Remember that in this country you don't need to go to a "flight academy"


I went to college and flew on my time off. You don't need to major in flying to become a pilot, trust me on that one. Hell, trust all of us on that one.

Don't buy into the fact that you need to go to a big name school for all the right curriculum and this and that. The way things work here is that the old man at the local airport who's had his CFI forever can get in his little cub and teach you to fly. That's how it is, and I'm glad it is that way, it makes it so aviation is available to the masses (money aside)


Again, don't buy into the pilot major or big name pilot school=betterjob trick.

 

Elmetal - it's not for the school name on my resume, it's more for the structure, financial aid, and being around other people into the same thing (ISU puts all the aviation majors in the same dorm). More than that, those, it's a clear path to a goal. I know when I'd graduate college. I don't know when I'd have time/money to do flight training (after paying off college loans? That's years away...), so it seems more like so vague "something I want to do someday" rather than "something I want to do as a career option."

At least the whole AT major not being worth much puts to rest my ideas about transferring to Purdue for the name (the research programs are still tempting, though).

Did anyone here double major? Aviation and something else (like business, accounting, computer science)? How did that work out? If I could do both at once, that'd be great. Then I could take my comp. science degree, find a job, and whenever I have the time/money, all I'd need to worry about would be building hours.
That's something I'll ask when I tour ISU Wed - I'll post here with their take on it.

 

Skywolf,

I am in a very similiar situation to you, except am a few years down the road and have already done a ton of research.

I did end up choosing to go to college for aviation. I did this because a local community college offered the degree so I could commute. The fact that I am living at home/community college rather than university kept the total cost to around $43,000. Despite knowing that this major isn't the best I chose it anyways for the opportunity to pay for flight training through scholarships (I was awarded about 10k worth) and because in aviation, a lack of knowledge can get you killed. I know plenty of people who have been trained by taking lessons on the weekends or whenever time allows, and are absolutely great pilots. I didn't want to gain my training that way however, because I feel like dedicating myself to two years of serious studying/nothing but aviation and flying has made me a better pilot than I would have been if I just took lessons in my spare time while making my major focus something else. Flying an airplane is a game where a few small mistakes can become the famous accident chain and I just really want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible to make the best decisions/be the best pilot I can be. So this is why I chose the college route, for an associates degree.

Of the 70 credits I took at the community college, 48 of them are transferring over to a university where I plan to get my bachelors degree in business admin (so its not like the 43,000 was wasted). This will be my real degree that I will actually use.

After college I'm hoping to fly for the military. *IF* I can get a flying job in the military (I say if because it is extremely competitive/tough and if you need any waivers your chances go way down) I would take it in a heartbeat, and afterwards maybe be able to get on with a good company like FedEX. If I could go from the military to a flying job making at least 70K with chances of advancement I'd take it. I saw a salary comparison page in the newspaper the other day and a 43 year old fedex pilot was making $143,800 a year. Not to bad, and if I could follow in his footsteps I would. If not, I'll do something else cause I'm not going to subject myself to the regionals or any other crap lifestyle job for all eternity to try to "work my way up."

So lets say the military doesn't want me to fly and my standards are to high to subject myself to the civilian route. I would prob still join the military anyways (flying would be great but I'd like to serve my country regardless), maybe be a crew chief or something else aviation related. If they are still offering free education through the GI bill I could turn the bachelors degree into a MBA and maybe end up managing an airport. Or manage an FBO. Or find some other way to get rich and just fly for fun. I'm telling you this because you asked about what some of the other aviation options are, those are a few that I have thought of that I would enjoy.

 

What is the title of the major? I'm attending Auburn University and my official major is "Professional flight management" but after looking over my prereq's, its still considered a business degree. I still have to take accounting, finance, stats, blah blah blah. Being that it is still a business degree in management, it will still transfer over to pretty much any business aviation or not. Check with an advisor and see what type of degree it is.

As for everything being on a set schedule, Auburn doesn't work that way. Everything part of the flying is set up for 2 semesters. So thats 2 semesters for private, 2 semesters commercial, 2 semesters multi, etc. If a student completes a class before the end of a semester, you automatically start the next class ahead of schedule and it works the opposite way. If you take longer than 2 semesters on something, everything is just pushed back. I had to go speak with the flight director to find all this information. My advisor helped but you may want to consider talking to the flight director as well. He/she should be able to answer any questions about scheduling or pricing.

Good luck!

 

@LongFlight - "Professional Flight Technology" or "Professional Aviation Technology", or something similar. Any college offering actual flight lessons seems to also offer Aviation Management.
What would Avionics be under, if Prof. Flight Tech is flying? Or would that be somewhere under an Electrical Engineering or some sort of programming degree? Just curious.

 

I have yet to find an Avionics major outside of a MX degree in aviation at either a 4 year university or a community college. I went to SIU for Aviation Management and it has worked out great for me, although I can't say I learned one thing in class that has directly helped me in my aviation jobs. Everything I learned to get me where I am today has been self taught and time consuming, but worth it. I did half my flight training at SIU the other half PT. 61 and I'm not in a flying job now. However one day soon I will, and to be honest I make more now than I will for the first 10 years of a professional flying career. YMMV