Ratings after college

[Max_Q]

Hi, this seemed like the right place for this question. I was wondering if any of the commercial pilots on this forum know anyone who acquired all of there ratings after college. I am just about to start college next year and want to major in political science not aviation. I was wondering, If you do this and acquire all the necessary ratings can you still get jobs or have you missed the train by not starting right out of college?

Thanks

 

[etflies]

No, you absolutely can wait until after college. I know several pilots who waited, and I have a couple students who have done the same thing. In all honesty, with the way things are looking right now, even if you got all of your ratings now, you'd have a limited number of choices given the downturn in the industry. If you wanted to, you can spread it out during college as well, and work on you licenses and ratings over the course of your undergrad studies.

You don't need to major in aviation to be a successful pilot, and in fact I would say stick with the non-aviation related degree. That will give you something to fall back on should the s**t hit the fan even more down the road.

 

[KC Jake]

I acquired my PPL while in my freshman year of college. When I graduated, I got my instrument rating. Then two years later, when my wife finished grad school, I got my commercial single/multi and CFI. Lots of people wait well beyond their college days before even starting. You'll be fine. The most important part is the degree.