Originally Posted by
RAdler
I'm a senior from Dallas, TX, have my PPL, and am strongly considering UND or Purdue. I took visits to both schools and really liked the vibe. I met with students and instructors from UND and heard great things about both programs. I know many pilots strongly discouraged getting an aviation degree, but that's what I really want to do. The good news for me is that UND and Purdue are being generous with scholarship for me and I can afford the training. Anybody on here from UND or Purdue have advice? Thanks in advance.
Here's the thing, no doubt ALL of these universities are telling you that you have to get INTO THE MARKET or your degree and flying RIGHT NOW. There will NEVER EVER be a better time, the PILOT SHORTAGE is right around the corner, heck it's starting right now, you NEED to get into their aviation science program to reap the benefits of spending $150K+ to save a few thousand on experience before you can get your ATP and spend more money (or lose more money as you start working for less as you earned as a CFI when you take that first regional job).
These institutions want your money. It's not that they don't try to offer a good product or try really hard to give you a good education, but the rest of the world deems it worthless and you aren't going to start in a 747-400 out of school, so all those classes they spent teaching you about them were a waste. Most of the people I went to school with have been stuck at the regional jobs for the last 7-10 years. These jobs do not pay off or pay down the student loans.
It is far better to get a degree other than aviation science in something you like. I like plenty of things outside of aviation, even though I love aviation. I could do geology, vulcanology, medicine, engineering, all sorts of things that would be fun IMO, and then you got something besides that one-shot deal that is known as a pilot career.
If you *still* think it's a good idea to go to one of these places, ask them where their graduates are right out of school. Ask them where they are in two years. Ask them to provide you with names of recent grads that you can contact. Ask them how long it's taken for people to "flow" from that rape air to jet blue program (afaik, no one has made it yet, but I could be wrong, there might be a few finally, it's taken them years though, 5-7 I believe, not counting how long those people worked previously, there are a lot of people in those pipelines vying for those jobs). Make the school accountable, don't sit around and let them feed you crap about how you can finance it, how it might pay off, how great it's "gunna be", make them SHOW YOU how it IS. Then when they can't show how you are able to pay back your loans right out of school, tell them how that sounds.
A college degree is an investment. It shouldn't be a one-way path to indentured servitude, but that's exactly what these places are making it.