Originally Posted by
Purpleanga
Get off your high horse, you don't need an aviation degree to press direct enter enter. You must have drank all the coolaid over there listening to the speeches that you will all be aviation leaders someday because you spent 100K at an aviation college. First of all what the degree is doesn't matter to the airlines because you're just labor. What's more important is if it's useful or not.
No high horse here. Just the facts. When I started flight training, probably before you cracked your first smile, a college degree was mandatory at EVERY major. It wasn't whether I thought college was a good idea or investment but rather WHERE would be the best place I could get that experience and education that would place me in that, ever so desirable, "other" stack.
It's ok, no offense taken.
On one hand, it's absolutely amazing to me how many of you devalue the college curriculum and experience as a waste of time and / or money and think people should just be impressed by your ability to play "X-Box" for 9 sim lessons. On the other hand, I realize that's all you have to rest your past performance on so you would want to "argue" that it's good enough.
I'm sorry but 300 hours of Metal Gear Solid, or whatever the flavor of the week is, does not let you "test out" of time, pressure or crisis management skills you get while gaining the mental apptitude required for success for 4 years at a major university. There is no argument for that. Your opinion does not superseed fact.
You're right, a degree is not "required".......today. It certainly used to be...and for those of us that were around to remember that time, it was for a damn good reason.
So tell me, which engineer do want designing your airframe, software or instruments. The one's that have years of proving mental capability and success in a designed curriculam or the ones barely meeting the minimums as "required" by the FAA and reading a few books on the basics.
Don't bother.....it's rhetorical as there is only one obvious option.
Again, not a better person.....a better PILOT CANDIDATE.
How anyone can say that a person that went through a four year program specifically designed for one specialized field, aviation or not, of study does not have obvious advantages is blind, stupid or both.
AND, btw, at all 3 of my aviation related jobs that I've had in my adult life, EVERY ONE of the interviewers asked about my experiences at my university, why I chose to go there and what it meant to me.