Controversial Question - College

[Tram]

Just curious what those 4 are?

FedEx and what other 3?

Only 4 airlines of 176 hiring make the college degree a showstopper.

 

[njcapt]

Go to a community college and live at home. Keeps the cost down and you'd probably be able to fly full-time.

Do this. Take it from a 42 year old, 24th year senior in college.

I went off to a four year university after high school without a clue of what I wanted to do. In my freshman year I started flying and found my calling. Unfortunately, I only cared about flying and totally blew off school. I managed to have a decent airline career, in spite of not having a degree, until recently. Now I'm two days from being furloughed from what was once my dream job, and am looking at painting houses or working at Starbucks to make bills and pay for health insurance. Options? FedEx? Gotta have the degree. UPS? Gotta have it. SWA? Good luck getting a call without it.

Looking back, I should have gone to junior college, worked a second shift job doing anything and flown my a$$ off in the few daily hours I had left. With an Associate Degree and a CFI under my belt I could have been a stud at Purdue, Lewis U, Southern Illinois, or U of I. I spent three scattered semesters at Morraine Valley Community College in suburban Chicago, and the education I received there was friggin' bulletproof. Now, I'm taking courses from ERAU and struggling to catch up. I ought to have the AS done by this summer and the BS by early next year. Hopefully, I can scare up a decent flying job by then.

Be warned. Dealing with course work while desperately looking for another job and hustling for cash to pay for COBRA insurance truly sucks.

I respect pilotyip's opinion, but not his advice. Of the top ten airlines to work for (I realize this is totally subjective), only AirTran and (maybe) jetBlue are willing to hire pilots without degrees. I just got back from a job fair where a Southwest rep came right out and said that only applicants with a degree were competitive. In the past, you could get an interview with a couple of great recommendations and wow them with your knowledge of SWA history and Dallas BBQ joints. No more. Now you have to generate an interview with your qualifications. I have 11500 hours TT, 1500 PIC large jet (mostly 737), and 4000 PIC turbine and I probably won't get a call.

Work your a$$ off studying, flying, and networking while you're young. It only gets harder when you gather responsibilities and comittments. Do NOT blow off the degree. You have been warned.

Good luck.

 

[pilotyip]

I don't know who the other three are, I would have to dig through the Air Inc newsletter.

 

[Nindiri]

There is more to life than flying from age 18 to 60. You'll have plenty of time to fly fulltime after college. Besides, if you skip college and start fulltime flying at 18, you'll just become cynical and whining 4 years earlier.

 

[Fugawe]

Do you want to work somewhere that requires no degree to be competitive for the job?

Do what's best, not what's easiest.


Fugawe

 

[jws717]

Go to a community college with a good flight program, then transfer to the riddle exteneded campus. You can fly CFI in the day and go to class after while doing the second part a Riddle extended campus. plus you save alot of $$ riddle extended is not that bad and the cc is cheaper.

I went to Broward community in florida, it was good times!

 

[smellthejeta]

If I were to pursue a flying gig, this is how I'd do it over...

1) Go to a CC and live at home. If you live in California, community colleges are DIRT CHEAP. The one I went to charged less than $30/cr for instate tuition. My school also had a flight program where you could fly for pretty darn cheap. I'd do that over Riddle any day of the week.

2) In California, we have these "UC transfer programs" or something like that where if you take the right courses for your electives/gen ed requirements, that you pretty much have a seamless transfer. I had a BS before I went back to school, so those things weren't important enough to me to look into.

3) Whatever you do, DO IT WELL. I have less than a 3.0 for my undergraduate courses, and that is closing a lot of doors in other respects (non flying jobs, graduate school).

4) Go to college now. I'm 26 and am VERY glad it is done with. The thought of going through a four year program now is not something I want to think about. Getting a Masters is bad enough.

What good is having a degree you haven't used for ten years? Seriously, it's good for getting into grad school. With a 4 year degree being yesterday's HS Diploma, you may eventually need the Masters. Grad schools won't care that you haven't used your undergraduate degree in ten years, and they will look favorably upon your life experience.

 

[pilotyip]

Another path to consider iis the Army's High School to Flight School option, No degree required there. Then the Army will pay you to go to school while in the Army. I have interviewed a number of pilots who went down this path most had their degree by the time they got out of the Army.

 

[Tram]

pilotyip - what 4 places consider not having a degree a show stopper out of what, 176 you said were hiring?