Advice?

[gomntwins]

First off, I'd say going to college is important. I'd say getting the 4 year degree is extremely important and worthy of taking out loans for (second is a house)... for anything else I would avoid a loan at the moment... but education is worth it. Your schools financial aid office will work with you to make sure you can afford it. I'm not exactly sure how they do it, but they do it. FAFSA is important. Cheaper schools are better... smaller loans.

As for the A&P... if you can find a place to work during college as an intern, as long as you get your 30 months (I think it's 30), they can sign you off to take the checkride. It would give you a great part-time job (it'd take you a lot longer than 30 I belive... but part-time work should be enough experience to do it in 4 years). Your pay will be low, but probably better than mcdonalds, but you'll get the experience and the A&P.

Flying... I don't know. It's a tough one to take out a loan for at the moment. Get a job and pay as you go is supposed to be the best option, but that takes awhile. ideally you could get loans to pay for college, get an a&p internship that pays you while working at a flight school so you get some type of discount, start dating a flight instructor (cheap instruction) and use your income to pay for the training. I do know of somebody that did do this minus the college.. it worked out well for him. That scenario would be difficult to come by I guess.

I do think getting an A&P internship that pays would be a good option though.

 

[WAFlyBoy]

You want to spend how much on your education, then fly skydivers and/or cargo?

I don't know what drop zones are paying in the northeast, but in California I couldn't make enough to live on WITHOUT student loan payments. From what I've heard, cargo jobs (other than the likes of UPS and FedEx) are better, but perhaps not by much. Certainly not $100K-student-debt-service-better.

I guess what I'm saying is this: if you'll be borrowing money for the bulk of your higher education, you might do well to tailor it (your education) in terms of your long terms goals and projected ability to pay back loans (i.e. future income). For example, if your goal is to be an A & P or fly night cargo, you don't really need a $100K education. Your bachelors degree probably won't get you any special treatment in those lines of work.

Two caveats, though: Number 1 - Going to college is a good thing. I'm very happy that I spent the time, money, and hard work to receive a college education. I always encourage others to do the same. It's a great experience in many ways if you take it seriously (but not too seriously). But you might need to reconsider your school, choice of major, post-baccalaureate career path, go part-time and work while in school, or some combination of those to make it viable.

Number 2 - Your long-term goals will probably change as you learn and experience new things. Whatever you select in terms of education, keep that in mind. An aviation major and an aviation minor (ie maintenance and flight) might not give you a whole lot of academic flexibility - or job market viability if you decide to make your money outside aviation (and fly on the side for fun, of course.)

And finally, an unsolicited opinion: If you ask me, majoring in aviation is for people who don't really need to make a living. (Due to trust fund, self-made financially independent, etc.) There's just not enough money trickling down to the front-line worker in this industry. Combining that with industry volatility makes the ubiquitous "backup plan" philosophy one that I subscribe to.

For what it's worth (approx what you paid for it), that's what I have.

 

[PGT]

1. Go to a community college close by to save money while living at home.
2. Get a nice paying job while in community college (bank)

My 2 year degree cost $9500, I was making over $1000/mo working 30 hours a week while living at home...no bills = save up a huge amount.

3. Go to a cheap university after. My school is 18k a year ( I was able to get a scholarship to get it down to 11k)

So 9500 + 22000 = $31,000 for my 4 year degree.
Flying IR-CFI ~ 25,000 (way less if you hook up with safety pilot)

total cost for ratings plus college is $56,000. Now I didn't take out loans for first 2 years for community college so that leaves 47,000. Subtract whatever you saved up from those 2 years and take out a loan for the rest.

I will walk about with about 30k in debt but that's not bad considering I'll have a 4 year degree and all my ratings

There are cheap universities out there, just gotta look hard. It took me 2 years to find this one, hell there was 1 post about it on JC and I looked it up.

 

[flyeagle111]

Just so you know, their flight program is extremely slow. The two kids I know that went there both were working on their privates for over two years.

 

[LineUpAndWait]

You might check into the AMT program at Stratford. Here's a link: www.cttech.org/ssamt/
I don't know anything about them except that they are next door to the FBO I fly out of there.
They evidently have a connection with Housatonic Community College which has a connection with UConn.

 

[JJ8Flyer]

I am born and raised CT and recently moved to FL to go to FSA. I had looked into this place its at KHFD, online degree course and it is within driving distance. I have a couple friends going there and they seem to be having a good experience. There is also Dowling college on LI.

Here it is: http://www.premierflightct.com/DegreeProgram.html

 

[tlewis95]

Just so you know, their flight program is extremely slow. The two kids I know that went there both were working on their privates for over two years.

+1

My friend has been there for a year and hasn't soloed yet. :whatever:

That, the cost, the small fleet, the religious part, the private part, were all that I needed to make SIU my number one choice.

Speaking of which, I am all in and accepted, now I am in the same spot...how the hell am I going to pay for this.

Very stressful when you mix that with all of the other things coming up before I head down there in August 09. anic:

 

[Okie_Pilot]

I don't know if you've thought about it, or if it's the route you would want to try. But give a thought about the Air National Guard. I got my PPL when I turned 17. I graduated this year, went to basic training, and I'm about to graduate Tactical Aircraft Maintenance school here in Texas.

The OK ANG is paying 100% in-state tuition, I get both the State, and Federal G.I. Bill which comes to around $669/month for books, dorm, supplies, and whatever else is school related. I also got a $20k signing bonus.

