navymmw

Hello, i've been reading these fourms for ahwile and from most people I've been told not to pursue a aviation degree such as aerospace sciense, aviation mangement, etc.... Now my question is what about a degree in Aerospace Engineering? Is this considerd one of those aviation degrees not to get, or would it be usefull if I cant fly with the airlines? Would a general engineering degree be better? One last thing, how is the aerospace science program at University of Michigan(Ann Harbor), Gerogia tech, Purdue, or Embry Riddle? Do you recomend them? I know I can get into Embry Riddle and most likly Purdue but Gerogia tech and the University of Michigan im not so sure about. Is the program at Purdue and Emrby Riddle also good? So I guess what im asking is if for someone who wants to fly with the airlines would you recomend a degree in aerospace engineering or would it just be a useless degree?

rickair7777

Aerospace engineering would be great, it opens up back-up job opportunities which are not available to aero science majors.

Also, those engineering jobs are not directly linked to pilot hiring/firing cycles, so if you get furloughed you still have a shot at getting a non-flying job. There are many jobs that having nothing to do with commercial air stransport (defense, space, etc). If you are a US citizen, even better...there are many older defense workers who will retire soon and they cannot be replaced by foriegners due to security clearance requirements.

tmcboy20

Hey I started out Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego and then switched and finished with Mechanical Engineering because as far as the Engineering world Aerospace Engineering was too restrictive. I think pursuing engineering is a very rewarding discipline. It is a fun degree where you learn a bunch and do some very creative projects. My friends work in various positions around the country ranging from designing snowboards at Burton, to working at the nuclear plant at San Onefre in California. When you have completed your degree you will know that you worked your ass off and if your looking for something to fall back on an Engineering degree could help you with this to an extent. Unfortunately when flying for the an airline you will not be using any of your engineering skills and in a few years you will be behind new technology, software and advances in the engineering field. But you will have the critical thinking skills to switch to other disciplines (other engineering friends are not lawyers.)
As far as being a pilot you can do any degree. I fly with guys with varying degrees. If you do engineering people respect the work you did and you usually get a raise eyebrow or good job at the interview, but I don't think it will help you get any preference for your aviation job in the airlines, but it may help if you chose to fly for the Dept of Homeland Security (predators), DEA, or a corporate job. I'm glad you are going to college and not the quick ATP route. I fly with guys that are only doing the online degrees and are 19-21 and did the ATP route and I feel they missed out on a cool part of growing up. You will have the time of your life. I recommend going to the schools you chosen. I think Georgia Tech had the better program back in the day and if out of state tution is not an issue that would be my choice. But if you aren't planning on being an Engineer then either schools program will do. For me personally attending a large university was awesome and one with a great sports program and alumni around the country is even better
I was in your same boat back in 99. I recommend maybe ROTC. I work for a regional carrier (Mesa Dash8 Capt) and the one thing that sucks is knowing you could be working as an engineer and making another 30-40grand more when you are on FO wages. While in the Air Force you will be debt free, have your living paid for, and when your done probably good straight to Delta or Southwest.

Cubdriver

Virginia Tech
MIT (Massachusetts Inst. of Technology)
Purdue
Georgia Tech
UCLA (Univ. of California–Los Angeles)
UC Berkeley
Univ. Colorado Boulder
Cal Tech (California Institute of Technology)
Cornell
Texas A&M
Univ. of Texas Austin
Univ. of Illinois Urbana
Stanford
Princeton
Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor
Penn. State University
Univ. of Washington
Univ. of Maryland
Univ. of Florida

These are considered the top-tier American aerospace engineering schools. But any ABET accredited engineering school will get you a good paying job, and aerospace engineering is a gold mine. Generally, PhD granting schools are the most prestigious by far, and all these grant PhDs. Embry Riddle has a good program as well but they do not grant PhDs. They like to say "best engineering school" all the time but there's always this little footnote saying "among schools that grant only undergraduate degrees".

tmcboy20

And I guess to answer your question definietly do engineering or some other program than Aerospace sciences. I don't recommend political science or something that requires grad school to use the degree. If you really want something to fall back on a BS in nursing I think would even be good.

USMCFDX

I second the Mechanical degree over the Aerospace degree, and I have a Aerospace degree. You will take many of the same courses anyway.

rickair7777

Yeah, if your looking for a pure fallback position, a nursing or physician's assistant program would be great. Finish school, do your professional certs and then work part-time while flying. This way you can maintain your skills and have an outside source of income which can be easily adjusted to meet your financial needs.

And Mech-E would be more versatile as a fall-back degree.