Und

[John Hewlett]

I am currently looking into going to school at the University of North Dakota. I hear that they are now the number 1 Aerospace school in the U.S.. However that just what I heard and I am sure thats debatable withe the Riddle folks.

Has anyone gone to UND? If so can you give me some idea what you liked, didn't like, lifestyle, etc?

Appreciate it,
J.

 

[DC-3TP]

Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro,Tn is a nice place to go. The weather is great for flying. I don't think the tution would be as much as UND or ERU. They have a reputable aerospace program. It might be worth checking out.

 

[gallgood]

UND

I attened UND for 2 years. There were only two things that I didn't like about UND. The first was one of the Instructors. But, I can now say that he has retired. So, no problem there. The only other thing that made me leave was that I ran out of money. If you are not a resident of ND or a surrounding states it can get very expensive. I am from Texas and they did not have any programs with Texas so I had to pay out of state tuition. The things I remembered the most was the winter flying. I logged more snow flying than I would have if I had stayed in Texas. UND is a great school I the money isn't a problem. I will go back once I get somemore money. I hope this helpes.

Gary

 

[flywithruss]

I'm a Riddle alum, but I have to say I haven't heard bad things at all about UND, and I'd consider it if I had it to do over again, happy as I was at ERAU. I don't know, but I'd guess the male:female ratio at UND is probably a little better than Riddle, where it is so far out of balance it's laughable. Grand Forks might be cold, but if you think Daytona isn't a $h!thole, you haven't spent enough time there.

Best of luck ...

R

 

[FlightTraker]

(First I just want to say this is my opinion, I don't have any experience with ERAU)
I graduated from UND in 1994. It is a great school and no matter what anyone else says, the "four seasons" flying experience is priceless. I have flown with alot of people that trained in CA and turn into white knuckle pilots at the sight of snow or even T-storms. How about landing on a snow covered runway? Well anyway, their program is top notch and yes expensive. UND's aircraft are well maintained and most of them brand new or only a few years old. The aviation facilities on campus and at the airport are very impressive. (Back in 1994 I looked at ERAU in Prescott and Daytona, and they had nothing compared to UND)Grand Forks is a small town, but since the flood in 1997, has been rebuilt quite nicely. If you are a big city person, it is not for you. Winters are cold, but summer can be real nice. If you are looking for one of the best flight schools in the nation, look into UND. But that decision is yours, go get a tour and see if it is for you. I think you will be impressed. Good Luck!


FlightTraker

 

[Riddle momma]

UND vs ERAU

I graduated from ERAU-P last April, and think it is a great school. My boyfriend graduated from UND last December, so I had the opportunity to visit UND's campus a few times, and was very impressed. Their airplanes are probably the best as far as equipment goes. All dual garmin 430s, while riddle has Bendix on all the cessnas but not the duchess. The program though I think is better at riddle as far as flying. They offer an aerobatic course (which now is mandatory after the private pilot course) in the bonanza E33C (also used in the commercial course), a high altitude course (high altitude signoff) in the Cessna 340, and after every rating you add on the multi. So after you get the private single, you get the privame multi, then instrument single, instrument multi... and so on. In that respect I think riddle is much better, however, the tuition is astronomical. There's no way I could afford it if I was starting off now. Riddle just exponentially increased their costs, but if money is not a problem, you come out with more signoffs and more multi time. But, all in all, I think both schools are awesome. UND has cool stuff where Riddle doesn't, and Riddle has cool stuff where UND doesn't. As far as the weather goes, you will not get much chance at actual down in AZ. The skies are always blue, and visibilities better than 50 miles (helps when you are trying to get through a flight course). The seasons are present, you just don't feel them too much. We get snow in the winter, but no valuable snow landing experience. In the summer, the monsoons keep us on our toes. Lots of mountain flying though... totally different!
Good luck wherever you end up!

The girl-guy ratio: 21 to 1 (spring 2002)

 

[NDPILOT]

A good way around the out-of-state tuition - get a P.O. Box up there as your permament address, after 3 months you're considered a resident, and the tuition isn't so bad. I had many friends do that up there.

ERAU v. ND - the programs are almost identical, at riddle you'll get a little more multi-time and maybe a few more airline connections. In ND, they are getting a new CRJ sim in october and will offer a ground school in that, which is very attractive. When Horizon WAS hiring, they were lowering there mins. for UND people that took the Dash-8 ground school. You really can't go wrong with either school. My advice would be to attend the school that is closer, making the move easier. You'll get the same training.

One more piece of advice, if you end up choosing ERAU, stay away from the Daytona campus, you get nothing done there and their reputation is much worse than the Prescott campus.

Hope this helps