Originally Posted by
SonicFlyer
If I were advising a kid who wanted to be a pilot, I would tell them this:
1- get your ratings ASAP and start building hours in a 135 position.
2- start working on an inexpensive online degree in your free time... ideally something diverse as a fall back in case you lose your medical or don't want to fly (I highly recommend finance because it is useful and versatile)
3- get your ATP at age 23
4- by then you may have enough hours to bypass the regionals all together, or at least your stay at the regionals won't be very long.
Ratings first, degree second
Not unreasonable in today's market. But if it were my kid, I might feel bad telling them to skip the undergrad campus experience.
Also 135 is not going to be quite as competitive for the better majors as regional time.