I am a junior in high school. I get top notch grades and one school I'm considering for my future is Cornell University. I do not come from a wealthy family, but my parents are generally supportive of my plans.
I recently made the decision that I was going to take a bit of a risk and strive to become a pilot for a career (because it's what I love). I would like to go to a school where I can get all of my pilot ratings while getting my bachelors. I was considering Illinois (Urbana) and ERAU, although I have all but eliminated ERAU because of testimonials on this site.
My reason for wanting to get my flight training done at a university is that I believe I can get better financial aid in college: utilize my good grades. (This is just a guess of mine, but it makes sense in my head
If this is unlikely, please let me know.) I highly doubt that I would be able to afford going back to some private/small flight school after graduating from college, and doing so in high school is not an option (although I am going to take an introductory lesson to get the feel of it). However, if I get accepted to Cornell, etc., I would try to somehow go to flight school (but I just don't know if I could do this because of money issues, student loans, etc.).
Aside from the obvious advantage of having a top-notch degree in most industries, is an Ivy League degree going to give me an advantage over pilots with lesser degrees in the airline hiring process? For example, am I giving myself a measurable advantage by getting some degree at Cornell and then getting my pilot's license instead of getting my pilot's license while getting a separate degree at Illinois?
And, kind of a random question:
Does anybody know of any site/reference where I can find a list of major universities that have significant aviation programs? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks a log,
MarinerzFAN
Portland, OR