Looking towards the future...

[Snaggletooth]

I'm at a point in my life now that I have selected a career (Commercial Aviation). I'm logging Flight Hours, but now I'm starting to look into what degree I'll need to get a good Job as a Commercial Pilot (Charter Piloting is what I'm looking at).

From what I have been told Embry Riddle is one of the best. Their Bachelor Degree in Professional Aeronautics looks like the Degree I would need as a Pilot, Correct?

 

[TMetzinger]

Any degree will do for a career as an airline pilot. The degree is one of the ways airlines "raise the bar" to reduce the number of applicants. Now, if you want to be a test pilot, then you would benefit by getting a "real" engineering degree. If you want to be a weather research pilot, a degree in meteorology would be helpful.

The best advice I've heard is that a prospective airline pilot should plan on being unemployed (furloughed) at times in his aviation career, and that he should plan on not making much money. With that in mind, I recommend you find another thing you have a passion for, and study that in college. Hopefully you'll be able to work at your "other" love while in the doldrums of a flying career, and keep food on the table and have a happy life.

Given the sorry state of airline flying nowadays, it's hard to recommend it as a career choice. You should give some deep thought to what it is about flying that you love, and decide if the airlines will reward that love. There are many other flying options that might suit you better. Or like many of us, you may do something else for a "career" and have the money and time to do the kind of flying you truly love.

I'm sure others will chime in. Read all the advice, think hard about it, talk to your family, and follow your passion.

Best wishes,

 

[Lance F]

I second what Tim said. #1 you do NOT need an ER degree to have an aviation career. #2 College can be a good thing for a lot of reasons. Pick a course of study that interests you (and maybe could provide income). You can get all the certificates and flying time separately, and very likely for less money than at ER.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Pick a course of study that interests you (and maybe could provide income). You can get all the certificates and flying time separately, and very likely for less money than at ER.

I could not emphasize this point more. As a current college student, I can tell you, that its tough enough when you are studying what you enjoy. I see lots of pilot forums around the internet encouraging future pilots to major in engineering or business. If those things interest you, great, go for it. But don't get yourself into a degree program that you have no interest in. I couldn't imagine studying something that I've got no true interest in. As a current aeronautics major, I enjoy 90% of what's in the major, and have figured out how to deal with what I don't like.

Also, as a current Embry-Riddle student, I don't think I would recommend coming here. If you really want to go here, think it through, and sit down and look at numbers on how expensive it is. There are many, many, many colleges out there, that give you the same degree for much less cost.

 

[msupples1]

Embry riddle...hahahaha

Don't come here for that degree. There are two degrees worth doing here: Engineering Physics and Aerospace Engineering. Get yourself a business degree.

 

[Snaggletooth]

Any degree will do for a career as an airline pilot.

I have no interest in becoming an Airline Pilot. I want to fly Planes, not Computers. I however would like to be a Charter Pilot, or an Ag Pilot. I'm still on the fence on if I want to go Charter, or Ag.

Seems no one likes Embry Riddle. If not ER, what college do you recommend? I'd need one that I can do at home/online.

 

[TMetzinger]

Utah Valley University has a decent online program for a "degree", and it's a good value. Consider a local state school for the undergraduate.

 

[David_L_Wilson]

I had to make a very difficult decision about going after an aviation career. When I learned to fly I was already into a successful career as an architect and educator. I was married and had a daughter that required me to continue to work in my profession. Now however I am separated and am once again thinking of getting all my ratings and work toward a flying career. If I am lucky my 3rd book will pay me enough to leave my profession and become a professional writer. It’s a long shot, but stranger things have happened. If I was a young man I know that I would have chosen flying over architecture. I say go after your dream if you are able.

 

[Snaggletooth]

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Clark1961]

Snag - I've got a little perspective on the "what degree should I get" question. I've earned three degrees and advised students and potential students.

The comment to pursue education in a topic which interests you is spot on. The catch is that you may not understand the scope of your interests now or in the future.

You've decided that you want to pursue a career in aviation. Ok, that's a wide field and you've stated that you want to pursue hands on flying, e.g. charter or ag work. Now you've ask an important question of where do I go for further education and what degree should be pursued.

Sometimes it helps to state the obvious: a big part of the education will be flying. You can probably pursue the CFI & II ratings at just about any town/city with at least a community college. The flight training doesn't have to be associated with the school or you could delay school to pursue the ratings. You'll learn a bit about the aviation business and set yourself up for at least a part time job as an instructor while pursuing further academic education.

Now don't "poo-poo" the community colleges. They can be a very good value since you don't have to pay big school tuition for the core classes that everyone has to complete. Make sure the community college is accredited so the courses will transfer.

The community college route and earning a CFI will do a few things for you. Perhaps the most important is that you will be a bit older and have more work experience. That experience should help you have a better understanding of which degree may be more valuable in the long run.

I worked in industry for five years before pursuing my undergraduate degree. I learned enough to ignore the folks who said get such-and-such degree because the one you want will never be used. I earned two more degrees in the same topic and still work in the same area.

