Delta and college GPA

[General Lee]

Just go down to P'tree city and understand what you'd be getting into. Imagine your entire identity wrapped up in being a Delta pilot. Even on your days off; at the golf course, at the bar, at the restaurant, at the PTA meeting. Imagine.

I know people who love it down there. 25 min from the airport, good schools, and plenty of golf courses. You've obviously never been there. I'd move down there but I already have a nice house in East Cobb...


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[jonjuan]

ACT of 29 should be the standard, same as getting into a service academy. That would cut down the numbers. Much more uniform selection source than GPA

Agreed-cuts down on the xbox playing, fantasy football d-bags.

 

[DCAA320]

Why would airlines want to hire pilots with masters degrees? Seems like overkill unless the pilot wants to slither into a management job down the line.

You know that old cliche that there is no such thing as a stupid question, you proved it wrong.

Also, in the military, the government paid 75% of your tuition in the past.

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Whew...made it! My first 2 yrs I was an academic train wreck...handled things (like my sister's brain cancer) by drinking and partying until I felt better.
I joined the Marines and they got that out of me and made me get my sheeyot together. I did rather well after that but the gouge was in the hull...so the overall GPA is down there. But at least I have beat the minimum.
Thanks for all the replies fellas!

Good luck!

 

[Flash]

You know that old cliche that there is no such thing as a stupid question, you proved it wrong.

Also, in the military, the government paid 75% of your tuition in the past.

What does a masters degree bring to the table? Why not ph'ds then and we can all call each other Dr. All you need is to check the box that asks if you have a bachelors degree, this job isn't rocket science, although some seem to try to make much more out of it than others.

 

[waveflyer]

There are different theories on grading. When I was an undergrad the average gpa in the Northeast was about a 2.5, about a C+. In engineering it was about a 2.1. They wanted everyone to feel challenged.

In my master's program in California the average was about a 3.3 (engineering). I think about a 3.5 otherwise.

In law school in the Midwest, average was about 3.5. I think I had about a 3.7 and about 20% of the people had a higher GPA.

Down south and in the west they have certain things they want you to learn and if you learn those you get an A. In the Northeast they wanted to teach you what they could and when you got the test it seemed to be something you had never seen before. After looking at it a while you would start to see how to adapt what you learned to the test questions. So one man's 2.1 is another man's 3.9. How does one compare?

This is a really good point- even if stereotyping by region-
In California where I went to school, we had huge differences even within the UC system.

I wonder why recruiters aren't expected to have the critical thinking skills that we supposedly learned getting our good gpa degrees?

 

[waveflyer]

Don't forget their other dumb rule that you must finish a BS in 5 years or less. So if you took one college class right out of HS, then took off 3 years off while doing flight training before finally finishing up your degree part time while raising a family over the next 3 years then they're saying it took you 6 years to earn your degree putting you in a bottom tier........

Is this a requirement really?

 

[waveflyer]

Well, as someone on this thread noticed, actual skill and experience are not highly favored factors for a delta interview. It sounds like their going back to their old method. This was slowed somewhat after all of those crashes and accidents during the 80's. Please keep in mind that if they ever fail the IQ test and strike you may consider it an invitation.

What's this idea you've had on a few threads now that you're allowed to scab?
You aren't, no matter how you may "feel" about hiring requirements

If you don't believe me, feel free to test it out

 

[goahead]

Is this a requirement really?

Yes head of hiring said this at the women in aviation conference earlier this year.....

 

[pilotyip]

I wonder why recruiters aren't expected to have the critical thinking skills that we supposedly learned getting our good gpa degrees?

could it be because going to college has nothing to do with critcial thinking skills? How about the ACT of 29 good standard test, service academy standards?

 

[Whine Lover]

- If you didn't attend classes, went to the beach and smoked doobies, and still pulled a 2.26 shouldn't that count for something?

- I suppose one little Homicide ( reduced to Manslaughter ) is also disqualifying?

- How many DUI's is considered "excessive"?

- What's next...an airline hiring process that requires you send in a stool sample?


???


YKW

 

[waveflyer]

could it be because going to college has nothing to do with critcial thinking skills? How about the ACT of 29 good standard test, service academy standards?

If it doesn't, that's a problem with the college you went to, not with the requirement for college
Developing the whole person is something pilots should want- not passing one test

But I know you have differing opinions
I know, you can become delta AND SWA's head of hiring and set whatever standard you'd like

 

[Oakum_Boy]

College is supposed to help develop critical thinking skills. No one has any leaving high school. Digging sewer trenches is no help.

