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Aviation degree

Old 01-28-2007, 08:30 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by juxtapilot View Post
First of all, I am a senior in high school, and I am planning on going to UND starting in the fall of 2007. I plan on majoring in "Commercial Aviation." The reason I want to do this is because I love nearly all aspects of aviation, and I want to focus on it throughout college. I chose UND because there are lots of students there who aren't in any aviation program, so I wouldn't always be around aviation "geeks," like myself... That could be really lame.

I just have a few concerns about majoring in Commercial Aviation. 1) Would this major have any negative effects on finding a good airline job in the future? 2) If you are a UND grad, is the program worth the money? And is it fun?

Thanks for any input you might have on this! I appreciate it so much!

-Jake
Jake. Don't waste your money on a commercial aviation degree. UND has a lot of good programs - find another program. Business or Finance / IT.

Look into AFROTC as well...

-LAFF
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Old 01-28-2007, 09:10 AM
  #32  
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I am glad the importance of a non-aviation degree is being presented here by the participation of a wide variety of personalities. Last summer I met a senior in high school and his dad and had lunch with them. He was already working on his PPL (flying since he was 14) and he seemed to know a lot about aviation (aircraft, and the whole nine yards). He certainly impressed me. Now it was not a surprise to find out that he desperately wanted to attend ERAU. He told me how he visited and was extremely imressed with them. The father seemed to be a little concerned about the "price" but of course, it did not seem to be an obstacle. I know a buddy of mine from high school who is currently attending ERAU, but he's pretty loaded. What I am trying to say this this: When I was in high school, I wanted to go to a place like ERAU as well. But I think it is simply a fantasy world that you are dreaming of. It may be "state of the art" but trust me a good old degree should just do it. After all I really doubt that airlines care what degree you have, as long as its a bachelor's degree. I am going for it!
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Old 01-28-2007, 09:18 AM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by juxtapilot View Post
I just have a few concerns about majoring in Commercial Aviation. 1) Would this major have any negative effects on finding a good airline job in the future? 2) If you are a UND grad, is the program worth the money? And is it fun?

Thanks for any input you might have on this! I appreciate it so much!

-Jake

1) An aviation degree would not harm your chances of getting a major job. However, I would recomend a non-aviation degree (or aero-engineering) if the cost is the same...

-The aviation degrees are known in the industry as being nothing special, and graduates are a dime-a-dozen. A more interesting or challenging degree would make you more intriguing to an airline interviewer (remember, he's trying to decide if he could stand to fly with you for a month, and he probably wants to talk about something other than airplanes).

- If you ever need to fall back on it, a real degree can come in handy. It is safe to say that you will get furloughed/unemployed at some point in your pilot career, and you can also expect to spend anywhere to from 6 months to forever grounded for medical reasons.
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Old 01-28-2007, 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by rickair7777 View Post
If you ever need to fall back on it, a real degree can come in handy. It is safe to say that you will get furloughed/unemployed at some point in your pilot career, and you can also expect to spend anywhere to from 6 months to forever grounded for medical reasons.
I am going to disagree here. Major in something YOU like. If you believe that your degree will be a good fall back, the truth is it won't. You will be out of the loop in that industry, and competing for jobs against people with the same time out of college, but with that many years working in the field. You would not even be competive against those just out of college, because they are atleast update with the technology and industry. You would be out of practice.

So major in anything, anything at all, as long as it is something you will enjoy. No point in not enjoying college, and no point in majoring in something only because you think it will be a back up when it won't be.
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Old 01-28-2007, 10:27 AM
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Originally Posted by NE_Pilot View Post
So major in anything, anything at all, as long as it is something you will enjoy. No point in not enjoying college, and no point in majoring in something only because you think it will be a back up when it won't be.
Wrong on this...even though I didn't plan it that way, I have made more money with my "fall-back" degree than flying airplanes. Opportunities are endless, and real flying experience can help land a non-flying job in any aviation-related industry.

Absolutely you should enjoy college... drink, chase boys/girls, etc. But when talking majors, "enjoyable" usually translates to "easy"...well there's a whole bunch of OTHER people who took the easy route, but a more challenging, practical degree CAN be utilized later and it says something about you as well.

