I'll try to elaborate later, but I at least want to caution you about taking career advice from established major airlines pilots...

-EVERYTHING has changed since they got their start in the industry...in fact everything has changed several times.

-Major pilots rarely deal with entry-level or regional pilots, so most are not "current" on what's really going on at our level.

RAA, Delta Connection, ERAU and many other large schools simply charge FAR too much money to deliver the same training you can get at home. They are also prone to exagerate (actually they just lie) about the benefits of their training (there are none) and their graduate's career prospects (the same as anyone else with a commercial pilot's license).

If you really want a big school, ATP doesn't charge the same ripoff fees.

I would STRONGLY recomend going to college (if you haven't already) andd getting your ratings and then a cfi job at your local airport. You could do this while attending college.