5 Things You Should Expect Upon Enrolling Into a Maritime School

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About 20% freshmen cadets from maritime schools shift their course after or while in their first year of the school year.

On my own perspective, the main reason of this is because the semi or actual military style of education that one must get through in order to graduate from a maritime school. The strictness of an institution varies, but all has similar rules to follow.

Not to mention, the tuition fee for the BS Marine Transportation and BS Marine Engineering is ridiculously expensive nowadays. Asian Institute of Maritime Studies for example charges P50,000 a semester.

It's a different story though if you're a scholar of the top maritime institutions in the Philippines such as MAAP and PMMA

Anyways, I listed the things you should expect as a maritime student upon enrolling in a maritime school.

1. Proper Haircut

Oh, you think it's just a traditional trim and a little bit of shaving from your side whiskers(patilya)? Well, check out the image. If you're planning to be a long haired model, forget it. You must deal with your short and thin hair for the next 3-4 years of studying and the duration of your job hunting as a cadet

Cadet's Haircut

2. Maritime Uniform(Military like)

The uniform is pretty much identical to the military. It's composed of naval shoes, garrison belt with buckles, slacks, polo with shoulder board and a pershing cap. This may vary from different schools, but the majority are like this.

AIMS Uniform

3. Mostly Male Classmates

Seafaring is known as a men's job because of the heavy work associated with it. Of course women won't likely to choose it. Don't get me wrong this is not discriminating women rather I'm telling a fact. To give you an idea, 40:1 male to female ratio is a good guide. Expect your classmates to be all male or if not a couple or 3 are females.

Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific(MAAP) graduation day

4. Regiment

Unlike a normal college or university, a maritime school has a regiment. A regiment is a small group of people that is composed of the school's regiment staffs(usually military reserves), school officers and the probys(trainees that soon will be the school officers). They enforce the rules and regulations of the school in a military way. Get your muscles ready for some pushups and other exercises as punishments.

AIMS Cadets

5. Cadet Etiquettes

Just like in the military, expect ROTC, NSTP of some sort of training program that will teach you the cadet etiquettes (e.g. ask permission before speaking, ask permission before entering a room, learning when to salute).

MAAP Cadets

There are more things you will encounter upon entering a maritime school, but I assure you this 5 are included. As you can see it differs from the normal college and universities, they don't just focus on the academic side but also the cadet's physical, mental, and behavioral aspects.

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