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College + Aviation Career Suggestions?

Old 07-16-2008, 08:06 AM
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Hi Everyone,

I'm new here at the APC Forums, and this is going down as my first post.
As a little introductory, I am an 18.5 year old freshman in college from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. I am dually-enrolled at my community college and Northern Illinois University; community college is saving me big money that I'm putting towards building hours. I plan on get a BA in Business Arts, simply for the credential of having a bachelor's degree and to have something to fall back on as the airline industry appears to be bottoming out right now and is rather unstable (though there's a lot of gab about there being an upcoming pilot shortage; not sure whether it's hard evidence or speculation).

I am highly motivated to start a career as a commercial pilot; I'm fully aware of both the pros and cons to the profession, as I've met with one of the top 10 seniority ranked pilots at United Airlines and he given me invaluable advice.

Ideally, I'm hoping to have accumulated 500+ diversified hours accumulated within the next 2-3 years so that I'll be able to apply at a regional airline for flying job and begin building hours towards my ATP. I'm highly motivated to achieve this goal by the age of 21; however, I would imagine it'd be nearly impossible to be a full-time student and be a pilot.

So here's what I've been thinking, please advise:
Would it be possible to receive my minor in business at community college, get hired at a regional when I'm 21, and then finish up my bachelor's degree online through an accredited college?

Also, if anyone knows of any accredited colleges in Illinois (or elsewhere) that offer full online courses towards getting a bachelor's degree (preferably in business), please let me know. I read in an article in an aviation enthusiast's magazine that motivated young pilots have begun taking this route due to the advent of the internet.

Are there any pros or cons I should be aware of if I choose to take this route? My only thinking is that if I were to apply at a major airline down the road, that an internet bachelor's degree won't look as good on my resume as if I were to attend the physical class. Again, I know colleges like the University of Phoenix Online is not considered an accredited college, so I wonder if taking online classes through an accredited college would still be accepted.

Anyway, I apologize for the lengthy post - it was hard to list all of my concerns/thoughts/ideas in a concise manner.

Any constructive advice will be welcome!

Thanks,
- Voski89
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Old 07-16-2008, 08:25 AM
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Get your four year degree first. Your young and there is plenty of time for you to fly. The 500 TT and 50 ME time requirements that you see now in my own opinion is as good as gone. You have many pilots with a lot more time then that going for the same jobs as you. Also don't just build time to build time. Have fun while flying and get your CFI and instruct. You will learn a lot and if you have good students you will have fun too. It will also afford you the opportunity to build time for free. I think to be competitive in the real near future you will need at least 2500 TT and a 4 year degree to even be looked at. Just my .02
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Old 07-16-2008, 08:34 AM
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I remember being in your shoes and being is SUCH a big hurry. I wish I could go back and do a few things over. Just take your time. College is a good growth experience in many ways. Work on your ratings while in school and instruct on the side. Besides, the way things are going, you won't have much of a shot at a regional job with 500 hours anyways....
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Old 07-16-2008, 08:43 AM
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jban642,

I appreciate your response! Thank you!

I've heard statistics and figures that the airline industry will be in demand for pilots in the near future, however, I don't think anyone predicted the airlines would be furloughing pilots and downsizing the way they've been as of recently, either.

I realize with the amount of pilots being laid off and looking for jobs, 500 TT would likely be laughable in comparison to other pilots' applications, however, I'm also a risk taker and highly driven. If I couldn't find a job immediately, I could always go back to building hours or pick up a job as a CFI in the meantime.

Also, realistically, what's a ballpark estimate for the time a CFI could build teaching on a regular basis at a local FBO? I'm sure the hours probably vary greatly, but any figure would help.
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Old 07-16-2008, 08:45 AM
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de727ups,

I've read an article about how you got your job, and I thought it was fascinating. Thank you for your advice & wisdom; I'm definitely a newbie. :-P
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Old 07-16-2008, 10:13 AM
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Your right about the hours that you can accumulate. It depends on where you instruct and the weather. If your in the northeast then you spend more time on the ground then in the air. If you are in a place that gets good weather then realistically you could fly 8 hrs a day every day that your willing to. When I instructed I got about a 1000hr in 1 1/2 years. But the weather was not always good and that was instructing 4 days a week. However the hours that I gained made me able to get the job I am doing now 135/91 charter ops. However what I learned from the students that I taught was invaluable, you can learn a lot from people.
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Old 07-16-2008, 10:30 AM
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Slow down. Enjoy life now because nobody's really going anywhere. If you try to blast through everything you're going to realize some day that you were rushing around to go nowhere and missed out on life.

Get your degree.
Have fun while getting your degree.
Enjoy life outside of your career field.

You have the rest of your life to work.
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Old 07-16-2008, 06:20 PM
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First of all, going dual-enrolled was a great decision and you are already ahead of the game....you are sensible not to get a degree in aviation and pay over $100k for flight training at a big name aviation university with sparkly planes and subsequently spend the rest of your life trying to rationalize why you spent so much to everyone (and that's another thread). Go to a real college/university and finish up your last years of college having normal fun.
If you are able to take a small student loan out to get your private and instrument (or if you can manage without) and then just have fun building hours, share time with people...maybe join a flying club or get your CFI and get paid to shape new pilots into who they are. There will always be airlines out there.. you can always join the rat race later.
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