Major in UAS?

[flash246]

I am 18 years old and got accepted to UND but I'm not exactly sure what major I should go for and i'm looking for some advice.

I just got my private pilot's license a couple of weeks ago and I was going in expecting to go with the major in commercial aviation to hopefully become an airline pilot. However, I have began to become more and more interested in unmanned aircraft and I realized drones will most likely become more common in the future.

My question is what should I do? I'm leaning toward the major in UAS with a minor in something non-aviation related. And if anyone has experience in either major please share.

Thanks.

 

[WS]

I believe you still have to go through a lot of the fixed wing, manned training anyway. If I were you, I would start by taking classes common to both majors that way you don't have to make any decisions until you have had some experience with both and can make a more informed decision. I don't know off the top of my head, but I'm sure that a lot of the required classes are common to both majors such as english, math, weather etc. I don't think you need to declare a major right away anyway, and you can always change your mind later.

 

[gotWXdagain]

What WS said is very good advice. Not having the course catalog in front of me (so take this advice for as far as you desire to throw your computer screen), I believe you'll go midway through your junior year before they split off. That being said, double-majoring probably wouldn't be that difficult either.

 

[esa17]

Major in engineering with a minor in accounting and then UAS.

An aviation degree isn't the best choice to begin with but a specialized aviation degree leaves you with no fallback in the event of something catastrophic happening.

 

[Deaged]

Been instructing at UND just over 2.5 years. Leaving for ZW in June but anyway... if I could do it over again I'd have majored in Aviation management and finished CFI/CFII on the side. I also recommend an MEI, sort of. I didn't get my MEI straight away after CFII and wished I had because I was too lazy to get back in the student mode after a few semesters of full-time instructing.

Everybody I know doing UAS stuff today from my generation did not major in UAS... so look into how much your major actually matters in that career field.