Hamburger090

hey guys, currently am the most confused person in the world. My issue is the following, and it requieres the help from guys like you!!!
I applied to Embry and got accepted whooo!!! but man!! i have read the posts about that school and they are terrible!!!(including that important guys to girls ratio). And is true they are really really expensive.
I want to be an airline pilot no questions about it no matter what it takes, and i thought that Embry was the one till today. Please guys give me some schools that may be the same as embry and that will give me satisfiying results. am 19 and i am almost done with my private .
I am also looking at central washington university... please some help on what to do!!! give me some schools that are cheaper and are equal or is it worth to go to embry... ??????? Also what degree to consider??

mynameisjim

I went there and I enjoyed it. I got my first job because of going there as well. But I can't recommend spending $150,000+ for this job anymore.

Av8trix

the way things are going now? Jesus, no. The only thing worse than being an unemployed pilot is being an unemployed pilot with a 100k + debt hanging over your head while you ponder the merits of McDonalds vs Burger King.

propjunkie

You can always go to a smaller school that offers the same quality instruction (sometimes better) but pay thousands less. After you get your first job at a regional do an online college program for less than 20K. Youll pay much less but you wont get your degree at the same time. Your choice.

Airbum

there have got to be hundreds of schools that offer some sort of aviation degree if that is what you are after.

But no way does it make sense to go to ER. What do you hope to make as a pilot during your first ten years? How in the world would you pay back the loans? Unless mommy and daddy are multi millionaires and just need to throw away some cash find another school.

Trust me no one will know or care if you went to ER.

Thedude

As a '93 Riddle Grad. I cannot recommend that anyone should go there nowadays. I would look into other places that are bigger schools and offer more diversity such as Purdue or Auburn. Places like these have more to offer than Riddle, namely the real college experience and chicks.

During my stint at Riddle I saw quit a few people give the same story...all they ever wanted to do was to fly for the airlines. I would say about 60% of those never made it to graduation and even less are flying professionally today. (but then again that was before the zero to hero BS that has occurred in the past few years)

If you get into aviation because you think its great money....wrong. It takes many years to make descent money in this biz. You pay your dues in the biz just like in any other biz. Sometimes it seems worse.

Any degree will do, just as long as you get a 4 yr degree and not an Assoc Degree. Most jobs out there only require a degree unless you go into engineering or medicine. With that being said, something to fall back on would be nice, preferably something that interest you.

by the way...no one calls it Embry....all of the alums call it Riddle.

HectorD

I attended ERAU during the summer and even though its a good school and the flight line is by far the most organized I have seen, it just is not worth the extra money. If you have money to spare and want to major in aviation then sure, you could consider it, but otherwise, don't go. They increased their prices for renting an plane while I was there and they are bringing in new Diamond DA-42s with the piston engines. It sounds good, but it only means you will pay even more for them in the long run.

You don't need to learn in the G1000 cessnas to be an airline pilot, in fact, i would recommend also learning on the conventional panel but at riddle, you don't have a choice unless you get into the flight team in order to fly a 150.

I decided to attend Parks College at SLU. The school is amazing and allot more diverse than ERAU. Infact, there are more girls than guys at the school. I haven't gone to the flight line at SLU, but it definitely isn't as big as the ERAU flight line, however, whats important are the aircraft and they use Diamonds which costs very little to rent. They also have Glass Cockpit arrows and Seminoles. The airport is located under class Bravo so its good practice. I major in Aerospace Engineering and minor in flight. Its a part 141 program so you get the same hours. They where also the first flight school in the US. I think you should check SLU out if anything.

Either way, good luck wherever you end up.

Hamburger090

umm ok thax for the embry to the riddle thing. and also thx all of u for your opinnions!!!!!!

globalexpress

Looks to me that you're getting very good advice above. I was an ERAU grad as well. It's a great school. I have to also say that now it's definitely not worth the money these days.

If my kid wanted to learn to fly (and was definitely passionate about it), I'd have him figure out what NON-AVIATION degree he wanted to pursue (i.e. what kind of work do you want to do when you inevitably get furloughed or can't find employment as a pilot), have him bang out his first 2 years at a local community college, then transfer to a state school to complete the Bachelor's. I would then send him to either a local FBO or a decent Part 141 school (whatever was cheaper) to bang out his ratings up to the CFII. Training with an organization that is likely to hire you after you complete your training with them and/or has connections to a regional airline F/O job would be a plus in my eyes.

The regionals don't care about where you got your degree or even if you have one. They just want a guy who will work for low wages. If you decide to go to a major, they won't care where you got your degree from or what it's in- just that you have your Bachelor's.

Get ready to be poor for a very long time, unfortunately. It's a great job, but a crappy career. Good luck to you.

Outlaw2097

Look at a pilots certificate. It says their ratings, not where they got their training.

If you really want a Riddle degree (non aviation of course)...take general classes at a community college or elsewhere and transfer in for the remainder of classes.

The money you save there will help pay for your flight training at a local FBO.