First off, I found this forum a few weeks ago and have thoroughly enjoyed going through the vast amount of posts. This whole thing seems well-run and is always inviting. As the title suggests, I have a situation that I wanted to seek some advice on:
So I am 20 years old and starting my Junior year in college in August where I’m majoring in exercise science and minoring in neuroscience. I come from a family of medical professionals, and while I love all things pre-med, I made the discovery about a month ago that I realistically could not see myself enjoying that for a gigantic part of my life. I do have some pilots in the family along with others that have worked in the airline industry, so I grew up with a fascination of planes. I love going to the airport and flying places, but it never actually occurred to me that I could pursue flying as a career until a few weeks ago.
I know that major airlines often require a four-year degree, so my tentative plan was to go and finish my next two years of school and then move right on to flight school, CFI, etc. I’m wondering if there’s a preferred pathway that you all would suggest? Or if that “plan” seems to be the best. I’m mostly focused on, because I know that I would have no problem flying for a large part of my life and I’m only 20, not squandering the opportunity to take advantage of timing.
Also really quick, because I’ve just thought of this, is there a certain time frame before I would like to start taking classes at ATP that I should apply/go through finances/etc?
Thanks so much for any help and/or answers!
Kieran
If you look at the top of this forum you’ll clearly see the ATP logo so obviously we’re all somewhat biased as this is the route we all took and that worked for us. I don’t believe there’s any more efficient route you a career in aviation that exists but I encourage you to do some research and decide for yourself.
As for applying you should allow a min of 3 mos but no more than 6.
Your situation sounds similar to mine. Only I actually went to Optometry school and at 29 have switched over. Albeit I’m not a student at ATP yet. In my personal experience this forum seems well patrolled to discourage other programs that want to “snipe students,” and have them go elsewhere. I’m not capable of giving advice though as I’m not a pilot yet, but my gut says you are in good hands to go for it.
I would not describe this forum as “well patrolled” and we do not actively discourage other flight schools. We help point out facts that people might not have thought of, but we never sell any particular program.
I think your plan of finishing your degree, then going to flight school is superb, it is exactly the path that I took and it worked out well for me.
I would also encourage you to take an introductory flight sooner, rather than later, to make sure that this is really something that you want to do for a living.
Awesome! I definitely will get on that this summer, as I’m only about 35 minutes from RDU. Thanks for the advice. Just to clarify, the intro flight is non-binding, right? Like I wouldn’t be required to go any further if I didn’t like it (which I find unlikely). I haven’t seen anything suggesting otherwise, but just making sure.
It is absolutely non-binding. The purpose of the flight is to see if you really like flying, some people do, some don’t. The last thing ATP wants is somebody going through the program that does not really want to be there.