Indiana State University or University of North Dakota

ISUCollegePilot

ISUCollegePilot

New Member
I'm just look for some advice on which college aviation program to go to this Fall. I'm orginally from Indiana and have been looking into going to Indiana State and persuing their Professional Aviation Flight Technology Major.

I hear some really great things about the program at UND and am possibly thinking of switching to UND instead. Anybody have any good advice on the either aviation program at ISU or UND? I noticed that UND just got a Level 6 CRJ-200 Flight Simulator. Anybody know if it's true that you can't start flying as a freshman at UND until spring semester?

Any advantages of going to UND or ISU already with a PPL? Also I noticed UND has a Flying team as well as several student aviation organizations to participate in.
 
Hey, I am a sophomore at UND and in the John D. Odegard School of Aeronautics.

Here are some things about the school:

Yes, the sim is in and running. The class is called Advanced Aircraft Operations (409) and is semester long course worth 3 credits. Topics of study include high speed and high altitude aerodynamics, physiological aspects of high altitude flight, hazards associated with operations near high speed buffet boundaries, effects of turbulence on high speed aircraft, the effects of maneuvering load factors, along with the general study of the typical business jet systems management.(taken from UND Aero website).

A benefit of being a CFI here is that you get free use of all sims and a reduced rental rate on the aircraft.

Some incoming freshman are allowed to fly their first semester if they get into the classes. Registration for incoming freshman starts in a couple weeks. If you register early, you will get in.

If there is anything else you want to know, just ask. If I don't know the answer, I can ask my CFI or anyone around here and get you an answer.
 
Thanks for the information. How do you like the school and the flying program at UND? Do you think it is smart to come to UND already with a PPL? That CRJ-200 Sim looks pretty awesome via the aerospace webpage. How often do you guys get to fly? I understand the weather can be pretty brutal there.
 
ISU

Hey I'm up at UND as well, freshman this year and have really enjoyed it so far. Got my private last semester and startin to work on my instrument/commercial this semester.

I'm not sure if you already have your private or thinking about getting it before you would decide to come up here, but it is not a real problem, the only down side to having it before you come up here is that you will have to take a test course still. That pretty much means that you have to take PPL ground school and go through an abbreviated flight training course to make sure you are up to "UND standards"...Rupp can probably give you more info about that, I think he's in 105 which is one of the test courses.

I got a chance to take a peek at the CRJ sim the other day while it was being used, and I must say it is pretty schweet lookin. The course you get to use it in is a 400 (senior) level course, so I can't really give you a lot of details.

I'm from Ohio, so this first winter up here was kind of a kick in the a$$ for me, but it's not that hard to adjust to. I won't lie, it does affect the amount of flying you get to do. I had about a month between February and March where I barely logged 3 hrs. This just means that when the weather is nice, which it has been for about the last 3 weeks, you need to bust your chops to get as much flying as possible done.

Any other questions, shoot em our way, we can handle just bout anything!
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Matt
 
Matt-

Thanks for the information about UND. It appears to be a really great school that has lot to offer and I don't want to miss out on that if I decide to go to Indiana State. I'm in the process of applying to UND but I heard the flight registration is coming up really soon so I gotta act fast.

Are you involved in any of the student organizations such as the UND Flying team or Alpha Eta Rho? Another thing, how is dorm life at UND? I've looked at all the Residence halls via the webpage and still trying to decide what to put down as my 1st-3rd choices on the housing application. Any suggestions on what is a better dorm for a freshman?

It's gonna be kinda weird since I'm 21 and just ending my enlistment in the Air Force to go to college. That's cool that your from Ohio, as for me Indiana right around the corner. I bet that winter was pretty crazy? Thanks again for the info.

Aaron
 
Aaron

I had a buddy that was on Flying Team, and I tried it out for a month or so this winter. I enjoyed it a lot, but the deciding factor for me was the amount of time that it demanded. They meet twice a week for about two and a half hrs. The meetings pretty much consist of testing. This allows the guys that are competing in certain ground events to practice for whenever the next competion is. The "exams" range in everything from E6B tests to aircraft recognition. These people put in some SERIOUS time, we're talkin like 20 hours a week of studying if you do a ground event, or if you compete in a flying event a lot of hours in the pattern practicing landings. Many of them do one or two of each too! I had a lot of stuff going on and decided to step back for the rest of this year. I am still debating whether or not to give it another shot next year. It does look great on the resumes though!

As far as the dorms go, I am in West this year and really like it a lot. Will be back here next year as well. It's close to all the aviation buildings and not to bad a walk to the rest of campus. McVeigh is the other dorm which is right next to West and it's pretty much identical. You could also put in to live in Swanson which is a little bit nicer and mostly for upper classman, but it's a freakin haul to the aviation buildings from there. I don't really know much about Walsh and those places, I've only been over there once or twice this year.

