Advice for an up-and-coming pilot

AlecL

AlecL

Member
Hi all!
I have been interested in aviation for a long time, and now that I am in high school, I have begun flying. I want to go to ERAU (Daytona Beach), get my degree in something, and then fly for the airlines. This has probably been asked a million times, but do you have any advice? Should I look at other colleges? What airline connection programs are there, aside from ERAU/KAP/JBU?
Thank you very much for your input.
 
Welcome Alec, from another Alec.

You can get a degree in anything and fly for the airlines. So ERAU is not necessary at all. My recommendation is find something you are interested in and go major in that. If the school has an aviation program I would minor in aviation. The variety of stuff I learned in aviation classes was amazing. There was accident investigation, aviation security, and other cool stuff.

So go to another school and have fun. If you can go somewhere and knock out the general classes at a community college, and learn to fly in the same city.

Most importantly go have fun!
 
Welcome to the site! I can't say much about ERAU because I didn't go there but if was gonna give advice, it would be to go to an in-state school or somewhere you can get "cheap" tuition and where you can have an awesome college experience. Work hard and play harder. Get a degree in something that interests you (hopefully you have some other interests besides flying). Fly on the side at part 61 school "mom and pop flight school". There's about a million ways to get to the airlines and the people on this site have done them all. Each story and path is different but my biggest advice would be enjoy the heck out of college, don't focus of going to an aviation college.
 
Hey bud, like these guys said I probably wouldn't go ERAU especially if money is tight for you, I personally have buddies who went there and even at the pay we make right now it's still insane what they are paying a month, I don't think I could afford food at those payments. Just look around and maybe go Part 61 that's what I did and saved some money doing so. Try out college studying something other than aviation as it's not required to have aviation degree, maybe something as a fallback or something else you enjoy. Good luck man hope you find what you're looking for!
 
Yo, Alec!

Welcome to the world of the airlines, where everyone has an opinion that is absolutely right. :) I will, however, jump on the bandwagon of doing something non-aviation in college and not going to ERAU. With appropriate engagement (networking) of others, you'll get all of that at half the cost and access to lots more girls.

ERAU and other programs cannot get you the amount of flight time you need quick out of college- the key is to get your ratings and move sharply to a flying job (probably cfi- you learn an incredible amount when cfii'ing) while going to college. Even though the 1500 hour rule wasn't in effect when I was going through, it might as well have been-- it is no crazy thing.

I went to florida state- there are a couple good flight schools at TLH that would be great while you work on your schooling.
 
As others have said.. Go to a college where you can get the college experience. I'm nearing graduation and I know how much I'm gonna miss the weekends.
 
Get a degree in what you want to study. If it's aviation, do aviation if that's your passion...plain and simple. Don't take advice from anyone on what to spend 4 years of your life studying and spending money on regardless of their experience. It's gonna be expensive no matter what angle you look at it, so PLAN financially. College is gonna be a lot tougher and miserable getting a degree in something you don't want to study. You'll lose your motivation fast.

I loved every minute of my B.S and heavily looking into a M.S in a different aviation study because of how much I enjoyed what I was learning. Plus there is an incentive with a rATP...not a huge one but maybe big enough to stop the bad rap on it. That's all I'll say. I chose the cheapest school and ERAU was my dream school but when I got accepted and got my financial aid package I had to say no...but the school looked awesome at both campuses.

Definitely go somewhere and enjoy your school, colleagues and college experience. I definitely didn't get to experience the college life in Montana lol.

That being said take everyone's advice with a grain of salt...even mine. It's like coming online and asking what to order at a restaurant....quickly we all start to argue about who has the best idea...but welcome.;)
 
Thank you very much for your input guys! I'm not exactly the richest guy in the world and tuition will be an issue - but I doubt acceptance to anything except Ivy League will be. My follow-up question: how would I "do" both college and flying at the same time? My current flying school is Part 61. I want to get as many hours as possible in as little time as possible.
 
Time management!! Regardless of if you do a pilot degree or something else just schedule to fly 3 times a week. I was forced too since I got my degree in aviation but for the 61 world it still applies. Plan it around your school schedule but don't take too many breaks or getting your certificates will take a lot longer. That's my 2 cents but some other guys did it differently so compare all the different one's and do what best suits you.
 
