Should I blow another $15,00 for BS degree?

[skycaptain11]

Get the degree

 

[CX880]

Look into Utah Valley University to finish the degree quickly. It's a REAL school and you're drgree will be in aviation, but that's why it's quick. !

Dont get a degree in Aviation. It's worthless. Get something in finance or biology, those are gateway degrees to anything. I mean a degree shouldn't be about checking a box, you should actually learn something.

 

[skygod75]

maxcackel, what are your other ways of making money outside of aviation? I've been trying to find something to do on the side that I can grow big enough so that I can quit working for the man and get out of this gig someday. I would rather spend the time and money getting my own business up and running than just taking more worthless college classes.

Seems obvious to me: Move to a state that has legalized medical marijuana and become a grower/supplier. Get the permits you need and become a legal drug dealer.

There's your long term growth potential.

 

[pilotyip]

Remember why you are getting the degree

Dont get a degree in Aviation. It's worthless. Get something in finance or biology, those are gateway degrees to anything. I mean a degree shouldn't be about checking a box, you should actually learn something.

You are getting the degree to check a box on an application, it is not something you plan to do for a living. To get a degree on the side while you are flying, nothing wrong with that. However, The fallback value of a degree is greatly over rated. I have a BS and a Master's in Management, but at age 53, I was making $250/wk loading cargo. After Zantop pretended to go out of went out of business in 1997, I had been a temporary High School Chemistry Teacher up until two weeks before the cargo job came along. However, they do not teach school in the summer so I had to take the cargo job. The value of an unused degree is highly over rated. 53 year old unemployed airline pilots are not eagerly greeted in any industry that I know of, even of having a couple degrees. Of course, I did not apply for many of the "College degree preferred jobs" such as apt manager, telephone direct sales, and plumbing floor manager at Home Depot, etc. If you get a college degree you have to use, the knowledge gained in college to develop a career or the degree is useless. After getting a degree, flying an airplane is not a knowledge expanding experience; it is skill development experience.

 

[CX880]

You are getting the degree to check a box on an application, it is not something you plan to do for a living. To get a degree on the side while you are flying, nothing wrong with that. However, The fallback value of a degree is greatly over rated. I have a BS and a Master's in Management, but at age 53, I was making $250/wk loading cargo. After Zantop pretended to go out of went out of business in 1997, I had been a temporary High School Chemistry Teacher up until two weeks before the cargo job came along. However, they do not teach school in the summer so I had to take the cargo job. The value of an unused degree is highly over rated. 53 year old unemployed airline pilots are not eagerly greeted in any industry that I know of, even of having a couple degrees. Of course, I did not apply for many of the "College degree preferred jobs" such as apt manager, telephone direct sales, and plumbing floor manager at Home Depot, etc. If you get a college degree you have to use, the knowledge gained in college to develop a career or the degree is useless. After getting a degree, flying an airplane is not a knowledge expanding experience; it is skill development experience.

I completely disagree, if you get a degree that is worth something like Biology or Finance or basically anything to do with science, it will always be useful.

 

[pilotyip]

Let agree to disagree

I completely disagree, if you get a degree that is worth something like Biology or Finance or basically anything to do with science, it will always be useful.

My experience with a Master's in management. I was tired of being between jobs at age 53. I tried to get into another line of work. 0 interviews, lots of job fairs, lots of professional resumes. I am covered with airline stink, my belief is companies will not touch you later in life for any decent job no matter what degree you have. So you have decide early in life what you are going to do, use the knowledge gained in your college degree or spend 10 years establishing your aviation career. Science is changing so fast that being out of it for 10 years is almost like not being in it.

 

[exphojump]

Definitely get a degree outside aviation. I was furloughed from Independence in 2006 and slogged for 3.5 years to get a degree in Economics from a local university. Now that I have it I have the option of a major in 3 years if they start hiring again.

I plan to transfer to a career in finance in about a year. I am attending the University of London External. For grad school you have to write two 2,500 papers each 8 weeks, self study, and I take comprehensive exams in October. The exams are the same as the lecture students in the UK so it is not easy.

The bright side if you are good at self study, they have undergraduate degrees with the London School of Economics as the lead school. It is all self study and you take very hard exams, (the same as those who attended the lectures) for each subject once a year. It only costs about 5,000 USD to get a BS.

Warning, you really have to love your subject and the tests are very, very, difficult. This is not a diploma mill. But you spread the 5k over 2 to 4 years.

Good luck, and choose wisely because after two furloughs, working overseas and becoming 40 this year, I am ready for a career change.

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/prospective_students/undergraduate/index.php

 

[skygod75]

Definitely get a degree outside aviation. I was furloughed from Independence in 2006 and slogged for 3.5 years to get a degree in Economics from a local university. Now that I have it I have the option of a major in 3 years if they start hiring again.

I plan to transfer to a career in finance in about a year. I am attending the University of London External. For grad school you have to write two 2,500 papers each 8 weeks, self study, and I take comprehensive exams in October. The exams are the same as the lecture students in the UK so it is not easy.

The bright side if you are good at self study, they have undergraduate degrees with the London School of Economics as the lead school. It is all self study and you take very hard exams, (the same as those who attended the lectures) for each subject once a year. It only costs about 5,000 USD to get a BS.

Warning, you really have to love your subject and the tests are very, very, difficult. This is not a diploma mill. But you spread the 5k over 2 to 4 years.

Good luck, and choose wisely because after two furloughs, working overseas and becoming 40 this year, I am ready for a career change.

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/prospective_students/undergraduate/index.php

I would advise using caution with distance learning universities such as the one above, especially when the university is foreign-based (assuming that the student is resident in the United States). The inherent problem with universities abroad is accreditation issues. Most employers these days want to see a degree from an *accredited* university. Accreditation signifies, at a fundamental level, verification of faculty, curriculum, and procedures used in granting degrees. Accreditation is also important if you wish to use that degree in the furtherance of your study at the graduate level. In addition, accreditation in one country does not necessarily mean that it can be used as such in another.

Foreign-based degrees can be evaluated using a degree evaluation service that essentially verifies the degree as being equivalent to a similar degree from an accredited university in the United States. Different employers will maintain different criteria when it comes to the acceptance of degrees. You may have received a rigorous education that will benefit you in your career field but not having the accreditation status is a deal-killer for many prospective employers. Disciplines such as law, accounting, nursing, elementary/secondary education, engineering, social work, medicine, and others require a graduation from an accredited program to acquire a license (i.e., Professional Engineer) or certification (i.e., Certified Public Accountant).

At any rate, "buyer beware" is always in order when attempting such endeavors.

 

[exphojump]

Do your research,

I recommend you pick a degree led by the London School of Economics. Your diploma will show both UOL and LSE, as would anyone who graduated from LSE.

Check several world rankings and see how the LSE ranks worldwide.

Call a few grad schools in the field of your choice and query about their policy on UK degrees.

Check with the HR at a few of the non aviation companies you want to work for and ask about their policy.

Last, if you know anyone in HR at a Major check their policy on UK degrees

You can always attend the world ranked UVU, if you want, or expensive ERAU, if you know you are staying in aviation.

Just another option I didn't know about, till I was a junior and looking at grad schools online.

 

[Paul R. Smith]

Go get a degree, make sure it is not in Aviation! You are never going to know on how you are gonna loose your medical and would have to leave Aviation all together. Might as well have something to fall back on. It is like having house, car, or any another kinda insurance, you never know when you are going to need it......go get that paper!

Never take advice from a guitar player who plays a Warlock.