Finish College or Move On?

Derek_S

Derek_S

New Member
Well I had a well set plan for myself that I was really sure of until now. I know this has been talked about quite a few times and I have read everything I can already about this in these forums, but I think my question is just a little bit different.

Currently I am in Junior College right now working on my associate's degree. After I graduate (next year) I was planning on going to DCA.

The first reason why I wanted to go to the flight academy after only getting my associates was because I figured rather then another two more years of college (without being able to fly at all) I would just finish up my degree with online classes while in a FO position. This way I will be able to make money while finishing up my education, and since most stay with regional's for a while before moving up to the major airlines I would just be able to take a couple classes at a time each semester.

The second reason of planning this is because when you finish up the program at DCA (and many other academies) you earn college credits toward your degree at a university the academy is linked with (I believe it's somewhere around 40 units earn at DCA that go to Jacksonville University). This is almost the equivalent of three semesters of college, and I figured that with this amount of units plus the units from my JC will almost get me my degree. However, if I finish up my degree before going to DCA (or another academy) then the units I earn at the academy are almost useless.

This is what I originally had planned on, but after reading all the other forums similar to this has kind of got me thinking about it a little bit more. I am a hard and dedicated worker and if I did do this I would definatly be able to hold a FO position while taking online courses.

I would like (and need) all the help I can get on this, I am very open to comments and even different suggestions. I only have a little over a year to go before I move on to the next step and time is moving incredibly fast (so I am kind of getting nervous about all this coming up so quickly). Thank you all for your help!
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It sounds like you are saying you favor a big academy because training with one will give you extra college credits. I believe ERAU's distance learning program will give you the same sort of credits based on your ratings and experience. I don't think it's necessary to go to one of the big academies for this.
 
I agree with DE. You may even want to consider getting a degree in something unrelated to aviation (like business, computer science, international relations, communication, etc); but distance learning is a perfectly viable option.
 
and JU doesnt have online learning so the ratings earned at DCA wont matter unless you plan to go though an online aviation program like Utah Valley State College in which case they will take flying credits based on the licenses and ratings you hold, regardless of where you earn them. So you might as well save some money and get your ratings much cheaper and not go to a big academy.
 
UVSC will grant you credits whether you train at a hole in the wall FBO or "Delta" connection.

Don't get lured by those nice 4 color ads and false promises of these academys. It does not matter where you train at.
 
My ratings translated to 36 credits with ERAU, and I didn't get them at a fancy academy. As far as online degrees are concerned, they want a copy of your ratings, and they all say FAA on them, not DCA, FSI, ATP, etc.
 
The problem is getting the job at the regional without the degree may not be that easy. Read EatSleepFly's post from a little while ago....

"A couple weeks ago I interviewed at a regional. Another interviewee had a few less hours total time than me, almost 100 less multi, and no turbine (I have 200) time. We both came from similar backgrounds (mainly flight instructing) and have both been "at it" for about the same amount of time. Both of us had good recommendation letters from current/former employers. Neither of us had an internal recommendation.

After the interview, he wasn't too confident that it went all that well. I, on the other hand, thought mine went exceptionally well. As it turns out, he got the call and I got the letter (he got hired, I didn't).

It could certainly be for other reasons (one in particular), but one major difference between us was that he had a 4-year degree and I just have a bunch of credit towards one.

Although I had more flight time and slightly more experience, he got the job because the degree made him a better overall candidate, and that's what they're looking for. Don't sell yourself short"

Why not finish the degree while instructing? I know several people who are doing that.
 
Wow guys, thanks for all the help! I had no idea that there are college's out there that will give you credits for your ratings no matter where you got them. The thing is though I don't think the local FBO is for me because I want to get my ratings quickly and need a loan that will cover this big expense. So I'm still leaning towards an academy since they give you both of these things, just need to find a good academy that's right for me. I also didn't think about taking online classes while instructing, that's a good idea.

