Let me just start by saying that I HATE college. I went through 3 semesters and I was just miserable. I didn't know how I would ever make it through that and I was starting to feel really down about the whole thing. So I just started flying full time and work on my ratings. Now I know alot of people on here seem to have the opinion that without a college experience there is no way for me to make it thru aviation. But I really have a interest in the whole aviation thing and I can study and work really hard in that where as college just made me miserable. I was thinking that after I got my ratings and maybe started flight instructing I would start working on classes maybe 1 or 2 at a time so that I would just slowly make it though. I was thinking I would find a properly accredited online course from a reputable institution if I could. I am convinced that If I went back to a University full time I would just end up dropping out and becoming a traveling bum that plays my violin for food. Please no one just come in and say "Well then there is no way you can make it here" That is not constructive and all that would do is make me feel like crap. Thanks for your constructive advise.
I need some advice
- Thread starter Spbeyond
- Start date
Future DIA Pilot
New Member
I'm currently trying to figure out how to get my college degree as well.
Getting an online degree would be great, it just might take a while longer if you are working full time on your ratings or being a CFI. Keep in mind though, that many online aviation schools make you do a residency with them at their campus for 20-30 credits or so.
I'd say online classes would be a great alternative if you don't want to go to a brick and mortar school.
I wish you the best. I know it's an extremely difficult decision.
Getting an online degree would be great, it just might take a while longer if you are working full time on your ratings or being a CFI. Keep in mind though, that many online aviation schools make you do a residency with them at their campus for 20-30 credits or so.
I'd say online classes would be a great alternative if you don't want to go to a brick and mortar school.
I wish you the best. I know it's an extremely difficult decision.
Toria
Well-Known Member
Getting a degree online or going at a slower pace while you work is not uncommon. If you start at a Junoir College and transfer most of your credits, that would also keep you out of the bigger University setting for a big portion of your academic career. It seems that the airlines don't put a great emphasis on exactly what the degree is in. So, if there is something you really like to learn about, maybe Dinosuars, start in Geography, Geology and Paleontology. If you like Art, start there. Finishing is the most important part, so do what it takes to finish in a reasonable amount of time: four to eight years. Eight years, which is half-time for a University degree, is OK if you are working full time. Feel free to PM me about this with additional questions. I have pleanty of advanced degree experience and am happy to help you any way I can.
meyers9163
Well-Known Member
I think Jtrain stated it best yesterday. Let me see if I can find the link. I dont mean to be pestimistic because there are ways, but thinking about training for an airline I see it being more difficult then what I went through for college. And yes much like you I love aviation myself but find it hard to see that you will be able to study and be just fine when it comes to studying systems for an airline. But that's my 2cents. Best of luck and really I hope to link Jtrains comments yesterday on a similiar topic! It really states it well!
http://forums.jetcareers.com/showthread.php?t=41055
http://forums.jetcareers.com/showthread.php?t=41055
Murdoughnut
Well sized member
Maybe you're in the wrong college - or worse, maybe you just don't have the intelligence for a college education (not to sound harsh, but not everyone's college material - I'm a former college prof). Is it that you hate it, or you can't make it through? If it's the latter, I'm not sure I really want you flying my family anywhere.
SeatClutcher
Pasta.
I almost quit college after two years. The new semester was starting, and I was carrying ten pounds of ridiculously thick English books (I had the entire literary cannon in my hands) for three classes. Three! I dropped them on the floor and almost started crying because I couldn't believe I was seriously thinking about quitting.
It was just too much. Too uninteresting, too much studying, too many books (they wanted us to read all of that in a SEMESTER?), blah blah blah. I didn't feel like it. I'd never liked school, anyway, and now I was paying for it? What?
But then this thought: "So, what are you going to do instead?"
That solved it pretty fast. I didn't quit and learned we only had to read parts of those gargantuan books.
Having a backup career - such as flying - makes it easier to think about quitting, but what if that doesn't work out? Then what?
