Hey,
I have been debating this, for what seems like, so long now. I am a Westerner and I have this really anxiety when I think of training in FL. I have been reconsidering the whole thing now with the ASA program back at FSI. But in the end I figure if I went there, and was accepted into the program, I would be in the SE for around five years, or so. I think I would go crazy! My life, thus far, has been centered on hard work and hard play. I have always been a competitive athlete in one sport or another, skiing being my first. So going to the SE doesn’t sound so great.
So narrowing it down to the West there are few options. I never graduated college but have a lot of credits. So at this point I am enrolled in UVSC bachelor’s of aviation program and I am planning on moving to Salt Lake. Salt Lake isn’t that great, but it isn’t that bad either. I went to the university there for few years and know I can tolerate it, especially due to the amount of snow that the Wasatch range gets (a guys got to have a diversion).
But recently Westwind has come back up on the scope. It seems like a pretty solid program and the cost is greatly reduced from the FL schools, and Pan Am Phoenix. Pan Am, Phoenix seems to have a really bad wrap. The people that go there seem to be afraid of the school and voicing their concerns, weird. What a departure from Pan Am, FL. So I am considering Westwind, with no certainty to my decision making process or decisions, at this point.
Add to the mix the relatively new ad initio First Officer Program that Embry-Riddle is doing and I don’t know where to go and what to do. But for the time being, I am thinking of going to SLC and getting my degree, meanwhile training to CFI/ME and then reconsidering some ab initio program from that point.
I have been told numerous times that to really get in there and get a job rolling; beg, borrow, and steal the money you need to go with an ab initio program that will get you time and experience. The result will be a job and a seniority date faster than most.
Anyway, my .02 dollars on my plan. At least that is what it is today.