Hello, I am a high school senior and I have to decide whether I want to attend college as an Aviation: Profesional Flight major or learn how to fly through a local flight school and attend college as any other major. I was wondering if I could hear from real pilots to see what you guys think is the best route to take.Thank you.
Christian,
Actually I think you’ll find most of us on here recommend neither. If you visit our FAQ section we discuss this in detail but here’s the short version.
Aviation degrees are generally very expensive, airlines neither require nor desire nor prefer aviation degrees. Finally if for whatever reason aviation doesn’t work out for you (either by choice or circumstance) there’s not much you can do with a Professional Flight degree.
As for the local flight school route, very few have the resources (instructors, airplanes, sims) to take you through the entire process efficiently. Many people who do their training at small local flight schools find the experience very frustrating.
What I (and many others here) do recommend is you complete your education in something other than aviation (as a backup) and then do your flight training full-time at a flight academy like ATP (ATPFLIGHTSCHOOL.COM). ATP was created by airline pilots to train airline pilots and have been doing just that for over 35yrs. On the average over 500 grads go to the airlines every year. I apologize if I sound like a salesman (I assure you I am not). I like many others started my flight training many years ago and got my Private license at a local flight school. It took me almost 2yrs and cost me a fortune. When I decided I wanted to fly for a living I did my research and concluded ATP was the best right. I’m now a Capt for a Major airline and can honestly say I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for ATP.
I again encourage you to visit the FAQ section and ATPs website and do some reading.
Adam
Christian,
Adam did a great job covering it in detail. We recommend that you go to college and get your four year degree in anything outside aviation. Make sure it’s something you enjoy and something you can see yourself doing in case of a career furlough. Then once you have your degree, look in to accelerated professional flight training programs like ATP’s ACPP. The timeline is quick, price fixed and provides opportunities for cadet programs and CFI employment. You’ve got the link there, you can also google it and find a lot of common FAQs covered there!
Let us know if you have further questions!
-Hannah
Christian,
Honestly, I am not a fan of either of your options. I would recommend attending college and majoring in something other than aviation, then going to an accelerated flight school to knock all of your flight training out quickly and efficiently.
Local flight schools are generally not equipped to handle students that want to become professional pilots. They might say they are, but they are rarely able to actually complete the job in a decent amount of time and for anywhere near the price they quote. All of the mentors on this website attended ATP and part of why we offer our time here is because we have benefited from their program and like to see others do as well.
I myself took the route I am suggesting and was very happy with the outcome of it.
Chris
Thank you for the quick and informative reply, this really does help.
Anytime. Let us know how else we can help you.
Chris