Flying will always be there. You're only 20 once. Have fun and finish college. Maybe you could get your CFI and instruct a little on the side. If you're around GEG, the local EAA chapter just bought a 172 to form a club with. Not sure of the terms, but I would imagine a guy could do a little free lancing if he joined the local EAA chapter. I'm thinking about it.

 

What i meant was...starting out now is not "behind the 8 ball" as some may say

 

Finish your degree. What would you do if something happens later on are you are not able to fly anymore?

 

If you are planning on taking 5 years to finish college, anyway; Have you considered finishing your CFI, and instructing at an accredited aviation college? (Uiversity of North Dakota, Central Missouri State, Daniel Webster, Baker, FSU, Embry Riddle, etc.) Many of them will offer you significant tuition discounts on other classes, if you are an employee. Perhaps you could "scratch the itch" for flying, while you finish your degree at the same time? Hell, nowadays, you'll probably make more money instructing, than you will your 1st year at a part 121 job, anyway.

If you bring some CFI experience, and a degree to the table, you will likely be able to pick which Regional you want to work for, rather than having to go to work for "Scum Bag Air", and potentialy wash out of their unpaid training program, because you don't have any experience. Your professional attitude will likely get you hired, but it won't make you perfom.

Don't get me wrong, lots of low time guys get through their first part 121 training event, just fine, but at your age you are already ahead of the game. If you get in too big of a hurry to reach for the brass ring, you might just grab the plastic one, and it might not fit.

Stay foused and on track, but don't for get to enjoy the ride.....

 

Degree = Gold...Don't be stupid!

 

It's all good. My dad talked to the hiring board at the major he is at, (and the one I want to go to) and they said it didn't matter where the degree came from or if it was online, as long as I have one. I was planning on finishing my 4 yr at school but I had this opportunity that arose and I decided to take it. No one will ever know if the choices they made were the right ones until they retire. As far as right now, I think I am on a pretty good path and I hope it all works out. No need to study much, with the program I am doing I only have a few classes left to take; I think about 7 or so.

 

The experiences I had at a large public University in a college town were worth more than anything. I wouldn't trade that time for a job at FedEx. No joke. Dorm hookups, keg parties, hipster girlfriends, throwing watermelons off of 8 story dorms, sorority girls, studying for finals and not sleeping, and learning about something other than aviation...all of these things make you an interesting and well rounded person. You'll never get the chance to be young and stupid again...because you'll have to grow up real fast in 121 ground school. So don't throw away the only 4-5 years of your life where you're away from your parents control, but still don't have to answer to your boss, the FAA, your captain, your pax, etc..

 

i agree with nicholas 100%

 

It is refreshing to see so many pilots giving good, solid advise to this question. In an industry where hopping from place to place for a small potential improvement is common, I am impressed that you still value an investment in education - and understand the value of youth.

THIS is why this forum is valuable!

 

I just got in from an exhausting commute so I only read the first page and will make this (for once!) brief. As everybody seems to have said: stay in school. Stopping would be the worst career move you could make. While minimums are indeed low these days, those minimums are conditional. You don't see a whole lot of 250/25 hour guys and gals being hired off the street; they either have an advanced degree (i.e. BS or to a certain extent AS) or a jet bridge course (eh) or both (or something that serves the same purpose as doing both, i.e. aviation degree). Airlines hiring people at 250/25 understand that while your experience level is low, the fact that you are capable of learning in an advanced environment/accelerated program means that you'll be more likely to learn from the fire hose that is newhire training. They certainly hire people who haven't done the above and have 250/25, but it's certainly not the norm, and it's usually because that person happened to have done something else that proves that they are trainable.

All that about minimums being said, minimums can change overnight. You could go to your airline and be furloughed before training (has actually happened) because of downsizing or some other factor. You could stay in college and right as you graduate the entire industry could go into a downturn and you could wait a couple years to get hired. Of course, it could also go into a downturn tomorrow and then right before you graduate accelerate again. You never know.

And of course, forgetting about all the things that I've said above, the trend in the industry has been towards MORE formal education being required for pilots, not the other way around. There are people getting hired at majors and regionals alike (good ones) without degrees, but the vast majority of them have some sort of degree. Also, if only 1% of applicants who get the good jobs don't have degrees today, think about what it's going to be like in 5, 10, 15, etc years?

Don't forget, it's extremely tempting to jump on this industry, because it cyclically has times of the "pulse" interview and the times where you couldn't get a job flying a Baron unless you had letters of recommendation from the CP, VP of Flight Ops, and the CEO's college roommate. But with all that temptation and uncertainty in the industry, the people who are going to graduate this spring had the same dilemma three and a half years ago, and the people who graduated then had the same dilemma seven and a half years ago, and so on. Do what's best for the long term, and remember, it's not like flying is an unrewarding profession unless you get to fly an ERJ or CRJ. So what if by the time you graduate the regionals aren't hiring? Even if you have shiny jet syndrome, so what if you "HAVE" to CFI for a year before getting hired in a turbine multi? In the scope of things, is a year really that much when you're talking about a 35+ year career in flying?

Plus, I know for a FACT that east Washington has an active GA population. Just cause you have all your licenses and that hiring seems to be at a frenzy right now doesn't mean that flying jobs will come to your door begging you to apply. You may have to spend some time not only at YOUR airport, but at other airports around you. And look in Trade-A-Plane. They have all sorts of GA, low time, part time jobs available and advertised.

Well there you go. A "brief" post, just like the rest of all of my posts.