Hey guys, I know that this topic has been asked several times over and again, but I figured I might as well ask some real pilots instead of just my girlfriend and brother about what they think, and wanting to get some opinions on my career plans regarding piloting..
I'm 19 years old right now living in waaaaaaaay too far South Texas (the closest you can literally get to mexico, without being in mexico), and I'm in the third year of school at the local university (University of Texas - Pan American) majoring in accounting. I started out trying to go for electrical engineering mainly because I had heard that it paid well and I wanted something where I could work and work on my certifications and ratings part time. After two years of that (it was mainly basics, so they transfer over to my accounting degree plan,) I switched to accounting and realized I like it way better than I ever did with engineering. I have a decently high GPA and low EFC so that I get money for school and a lot more left over to do what I need with it.
I started thinking though. My goal right now is to get my PPL and instrument rating before I finish college so that I can work full time and get my certifications part time (my local FBO offers the commercial license, but not CFI certifications which I will have to get at another flight school in the area - McCreery Aviation Co., Inc) Once I get my CFI ratings my plan is to instruct either part time or full time to build up my hours and snag any regional, or piloting job in general that comes my way once the hours have increased.
My ultimate goal is to become an Airline Pilot, but really as long as I can fly day in and day out, I will be more than ecstatic. I do not mind getting into debt, but do not feel like getting into needless debt at some schools like Embry Riddle when I can just get the training nearby at a lower cost. I'm already going to take out $5,500 dollar subsidized loans from my school to pay for the PPL and instrument ratings (which I hear have extremely low interest and they give you plenty of time to pay them off) if I do not get a couple of scholarships that I am expecting to get.
Does this seem like a good plan? What opinions do you guys think? Again, I'm sorry that this is a tired subject, but honestly, the only thing that I would be happy with spending my life doing, is flying.