Should I Major in Commercial Aviation?!?!

[TWA Dude]

That's really good advice to give to a 17/18 year old

I did both and turned out okay ... I think.

 

[LearLove]

PLease please please get a degree in something useful. Accounting, finance, engineering ect...

When you can't fly or the powers that be put you on involuntary vacation (without pay) a.k.a. the "F" word, you'll be glad you did.

My 2 cents, get a degree in something you like (outside of aviation), get your ratings at a local school (you'll save $$$). By the time your 4 years in college are up you'll have a degree and COMMEL/CFI. Go to the Air National Guard. Get trained build time and get a flying job. This way you'll have the guard, a civ flying job and a backup (you degree outside of aviation) incase you can't fly.

If you do get the "F" word then you'll be able to still fly in the guard while either look for another job or using your degree outside of aviation. The best of all worlds and way less stress on yourself than someone with a limited aviation degree because you'll have options. You'll be adaptable, just like the companies out there today that are doing well.

Good Luck

 

[Thurman Merman]

Und Survival Guide

Hey if you decide to go to UND have your drinking shoes on. The red pepper is about the best and worst place you can get food. Amazing if your seeing double and all things that were fat are now skinny, not so good sobber (unless hungover). Just avoid the garbage plate at all costs. If people ask what's your major, lie! Contrary to popular belief chicks don't dig pilots, especially up there. In fact the whole non-aviation student body will hate you with a passion. Have non-aviaition friends to avoid becoming a "prop-head" and thusly comsuming your entire conversations day and night with aviation related speak. PACK WARM, i repeat, PACK WARM. Avoid 5:00am flight labs. As an "ole Flood of '97" survivor I advised getting a room on the 2nd floor. Leave any Top Gun related atire at home, ie. Bomber jacket, Raybans, you'll just get made fun of. Don't have the attitude your cool because you fly airplanes, people will crush the idea fairly quickly. And no, Alpha Eta Rho ain't Animal House or old School for that matter. Go to the hockey games even if not a fan of the fastest game on ice. And most importantly, every friday, if memory serves me corectly, $1.50 pitchers at the downunder. Sure its keystone light, but dude its a buck fitty and dumb and dumber that run it were never to big on carding.

Now I'm 6 years removed from that wonderful institution *WARNING SARCASM ALERT*, "THE HARVARD AT 30,000 FEET." but that should start you off if you should choose to attend the frozen tundra.

Oh yeah, always use the buddy system when traveling in East Grand Forks, Never be the first to pass out at a party, Be warry of girls wearing a lot of layers, it sure does hide a lot. Most of all....

"Graduating college in 4 years is a lot like leaving a party at 10 o'clock." and "Don't let College get in your way of an education, but don't let your education get in a way of a degree."

If there are any current UNDers can you please tell me if you still get to say...."WWWAAAASSSSSAAAAAUUUUUU inbound"

peace.

 

[urflyingme?!]

Checkout the air guard. Like ROTC, but no being in ROTC.

I'm currently in college and about to finish up with an aviation degree. PM me if you have any q's...

 

[studt needs adv]

urflyingme?! -
I heard something like the air gaurd would be a good way to gain hours so I am a little interested in any infomration you might have about any air gaurd programs in California or maybe even ROTC.

(the air guard is civilian right?)

 

[studt needs adv]

I want to thank everyone that has given me some advice on what to major in. I have also been considering eletrical engineering as a major at San Diego State University. And to Typhoonpilot haha I probably should have looked over what I wrote alittle more carefully. And I did appreciate your adivce. This thread probably isn't prefect iether but I had to make this one quick.

Thanks Again to Everyone!

-Any other advice about majors, schools, flying, finding flight time please keep sending!

 

[bobbysamd]

Aviation career and choice of degree

You first have to decide if you really want to be a professional pilot. That decision will dictate your choice of programs at U.N.D.

Frankly, I would hesitate to recommend a professional aviation career to anyone at this time. All you have to do is look at the news. You hear stories about X major about to go bankrupt, or Y major about to shut down, or Z major asking its employees, again, for wage and benefits givebacks. Don't forget about rising fuel cost stories. This is significant because hiring at the major airlines drives hiring at the lower levels. In other words, if the majors are hiring, they will pick up pilots at the level before them, with the effect spreading downward. If the majors are not hiring, pilots will stay put, which means fewer opportunities, and chances, to break in. Read this Rocky Mountain News article from a couple of weeks ago.

We have one contributor who is predicting a hiring boom in 2007. He is predicting a boom because, he says, hiring booms for the last thirty years have begun in years ending in 7. The landscape is different this time around because the majors are in trouble. Moreover, even if there were a boom, the majors must first bring back and retrain their furloughees before they can hire new pilots. The majors have cut back on their routes and/or have vended them to the regionals. All this impacts hiring - aside from the fact that there are so many qualified applicants available for very few jobs.

You have to consider these factors as part of your decision.

Let's say you opt for the career. I will take the minority viewpoint regarding a degree program. I like an aviation degree. If U.N.D. is anything like Embry-Riddle, you will get a great aviation education and good flight training. More importantly, as an Aeronautical Science major, you can avail yourself of internship opportunities in which you can make contacts that will help you down the road. You probably can be hired at your school to instruct after you graduate, which solves the first job after flight training problem. The Aviation Management program, above, sounds fine, but you should find out beforehand if its participants can be hired at the school to instruct. Finally, a college degree from an accredited school is a college degree. It will open doors that otherwise would be closed. You can still take electives in Accounting or whatever if you want a non-aviation skill.

