I majored in commercial aviation, flight instructed there, and went to to a regional. I enjoyed my time at UND but going AFROTC would be my do over.

I may be wrong but I believe majoring in aviation management gets you a business degree and you still have the flight courses as part of the curriculum

It was a response to propilots post. UND offers a degree in Mechanical Engineering with an "Aerospace Focus"... whatever that means. I spent all my time over at Odegard and Ryan Hall learning about commercial aviation. It would have been better spent in the engineering building.

UND
 

Thanks, I've been doing some thinking and having a business degree is something I will definitely look into. It sounds much more useful than aviation management or something like that. The reason I would not do afrotc is that it closes too many doors. We have no clue what the industry will be in 4 years. I want to leave that option open that if I impress somebody in college and have a better job opportunity, I can take it. However I talked to a marine recruiter last night about aviation in the navy and marines. Honestly if I come out of college and no major opportunities are presenting themselves I will go navy or marines then to OCS because even if I don't get a pilot slot it will build some money to put towards hours when I get back. Besides, I've always wanted to serve.

I understand what you mean - and the 10 year commitment is no joking matter, and likely not all will spent flying so a prospective candidate had better know that s/he wants to serve and not *just* fly. In other matters, the military rarely closes doors and opens many, many more.

Make sure you are talking to a Marine Officer Selection Officer (OSO) and not a Marine Recruiter if you are interested in being a Pilot or Marine NFO.

USMCFLYR

What USMCFLYR said... ^^^

You REALLY need to read some more and understand the decisions that are before you. I too would recommend the military route if you truly want to fly and get your training for free. I wish, looking back, that I was more interested in this route at a younger age. You will get the best training in the world, make life-long connections and friends, and have the privilege of serving and performing important missions. I have a couple friends that are now flying USAF that started school/training at the same time as me. I actually have more hours than they do, but one if flying F-16's and the other is flying Strike Eagles. I'd much rather be doing that then putting around in a 172 all morning/afternoon haha. Just think about what you really want for yourself in 10 to 15 years... Where you really want to be. And make it happen. No roads are easy, but some are better than others. Good luck.

I'll agree with much of what you said except the above bolded.
It isn't FREE. You pay a price for that flight training - even in the peacetime military. You WORK for 10 years MINIMUM for that training.

USMCFLYR

UND
 

Yes, in the next ten or to fifteen years I would like to see myself in the pilot seat, to be honest, I don't at this point really know where. I'm just trying to figure which route (civilian or military) would be best. I'm sure as I start to network and talk to people throughout college things will, hopefully, start to clear up. This guy I've met a few times, is a Continental 777 Captain, I'm definitely going to talk to him.

I meant from a financial standpoint... Military pilots/aviators give up much more than some realize so I can see how from a certain stand point you wouldn't consider it "free".

And I understand that people who fly solely in the military don't ever write a check for the instruction, but on the other hand your TIME is worth money right? Isn't that a common gripe of professional airline pilots? They aren't being compensated for some of their TIME?
In that context, a military only pilot has given 10 years of their TIME for that training.

USMCFLYR

Yes... But in a lot of cases that 10 years is spent training/flying on the world's coolest airframes, flying fast/low as hell, and getting to blow stuff up. I know every job is just a job after a while, but that sounds like a pretty fair trade-off to me ;)