College gets better the longer you're in. The first couple years have you taking crap you don't want to take, but as you move further, you choose your major and take classes you think are interesting. Get a degree you think you'll love, or that you think you'll be able to use in a way you enjoy! My English degree is useless unless I want to be a professor (which I was for a while), but I sure had fun getting it once the pesky basics were out of the way.
Well, you know, a person could probably fly you from Brazil to Topeka and have gotten an F in English 101.
Texasspilot
New Member
The only people I've ever heard who didn't like college were the people who sat in there room night after night or were forced to study something they didn't want to.
Either of those you?
As for now, you've got three semesters down. So your less than a year away from an associates degree...at least get that so if you do decide to go back you don't have to start from scratch.
Either of those you?
As for now, you've got three semesters down. So your less than a year away from an associates degree...at least get that so if you do decide to go back you don't have to start from scratch.
nosehair
Well-Known Member
Some pretty harsh words here - even if they're true. And in consideration of Murdoughnut's viewpoint, I'm sure he means well with direct, albeit blunt, advice. He's a college prof. It is in his universe for college to be elevated to a higher level in the grand scheme of things. It's natural to him. Some, maybe most, of the people he has witnessed failing in college probably indicated a lower level of 'intelligence' (as measured by college -oriented testing methods).
Here's advice from a slightly different tack:
I struggled early in my late teens/early twenties with the same difficulty you express. Well, I didn't HATE college; I just didn't have time to enjoy it. I worked 2 jobs, supported family, and tried to get a degree going to college at night.
I loved flying, teaching flying, and just could not keep up the steam to do the college thing, and finally quit after about 4 years of night school getting 2 years college, and the only, the only, reason I felt I needed a degree was to get on the airlines. So, in the meantime, I realized I don't wanna do the airline gig after all; I rather teach and do other kinds of flying; which I have.
Now that I've done it all, well, not all, but a lotta different kinds of flying, in a lotta, lotta, different kinds of airplanes and helicopters, in a lotta different parts of the country in many different kinds of situations, it is a part of who I am.
My flying life has not been conducted in the "office" of an airliner up high where you can't see anything and don't turn anywhere except where the airway turns. Nope. I wouldn't have made it.
You don't have to do what every body else does. As a matter of fact, you can't. Not really. Of course, it is good to get 'advice' to make an intellegent decision - but you make your own decision on how you want to spend your life.
Ian_J
Hubschrauber Flieger
:yeahthat:
SPBEYOND....your frustration/feeling is not out of the ordinary by no means. Some folks just don't like college. When I graduated from HS, there was no way I was gonna make it through 4 more years of school, so I didn't even attempt it. Joined the AF instead....after a about 4 years, I decided I would give college classes a try. I was taking 1 class here and there and sometimes 2 at a time...it took me 12 or so years to finally get through a bachelor's degree, but I did it. The best part about it...it was on MY terms as to when I would take a class and what class it would be. I did a lot of relocation moves, deployments, long shifts, etc, so it took a long time to finish. The key is that I'm finished and have the diploma in hand. Nobody is gonna care how long it took...I can tell you, I did a lot better than I would have if I'd gone to college right out of HS.
Please don't give up on school...you'll find a time when it is right for you to take some classes. It may very well take a couple of years after you start flight instructing, but you'll be able to make that decision and start when it works best for your situation. There are a lot of schools that offer online degrees, including Embry-Riddle.....If you think aviation type courses will hold your interest better then get an aviation degree; otherwise, look into other degree programs. Get a degree in something...you'll be better off in the long run because of it.
Pac Man
Please don't give up on school...you'll find a time when it is right for you to take some classes. It may very well take a couple of years after you start flight instructing, but you'll be able to make that decision and start when it works best for your situation. There are a lot of schools that offer online degrees, including Embry-Riddle.....If you think aviation type courses will hold your interest better then get an aviation degree; otherwise, look into other degree programs. Get a degree in something...you'll be better off in the long run because of it.
