aviatoralex

Hey, I am new to this forum. I am 15 years old and I always wanted to become a pilot. I have done a discovery flight already. I live in Athens, Greece and I am Greek American. I can't wait to finish high school here and move to the US to start college.
Anyway, with all the research I have done in these and other forums I have decided to major in professional flight. People say major in an unrelated field and do your ratings at a local FBO. Well I don't agree. How useful will your degree in Business be when you get furloughed 7 years later?! Also, If you have no other interest except aviation it's the best thing to do. You can also score a lot of jobs because most, if not all universities work through networking and some even get you a guaranteed interview. The only problem is the money.. and if you are going to get a loan out don't do it. But I won't be needing a loan.
Just my opinion. So please, if you are thinking about posting about not getting a degree in aviation, please don't
Anyway, let's move on to the actual topic!
My school list (to visit) is as follows:

These are the schools I have heard have the best professional flight program in the US.
Purdue University
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in DB
University of North Dakota
Western Michigan University

I have also heard good words about:
Florida Institute of Technology
Ohio State (I've heard mixed opinions)
University of Oklahoma
Kansas State University (Problem is that Salina is a boring place according to many)
Southern Illinois University

I am looking for a medium to large University. I personally love Purdue from what I have seen. I have around a 3.9 so I believe I can get in.

Remember, these are schools I should visit, and not schools I should apply to. Please post your opinions on these Universities and if you can recommend adding or removing any, please do. I will not make my final decision according to your opinions, I am just gathering information.

Thank you!
Alex

rickair7777

People who are a lot older than 15, and have been around the block a few times think you should major in a non-aviation field. At age 15 you simply don't fully understand the real world...but you are ahead of most by thinking about these things early on. If you get furloughed or medical out, a relevant degree will at least open a door in another career. Flight Ops degrees are like a degree in welding, not good for anything unless you are a welder...and then still not good for anything.

You are falling into the trap of finding ways to justify what you WANT to do, not what is the prudent thing to do. Of course majoring in Flight Ops would be fun, I enjoyed the 6-8 months which I spent getting my ratings...it would have been a blast to extend that for four years! But not very prudent financially

Of course if you have a large trust fund, which will keep you afloat in comfort even if you get furloughed or whatever, then knock yourself out, it's your money. But if you plan on trying to actually earn a living in aviation, better get in the habit of being frugal early on.

Also you forgot the two BEST schools, at your age you should be considering these too.

US Naval Academy
US Air Force Academy

In that order ( )

Purdue and UND are fine, but again if money is EVER going to be an issue in your life, consider the cheaper state schools.

BoilerUP

Purdue is a fantastic school (I am biased), with a much smaller flight program (only 75 students admitted per year) than any of your other 3 "preferred" schools. Its also a HELL of a lot warmer in winter than UND or WMU, and while very much a midwestern Big 10 school, let's just say the male-female student ratio is substantially better than ERAU.

1 hour drive from Indy, <3hr drive from Chicago if you want to go to a "big city".

The entire aviation program (flight, management & maintenance) is about 600 total students out of 38,000 undergrads; I think that provides a diversity of the collegiate experience that is difficult to match unless at a school of comparable size.

Again, I am biased...but any of those schools can provide you with your ratings and an excellent college education.

Good luck!

BoilerUP

I disagree; I know folks with aviation degrees who got furloughed and had little problem getting hired into a non-aviation field, even in this most recent downturn.

Then again, they didn't SOLELY focus on aviation in their academic or personal lives, were rather intelligent, and actually had a personality off the airport.

aviatoralex

I agree with you about Purdue, heck if I get accepted there I won't even consider the other schools. I am a big fan of the Boilermakers, especially in Football. I love how it's not only an aviation school but even though it's not it still maintains a great flight program. The only problem is getting accepted since they only accept about 70 students per year.
With a 3.9 I don't think I will have a problem. It's the only school that I am sure I want to go to now. But I need to have safeties, and that's where Embry Riddle comes in.

BoilerUP

If you did moderately well on the ACT or SAT, I'd imagine you won't have much problem getting in with a 3.9 GPA.

rickair7777

Yeah, don't be a one-trick pony. A non-aviation degree will help give you some perspective on other things.

threeighteen

A degree in Aviation is not going to automatically put you ahead of anyone in the hiring pool, and is going to put you at the front of a unemployment line when you get furloughed.

I'd go to the Air Force Academy and study engineering, and do well enough at it to go to UPT.

Bellanca

I agree with what is said here, major in something other than aviation. But you should see if any of these schools will let you major in something else that is non-aviation and still take the flight courses, or offers a minor that is mostly flight courses. Getting a minor or a double major in aviation (if possible without putting you on the five or six year program) could be another decent option. If you have the money, there are some benefits to the college flight programs. But you don't have to get your ratings at a college/university to fly professionally. The number one thing is to focus on getting a 4 year degree.

aviatoralex

I already said.. I have made my decision. I don't want to major in something else because of the reasons I already posted. I have already started arranging to visiting some of these universities for their Flight program and I just want to know if you would remove, add or leave feedback about these aviation programs.