Ahh... The hardest part of college and being an adult. TIME MANAGEMENT. Haha! You will have to figure out how to prioritize your life and how to balance work, school, flying, partying, spouse, relaxing, etc many times all in the same day. It isn't always easy but you'll get the hang of it.
 
AlecL said:
Thank you very much for your input guys! I'm not exactly the richest guy in the world and tuition will be an issue - but I doubt acceptance to anything except Ivy League will be. My follow-up question: how would I "do" both college and flying at the same time? My current flying school is Part 61. I want to get as many hours as possible in as little time as possible.
Click to expand...
Well, you would go Part 61 on the weekends...you would work hard (possibly, full-time) and go to school simultaneously.

The Department of Education has some "truth in advertising" information regarding college. Here, for instance, is ERAU Daytona's costing data.
Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 16.16.17.png


I would put the places that have programs that you want (consider studying not-flying, but something that also pushes your buttons and will challenge your intellect) side-by-side and compare them. Department of Education's website can do that. Here's the full data, not just a screenshot. (I'm not sure if flight fees are included in that either; someone who has recently attended Riddle or an information session should be able to speak to that.)

For comparison, this is where I went. I got a degree at, eh, roughly a seventh (perhaps even less) of what ERAU would cost, and I learned to fly over the course of my college career, Part 61.

Oh, before you do anything else...go take a first class physical.
 
And also, @AlecL, my former Dean of Enrollment wrote a very good book about going to college - it's here. Dr. Sweetland never pulled any punches when I worked with her, and she does pull any punches not in that text either. It is a refreshingly honest look at the system and has really great advice on how to get into a college that works for you, succeed when you're there, and pay for it, from an actual experienced practitioner of higher education (in particular, admissions and student aid).
 
AlecL said:
Hi all!
I have been interested in aviation for a long time, and now that I am in high school, I have begun flying. I want to go to ERAU (Daytona Beach), get my degree in something, and then fly for the airlines. This has probably been asked a million times, but do you have any advice? Should I look at other colleges? What airline connection programs are there, aside from ERAU/KAP/JBU?
Thank you very much for your input.
Click to expand...

Be honest. How many people, call you Alex? :bounce:
 
All I can say is, make sure that while you fly and figure out how you're going to deal with college that you make sure you really do enjoy aviation and flight training I can't stress that enough, it's gonna be stressful and you might pull a lot of hair out but guess what? You're flying airplanes and nothing can beat that. I just try to tell all my buddies interested in aviation as a career to make sure that they really do make flight training enjoyable and love even the small things, can''t pick up steep turns day 2? oh well brush it off and smile, you're gonna love getting into this it really is worth every single penny regardless of what you may make at the regionals but who cares, someday down the road you will look back at you're life from the beginning of aviation and smile, laugh it off whatever it may be. It's an awesome experience and I would never trade this for anything. Now I can't speak for the airline life yet as I'm still just a survey pilot but man life on the road at a young age, seeing all the cities and towns most of which you probably won't see again at the airlines really is amazing. Message me if you ever have any more questions I'd sure love to help out if I can! Have fun with this and enjoy every second of it!
 
For as much hatred that ERAU has around here I really loved that school. Not the people but the school(from my visit). Obviously I went the cheapest school for me that gave me the most scholarships and financial aid but I can see why young high school kids wanna go there. They sell the school amazing to young kids...just like ATP flight training does.

That being said I don't know the quality of education to comment on how that is. I'm sure it's safe to assume how the college life was with a school of 80%+ males.
 
I've posted that before and I've also stated that I have a piece of paper with my name, and the words diploma & ERAU worldwide on it. It was the best solution for my situation (my employment, location & GI Bill). Worked fine for me, but I learned at a 61 school affiliated with a state school under the GI Bill and then transferred into worldwide.

I'm not particularly slamming Riddle, but my experience with some recent students and graduates is amazing. They really don't understand how hard it will to pay out a loan that large on entry level position salaries. For a short period their advantage was the ability to train towards the R-ATP, as I understand it now, training towards an R-ATP can done at approved colleges around the country.
 
Thank you SO much for your replies. I think I will apply to ERAU, but not going to go anyway. I might try UMass Amherst, of Boston University which has Mechanics with a focus on aeronautics degree. I will just keep flying constantly at my current Part 61 flight school. My CFI is very well connected - she taught a few KAP pilots and is friends with the CEO of Ameriflight. So, I think I'll do just fine. Oh, and @Maximillian_Jenius, too many :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top