 

[pilotyip]

If it doesn't, that's a problem with the college you went to, not with the requirement for college
Developing the whole person is something pilots should want- not passing one test

right! Please, we are not talking about Yale, U of M, or even MIT as the universal example of getting a college degree and developing critical thinking skills; we are talking about a degree from Bumblebee State. The degree from Bumblebee State requires no time on campus, no classroom attendance, and only money. Yet the Bumblebee State will still check the box in the lower left corner, same as Yale. Many college graduatse tried getting into Navy Flight Training in the mid 60?s to avoid being drafted into the Army, many did not make it because the critical thinking skills required to have a high probability of successful program completion were in excess of those who attended college.

BTW That is why DAL used to hire pilots out of the Navy without college degrees, because that had proven that had the necessary level of critcal thinking skills

 

[waveflyer]

I don't think most of us went to bumblebee, so do you have a real example?

 

[pilotyip]

I don't think most of us went to bumblebee, so do you have a real example?

of course not, I use Bumblebee so as not to offend anyone who went to places like that. 60 credits for life time experience, 30 credits for flight training you have done, then just pay us $xxx for the other 30 credits done on line that could be done by your wife, mother or best friend in order to get your degree. All college degrees are not created equal and to elevate a person to the lauded position of "College Graduate" as prove of superiority over all low life non-degreed persons, well is just BS.

The country needs all the college-educated citizens it can have, its raises the level of knowledge to keep this as the greatest country in the world. Real degrees in business, engineering, the sciences, math, and medicine provide a graduate with marketable skills. If you are going to go to college, get a real degree from a real university. I have said never don?t get a degree, I have admitted that it will probably open doors, but it has nothing to do with flying an airplane. It is only a box to be checked on an application

BTW: The ACT of 29 would be proof of superior intelligence, most pilots could not reach that level. Be a good thing to elevate the shortage, drive up wages. Maybe that is why airlines really like service academy grads?

 

[PCL_128]

Holding the ACT up as some sort of superior method of determining intelligence is nonsense. The ACT doesn't even purport to measure intelligence. It's designed to measure college aptitude, not intelligence. A far better measure of intelligence is the Stanford-Binet IQ test.

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

I know people who love it down there. 25 min from the airport, good schools, and plenty of golf courses. You've obviously never been there. I'd move down there but I already have a nice house in East Cobb...


Bye Bye---General Lee

And they have a Taco Macs!

 

[pilotyip]

Holding the ACT up as some sort of superior method of determining intelligence is nonsense. The ACT doesn't even purport to measure intelligence. It's designed to measure college aptitude, not intelligence. A far better measure of intelligence is the Stanford-Binet IQ test.

Fine then use that one, the college degree by itself proves nothing

 

[PCL_128]

Fine then use that one, the college degree by itself proves nothing

Proves nothing? I wouldn't go that far. It proves that you have knowledge in whatever your degree is in. Does it prove anything about being a pilot? Well, definitely not. Requiring a college degree for what is essentially skilled labor is pretty ridiculous. I agree with you there.

 

[waveflyer]

I don't
I want to fly with well rounded pilots who have a track record of discipline, study, and finishing goals.
Those traits are directly related to aviation.
What does an airline do when it hires a pilot?
Puts them into CLASS.
At most airlines you have multiple fleet types and will be going to class often-
I get why delta wants that.

And whether we accept this role or not, the pilots are ambassadors of the airline and they go after coveted business travelers who are by and large well educated.

Those with degrees can hold a conversation on a better level than most pilots without.
Exceptions to the rule? Sure- but by and large general education is a big part of pilot development

 

[acaTerry]

could it be because going to college has nothing to do with critcial thinking skills? How about the ACT of 29 good standard test, service academy standards?

I consider my biggest accomplishment in college to be my not being brainwashed by 4 yrs of incessant liberal indoctrination and bias. I learned far more useful lessons and obtained better life skills as an enlisted Marine than college ever offered.

 

[acaTerry]

I know people who love it down there. 25 min from the airport, good schools, and plenty of golf courses. You've obviously never been there. I'd move down there but I already have a nice house in East Cobb...


Bye Bye---General Lee

My plan, should I be so lucky as to get an interview much less the job, is to go back home to the mountains...now THERE'S the good life.

 

[PCL_128]

I want to fly with well rounded pilots who have a track record of discipline, study, and finishing goals.

None of which requires a college degree.

