

My up and coming son has started asking about Navy alternatives, i.e the Coast Guard. [Since you got a much better movie--The Guardian--than we did.]

A couple of questions [well, really three, maybe four].

Are there Coast Guard ROTC programs?
If I recall correctly, there is no congressional nomination needed for CGA?
Since I am feeling lazy at the moment, can you direct me to or provide academic statistics of some sort to compare with USNA?
Educational emphasis? Engineering, Oceanography, etc?

wanabuscgamom

Welcome to our friendlier puddle! "The Guardian" is a great movie, isn't it??? Saw it 2x in theater and rented DVD last Friday.

Your questions sound like we'll have to get The Boss and The Commissioner to jump in...

I do know that your recallection is correct...NO MOC nomination required for USCGA.

Bossf51

Hey Bill great to see you over here. Let's see,

1. No Coast Guard ROTC program per se. ROTC grads and other college graduates can come there for OCS which is 17 weeks to commission.

2. No Congressional appointment needed.

3. Not sure what you mean by academic stats. For entrance? The average SAT score is about 1280.

4. There are a variety of majors including E.E., C.E. M.E., Marine and Environmental Science, Finance, Government, etc.

If you have more questions post here or PM me.

Bill0510

Interesting . . . I found this information.

The College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) is a scholarship program for college sophomores. This program provides students with valuable leadership, management, law enforcement, navigation and marine science skills and training. It also provides full payment of school tuition, fees, textbooks, a salary, medical insurance and other benefits during a student's junior and senior year of college. The CSPI program guarantees training at Officer Candidate School (OCS) upon successful completion of all program requirements.

Each student is expected to complete his/her degree and all Coast Guard training requirements. Following the completion of OCS and commission as a Coast Guard officer, each student will be required to serve on active duty (full time) as an officer for 3 years.


Benefits:

Full tuition, books and fees paid for two years
Monthly salary of approximately $2,000
Medical and Life Insurance
30 days paid vacation per year
Leadership training

Key Dates:


Application Eligibility Requirements:


Score a 1000 on the SAT, 1100 on the SAT I, 23 on the ACT, or ASVAB GT of 109 or higher
Be between 21 and 26 years of age at the time of your college graduation
Must be a sophomore or junior (with at least 60 college credits completed toward your degree)
Enrolled in a four-year degree program at an approved institution with a minimum 25% minority population
Meet all physical requirements for a Coast Guard Commission
Maintain a GPA of 2.5 or better
Be a U.S. Citizen

Bossf51

Yep good catch. I forgot about that one. Good program which I think is aimed at getting more diversity in the CG.

Bill0510

That's us . . . diverse!

Bill0510

All the pieces fit, now we just need to convince [?] our 16-year old son who doesn't know what he want to do that he is one of the pieces!

Bossf51

Ha ha good ones Bill...

heartcross

Cal Maritime has some interesting options:

http://www.csum.edu/Military/MilitaryOptions.asp

Look at the MMR part too.

NorthernCalMother

Bill, son used US News stat's to compare USCGA and USNA when he was looking @ options (he's @ NAPS now). While many of us aren't crazy about rankings like US News, their format does offer an apples-to-apples comparison. Here's their current comparison:

USCGA USNA
Total Undergraduates 1,012 4,422
Setting suburban urban
Academics
Student-to-faculty ratio 9/1 8/1
Classes with under 20 students 63% 52%
Classes with 50+ students 0% 0%
Graduation rate* 69% 86%
Admissions:
Selectivity more selective more selective
Acceptance rate 26% 13%
Number of applicants 1,597 11,259
Average high school GPA 3.7 N/A
SAT/ACT (25/75 percentile) 1210-1370 1190-1380
Student Satisfaction:
Freshman retention rate 86% 96%
Alumni giving rate 49% 24%
Student Body:
Diversity*** no yes

In son's case, USNA was more selective than CGA. He was turned down INSTANTLY for SS @ USNA, entered the pool for AIM and wasn't selected; he was offered NAPS by USNA and was an alternate for USCGA. (His profile: great grades, classes, ec's, leadership, sports; not-so-great SATs.)

Again, you can argue w/ details above (I see a couple I question) but know they are somewhat valid for comparison purposes. Hope this is helpful.

rjrzoom57

“…..US News, their format does offer an apples-to-apples comparison.” No actually it doesn’t. When it comes to selectivity it’s not even close. US News reports the data that is submitted by the college in question. Unless you know with certainty where along the admissions pipeline in terms of what point does a potential student become a bona fide applicant you cannot possible make those kinds of comparisons. This is an area that is used and abused by the Ivy league to trumpet their high level of selectivity. Problem is I am willing to bet a significant portion of the kids called applicants never completed the application process and may have done nothing more than fill out a card asking for information about the college.

The CGA doesn’t have 1597 applicants, that is a filtered figure that represents applicants that have been filtered down to the point of consideration. The CGA typically has more than 4000 applicants in any given year. Take a look at the USNA data below and you can see the applicant progression. Depending on where you pull the gross applicant figure you can manipulate the selectivity ranking of the school. Since there is no apparent reporting standard, the US News ranking system penalizes colleges that are correctly representing their admissions program and rewarding those that used inflated or questionable data.

As an aside my son has applied to both the CGA and the USNA, they both offer great programs and are incredibly demanding to get into.

Typical USNA Class

Applicants 12,000
Candidates 9,700
Nominations 6,000
Cases Considered 4,700
Scholastically Qualified 2,900
Fully Qualified w/Nom 1,900
Offers of Appointment 1,500

Admitted 1,200

Bossf51

This calls to mind the 50,000 apply, 1200 are taken from that "famous" movie.


Let's not get into comparing the schools, that's not what this thread is about. Both have much to offer. Go Coast Guard, Go Navy.

Bill0510

The applicant number did seem a bit out of whack. RJR is most likely correct in that the reported number reflects different stages of the process.

Boss. 16-year old is now seriously looking at Coast Guard. At least he went and got a CG brochure and wants to talk to a recruiter. With recent improvements in grades, etc., he may even have a chance at the Academy.
He even asked older brother [some on this thread may not be aware that older brother is a youngster at USNA] what he thinks about CG. Brother actually thought it could be a good move; that, generally, the enlisted ranks of CG may be [how do you communicate what he was trying to say?] easier to work with than some enlisted ranks of the Navy. [Might be somewhat similar to saying that enlisted ranks of Navy might be easier to work with than enlisted ranks of Army.] That is, since fewer people seem to be aware of the CG, those who enlist are somewhat more committed to the CG mission.

I was surprised at how close the academic numbers were. Older son originally wanted to attend the CGA when he thought he wanted to fly helicopters and rescue people. [Of course, now, his thinking is jets.] I think his decission came down to a difference in mission and a greater availability of degrees, etc.

Anyway, we'll see how this unfolds through the next year.

Bossf51

Interesting stuff Bill. The CG as a service has one of the highest reenlistment rates, also the highest percentage of academy grads staying in after their five year initial hitch.

The humanitarian aspect of the service also appealed to my son. The CG is a small service but it is like family. Same with the Academy itself. That too is a big part of the appeal.

Also in that USNWR report, I question the thing about diversity. CGA has the highest percentage of women of all the academies and has made great strides in getting more minority students. I don't like the "scoreboard" aspect of the college admissions process these kinds of articles have engendered.

BTW I know personally of several cadets whose dads are USNA grads, including two the crew team with my son.

NorthernCalMother

I thought the small class size and high retention rates @ both places were the interesting parts for potential applicants. I'm also impressed by how generous CGA alum seem to be -- that speaks to a great experience.