Originally Posted by
Proximity
It’s a points-based system — once you earn enough points, you’re selected for an interview. A bachelor’s degree is heavily weighted, so it takes a significant amount of leadership and flight experience to offset not having one. Yes, you can get hired without a degree, but traditionally it required thousands of hours of TPIC and some additional qualifications, such as check airman, chief pilot, or similar roles, to make up for the absence of a degree.
If you’re serious about Southwest, I’d recommend working on the degree. In addition to receiving credit for your FAA certificates and taking classes at a local community college, you can also test out of many credits through CLEP and DANTES exams. Schools like Thomas Edison and Excelsior College don’t have residency requirements, so you can transfer in as much credit as possible.
I agree with Proximity on the point system. Each window they assign a minimum number of points to qualify to interview and nobody knows what those qualifiers are each time. The more points the higher up the list you go. As was said, CHK, CP, Tons of large aircraft TPIC all count on the higher side of the point grading system. I seriously doubt the college degree thing is up there anymore, as compared to the other experience factors listed above.
Even though the 737 Type has long since been omitted as a requirement I believe having it is still up there on the point grading system. Probably easier to get the type as opposed a degree.