Future Pilot looking for Schooling Advice

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axlegang21

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axlegang21
So I'm a senior in Highschool and am going into Aviation Flight Science this upcoming fall. What I'm looking for is some experienced pilots advice and opinions on two different colleges programs and plane options. The two schools I am looking at are Western Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University. Both offer programs in aviation but they use different air crafts in the process of obtaining a degree. Western Michigan offers the Cirrus SR-20 and Eastern Michigan uses the Cessna Skyhawk 172 SP. In your opinion what are some advantages to each type of plane and what are some important questions I should be asking in the process of enrolling at the schools. Thanks.
 
Don't waste your money.

Go to a community college that has an easy transfer program with a 4 year school. Fly when you can at a part 61 school. Live at home if your parents will let you.

Get a decent job that allows you to get some kind of real world experience, aviation related or not.

Your peers will be racking up student loan debt while delivering pizzas for beer money; you will come out far, far ahead.
 
I would be willing to bet a 172 pilot can transition to a SR-22 a LOT faster than a new SR-22 pilot can fly a 172. My vote is learn the basics on the workhorse so you can fly dang near anything then step up to the SR-22 or whatever else you wanna fly. (And I am talking strictly in terms of a NEW pilots from zero time...not experienced pilots)

...plus it will be a LOT cheaper and better availability getting a 172.

Now if you are gonna skip right over General Aviation and go commercial...SR-22, but of you ever wanna go fly for fun, start out in the 172 then do a check out of the SR-22.
 
Are you guys able to tell me side by side stats of the two types of planes?
Are they extremely similar?
 
Thanks for the feedback guys any advice is useful
 
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i am not an experienced pilot. but i would recommend studying something other than aeronautical science. i want to be an airline pilot but im going to school and getting a bachelors in business administration. i did this because i want to have a degree to fall back on in case my medical fails at any time or i cant get a job with the airlines. im doing flying on the side and going to school. my dad is a pilot for delta and he has a bachelors in aeronautical science from embry riddle. he was very close to being forloughed and said his degree is pretty much useless except for flying obsiously. when i told him i wanted to be a pilot and wanted to get a degree in aeronautical science, he told me to get something more practical like business. so thats what i did
 
Is one easier to fly than the other or is it all just pilot preference?
 
axlegang21 said:
Are you guys able to tell me side by side stats of the two types of planes?
Are they extremely similar?
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the planes, all planes are basically the same, physical transition between types and models at this level is a matter of hours. The Cirrus will be a bit faster. The difficult thing and most crucial in aviation is ADM, Aviation Decision Making.

The factor you should be looking at is the programs at the schools and what you can learn there and more importantly, what is your "Old Boy Alumni Network" going to be able to do for you helping you get into positions on graduation and in the future. Also look at the OCS, ROTC, and potential Reserve connections you can make. Remember, you now need 1500hrs to get an airline job. Also look at who the corporate sponsors of the programs are. What fields are the flight programs operated off, what planes fly in there? Will there be a chance to score a right seat position in a corporate jet while in school?
 
jordane93 said:
i am not an experienced pilot. but i would recommend studying something other than aeronautical science. i want to be an airline pilot but im going to school and getting a bachelors in business administration. i did this because i want to have a degree to fall back on in case my medical fails at any time or i cant get a job with the airlines. im doing flying on the side and going to school. my dad is a pilot for delta and he has a bachelors in aeronautical science from embry riddle. he was very close to being forloughed and said his degree is pretty much useless except for flying obsiously. when i told him i wanted to be a pilot and wanted to get a degree in aeronautical science, he told me to get something more practical like business. so thats what i did
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This is good thinking, a business major also suits you to airline management and union management should you move out of the cockpit. However if you want to go military, an engineering degree will serve you better.
 
