PearlPilot

I am a junior at college and I am majoring at humanities. I plan to start my flight training in May. When people ask me what is my major I say humanities. They ask what is that? I say well it is a really broad area of study, but I just want the degree so that I can become an airline pilot. This is exactly what happened to me. By doing research on the internet I found out that it does not matter what bachelor's degree you get, but just so that you have one airlines don't care. So I scrolled down the list of majors and chose humanities, the easiest major. Now I regret my decision terribly. I understand that it won't matter, but bad things do happen. What if I get furloughed or lose my medical? What kind of a job would I go back to? Surely, humanities has nothing to do with my interest. I have been and I am passionate about aviation, and I cannot imagine being in a career other than aviation. It was very hard for me to accept this situation because I can graduate by next year. But I think it is now time for me to make a serious decision. I already e-mailed a couple of schools that offers both flight training and an aviation degree. No I am not talking about Riddle or Webster. These schools has an average tuition fee of around 13-17K per year excluding flight costs. I think I am pretty firm on my decision to do this. I want to have a good college experience and get out and say that it was worth it. If something bad happens for my flying carfeer I want to be able to make a career out of the aviation field. I would certainly appriciate any opinions regarding this issue.

Uncle Bose

A lot of degrees have the word "aviation" in them. If you must get one of them, have it be business-oriented. DO NOT get a degree in flying airplanes. ERAU calls that one aeronautical science. I think UND's is called "commercial aviation."

PearlPilot

This is what's going to happen if I continued with the humanities major. Say I return back to college with my PPL. With a heavy courseload I won't be able to fly for more than once a week. By the time I graduate college with a B.S. I will have a PPL rating and a good loan to pay off. Then I won't be able to continue to fly. Rather I will probably be employed and use that money to pay off my student loans. That might take years! and by the time I get back to flying and get done with my rating it might take years and years. One of the main reasons I decided on this is because, while I work on my degree I will be "forced" to fly at least 3-4 times while doing something that I really enjoy. I might even get out with a CFI rating by the time I graduate. It sounds much better to me than my original plan.

Uncle Bose

A humanities degree may be a mistake, but another one would be paying nonresident tuition. Life will be much easier, and much more enjoyable, if you do whatever is necessary to exit college with as little debt as possible.
You don't have to have an aviation degree to work in the aviation field; the universal applicability of business and engineering degrees would give you a solid chance of working in the industry in some capacity.
I don't think switching majors should be a huge deal for a junior. You've already got general ed out of the way I'm assuming, and you haven't gotten too far into your major. After graduating, you should have a six month period before loan repayment starts. During this time you can attend All ATPs to complete all your ratings through the CFI level and become employed.

LAfrequentflyer

Look into AF ROTC - you don't have to fly , they'll pay for your school and you give them 4 years as a support officer. You'll leave the military with no debt, the military square checked, and maybe even put some money aside to pay for your training at www.allatps.com

Employers like to see military experience (officer or enlisted) - it shows them you can get along with different people and can work as a professional.

Who knows - you may like the military and decide to make it a career.

-LAFF

NE_Pilot

You might aswell just finish up and graduate with the degree. The only real mistake you made was to not major in something you enjoyed. As stated by myself and others, if you cannot fly for some reason, it really doesn't matter what degree you have, especially a couple years down the road. I know Sports Fitness Majors who have jobs working in management for large corporations, which they had no connections to. For a larger majority of jobs out there, all they want to see is work expeirence and that you have a 4 year degree. They will train you in whatever job they are hiring you for.

So, I think, you are better off just finishing up the degree and building your time. You are only costing yourself more money by switching now. Like I said, most employers in and outside of aviation just want to see a 4-year degree, and work expeirence (preferrably in the field).

Airborne

NE PILOT is correct.
It is very rare that I speak to someone that works in the same field as what they earned their degree in. Even outside of aviation there are many jobs great jobs out there that simply only require a 4 year degree. You can get a degree in Under Water Basket Weaving and it might be enough to get an interview. Many HR departments simply look at a degree as a way to weed out mass applicants. I always tell a person to get a degree that you will enjoy and one that is flexible for all job markets. Like business management. I don’t think a degree will always make an applicant smarter but it simply looks good on a resume. I know a Gal whom got a degree in fashion, at the time I thought that wasn't very smart but now she makes stupid money working for Banana Republic. She makes more manoy than most Regional CPT's - she love her job.
By the way ERAU online has the cheapest cost per credit hour for online classes than any else out there that offer a complete degree online. Working Full time and being a having a family; online classes were the way to go and ERAU was the most bang for the buck.

rickair7777

My suggestion would be to give it some thought, and then pick up a master's in something you interested in.

You may have to take a few pre-reqs depending on the major, but this would be more marketable then a second BS/BA, and probably require less coursework.

PearlPilot

Thank you all for the replies. I guess I rushed into my decision. Well I think I am going to go ahead and get my 4 year degree finished up. I have found that it will cost a lot more if I changed my major now and move to another state.

LAfrequentflyer

http://www.avionnewspaper.com/home/i...e-9d7d830074e3


From 2005 - wonder how much things have changed...

-LAFF