After spending hours of reading the forums on some of these big name academy's, I'm definaty enlightened that it is not the only way to go and would be even better to instruct else where instead of the "guaranteed" positions that you sometimes have to wait forever for and that these bridge programs can take longer then it would to just apply for the positions by yourself.

Thank you for all of the replies, please keep the comments/suggestions coming. It is a real big help and greatly appreciated!
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Here is my take on this from first hand experience...

I'm not going to tell you, go to or don't go to DCA because you are the only one that can make that decision.

I talk to students everyday that absolutely love DCA and others that totally hate it. As a matter of fact most of my friends that go to college with me end up given up their dreams of becoming airlines pilots after our school force them to go to DCA.

It all depends on your situation, in my case I have a family I'm paying my way through college and flight training. When the school toll US that we had to switch to DCA instead of our local FBO I said OK I will give a try.

I got my instrument rating there and on one occasion I was talking to one of the instructors there and he toll me that between living expenses and flight training at DCA he had accumulated 90k in loans (no including college) plus 20k in credit card bills and he was making $10 dollars an Hr.
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After I finish my instrument and 13k later I ran as fast as I could from that place. I just couldn't justify expending that amount of money for one shoot at an interview..

I hope that helps.
 
I'd say finish your degree. It is the most important thing and gives you a plan B if the aviation industry takes a dive for the worse. Being only 19, you have plenty of time to finish college and then instruct, apply, and fly high.

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It could certainly be for other reasons (one in particular), but one major difference between us was that he had a 4-year degree and I just have a bunch of credit towards one.


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So what's next for you? Are you going to finish up your degree and apply again or just apply to other regionals?
 
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Wow guys, thanks for all the help! I had no idea that there are college's out there that will give you credits for your ratings no matter where you got them. The thing is though I don't think the local FBO is for me because I want to get my ratings quickly and need a loan that will cover this big expense.

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Why can't you just get a line of credit? This way you could do it at an FBO and it might save you some money.
 
I think the only problem doing it locally is that they may not want to give you a chance at being an instructor. If they do decide to let you instruct you may not see as many students as one of the academy's. I'm just guessing, someone tell me if I'm wrong.
 
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I think the only problem doing it locally is that they may not want to give you a chance at being an instructor. If they do decide to let you instruct you may not see as many students as one of the academy's. I'm just guessing, someone tell me if I'm wrong.

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Well if I got all my ratings at an FBO it doesn't mean I can't move on and instruct some where else like ATP for example, right?
 
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It could certainly be for other reasons (one in particular), but one major difference between us was that he had a 4-year degree and I just have a bunch of credit towards one.


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So what's next for you? Are you going to finish up your degree and apply again or just apply to other regionals?

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I'm still slowly chipping away at my degree online. I can't afford to go back to school full time, so I have to keep flying. I'm done with applying at regionals though, I think. No offense to the regional guys, that just isn't my thing and the majors aren't my goal.

I'd like to get on with Mountain Air Cargo. They emailed me this morning and asked me to email back a resume, so they've finally acknowledged my existance. If that doesn't pan out, there's a local freight company that has pretty good pay/benefits that has tentatively offered me a Caravan captain position when one opens up, probably the end of April or early May, so I'll probably do that if I don't get my feeder wish. I'd be home every day, 3 weekends a month off, the fourth on-call, and first year pay is twice that of a second year regional F/O. Not too shabby.
 
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Well if I got all my ratings at an FBO it doesn't mean I can't move on and instruct some where else like ATP for example, right?

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Flight schools like ATP, Ari Ben, and Skymates rarely hire outside of their programs.
 
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Wow guys, thanks for all the help! I had no idea that there are college's out there that will give you credits for your ratings no matter where you got them.

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Give you credits? No. Some will sell you credits for existing ratings.
 
Well, technically you get the credits when you buy your other classes. I didn't have to pay for my 36 credits at ERAU. Now, the OTHER classes I took......
 
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