A&P or finish Bachelor

chrisreedrules

chrisreedrules

Master Blaster
I'm planning on starting back school to finish my Bachelor degree in International Business this coming summer 2013... I'm planning on taking about 3 years to finish at 3 classes per semester. Lately, I've been considering slightly modifying this plan... I've been thinking of pursuing my A&P rather than finish college right away. What I'm looking for is some input from anyone who has done this or has any insight into this area of aviation. Which is more valuable long-term? The way I see it is I know a lot more A&Ps making a good living these days compared to people with a Bachelor degree. And I don't see that trend reversing anytime soon. And thats not to say that I won't eventually get a Bachelor degree, just that I would put it off for a few more years to pursue another aspect of aviation to try and further my career and for personal gratification. I have an opportunity to apprentice with the mechanics that work for my flight school/charter company so I would not be coming out of pocket for the training. But it would be a commitment for a few years. Thoughts?
 
As our economy evolves further into globalization, more specialized skills which are immune to outsourcing, such as an A&P are more valuable than an International Business degree. With that being said, the best years of my life were during college.
 
I would finish the degree first. I think it's important to get that out of the way. It'll become more difficult as time goes on. I know many people who "took a break" and for one reason or another, never finished.
 
Thanks all for the replies. One of the biggest reasons I have been seriously considering the A&P is because of it being more of a commitment of time as opposed to money. And college will be both. I actually really enjoy school/learning (if I could, I would probably have as many degrees as I could get) but I do know that life can make different plans for you whether you want it to or not. I wonder how hard it would be to work full time as a CFI, do my A&P apprenticeship, and finish college in 3 or 4 years? Something to think about I suppose...
 
IMO
If you want to fly for a living- degree first.
If you want to wrench on airplanes- A&P first.

Somebody said an A&P was "immune to outsourcing". The airlines have been doing exactly that for a number of years now. Cut and paste "aircraft maintenance outsourcing" to google and see how many hits you receive.

I've had some good paying jobs because of my A&P. But it was only after working for peanuts for a couple years, 3rd shift, in the cold, covered in skydrol, walking to work uphill... both ways.
 
Derg said:
You can swing a dead cat without smacking 50 regional pilots "just a few credits short" of a degree.
Click to expand...
Hey!

I wish I could have it completed but now with a baby on the way and commuting to the middle of he ocean, it seems like a long shot.

Do the degree!
 
Finish the degree, it's a serious serious PITA to go back. Not to mention, your credits may expire. Probably not if you majored in commercial aviation, but if your degree is business or something more dynamic, the entire curriculum might be different when you go back and your previous hard work may not count, or what was just one class to finish, becomes 5.

I've been more or less done after going 2 years without working on it. I am one of those "one course to finish" guys at this point, but UND added a "capstone class" that I'm trying to get exempted from. What I'm facing is possibly having to say "fuggit" and graduate with General Studies, which at face value, doesn't look so hot on a resume in my opinion. Even though all the course work is still there and the Commercial Aviation degree is not any more valuable, it's a negative in my mind, BUT moving back to Grand Forks for one class isn't an option.

Degree all the way.
 
Get the degree!!!

A degree in international business won't just allow you to fly for a living, it will check a box in every job interview you'll have for the rest of your life that says "pay this guy more," and opens up many non-aviation avenues you may have to pursue in the event of a furlough.

I'm planning on completing my A&P after college (I had started an apprenticeship after high school before going back to school to obtain an engineering degree). Depending on the shop you apprentice at, it may take some time to gain the required hours and types of required work experience (you may do a lot of 100 hours but never learn to weld or do any sheet metal work... May only see one type of aircraft. Etc). You may want to look and see if any local community colleges offer an affordable A&P curriculum, as you'll probably get a lot of exposure to a wide variety of aircraft types and repair techniques, as well as support preparing for the writtens and the practical. But as long as you have a good teacher and work at a place that will help you meet your required work experience, you can't beat apprenticeship. Not only is the training free, they pay you.

Then again, they can lay you off half way through your training also. That's why you get the degree first. :)
 
I'm not going to tell you not to get a degree but I will tell you you can ALWAYS find work as an A&P. I fly with lots of guys that if they loose their medical or if we fold they have NOTHING, what an awful feeling it must be not to have any back-up plan.

Oh side note, an A&P ain't just for airplanes, if tells people you know (at least the basics) Sheet metal, Hydro, Engines, Electrics, can read tech data ect. ect.. There are several service companys on the North slope that have hired guys with A&P's to work on everything from pump stations to garbage truck hyd actuators
 
cstewart6 said:
Online degree while you fly as much as you can
Click to expand...

This is what I did. I did it on-line while I was flying at Pinnacle. Most of the classes just have you turn your homework in via e-mail or forums, so if you've got access to a computer and the internet, it doesn't matter where you are. In additin, a lot of the classes had the full syllabus and schedule from day one, so with the exception of exams, you could get ahead when you had more down time to make up for when you're busy down the road.
 
Can anyone recommend some good online universities? My local community college offers a lot of online stuff but they only offer 4 different bachelor degrees as of right now... I was planning on going to UNF to finish up but that costs major bucks and there isn't as much online availability of classes.
 
chrisreedrules said:
Can anyone recommend some good online universities? My local community college offers a lot of online stuff but they only offer 4 different bachelor degrees as of right now... I was planning on going to UNF to finish up but that costs major bucks and there isn't as much online availability of classes.
Click to expand...

UNF as in North Florida? My roommate went there. She called it U Never Finish. She never did, either. :)

Anyway, it's expensive, but I did mine at ERAU. For ease of use and the sheer amount of people that have done it, it's probably the best way to go unless you want something other than aviation. Nice thing about ERAU was I got 36 or so hours of credit for my flight ratings, CLEPed out of 4 classes and they accepted all of my credit from my previous college. Made it a WHOOOOLE lot cheaper that way.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have screwed around in the 90s, and I would have gotten my history degree.
 
Get that degree!! I am working on mine right now, and it is a lot harder to get it done later in life. The best advice I could give anyone is to get that degree done, and the sooner the better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top