Lets not write off the State Maritime Academy's. Compete against even fewer people for flight slots, and if you get cold feet, no commitment until after commissioning.
R/
Joe
Cal Maritime 2009
But at least at KP you'll learn the proper use of apostrophies.. *Academies.. lol
Couldn't resist, Joe
Altuc, my GPA out of KP was about a 3.1 and I graduated cum laude, believe it or not. I wouldn't go so far as to say we were all dumb-asses, but the place is rather hard because of all the classes they compress in an acedemic year to make room for the sea year. It'll keep you busy. Joe is right though. The state maritime schools will not incur a commitment until after graduating, but you're paying out of pocket if I am not mistaken. Pick your poison... relatively inexpensive but requires selection and a commitment if you drop out (KP).. or pay a bunch but you're somewhat flexible in case you change your mind. I'll be honest.. i put all my eggs in one basket.. I was either going to make it or not.
I don't think there was too much competition for flight slots at KP.. everyone who wanted one got one, but that was 10 years ago. I don't know if the state schools candidates for flight come from a different pool of people than KP, so I can't say if KP and state guys are competing per se... hope that makes sense. If it doesn't, don't worry about it. Just don't suck and you'll be fine!