Pac Man
Murdoughnut
Well sized member
I did come off as more harsh to this guy than I intended - sorry about that bro. I'll admit that my sentiments aren't about him, I just have a lot of passionate views about higher ed. I'm by no means an elitist, but I'm totally opposed to the current system that shoves everyone into the university classroom. A college degree is intended to segregate people for the work environment (I'm talking about the economic goal of education, obviously). The current liberal approach to education is to ensure that everyone earns a college degree, in essence giving it no economic power. Furthermore, my experience as an educator has taught me that every class proceeds at the pace of the median student - that is, whichever student is in the middle of the pack in terms of ability, that's who the class will cater too. By dumping a lot of unprepared, unmotivated, and incapable students into college classrooms, we are merely dumbing down the education everyone else receives. Equal opportunity, not equal access. I'm not conservative with many things, but crime and education are two. Once again, I apologize to this guy, I personalized my earlier statement way more than I had intended.
SharkFisher
Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure you are going through one of those "episodes." Believe me I have too, and I just had one a few weeks ago, and I am in my 3rd year! The important thing to realize is that college is not easy and it gets boring sometimes, but you gotta find a way to enjoy it. You might be more passionate about flying than going to class, but you know how that can affect you in the long run. It may not all boil down to how much $ you will make, but you need to build a solid amount of decipline needed to fly a complex aircraft. And college will just do that if you survived it.
Hope this helps: http://forums.jetcareers.com/showthread.php?t=41055&highlight=jtrain
Hope this helps: http://forums.jetcareers.com/showthread.php?t=41055&highlight=jtrain
C150J
Well-Known Member
First and foremost, you need to realize that you're not alone... there are plenty of people that have left college. Of those people, some have returned to complete their degree and become successful graduates. Your decision to drop out will not ruin your life, but going back (in some form) is critical.
A rigorous academic program will condition you to work through feelings of misery and doubt. If you think it's bad in college, wait until you have eight simulator sessions to get typed in your first turbine aircraft. I love flying as much as the next guy, but that certainly didn't make me feel any better while in training. It's a long and intense program - some are even designed to wash people out.
I think taking online courses might be a way to make college more palatable, but be cognizant of what you're missing.
J.
A rigorous academic program will condition you to work through feelings of misery and doubt. If you think it's bad in college, wait until you have eight simulator sessions to get typed in your first turbine aircraft. I love flying as much as the next guy, but that certainly didn't make me feel any better while in training. It's a long and intense program - some are even designed to wash people out.
I think taking online courses might be a way to make college more palatable, but be cognizant of what you're missing.
J.
I dont think im unintelligent for one thing. In fact when I was in school I always understood the material. I just don't like it. And i was going to Utah State University in the Aviation Technology course. It was just so dull. And so slow. The classes that had stuff to do with Aviation were great but some of the instructors where sub par and they had a way of making the fun dull. I was the same way in high school. I never showed up and I never payed attention but I always did all my homework with no effort. Graduated with a 3.8 Not saying thats Im really really intelligent or anything like that but 9 times out of 10 I knew what the teacher was going to say before they said it. But obviously this wont work with a university. I am thinking more and more about maybe getting all my ratings and then going to a University half time and instructing half time. Maybe the flying will be able to clear my head and make the University possible. This is made more possible by the fact that my family is helping me pay for my flight costs. So I wont have a huge debt hanging over me.
zmiller4
Well-Known Member
Get used to it--ground school at an airline is all about dull and slow, and the instructors aren't all perky and interesting. This is one of the reasons that airlines want you to have a degree...it shows that you can learn boring information taught by a potentially dull and slow instructor.
Stick with it. If you need to take some time off, do it. I took a semester off my junior year, and a lot of people at my school studied abroad (which is basically the same thing). While it's definately possible to get a decent aviation job without a degree, having one in the long run it will show that you have the desire and ability to achieve the goals you've set for yourself.
