not a flight school - anyone know of Aviation Academy, an Envision by WorldStrides program?

[scotjn1]

My high schooler got an invitation to apply to a 10-day course this summer at "Aviation Academy, an Envision by WorldStrides program" sponsored by George Mason University. It's good for 2 college credits, it's hosted on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus, and most of all it sounds really cool.

Has anyone heard of or had direct experience with this?

Aviation Academy Program | Envision

Learn from leaders in the field of aviation by enrolling in the Aviation Academy for high school students. Sign up today!

www.envisionexperience.com

 

[Racerx]

An invitation to give someone money?

I can guarantee the price premium will not make it worth a measly 2 college credits.

 

[AvNavCom]

"Aviation Academy, an Envision by WorldStrides program"

My old-age cynicism says that much like housing developments, anything which includes variants of "the", "at", "an", or "by" is going to be a premium price for an average-at-best product. For example, "The Commons at Windsor Oaks" is going to be a tedious mixed-use set of townhomes, built of low-grade materials, over mostly vacant commercial space. "The Collab at Crossroads, an Urban Space Experience by InterConnect" would doubtless be a strange mix of glass office spaces and open areas, underneath a too-expensive apartment complex, full of a bunch of USB-equipped desks and couches, arranged semi-randomly, with an oddly expensive coffee-shop attached that has a minimum 20% tip on the little spinning device.

So this aviation academy thing is something I'd be looking at carefully, especially since pilot-via-accelerated-program has suddenly become the fashionable. Hopefully it's a great program. I spent some time at UCCS getting some additional credits when I switched from aviation to medicine, back in the day. It's a nice little school. Hopefully they've done their due diligence to make sure this program is good stuff.

Or just have your kid go become an aircraft refueler for a year as a side-job while finishing high-school. I guarantee there's more learning on that ramp than any "aviation academy".

 

[TCABM]

Never heard of it. Sounds like summer camp for aero engineering.

Do your diligence on WorldStrides Education Travel who’s the organizer behind this. If they’re offering college credit for a 2-week summer camp, I’d vet that.

I’m loosely familiar with Falcon AeroLab; you’d probably be better off engaging directly with them instead of a travel agent that makes you book your own travel for the travel program you’re buying.

 

[soarohio]

Does your kid want to be a pilot? The cost of the program would get him around 20 hours of flying time. That should be enough time to see it that is what he wants to do.

 

[scotjn1]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I have looked into Envision a bit more since I asked the question. I'm leaning toward "no" based on SGOTI's reviews of their various programs (none for this particular one). I was hoping someone here would say, "yeah, my kid did AA and it was awesome". I'll keep digging.

I can guarantee the price premium will not make it worth a measly 2 college credits.

100% agreed! The description is more enticing than the credits, for sure. I would consider it to be a week+ at summer camp at ~3x the normal daily cost of an in-the-woods camp, with an added bonus of a couple credits. There's a scholarship application, so maybe we could get in on that to make it more palatable.

anything which includes variants of "the", "at", "an", or "by" is going to be a premium price for an average-at-best product

I had not thought about this before, but your observation & explanation seems reasonable. Also, this is definitely the vibe I was getting from some of the reviews I found of Envision as a whole.

Does your kid want to be a pilot?

Sounds like summer camp for aero engineering.

He's much more interested in the engineering side of aviation than of being a pilot. He really lit up when he was reading the paperwork they sent, which says something because he's even keel and doesn't get excited about many things.

If they’re offering college credit for a 2-week summer camp, I’d vet that.

That part looks legit. GMU's website corroborates it, so it's not some random entity using fake university letterhead to scam folks. Might be a scam for other reasons, but...

 

[murphey]

If you're in Colorado, your offspring can register for college classes while HS student. Engineering? Then CU's Engineering program - not sure what's offered at the Springs campus, but aero is at Boulder.