Alright so I was in your same spot 3 years ago. I'm just going to piggy back on what everyone else has said, and there's no way in hell my experience in the industry is anywhere close to theirs, so take this this for what it's worth.
Basically I, like you, had college completely paid for. I had been accepted into one of the largest aviation schools in the US for a degree in professional aviation. If you look at my post history you may be able to find it, not sure if I've made a new account since then.. anyways, I too had been dead set on going there for a while and couldn't see myself going anywhere else or studying anything else. I too blocked out all the negativity about the school I heard from everyone online and just kept telling myself the only reason that people were so negative about these expensive aviation universities was because they, unlike me, would have to take out massive student loans to afford it (sorry if that comes across douchey), and would have to be paying those loans off making crap pay as a CFI/FO for who knows how long. But me, I could handle living on $25k/yr with no loans or anything to pay off, right? That's what I told myself for the longest time.
But thank god I stumbled across an ad for ATP flight school sometime in the spring of my senior year of HS.
I saw that ATP basically offered the exact same thing this university I was planning on attending did, but for nearly 1/4 of the price and in a lot quicker of a time frame. After a few weeks of really considering my options and actually re-reading what everyone had said about getting an aviation degree from a purely objective viewpoint, I realized it probably wasn't the best option. It was really a huge relief accepting the fact that the apple koolaid I had been fed by this university was all BS and that there were much better options out there to get to the same end result.
So I decided I would attend an in state university and get a degree in something totally unrelated to aviation that I could actually use for literally a fraction of the price and then do the ATP program after I graduated. I figured I could graduate in 3 years by taking a couple extra classes here and there because I had some AP and dual enrollment credits going in. So basically by the time I was 22 I would have a 4 year degree, all the same ratings that this other university would get me, and a job CFI-ing for a ton cheaper.
So I started college that fall at my in state university and lived at home because it was only about a 10 minute drive from my house. Cool. Well long story short, I joined an organization, applied for some scholarships, was fortunate to get some, and now I literally get paid to go to school because I get more scholarship money than my in state tuition is worth, so the surplus just gets direct deposited to my bank account every semester. With one of the scholarships I also get a stipend each month so that's nice too. Well now I have a surplus of money I never had accounted for, and with the terms of this scholarship I wouldn't be able to do the ATP program after I graduated. I also couldn't graduate in less than 4 years. (You may be able to guess why..) So the summer after my freshman year I paid for my PPL in cash at a local pt141 flight school that was still a ton cheaper than the original university I was going to attend. I fly with awesome people here and have gotten to do some really cool XC's with people I have met from the local area and flew planes that I otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity to do had I gone to the aviation school. Like getting to say "flight level two five zero" on the radio before I even had my PPL..(I felt cool at the time)
My sophomore year I picked up a job at the airport throwing bags for an airline working the graveyard shift to get some extra spending money for flying. Did I need that job? No, but working at the airport for an airline part time making more than minimum wage (and being able to fly more..) with sweet travel benefits seemed like a good deal. Did that all year (and still do) and flew on the weekends with different hot sorority chicks every time to different places finding some of the best food in the area, all paid for in cash and still had money left over to hang out with friends and go to sports games/movies/parties/trips/whatever they were doing in their free time with them.
This past summer I started my IR and I'm about to finish that up now, once again all paid for myself in cash. My IR has probably taken longer than it would at a 141 university, but it's been much cheaper and I probably could have finished it up a few months ago if I really wanted to push myself. So now I'm still getting paid to go to school, have my part time job slaying bags, am about to finish my IR, and should find out here in a few months if I'm going to get a job flying professionally right after I graduate (with all training/remaining certificates paid for). If that falls through, then I'll still finish my degree this May and have a 4th year in school fully paid for to take whatever classes I want (once again, terms of my scholarship) and will still be able to finish my CMEL and maybe CFI by the time I graduate in May '16. If that's the case I'll just have to wait a few extra years before I start flying professionally, but considering I got my 4 year degree, paid for my ratings in cash, still came out on top, and had a blast doing it, I think it will ultimately be worth it.
Now obviously my scenario is pretty specific to me, and a lot of things had to fall in to place for me to be where I am today, but I've heard tons of stories (both online on forums and personally) of other people our age doing the same thing. The key here is networking and exploring all options for your flight training, even if you can only see yourself taking one path. Looking back on the last 3 years I would take this situation any day over any alternative that this other 141 university promised me.
I'm not trying to slam 141 universities, as the only experience I have with them is what friends that have attended them have told me, just sharing my experience.
tl;dr my advice to you
- Go to school for something other than aviation
- Meet hot chicks
- Get creative and find ways to profit by going to school ((shouldn't be too hard if your tuition is already paid for) scholarships, PT jobs, etc..)
- Do flight training at a local pt61 or pt141 school during summers or easy semesters and meet pilots and do cool • with them
- Take hot chicks flying on the weekends
- Don't get a DUI
- Graduate with a degree in something kinda maybe useful with most if not all of your ratings completed and start CFI-ing or any other gig you can find with a wet CSEL/MEL
I tried not to disclose too much specific info in my post, but if you have any questions I wouldn't mind going into details with you if you want to PM me.
Good luck,