Stay home, save money. I'd recommend an engineering degree electronics, aviation, computers even software engineer for college. Go to community college for 2 years pay as you go, transfer to 4 year college with your associates degree, savings living at home. Use those savings to fund the local flight club and get your PPL/IRF/Comm even CFI on your own. Then you can hire out at $40-50 per hour to train others while building time. Find a club or partnership in a trainer type aircraft and fly during the week between classes and homework. This is the cheapest way to do it.

You can always opt for the $65k loan for 500 hr multi: Jet Jock fast track training when you get your degree and basic flying skills.

Kids always think they start work at 4 years from an aviation college but most of them work for minimum wage until they build many, many hours over many years.

Or you can see if you can get into a fixed wing warrant officer candidate program in the Army. They take you from HS. You can get 2000 hrs twin turbine time (king aires) and earn the GI bill at the same time to pay for later college or go to night school collage while in the army (which I did). Even during wars you hear of very few if any fixed wing pilots getting shot down in the Army.

axlegang21 said:
So I'm a senior in Highschool and am going into Aviation Flight Science this upcoming fall. What I'm looking for is some experienced pilots advice and opinions on two different colleges programs and plane options. The two schools I am looking at are Western Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University. Both offer programs in aviation but they use different air crafts in the process of obtaining a degree. Western Michigan offers the Cirrus SR-20 and Eastern Michigan uses the Cessna Skyhawk 172 SP. In your opinion what are some advantages to each type of plane and what are some important questions I should be asking in the process of enrolling at the schools. Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
If he intends to go through rapidly to having a commercial (and perhaps a CFI rating), it might be more effective (and possibly cheaper) for him to use a 141 school even if he isn't getting financial aid of some sort. If he wants to go to the airlines, he'll need a four year degree as well. That's just what the market expects these days.
 
Henning said:
However if you want to go military, an engineering degree will serve you better.
Click to expand...

If you want nearly guaranteed lifetime employment, get an engineering degree. I've known very few engineers who are involuntarily unemployed for any significant length of time. Even at entry level if the market is slow they usually have enough other skills (like CAD/GIS) to get a decent job. Aerospace engineering is a cyclical job market, but if your degree is mechanical or electrical and have some geographic flexibility, you're golden.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
If you want nearly guaranteed lifetime employment, get an engineering degree. I've known very few engineers who are involuntarily unemployed for any significant length of time. Even at entry level if the market is slow they usually have enough other skills (like CAD/GIS) to get a decent job. Aerospace engineering is a cyclical job market, but if your degree is mechanical or electrical and have some geographic flexibility, you're golden.
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Thing is, not everyone can hack an engineering degree.
 
True Henning but Jeff is spot on.

I have to say that of the three friends I have that do have engineering degrees, none of they have ever been wihotut a job...as a matter of fact...one is movng to the Raleigh area and has about 5 job offers to choose from...


Jeff Oslick said:
If you want nearly guaranteed lifetime employment, get an engineering degree. I've known very few engineers who are involuntarily unemployed for any significant length of time. Even at entry level if the market is slow they usually have enough other skills (like CAD/GIS) to get a decent job. Aerospace engineering is a cyclical job market, but if your degree is mechanical or electrical and have some geographic flexibility, you're golden.
Click to expand...

Henning said:
Thing is, not everyone can hack an engineering degree.
Click to expand...
 
Kelvin said:
True Henning but Jeff is spot on.

I have to say that of the three friends I have that do have engineering degrees, none of they have ever been wihotut a job...as a matter of fact...one is movng to the Raleigh area and has about 5 job offers to choose from...
Click to expand...

I know he's right, not arguing the statement one bit, just pointing out that not everyone can hack an engineering degree, that's why there are more liberal arts degrees out there than engineering.;)
 
Henning said:
I know he's right, not arguing the statement one bit, just pointing out that not everyone can hack an engineering degree, that's why there are more liberal arts degrees out there than engineering.;)
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"Roger that" on all points.
 
yep i originally was doing mechanical engineering and definitely could not hack it with all the math
 
VA Aviator said:
Don't waste your money.

