Advice for HS Sophomore

[Icalluback]

Kent State

I was looking over the curriculum at Kent State and found it to be quite good. I like the idea of having "labs" to go along with the lectures. It completes the learning process. I am a little disappointed that FIT does not have labs in the Aeronautical Sciences program. They told me the FBO and interactive computers fill that void, and that may be correct. So far it is the only drawback I have found for FIT. The line-up for us appears to be FIT, WMU, Kent State, Ohio State. We have not yet sufficiently researched Purdue. We'll do that this week. I decided ASU was probably not the best for my friend's teen.

Weather will be a big factor for WMU, Kent St, OSU, and Purdue. Depending on the winter, it can really mess up the flight training continuity, increasing the costs for that part of the training.

Any comments or corrections to my guesswork would be very welcome.

 

[jtrain609]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the term "labs." At Western Michigan, flight courses are considered labs. As in the airplane is a lab, and you go out and fly it. That's how they charge for flight training, they charge you through a lab fee. You also cocurrently take the ground school for your particular "lab" which really means, you study for the written for the certificate you're working on.

Weather sucks here in Kalamazoo as much as it sucks in North Dakota, Ohio or anywhere else in the region. We don't fly here until our junior year at Western Michigan, so it's usually not a big deal because most kids just stay here over the summer and fly. That'll happen at any college where there is snow. I would actually suggest going somewhere that presents a broad climate, it'll make you a better pilot and get you used to the conditions you're going to have to deal with on a daily basis flying the line.

All that being said; don't major in aviation. I came to Western for aviation, but switched out within a semester or two. Listen to a lot of people here, get a backup degree.

Cheers


John Herreshoff

 

[Icalluback]

Thanks for the advice about choosing a major. As for the labs, what I mean is you have a lecture let's say M-W-F. On Tu-Th you have a hands-on lab that allows you to work with what you studied. If you studied airfoils and aerdynamic characteristics, you build one in the lab and put it in the wind tunnel. That's what ASU did, and I thought it was a great idea. Kent State apparently does this as well.

As for flight training, you can always get the weather flying later. The objective during training is to fly regularly; 3 or more times each week. That way you don't have to repeat too many lessons or parts of lessons.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to respond. It has been many years since I went through college and flight training. While I'm sure I can help my friends pick a college, I realize I am not current on all the available options and considerations. The people I fly with have been removed from college for an equally long time.