When I graduate here, I plan on returning to my base and seeing if I can get a full-time job as a Crewchief for a couple of months until I start college in the fall. The current wage for full-time aircraft mechanics for the Air National Guard is $21-24/hour. That's a really good wage for someone straight out of high school, enough to help pay for flying. There's also alot of other benefits too, some are state "discretionary"?, so you'll have to check into them.

The Guard has "drill" once a month. You'll work one weekend out of the month, usually from 7-3. They also have 2 weeks out of the year, you have to train.

Yes, there's a very good possibility you will get deployed. Alot of people rag on the guard. But my guard unit has been deployed to Bolad Air Base 9 times since 1997. However, the last time they deployed, it was for 55 days. Absolutely nothing to complain about, when the other services can be deployed for up to 18 months. It is a small price to pay for the rewards you get out of it.

To sum it up. I dedicate one weekend a month and in return I get to serve my country, go to college for free, get a signing bonus I can use to help get my other ratings, and work on fighter jets 45 minutes from my house. I cannot complain about any of it.

www.goang.com

 

[katiekat]

I think I would shoot myself if I was to join anything military related. I'm not saying I disapprove of anyone else doing so, it's just not for me.

As for what I think I might do, I'm going to see if I can talk to the owner of the flight school I've been going to out of DXR and ask if she can set me up with an apprenticeship with the mechanic there and work in exchange for flying time and also see if I can get a grant to pay for whatever I can't get them to cover. I'm going to keep my venue job because business is about to pick up big time and that should be a pretty decent source of income once that happens. In the meantime I'll just do all the networking I can and go from there.

 

[tonyw]

Do you have any relatives in Illinois? If so, perhaps you can establish in-state residency and save some $ on tuition.

I tried that. Didn't work. I ended up paying the University of Illinois out of state tuition for all four years I was there.

They're really tough on that, especially now with their colleges being state supported versus state funded.

 

[Goonie]

Aww...look at these guys with their long helpful post. If you were some dude you would be getting answers like "umm...do a search"

 

[DE727UPS]

Kit, I don't see why anyone would give you a grant. Good luck with that and all. I'd suggest you stay local, live at home, go to a two year CC, and major in whatever, that will transfer where ever. In other words, a general education thing that you can apply to something your hopefully decide to study down the road. If there is somewhere local you can do your A and P, that's great, too. You might be able to use that to get some cheap flying time and it could also be a great job for a while.

Just keep plugging away at the flying. Don't take out any big loans and try to stay local.

I did my first two years of school living at home, getting a two year AA degree, working, and flying as much as I could afford.

 

[mhcasey]

There is no reason to attend a $30k/year school unless it's called "Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc." And even then, only go there if you can stand hanging out with a bunch of rich clowns for 4 years to have an easy route to a well paying job.

You don't have to major in anything aviation related to achieve your aviation goals.

 

[Seggy]

You don't have to major in anything aviation related to achieve your aviation goals.

Oh so true.

 

[katiekat]

I actually don't care whether or not I get a degree. The hard part is convincing my parents to let me do what I think is best. I'm not looking to make a ton of money. I just want to live my life and be happy. They don't seem to understand that.

And it might make me sound arrogant or stupid but, if what I want to do ends up being a mistake, at least it will be my mistake and I will have no one to blame but myself.

 

[mhcasey]

I don't know if you've thought about it, or if it's the route you would want to try. But give a thought about the Air National Guard.
www.goang.com

Are you with the 138th FW? I'm sending them an ap this week :nana2:

To the OP - It's unclear to me of what you are trying to convince your parents? Also, I'd give you about a 0% chance of getting a grant for flight training.

Are you sure you want to spend 20k a year on tuition, and >30k on flight training so you can fly skydivers?

 

[katiekat]

Are you sure you want to spend 20k a year on tuition, and >30k on flight training so you can fly skydivers?

No. That's why I'm trying to come up with alternatives.

 

[itsbfinch]

I went to Lewis University
I had a 10,000 dollar scholarship but so didn't everyone else!
I also had about 5,000-10,000 in other scholarships depending on the year.
I graduated in December, took me 41/2 years to get comm and inst. rating i finished with 195 hours. But I did a sport and that took up a lot of time
I have about 80,000 dollars in student load debt which comes out to about 900 bucks a month I am paying now. Yikes!
I went through 8 flight instructors
The religious thing isn't a big deal you have to take two classes
Only 1000 people live on campus so it is like High school
There is no in state tuition its all the same
There planes, about 25-30, are very well maintained and taken care of, Heated hangars in Chicago, although no glass cockpit yet.


But I will say that I am a better pilot and know more than anyone I have ever met coming out of an FBO and Most other 141 schools. So even for all the negatives I do have to give this school a lot of credit and praise

 

[jynxyjoe]

I just want to live my life and be happy.

Pilot = still beats working

 

[katiekat]

What I'd really like to do is something skiing related in the winter (either teaching or ski patrol) and something skydiving related in the skiing off season. All the skiing jobs start in late November early December depending on where you are and what the job is and end in late march and skydiving in New England is March to October. A little overlap and also a little time off but that's not a big deal. Especially if I'm making enough when I am working to be able to cover 2 months off.

If I just bite the bullet and take out a loan to do an accelerated program this summer to get me through at least my IFR and commercial I can start looking for a low TT flying job, or my current FBO was advertising a few months ago that they would get you through your CFI if you agreed to teach for them for at least a year. That's also an option. In the meantime I could start skydiving and doing some networking so that when I do have enough hours and experience I can get a job flying for a DZ or something. I'm also working on getting a job with a ski school right now. I have training for it this weekend and we find out who gets hired sometime next week. I was almost guaranteed a job though because I'm a girl and I've been skiing for almost ten years and people like me what they need the most of.

Any thought on accelerated programs?