After lurking around these forums for a while, I’m finally going to post my own situation.

(Sorry for the wall of text I just spent like an hour and a half on this. Very confused, if you can’t tell)

I’m at the time where I really need to decide what I’m going to do for a career. There’s really no competition on what I want to do for work- be a pilot at an airline. It’s really the only career I’ve ever wanted, to be completely honest. But I’ve always been looking way too far ahead- like what kind of plane I would want to fly, with which airline. I now realize that I need to look into my training.

So I’ve narrowed it down to five “schools”. ATP, Sevenair, Embry Riddle, Cadet Programs, or Independent Training.

My first option is ATP, who I’ve read a lot about on this forum and others. They seem really great for getting all your licenses quickly (my ideal path, honestly. I have no patience, which is a problem).

Next is Sevenair. Not sure if most of you have even heard of them. They are a training school in Portugal, who can get you from nothing, up to 500 hours with a frozen ATPL. They accept applicants from ages 17. I emailed them, asking if they take students from the US, and they told me that all their classes are in English, and that they can help me get a study Visa. The only downside to this school is that I’ll have a European licesnse.

And now, the infamous, Embry Riddle. They seem pretty great as well, I can get a bachelors degree, and get my
flight training at the same time. The problems are that I’ve read that the flight training isn’t as good, because it’s stretched out so long, you forget things. Also there are conflicting opinions on if a degree is even needed to be an airline pilot. Some say that it’s a good fallback, some say it’s necessary in order to go to some of the better airlines, and some say it’s just a waste of time and flight hours are all that matters.. so yeah, even more confusion.

Then, there are cadet programs. JetBlue seems good, but it takes FOR EVER. It’s five years long I think. And then I’m sure I would be locked into the company for at least another 5. AA is about the same, from what I’ve seen on their site. But, there’s also some good looking cadet programs in Asia, Scoot has a good one, I believe. So I’m not really sure if one of these is a good idea in the first place.

Lastly, there is independent training. There are tons of places to train here in LA, so that might be a better option than all of these others. Again, I don’t know.

I could also combine standard non- aviation college with independent training or ATP. I’ve also looked at military but the minimum service time is 8 years, right? That’s too long for me.

Thank you, if you read all this. I just really need help narrowing down my options, and who better to ask, than people in the industry? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.