<p>What would be a good route to take? I could go to one of the maritime academies to start, but I'm worried that they would not give me a real college experience. </p>
<p>If I were to go into the navy or another branch of the military first, I may not be able to get much funding. I cannot apply for NROTC as I am in a middle college program, where I take community college and high school classes and will graduate with 60 college units which makes me ineligible.</p>
<p>Any advice on schooling, financial aid, experience, etc?</p>
<p>You can’t always get everything you want. If you want to be a ship captain, maritime academies are probably the way to go. Sacrificing the “real college experience,” whatever that may be, could be a choice you have to make.</p>
<p>Also, I believe there is a two-year junior transfer NROTC option.</p>
<p>You are going to have to start working towards getting a Captains license; any vessel, any waters. That is not an easy thing to do. Most ships are foreign flagged and hire foreign nationals for crew. Start out in Coast Guard or Merchant Marine maybe. The hard and time consuming thing is going to be working your way up onto the bridge; maritime business is very hierarchical; they want you to put your time in in the engine room and other areas before you get on the bridge.</p>