what are the advantages of CTI schools?

J

jandaan

New Member
Are there any advantages to getting a degree from a CTI school? It is my understanding that the FAA at one time was only hiring ATC either from the military or from CTI schools, but now they are hiring "off the street". If so, then what is the advantage of graduation from a CTI program?
Thanks.
 
There are NO advantages. Either you can do the job or you cannot. We have had soooooooo many CTI student wash out it is not funny. I asked one student what he had to take to get a CTI degree. His response was " I had to take three aviation law courses." ??????????????? From what I have seen it does not matter which schools they come from, they are all pretty poor. (This is coming from someone who sent his daughter, for a while, to MTSU for ATC) I have heard Beaver Creek is fairly good as well as the new one in southern Georgia (coincidently, both these schools will give you your CTO as you actually work in a live ATC Tower).


CJ @ A80:banghead:
 
What is the washout rate for CTI, and what is the washout rate for "off the street" developmentals? Thanks for the info.
 
For OU's CTI program, you must complete an ATC minor (6 courses) in conjunction with one of OU's aviation bachelor's degrees. You will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation, plus receive a "General Business" minor which is built into the aviation degree and an "ATC" minor, consisting of the 6 CTI courses. I asked if one could just take the ATC courses if they already had a bachelors degree, but the OU Aviation department said to qualify for CTI, one would have to receive a non-technical aviation degree from a CTI school (i.e. aerospace engineering wouldn't count) and complete the required CTI courses.

The six ATC courses at OU are "Introduction to Air Traffic Control", "Basic Air Traffic Control Regulations", "General ATC Procedures", "Airport Traffic Procedures ", "IFR Air Traffic Procedures ", and "Air Traffic Simulation", a capstone ATC course that involves working in a ATC simulator.
http://aviation.ou.edu/minor_options.html

The instructor for the "Intro to ATC" course at OU is actually the same person who teaches the ATC Basics course at the FAA Academy. He told me the curriculum for Basics and the CTI schools is the exact same thing - it's obviously just much more condensed in Basics.

ATC is very much an aptitude-oriented career though, and as many have already said, either you have it or you don't. 4 years of CTI isn't going to give you that aptitude. Remember - before CTI schools were established, everyone was hired "off the street" except prior military controllers.
 
I will be going to Beaver County starting this summer. I have heard from a number of different sources (current and former students from there, and current controllers) that Beaver County has the best program of any of the CTI schools (and it's also the cheapest). As ATLTRACON said, you do get "on-the-job" training there in the control tower, so therefore, with their graduates, most of the washout occurs during school, instead of after school. Also, it is an associates degree there. I will be working on a second career already at 25 years old, so I already have a bachelor's degree in education. Because of that I save quite a bit of money not having to take all the math and english crap (especially since I am qualified to teach any of the math classes they offer). You have to go either 3 or 4 straight semesters depending on whether you already have a private pilots license or not. The first semester is just getting the PPL. The second semester is stuff with aviation weather and the 7110. The third and fourth semesters are different depending on whether you're terminal or enroute. For enroute you spend a lot of time in the simulators, and for terminal you spend a lot of time in the control tower.

This is just what I've heard from other controllers, so any controllers can pipe in with what you've seen, but I've heard if you go to Beaver County, it is worth it, if not, just go off the street.
 
Beaver County does have a good program, but don't tell UND students they're better off going in off the street if they don't go to BCCC. UND students think they walk on water when it comes to ATC.

clestudentpilot - I too am 25 and starting a second career. I spent 2.5 years in the USAF as a personnel officer before being voluntarily released from active duty early. I enrolled in OU's CTI program, dreading the fact of having to go back to school for another bachelors degree since I already have a masters, but I was willing to do what it takes to be a controller. I would love to go to one of the 2 year programs to just get in and out with my CTI recommendation, but unfortunately OU only offers a 4 year program. While it will still only take me about 2 years to finish since I've already got all the general education stuff done from last time, I'm still going to be required to take a lot of business courses that I could really care less about. I wish I could just take the ATC courses and graduate with a certificate in ATC. I'm applying off the street though and hopefully can save my GI Bill for flying lessons later on in life, rather than wasting it on CTI.
 
SoonerATC said:
Beaver County does have a good program, but don't tell UND students they're better off going in off the street if they don't go to BCCC. UND students think they walk on water when it comes to ATC.
Click to expand...

That's because we can walk on water, we're the best there ever was!!:D
 
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