nocturnalaviator
AI Jedi
Well it is pretty much official, I will not be returning to UND next semester. It has just gotten to the point where I asked myself "You know I am not achieving my goals here, so why I am I still here?"
It may work for people that have endless pockets but not for me, it is probably a good thing I have not been able to get the loans to pay for flying. I will not be in debt, and I am getting back on track to achieve what I set out to achieve in the first place. I will just go to a college closer to home and fly at an FBO for half of the price.
UND could have kept me here, but the faculty has shown time in and time out that they care more about numbers then individual success.
The class structure in my 102 class was horrible, no one should pay a penny for such an inept teacher. When a person has to literally teach themselves subject matter there is no point in going to a more expensive college (with flight costs). I know there are some and let me emphasize SOME good teachers here but I unfortunately did not end up with one.
So to anyone prospectively looking at UND, my suggestion to you would be do not come here. If you feel that you want to anyways then, ask yourself these questions
1. Are you ready to have to deal with administrators messing up your financial aid or whatever else they can possibly screw up. (trust me they will find a way and you will have to go to 5 different offices to figure out what they messed up and how to fix it)
2. Are you ready to pay for required classes that do not challenge you intellectually (mostly on the general education side)
3. To live in a ugly area of the country that should no be inhabited.
4. To pay top dollar for not only a worthless degree
5. To be a human Popsicle for 4 months of the year. (This is coming from a person from Minnesota, this is the first time in my life I have been too cold)
6. To be charged for worthless things such as the Aviation Laptop and have aerospace administrators be totally inflexible to working out a different solution. (I am sure they will find another way to charge people for something they do not need)
7. To deal with bad weather and UND making the decision if you can fly or not. I.E not getting real world experience that may one day save your life. (of course there are certain times when you should be weathered, I have however seen some questionable calls for no fly)
8. If you are looking for a hands on program this is not it.
9. To learn to fly like a robot by using ridiculous checklists on a flippin' Piper Warrior
10. To be surrounded by guys and only guys in your classes.
So to anyone considering attending UND, please listen to me and do not it is not worth it. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A AVIATION DEGREE TO FLY AS A PROFESSION! Learn at an FBO and get a marketable degree.
Now time for any fanboys left standing to attack me!opcorn:
Do not worry the door will not hit me on the way out, I will make sure to kick it out as I leave :bandit:
#10 HAHAHAHA!!! That made my day! UND is just preparing you for your AF pilot training/career. LOL.
#3&5 Irrelevant. Good luck in you picturesque AF career. I'm not in the armed services but McGuire AFB surrounding area is where I grew up, not much to see.
Dude, after reading this, you're just annoying the hell out of me. Good luck to ya though. When you get older and more mature in your career, you'll look back at this and go, it wasn't that big of a deal to make.
P.S. I had a realistic vision since 8th grade to fly. So I worked as best as I could in HS to attain the grades to do so (so I thought). After talking to an AF recruiter I decided enlisting would take me further from my goal. So after being denied from Coast Guard and AF Academies, I researched ERAU and went to the Prescott location. I loved AZ, sure the campus was outdated a bit, it was HIGHLY expensive, and they required us to know checklists, flows SOPAs etc.. But I did it. I also did AFROTC there as well. After a reality check, a few talks with some real pilots in the field, I disenrolled. Went to ATP worked at a bank part-time and got through it all. Looking back I am thankful for the strong foundation ERAU gave me to progress further on my own. I took a few techniques they taught and disregarded a few. Every avenue you take builds character, and knowledge. Don't put something down now matter how bad it may be. There is always some good in something. My experience at ERAU wasn't the greatest, but I never had high hopes of it to be. Everything is what you make of it. Just roll with it. Paying the loans is part of the character building!