I'm surprised that you haven't been advised yet on this thread that a college degree is not required and that you should forego college momentarily and start flying. The idea is you can build important time, e.g., "TJPIC" time sooner and get farther faster. Don't listen to that advice. You need the credentials to get jobs that build "TJPIC" and your degree is one such credential. Go to college now and get it out of the way. It's very hard to return to school after you have been working and away from "school" mode for several years.

Hope this helps you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[JaceTheAce]

Here is my very first post, so here goes:
I came into UND as a Junior-status transfer student in August. I can tell you that UND has a great program overall but there are many things you should be aware of before making your decision to come to UND. I am an Aviation Management major and would recommend that you do not major in Commercial Aviation because your options are very limited in the common case of being furloughed.

Consider the following:
• UND's Laptop Program requires that all Aviation students lease their laptops, even though you already have a nice fancy one obtained for your graduation present. They charge $450 PER SEMESTER for a mediocre Dell Latitude D505. The laptop comes with Vector Systems Training Software ($99 software) and Jeppesen FlightStar (which you will NEVER use in any of your classes), and all the usual Microsoft Word crap and Flight Sim 2002 (yes, only 2002 - they are too cheap to get the 2004 version). In the end of your four years, you will have spent anywhere from $4000-5000 on a $1400 laptop that you will NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP. You must return the laptop upon your departure from UND. UND's reason to justify the cost of the laptop leasing is so they can provide "tech support" if you need help on how to use it. Most aviation students are already very good with computers so they never need this service, plus Dell gives the tech support for free.
• Apartment rates here in Grand Forks are higher than the national average. I pay $780 for a 2 bed room / 2 bath / w&d in the apartment / central a/c and heat. That is a little too high for such a shi++y place to live. Don't even think about paying $550 for a 2-bed apartment - it will be barely livable.
• I don't know where you are from, but the winters here are horrible. You cannot fly in the late Fall and Winter due to bad weather. If it's sunny and warm it's too windy, if the winds are calm it's too cold and cloudy. Spring and summer is the only good time to fly and I dare anyone to pre-flight an airplane in -10 degrees with -30 degree windchill (UND goes no-fly after -20 degrees). It really sucks. I have to put several layers of clothing, including long underwear under my pants, sock cap, two layers of gloves, and I still am freezing my balls off.
• Be prepared to spend LOTS of money winterizing your car. I had to spend $500 on snow/ice tires because my car had Z-rated uni-directional high performance tires that are not made for the snow. You can get away with all-season tires, but they are not very good on ice.
• They never cancel school due to bad weather. Last February it got down to -44 with -60 windchill factor. School was never cancelled. You can get severe frostbite within 2 minutes of your skin being exposed to these conditions, and it is not uncommon to hear of people getting treated for severe frostbite, with possible toe/finger amputation.
• Car insurance rates are higher than in California due to the winter being the perfect condition for an nice bad accident.
• Wages are extremely low (if you want a job on the side while you go to school). You better be happy with $6.50 an hour because that's all you'll get here.
• Flight instructors here are hit or miss. Many have large ego's because they are "UND Flight Instructors" and are the "creme de la creme". I fortunately have a Flight Instructor who did not develop the UND CFI EGO.
• Be prepared to go through unnecessary constant changes in academic policies in the aviation departments - they are notorious for changing co-requesites and pre-requisites for your classes and mess up your long-term education plans.
• If you fail a stage check, each stage check failure knocks off 2% of your total ground school grade. I have experience at this first hand, as a brand new stage pilot I had failed me because I did not know how to properly draw the WHOLE ENTIRE schematic of the electrical system on the Piper Warrior. I am still in the process of getting my 2% of my grade back because it's a matter of me getting a B instead of an A because of it. Two faculty members are in disagreeance with the stage pilot and are assisting me in resolving this.
I can go on about the negative aspects of UND, but please consider what I have said. Other than the latter, UND overall has a good flight program. Just be sure you are able to deal with the hierarchy and political havoc that goes on within the Aerospace program.

 

[bobbysamd]

U.N.D. v. ERAU

Just be sure you are able to deal with the hierarchy and political havoc that goes on within the Aerospace program.

You're not going to like this, but U.N.D. sounds a lot like Riddle to me.

 

[FreeFaller]

Air Guard IS Military.
I spent 4+ years trying to get an Aviation degree AND fly. Found I couldn't do both. Thought I'd be an airline mech. (same airline benifits), enlisted in the Navy, got trained, experience, saw places I'd not see otherwise (good or bad, it's an adventure). Finished up my B.S. nights & weekends & applied to Navy pilot traing. Got LUCKY, & became a Naval Aviator, saw lots, best time of life, then an airline pilot. Through all that, saw the world and am still broke, but wouldn't trade it for anything. Making a buck in aviation is tough, DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY!! It takes time too, 10 years from now you might be in a position to say it's a career, don't commit everything too soon.
My two cents would be to plan on STARTING off in the military. Either before (enlisted) or after (Officer (better)) your college degree in Math or Science type fields. That puts you four to 10 years down the road when your commitment is up, THEN decide if an aviation career is best for you. If not, you've got a background most employers will jump on.