So first off, let me apologize for the novel I'm about to write.
Here's a bit of history.. I majored in Aviation Tech at my local community college when I was in high school because I was enrolled in a dual high school/college program. I then went off to Embry-Riddle for one hell of an expensive semester, but then realized it pretty much sucked balls and I ran out of organs to sell on the black market to finance my education, so I ended up moving back home and taking some business courses for the spring semester just to stay in school so I didn't have to start paying off the ridiculous loan I have. I then applied for my state university and got a pretty sweet deal - pretty much a free ride between scholarships & financial aid. My problem is - I have NO idea what to major in. I want to continue my flying career, but I have a passion for animals and am contemplating majoring in veterinary science. I understand that aviation & veterinary science is a totally weird mix, and majoring in business or accounting would be the SMART thing to do, but business is boring..
Sooo, my question is.. How much would it hurt my future in aviation to major in veterinary science & minor in business, perhaps?
I've weighed the pros and cons myself but I just want to see what others think, especially people established in the industry. Grassy ass!

 

Out of curiosity, what can a person do with a degree in veterinary science?

 

There are many options out there, but as long as its not aviation, you should be ok. I suggest you major in something like Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering but that is just me.

Nobody can make this decision other than yourself. Keep in mind that whatever you major in you will be stuck with if you loose your medical for example so don't take it lightly.

 

The entry-level job would be becoming a vet tech.. Kinda like the nurse practitioner that comes in the doc's office for humans, ya know? It's also a pre-med program that leads you into veterinary school.

Mechanical engineering interests me as well but I suck ass at math, and don't want to be tortured for the rest of my college career and I don't know if I'd enjoy an engineering job, unless I got to blow stuff up or something. That would be cool.

 

Major in something you like. The airlines aren't going to care what you majored in, just that you got the degree. I used to tell folks a degree is like a white collar union card, it just shows you can survive four years in a hostile environment. If you pick something you like, you're much more likely to do better and some companies do look at GPA.

Think about it, West Point and the Air Force Academy have history and English majors. What do they have to do with (1) impressing people to do our bidding or (2) killing them if they don't. (Army/AF mission statements boiled down.)

Thirty+ years ago I started in engineering and ended up with a BS in communications. I got my private during my sophomore year through the university flying club. I took a meteorology class and aerospace engineering taught an instrument GS and PVT. (I took the PVT GS after I had the rating.) Other than those three classes, the only classes that any relationship to flying were an engineering physics class (vector analysis = a wind triangle) and a communications class talked about sending a message therough "noise" and knowing the message got through when there is a change in behavior = CRM. The other 3 and a half years were just interesting. I backed into a flying job in 1980 and haven't been near a radio station since.

If Vet Sci rocks your boat, go for it. There is a company in LEX that contracts a 727 to fly horses. I did that for about a year, one of the handlers that rode along in back had a Vet Sci degree from Kentucky.

 

My advice would just be to choose wisely. Research it really well. For some reason, I doubt you would need a degree in veterinary science to become a vet tech. And it doesn't sound like going to veterinary school is your goal. So it seems like a degree in veterinary science would be a pretty useless degree. That's just my opinion though. My dad was a veterinarian until he retired last year, and though I have no idea what he majored in, I remember his business partner always saying that he wished he had majored in business since they had their own veterinary practice and actually did have to run a business.

I majored in accounting. Worked for a summer at a Big 5 (now Big 4, I think) accounting firm. Hated that. Went to law school. I have been practicing law for almost 3 years now. I have spent at least 2 of the last 3 years trying to figure out how to retire from the practice of law. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have majored in engineering. From what I read, there is a big shortage of engineers. I actually liked majoring in accounting, and I truly enjoyed law school as well. But I didn't research well enough what would be waiting for me on the other side once I graduated. In any event, I can't go back and change it now.

 

Go here and see what the US Dept. of Labor Statistics thinks your proposed occupation will do for you over the long haul. Choose a job that makes good money, shows stability for the future, has workable qualifications for entry, and has adequate projected growth in the decades ahead. You can have two careers at once, I have been doing flying and engineering for a number of years. When one goes south I just do the other one for a while. Good luck! And keep working on that grammar.

-Cub

 

I would major in something you enjoy non-aviation related. Its a hell of an industry right now and if you can have another career to fall back on it will be the smartest option. Heck, you might love being a vet and make enough cash to buy your own plane to cruise around on the weekends!