OK, I'll ask the brutal question...if you want to get an aviation degree because you really like airplanes and want to study them, why not do some sort of aero-engineering? It will look a LOT better on your resume. Because it's too hard? Is that what you want your resume to say "I took the easy road"?
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Old 01-28-2007, 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted by rickair7777 View Post
OK, I'll ask the brutal question...if you want to get an aviation degree because you really like airplanes and want to study them, why not do some sort of aero-engineering? It will look a LOT better on your resume. Because it's too hard? Is that what you want your resume to say "I took the easy road"?
:::applause!:::
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Old 01-28-2007, 11:21 AM
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I found a way. Since I really like airplanes and will not be pursuing an aviation related degree, I can fill that gap by reading books like Rod Machado's PPL handbook, Stick and Rudder and plenty of goodies like how a gas turbine engine works at howstuffworks.com. I am dead serious, I just learned that a couple of days ago.
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Old 01-28-2007, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by PearlPilot View Post
I found a way. Since I really like airplanes and will not be pursuing an aviation related degree, I can fill that gap by reading books like Rod Machado's PPL handbook, Stick and Rudder and plenty of goodies like how a gas turbine engine works at howstuffworks.com. I am dead serious, I just learned that a couple of days ago.
Just read the books you need to for your rating and for FAA written tests. The rest of the stuf is like paying a CFI hard earned $$$ to hear about their days over Mig Alley in a F-86 - it does you no good and the old guy feels young on your dime.

Rod's book is outstanding. It explains things well but wordy...I would sell my copy but I like reading it by the pool in the summer.

-LAFF
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Old 01-28-2007, 12:27 PM
  #39  
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"When I was in high school, I wanted to go to a place like ERAU as well"

So did I, so I did. That was one of the bigger mistakes I've made in my career. When I was 18, I hadn't yet developed any career interests outside of aviation. I think that's pretty common, but unfortunate.
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Old 01-28-2007, 12:34 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by juxtapilot View Post
First of all, I am a senior in high school, and I am planning on going to UND starting in the fall of 2007. I plan on majoring in "Commercial Aviation." The reason I want to do this is because I love nearly all aspects of aviation, and I want to focus on it throughout college. I chose UND because there are lots of students there who aren't in any aviation program, so I wouldn't always be around aviation "geeks," like myself... That could be really lame.

I just have a few concerns about majoring in Commercial Aviation. 1) Would this major have any negative effects on finding a good airline job in the future? 2) If you are a UND grad, is the program worth the money? And is it fun?

Thanks for any input you might have on this! I appreciate it so much!

-Jake
Jake-

Let me begin by telling you I'm a senior at UND. 80% of those in the aviation program are hardcore prop heads (geeks). So you will be around these type in all your aviation classes, but as you said the remaining 10,000 on campus aren't in aviation.

Now to answer you questions:

1) All the airlines are looking for is a four year degree. Having an aviation degree will not have a negative effect on finding a good aviation job.

2) This is a bit trickier to answer. It really sucks to have a lot of debt coming out of school only to live near the poverty line as a flight instructor or first officer at a regional. My advice is this - if you are in the financial position where you will be able to make it through the program (figure on at least 40k for flight costs alone) with very little debt (less than 5k), life will be a lot easier. If not you might reconsider your post high school plans.

In all honesty, commercial aviation is a complete bull**** degree. It's not challenging and useless other than for filling a line on an application. You would be doing yourself a real favor getting a non aviation degree. If you are interested in flying get an aerospace engineering degree.

It has been my observation that many right out of high school believe that they must get all their tickets as soon as they can at any cost. If I had to do it all over again I would not go to school with the intention of flying while there. Instead, focus on getting your non aviation degree and paying for the certs and ratings as you can. Even if you don't get a job a regional until you're 30, you can still make captain at a major by 50 (or sooner). PM if you have any questions, and seriously think things over, coming out of school 40k in debt to go to a job paying you 20k if you're lucky is just plain stupid.
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