Alternate for Embry riddle?
11-15-2008, 08:10 PM
#42
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Posts: 999
I have plenty of opinions of SLU, both as a student and a flight instructor. I'd be happy to tell you about my experience and plenty of my students are still there. If you'd like, any of them would be happy to give you the full details of what it's like to be a student there currently. AND they will cut the BS by telling you the great things and the not so great...just like there is at any school.
If I don't get to talk to you, I'll give you my 2 cents about any aviation university. You are going to hear a lot of people tell you to go do Uncle Smith's Flying Service and get your ratings cheap from a guy who's never flown away from his grass patch because an airline doesn't care where you get your ratings. This is because Uncle Smith doesn't charge as much as an aviation university does. In addition, if you go to school for something else, you can have a backup when the industry goes in the tank like it is now. However, I KNOW that I am a better pilot, leader, and decision maker because I went through a Professional Pilot program. I was taught about the Railway Labor Act, jet engines, the airline industry. Remember, just because you get a degree in aviation doesn't mean you cannot double major with an engineering or business degree. SLU charges you the same whether you take 12 or 18 hrs, might as well make the most of it...especially if you're gonna get a good chunk of change by going there.
If I don't get to talk to you, I'll give you my 2 cents about any aviation university. You are going to hear a lot of people tell you to go do Uncle Smith's Flying Service and get your ratings cheap from a guy who's never flown away from his grass patch because an airline doesn't care where you get your ratings. This is because Uncle Smith doesn't charge as much as an aviation university does. In addition, if you go to school for something else, you can have a backup when the industry goes in the tank like it is now. However, I KNOW that I am a better pilot, leader, and decision maker because I went through a Professional Pilot program. I was taught about the Railway Labor Act, jet engines, the airline industry. Remember, just because you get a degree in aviation doesn't mean you cannot double major with an engineering or business degree. SLU charges you the same whether you take 12 or 18 hrs, might as well make the most of it...especially if you're gonna get a good chunk of change by going there.
Last edited by 250 or point 65; 11-15-2008 at 08:18 PM.
11-15-2008, 08:25 PM
#43
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: UPS 757/767 Capt ONT
Posts: 4,357
"I was taught about the Railway Labor Act, jet engines, the airline industry"
With all due respect. I think a second major outside aviation is a much better option than an education in the above. Uncle Smith's flying service can even teach you to be a better pilot than an aviation university. The rest is academic...
With all due respect. I think a second major outside aviation is a much better option than an education in the above. Uncle Smith's flying service can even teach you to be a better pilot than an aviation university. The rest is academic...
11-15-2008, 09:35 PM
#44
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Posts: 999
ok, isn't that what i just said? "a second major"? I didn't say to major in aviation science and have a second major in the science of aviation
i feel that the stuff i learned about is important and a lot of it i wouldn't have received from Uncle Smith
i feel that the stuff i learned about is important and a lot of it i wouldn't have received from Uncle Smith
11-15-2008, 11:13 PM
#45
On Reserve
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: Cessna 172
Posts: 15
The best alternative for riddle is train at the closes "Mom and Pop" FBO, and go to a state college get a degree in Computer Science, Business Management, etc. but DO NOT waste your money on riddle! I currently attend riddle; however, this is my last semester for me because it isn't all it is cracked up to be...Embry-Riddle does a great job at advertising and seducing students in, but then they screw them over many times. The best advice I have for anyone considering riddle....DON'T.
11-16-2008, 05:42 AM
#46
On Reserve
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Posts: 24
I was hoping that the Aviation Management degree would be a degree that allowed me to, if a medical was lost or furlough took place, still have a job in the aviation industry, though maybe just not inside the cockpit.
And what is the allure of a different degree? With a business degree, you would also need your masters, and no company will hire you based on just a degree, it is the experience that counts. So why not pick a degree based on the industry that you want to go into?
And what is the allure of a different degree? With a business degree, you would also need your masters, and no company will hire you based on just a degree, it is the experience that counts. So why not pick a degree based on the industry that you want to go into?
11-16-2008, 07:04 AM
#47
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Posts: 999
The thing about and Aviation Management degree is that it narrows your possible job opportunities later. Any airline would be happy to have you aboard if you met their requirements, but will PepsiCo want an aviation management degree? On the other side if you just get a Management degree, both an airline and PepsiCo would find you desirable. Not all business degrees require a masters to get a job, although it always helps.
11-17-2008, 12:14 PM
#49
done, gone skiing
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Rocking chair
Posts: 1,601
Originally Posted by Winston Smith
1.) Degree from anywhere, and then AF/Navy reserve/guard pilot slot. Get your pilot training guarantee in writing.
2.) Degree from anywhere, and then OTS active duty pilot training slot. Get your pilot training guarantee in writing.
3.) Enlist (with or without a degree) in your guard/reserve unit. While there, get your degree. You will have first priority for their pilot training slots.
4.) Air Force Academy/Naval Academy. They're not for everybody.
You will NEVER find an employer who, for a junior pilot, pays better or gives you better job security--or offers quicker upgrade to heavy PIC. And if you're a fighter pilot, it's all PIC. Every company worth working at recognize this, and will interview you with substantially less total time than anyone else as a result.
Of course there are strings attached. And you should know about them going in. But don't rule those options out. It's a pretty damn rewarding way to pay your dues (which you're going have to do one way or the other). And you will never fly with a better group of folks.
2.) Degree from anywhere, and then OTS active duty pilot training slot. Get your pilot training guarantee in writing.
3.) Enlist (with or without a degree) in your guard/reserve unit. While there, get your degree. You will have first priority for their pilot training slots.
4.) Air Force Academy/Naval Academy. They're not for everybody.
You will NEVER find an employer who, for a junior pilot, pays better or gives you better job security--or offers quicker upgrade to heavy PIC. And if you're a fighter pilot, it's all PIC. Every company worth working at recognize this, and will interview you with substantially less total time than anyone else as a result.
Of course there are strings attached. And you should know about them going in. But don't rule those options out. It's a pretty damn rewarding way to pay your dues (which you're going have to do one way or the other). And you will never fly with a better group of folks.
NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING
11-17-2008, 12:56 PM
#50
On Reserve
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Posts: 24
That's also why I am considering a flight school. It seems to me that there would be a more valuable wealth of networking there compared to a local FBO, as well as the fact that most schools will take you on as a CFI either while you are attending or after graduation.
