Aviation degree/Non-Aviation degree

[BushwickBill]

Basicly the deal is you want to pick a school your going to have a great time at and learn how to study.

Learning how to study seemed to be the crux of college. I know I need to start early and often when it comes to studying. I can't be one of those who crams for the last three days of the semester.

I went to community college and then transfered to a UC school in California. The best part was there was a bar on campus with good beer and a 60/40 female/male ratio.

I had a great time and learned how to study. When I meet pilots who hardly even got a date during college because they picked an aviation degree and went to a school with a majority of male students, I feel sorry for them.

 

[Publishers]

The short version - I do not think it makes a difference at all in your future as a pilot. The question is where is your other interests in life. Airlines mostly required college degrees as it was symbolic that you had the skills to learn the book work part of aviation and also the dedication to do the work and get through it with a degree. They were not looking for someone who knew all the stages of a turbine engine. Again, what are your interests.
Follow the Hugh Jordan phylosophy and use Bobby's advice but follow something of interest. Life sucks in cubicle.

 

[Guam360]

Having a degree in Aviation is clearly an advantage. I came out of the number one aviation school in the country (Embry-Riddle), and was already prepared to fly jets. But it's important that you attend a top notch aviation school if you plan on an aviation degree. I've met some people who major in aviation at some no-name school and have no clue on how a turbine engine even works. Obviously Embry-Riddle can't provide you with 2000 hours of jet time while you go to school there. But what they can do is prepare you with the knowledge portion. Classes in advanced aerodynamics, turbine engines, turbine aircraft operations / jet transport systems, and so on. After having been through two groundschools on two different aircraft (one turboprop and one jet) at a part 121 airline, and a jet type rating with zero turbine experience, I can tell you that the knowledge attained from a good four-year aviation degree is priceless. I say that looking back on things after being out in the field for a while. Not only did the knowledge attained put me miles ahead in groundschool and checkrides, it helps me that much more on a regular basis where I have to troubleshoot a system or component during daily flight operations.

this post makes me want to puke or laugh until I puke. WOW. some of this BS is unbelievable.

Experience will prevent damage to equipment and personnel.

 

[JPAustin]

If you are getting your training at a small school or community college, get a non-aviation degree and do your flight training on your own. If you are going to a big school with an aviation program, compare the aviation degree to the non-aviation degrees within the same department (for example, many aviation programs fall within the "Technology" department).
Look for the core courses of both and in many cases you will discover that the only difference in the two degrees (within the same department) is that your electives in the aviation degree are your flying and aeronautical tech/science classes. Remember, many of the aero tech/science classes encompass topics like physics, thermodynamics, higher level mathematics, chemistry, etc. An engineering program probably will not allow you to take flying classes as electives though.

Things to look out for in an aviation program:

1- It should contain the same core courses as the non-aviation degrees that are in the same department.

2- A good aviation degree is not all fluff and correspondence with "transferrable work experience."

3- A good aviation degree is a Bachelor of SCIENCE, not a Bachelor of ARTS. Stay away from the schools that have their aviation degrees as Arts degrees. That means they don't take the program seriously and it is basically ad-hoc and/or paired with a local FBO.

4- Finally, non-aviation versus aviation degree -- it really does not matter when you are looking to "fall back on something." If you are flying for a living, you will collect ZERO work experience in anything other than aviation/flying, thus you will not be hirable until you gain such experience in your non-aviation degree. Here is what I suggest:

1- Get whatever degree you want, but ensure you are getting the top notch aviation training as well, thus an aviation degree might not be a bad option.
2- A Bachelor of Science is a Bachelor of Science no matter where you go.
3- By the time you decide that you don't want to fly anymore and want to "fall back" on your non-aviation degree, you will have ZERO work experience in that field and will probably have to take a pay-cut from what you were making while flying.
4- Thus, because of number 3 above, take the time on the road while flying and on your useless Reserve days to get an advanced degree (Master's or Doctorate). That will give you an edge and a better plan to fall back on. Besides, it is getting more and more the case that a Bachelor degree of today is the equivalent of a highschool degree of yesterday.