Originally Posted by freezingflyboy

Thats what I did, a 4 year degree at a normal university (albeit one with a world renown aviation program, the screen name is a clue ) But even if I had not gone that route, there is no reason to rack up the kind of debt these "pilot factories" require. The benefit is just not there to justify the cost.

If you are already in college or most of the way done, go get your comm/multi/inst and then bang out a CFI/CFII/MEI rating. You can do it with significantly less cost than a place like DCA or RAA and you will learn a hell of a lot more. Really get to know the people at the place where you fly, they will be a good start when you are ready for that first flying job. My first flight instructing job was at the flight school I had gotten my private at. Even though I hadn't done any other training with them and only rented from them sporatically, I had a good raport with the owner/chief instructor and when I was looking for a summer job, he helped me out.

And it is not difficult to instruct while going to college because as an instructor you can pretty much make your own schedule. I did 3 semesters of instructing while attending college and was still able to maintain my GPA without any trouble. Plus you'll make more and work less than your friends working retail or fast food

Hope this helps