In various schools I met a lot of folks who had no real clue about themselves and their chosen academic fields. They were a lot of very bright folks who were "programmed" to pursue an undergrad degree so that is what they did. For many folks that approach works out ok. For many other folks, well, maybe they should have considered another approach. There's absolutely no need to dive into college feet first.

So, to make a long story much shorter when youngsters ask "what degree should I get?" I tend to ask them if a degree is right for them at this time.

An education is a huge investment. There's no need to rush. Your brain still works just fine at 25 or 30. It might even work a bit better than when you are 18.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Now don't "poo-poo" the community colleges. They can be a very good value since you don't have to pay big school tuition for the core classes that everyone has to complete. Make sure the community college is accredited so the courses will transfer.

Yea, that worked well for me.

A non-aviation specific degree could prove to be a good fallback if necessary (say, if you lost your medical). I would suggest engineering, but I am less than biased on that subject and don't know what you find interesting.

 

[wby0nder]

Snag,

Been watching your posts and progress for a while and admire you.

You don't have to choose Ag or Charter or instructing or whatever in aviation. You can do all of the above whenever the opportunities present. Don't waste time now trying to decide. Pointless. Learn to fly, fly a lot of different stuff, teach some, get good at it and make friends.

Get a degree for sure but don't go hog wild into debt to do it. In-state tuition doing something that's interesting. Engineering, Meteorology, Business... The happiest people and often the best pilots I know in aviation can choose what, when, and how they fly. Most of them make most of their living with their education.

If you dont already know Tony Condon you need to get to know him. He is an excellent example of a young guy who made a lot of smart moves getting into aviation, education, and professional life. If you learn what he's done and try to out-do him you will be a happy guy. I'd say you could learn from his mistakes but I can't think of any he's made. You will have different resources and opportunities for sure but there are some major badlands you can avoid, like debt, that Tony provides a great road map for.

 

[Snaggletooth]

Choosing a degree in something other than aviation would probably be my best bet. I'm just afraid I'll get my foot in the door of a dream job only to get my toes smashed due to not having the right Degree.

I am somewhat interested in Meteorology. Would that look good to a Charter/Ag Flying Service? Weather is a large factor in Aviation so my guess is that would be a good one to have.

 

[Everskyward]

Choosing a degree in something other than aviation would probably be my best bet. I'm just afraid I'll get my foot in the door of a dream job only to get my toes smashed due to not having the right Degree.

I don't think there is a "right degree" for an aviation job. They want you to have one but they don't care what the subject is. I know career pilots that have all sorts of irrelevant degrees... including myself.

I am somewhat interested in Meteorology. Would that look good to a Charter/Ag Flying Service? Weather is a large factor in Aviation so my guess is that would be a good one to have.

I don't think you need to choose a major right away as I am guessing you are still in high school. I remember feeling the pressure to come up with something to tell people when I was young and undecided. Now I realize it was unnecessary at that age. In the end I would go with the advice you have gotten to choose something that interests you. Don't let someone convince you to study "X" if you don't like "X". As others have said, school is hard enough to get through without studying something in which you have no interest.

 

[wby0nder]

Meteorology today is all about math. Everything runs on computer modeling. The math and programming requirements for a meteo degree are incredible. Charter aviation or Ag company isn't going to give a rats ass about it. Don't get me wrong, it's a great degree to have but you sure as shooting don't need one for a flying job. More likely to be over qualified enough that you CANT afford to take a low paying flying job unless it's as a research pilot (which would be the coolest).

Probably the best undergrad degrees for flying jobs are in engineering and maybe business. A pilot with an engineering degree has the potential to move up to research, flight test, military, even NASA with graduate degrees. Business school would be great prep for running the show or at least running your own financial life.

Meteorology degrees can be good too though. We have a very well known broadcast meteorologist here in central Iowa who flies everything and does it well. He's an expert in Doppler radar and trains people all over the country in how to use them. He's on TV every night too and I bet making a bundle.

The most experienced pilot I know, with thousands of hours in F16s and airliners, cropdusters, gliders, bush, cargo, warbirds, instructing, antiques... For gods sakes more hours in Fokker tri-plane than I have in AIRPLANES! Has a degree in RUSSIAN LANGUAGE. Go figure? And he's trying to make his cropdusting biz fly because he's SICK of airliners and loves to FLY.

The thing you have to realize about an undergrad college degree is that it's more about training your mind to be able to think and create and problem solve than it is about the title of the degree. That's why companies want new hires to have degrees. At least with flying jobs, they don't really care what the degree is in as long as you have the paper that says you've done 4 years of crap to train your brain. You can get an undergrad degree in English and end up in Medical School or Physics with just a little extra studying. Even with an engineering degree you aren't going to get hired right into designing cool aerospace planes. You will get stuck at a computer learning to analyze data or write code to generate data.

With a stack of pilot ratings and a graduate degree in something cool then you are looking at some really cool potential. So don't sweat it now. Fly, get good grades doing something interesting and you can't go wrong.

 

[wby0nder]

Man you got that right! Well said!

 

[Snaggletooth]

Thanks again for all the help everyone. It's good to get input from those that have been there and done what at this stage I can only imagine.