Go to a community college that has an easy transfer program with a 4 year school. Fly when you can at a part 61 school. Live at home if your parents will let you.

Get a decent job that allows you to get some kind of real world experience, aviation related or not.

Your peers will be racking up student loan debt while delivering pizzas for beer money; you will come out far, far ahead.
Click to expand...

This. ^^

Also it doesn't matter what your degree was in. Art History or PE work just as well as engineering. All you really need to do is have that college degree box checked. How you present yourself in the interview and how well you do in the the sim screening will be the determining factors.
 
My degree is in software engineering and you would be surprised how little math was required. It is more logic than math.

I took Algebra, PreCal, Discreet Math and that was it for straight math classes.

In 13 years, never unemployed. Had to take large pay cuts when the economy crapped out a few years back. Double check the math requirements for the different majors. Might not be as bad as you think.

But more importantly. Don't do it if that job would make you miserable. Find something that you like or has paths to things you might like.
 
I would second (or third) the posters recommending a four year degree. If at all possible I would advise a science or mathematically driven discipline, physics, biology, chemistry or the like. Anyone with the chops to fly airplanes should be able to master a science degree, and all of those can lead to career opportunities outside aviation. That, and not everyone can hack collegiate science, so you won't be an large pool of unemployed applicants. Indeed, a good idea in deciding between schools is to see what majors are available. Nothing wrong with a business degree either.

If money is an issue the community college route is a good one. If not there are advantages to doing your education in a four year institution, even if it is in Michigan. To be honest, I would shine on both the schools you mention and head for Ann Arbor, it is the best school in your state by a fair margin.

Where I am the price for instruction is no different than at any area flight school, so I don't quite see the advantage to the collegiate flight school except the camaraderie. On the other hand I am a bit of a self starter, if you really need the classroom experience to learn about aviation then such a program makes sense.
 
Henning said:
Don't worry about the planes, all planes are basically the same, physical transition between types and models at this level is a matter of hours. The Cirrus will be a bit faster. The difficult thing and most crucial in aviation is ADM, Aviation Decision Making.

The factor you should be looking at is the programs at the schools and what you can learn there and more importantly, what is your "Old Boy Alumni Network" going to be able to do for you helping you get into positions on graduation and in the future. Also look at the OCS, ROTC, and potential Reserve connections you can make. Remember, you now need 1500hrs to get an airline job. Also look at who the corporate sponsors of the programs are. What fields are the flight programs operated off, what planes fly in there? Will there be a chance to score a right seat position in a corporate jet while in school?
Click to expand...

That's the easy part. You must also complete the ATP Certification Training Course at an approved school before taking the written; the course includes training in a simulator (not a flight training device) representative of a turbine airplane with a MTOW of 40,000 pounds or more, and the instructors must hold ATPME and have two years of air carrier experience. A gold mine for retired airline pilots who want to keep their hand in. FAR 61.160(f) offers a ray of hope for those who just want an ATP (those corporate jet jobs) and have no airline aspirations.

Bob Gardner
 
Bobcat1 said:
This. ^^

Also it doesn't matter what your degree was in. Art History or PE work just as well as engineering. All you really need to do is have that college degree box checked. How you present yourself in the interview and how well you do in the the sim screening will be the determining factors.
Click to expand...

The 1500 hour requirement shrinks to 1250 if you hold an Associates Degree with an aviation major...61.160(c).

Bob Gardner
 
Henning said:
The factor you should be looking at is the programs at the schools and what you can learn there and more importantly, what is your "Old Boy Alumni Network" going to be able to do for you helping you get into positions on graduation and in the future.
Click to expand...
+1. When I graduated from college I had more opportunities open up via fraternity alumni than because of my degree. The degree is a prerequisite like being able to speak and breathe. It's not enough to get you hired in and of itself.
 
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