Don't worry about the age thing either...really not a big deal, two of my best friends live right across the wing and they are 22 and 24...we even have a 27 year old up here!
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Matt

So yeah it seems that the UND Flying team will take up alot of my time if I decided to join. I've been talking with the head basketball coach and I'm going to try and play as a walk on, hopefully that will work out. How is the UND basketball team anyway?

I've been looking at the Aerospace buildings via the webpage and they look pretty impressive. It also seems that UND has a good selection of Multi-Engine aircraft used for training. Even noticed the Super Decathlon used for aerobatic training.

How is the academic load freshman year in the Commercial Aviation degree? I'm assuming that is the degree you are persuing, correct me if I am wrong. That's awesome that you were lucky enough to fly 1st semester, hopefully I will be able to get a slot.

Anything fun to do in North Dakota? I heard students go to into Winnipeg alot. Every college student I've basically talked to has said it's all about partying in college, which is cool. Later dude.

Aaron
 
You said you were 21 so what would you do in Winnipeg? Probably drink, but when I you can do that in Grand Forks, not sure why you would want to drive (just giving you crap). Winnipeg is a nice town though and our dollar is worth a lot there. Other places students go to get away are Minneapolis or Fargo. Both are a lot of fun.

The basketball team here is pretty good. One of our graduating seniors will be drafted in the upcoming NBA draft, so the level of play is pretty decent. I guess you would have to try it for yourself. I will one thing, sports and commercial aviation majors don't mix too well. Flying takes up a lot of time and obviously practices and games do as well.

Stuff do here. If you like hockey, this is the place to be. Going to the games in the new Ralph Engelstad Arena are a blast. Good competition and the best conference in the U.S. (WCHA). Other than that, drinking and parties. It is what college is all about.

You will start flying multi in 325 (seminole or baron) which would be your 5th flight course (102, 221, 222, 323, 325) and after you are done with 325 (most fly the seminole, much cheaper), you take your comercial multi single instrument checkride. I'll start flying the super decathalon within the next two weeks and I am so excited for that.

Yes, the aviation buildings here are great, they are all about 60 or more years younger (just guessing) than the other buildings.

Some things I like about the campus away from aviation is our student workout facility. Numerous amounts of weights and cardio machines. It is really a good place to go to rid yourself of stress and exercise.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

Luc
 
Ruppert pretty much covered everything in that last post

As far as academic load goes I really did't think it was that bad. I took 15 hrs. last semester. 5 of those were for ground school and the others were mainly gen ed requirements. If you plan your classes well you should't have any problems.
 
Hey mtts,
I am also from Ohio (around the Cedar Point area) and am going to be a Junior in HS and was looking at UND along with other schools in Ohio aviation. I just had a few questions.


1) What is the drive there like(if you drive) it's gotta be at least 20 hrs?
2) How much are you paying a year for tuition, room and board?
3) Did you look at other schools in Ohio(Ohio University, Kent State, Bowling Green, or Ohio State) and why did you choose UND?
4) Did you ever consider pursuing a non-aviation degree and flying on the side?

thanks
brad
 
Hey Brad,

To answer your questions -

1 - The drive from Dayton is about 18 or 19 hrs. I know it sounds bad, but if you split it up into two days its really not all that horrible. I am leaving to go back up in about a week and I'm gonna split it up by driving to northern IL staying with a buddy there and then heading up to Grand Forks. That will be about 8 hrs the first day and then 10 or 11 (depending on traffic in Minneapolis) the second day.

2 - Out of state tuition runs about 14g. That number is without flying costs. You probably want to add on an extra 3 grand per semester for flying costs.

3 - I did look into all of the other Ohio schools. I visited UND during the fall of my senior year, then toured OSU, OU, and BG after that. To be honest one of the main reasons that I chose UND was that it was something different. By the end of my senior year I needed to get the hell out of Ohio and this was a perfect way to do it. The other obvious reason was that UND's facilities absolutely blew everyone else out of the water. Deciding to go so far away from home was a big decision for me and I had some second thoughts during the first month or so of being up there, but after spending the rest of the year up there I wouldn't change a thing.

4 - I did consider a non-aviation degree...Opinions differ from person to person on this subject as I'm sure you are aware of after reading some of the threads on this board. Bottom line for me was that I got bit hard by the aviation bug and really didnt want to wait four years to start seriously persuing my dream, that is pretty much what I based my decision on. Thats not to say that I am doing strictly aviation at UND though. My major is actually Aviation Management which allows you to get all of your ratings through the multi course, but it also focus a lot in business as well. I also will be minoring in Political Science. Between those two I think that I should have my bases pretty well covered in the likely event that I don't find a flying job right after graduation.

Hope all that helped, I would highly recommend a visit up to UND this year to take a look. Let me know if you do and I'd be more than happy to show ya around and maybe give you a little taste of what the college life is like. Any other questions don't hesitate to ask, Luke and I can handle pretty much anything you throw at us.

Matt
 
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