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
Have had the pleasure of mentoring a young Amish man from Indiana who decided he wanted to be a pilot. He was educated to the eighth grade level, customary in Amish order and became a carpenter. As he obtained his ratings, we were under the assumption he needed a HS diploma or GED for the ATP. He did study hard and obtained a GED.
He is a very hard worker, super contentious and polite. The next step was to get to an AA wholly owned, to get the flow as we were not sure how long it would take to get the college degree. He has decided to get that degree. He is presently at one of the wholly owned, PSA, progressing very well. He recently told me his mother apologized for taking him out of school, as she realized it was a huge obstacle for him to later overcome. But it was simply how life was conducted in his order of religion.
So, obstacles can be overcome if one puts time and effort in.