 

[SWA Bubba]

- If you didn't attend classes, went to the beach and smoked doobies, and still pulled a 2.26 shouldn't that count for something?

- I suppose one little Homicide ( reduced to Manslaughter ) is also disqualifying?

- How many DUI's is considered "excessive"?

- What's next...an airline hiring process that requires you send in a stool sample?


???


YKW

"Convicted of a felony? No... No... never convicted."

Bubba

 

[pilotyip]

I don't
I want to fly with well rounded pilots who have a track record of discipline, study, and finishing goals.
Those traits are directly related to aviation.
What does an airline do when it hires a pilot?
Puts them into CLASS.
At most airlines you have multiple fleet types and will be going to class often-
I get why delta wants that.

And whether we accept this role or not, the pilots are ambassadors of the airline and they go after coveted business travelers who are by and large well educated.

Those with degrees can hold a conversation on a better level than most pilots without.
Exceptions to the rule? Sure- but by and large general education is a big part of pilot development

Right again! a guy with the on-line degree from Bumblebee State is so much better rounded than a high school grad with two years of college at the University of Arizona who went through Army Flight Training. He flew all over the world transitioned into fixed wing, flew Army YIP's around the US. But this Army WO never got a college degree so in your eyes he is a sub-standard person with no rounding experience or any discipline at all. Make sure you don't get any of them in the SWA cockpit, because I know they have hired some of these guys. Maybe you can have like a "scab" list to make sure everyone you fly with had a college degree.

I consider my biggest accomplishment in college to be my not being brainwashed by 4 yrs of incessant liberal indoctrination and bias. I learned far more useful lessons and obtained better life skills as an enlisted Marine than college ever offered.

Thank you, you get it

 

[GogglesPisano]

I don't
I want to fly with well rounded pilots who have a track record of discipline, study, and finishing goals.
Those traits are directly related to aviation.
What does an airline do when it hires a pilot?
Puts them into CLASS.
At most airlines you have multiple fleet types and will be going to class often-
I get why delta wants that.

And whether we accept this role or not, the pilots are ambassadors of the airline and they go after coveted business travelers who are by and large well educated.

Those with degrees can hold a conversation on a better level than most pilots without.
Exceptions to the rule? Sure- but by and large general education is a big part of pilot development

This sums it up about right.

There are exceptions to every rule, but it's still a fairly useful rule. When there are 8,000 apps on file, it's a fairly easy way to discriminate.

And we are ambassadors, and people do listen to our PA's. We should want to sound like well-educated white collar professionals.

PS: Even though some on here think we're just "button-pushers," with an "monkey-could-do-it," job, this is not the case. Every emergency with a successful outcome -- especially those involving the decision-making inherent in ETOPS, international flying over potentially hostile territory, problems in which the QRH is of no help -- proves this is not an "easy job," all the time.

 

[waveflyer]

None of which requires a college degree.

Not "required" but a good start.

I fear for this country and the absolute war on education that is going on- debt, "liberal bias!!" Like what was posted above-

I'm absolutely sure one grows up quite a bit enlisted in the military-
(I actually work and believe in compulsory service-)
It doesn't replace the classroom

If we're going to put education in a second class place, we shouldn't feel bad accepting a lower quality of life for the American middle class

 

[waveflyer]

Right again! a guy with the on-line degree from Bumblebee State is so much better rounded than a high school grad with two years of college at the University of Arizona who went through Army Flight Training. He flew all over the world transitioned into fixed wing, flew Army YIP's around the US. But this Army WO never got a college degree so in your eyes he is a sub-standard person with no rounding experience or any discipline at all. Make sure you don't get any of them in the SWA cockpit, because I know they have hired some of these guys. Maybe you can have like a "scab" list to make sure everyone you fly with had a college degree.



Thank you, you get it

Why didn't he finish a degree?

You look at it from the wrong perspective- at some point, the question is why wouldn't you achieve that when 95% of your peers did?
Why does someone without that degree, who didn't do the work, who didn't figure out a way to finance it, supposed to be on an equal playing field with those of us who did?

Is this little league where we all get a trophy ?

Yip, you have yet to tell me the actual degree program you have an issue with. Why do you avoid giving us real world examples of "bumblebee state"?

I'm curious to know which degrees out there are easy, bought and paid for

 

[nordo_2]

could it be because going to college has nothing to do with critcial thinking skills? How about the ACT of 29 good standard test, service academy standards?

It's important because the military proves as of late, that an outstanding college GPA propagates the best of the best.