Hi, I am currently a junior at the University of Nebraska, majoring in Psychology. I am on track to graduate in December 2025. Since I was little, I have always been fascinated by aviation and have dreamed of becoming an airline pilot. As I begin exploring this career path more seriously, I have a few questions I was hoping you could help with: When would you recommend I start pursuing flight training? Should I begin now, or is it better to wait until after graduation I think I could manage to do both? Are there any particular flight schools you would recommend applying to?
Maryam,
Welcome to the forum, let’s get to your questions. As you are already in your third year of college, Would strongly recommend finishing college, then going to flight training. While you might think that you could do both, the reality is that both college and flight training occupy a significant amount of your time and you need to be able to focus on both. I got my private license while I was in college, it was too much. My grades suffered as a result and I ended up graduating with a lower GPA than I would have liked to.
As for flight schools, there are literally thousands of flight schools out there. If you look at the top, left of this webpage, you will see that this forum is sponsored by ATP. All of the mentors on here are successful ATP graduates who have gone onto becoming airline pilots. ATP offers accelerated flight training and is the largest flight school in the country. I chose ATP because I had a cousin who had gone through the program and was a successful airline pilot. However, we do realize that no one flight school is the perfect fit for all people. Check out this list of questions that I put together to help you determine which school would be best for you:
Before going too far down this path, I must ask, do y ou have any flight experience? Doing an introductory flight is the first step into seeing if this career is right for you.
Chris
Maryam,
As Chris mentioned, we really recommend completing college before attending a flight school, and the fact you’re 3/4 of the way done, you should complete the bachelor’s degree first. The other important thing here to note is obtaining a solid GPA. While the airlines may have slowed down hiring, degrees and GPAs are going to play a vital impact on the interview process, other than just being a good person.
I’m bias here, Maryam, I’ll be honest. I’m a former ATP graduate, Chris is a former ATP graduate, all the pilot mentors (and emeritus 
) are former ATP graduates. ATP’s program has been around for 40 years, this year we all got together and then some, to celebrate ATP’s 40th year anniversary, in beautiful Fort Worth, Texas. While there are thousands of flight schools out there, the hardest decision you have to make is, “what is the right school for me.” As Chris linked the questions for a prospected flight school, the other thing to think about is, “what benefits or rewards can I get for attending, completing, and instructing at [this] school.”
You will need to conduct an admissions flight to enter ATP, you could do that now. Any flight hours you receive now will count towards your 1,500 (14 CFR 61.159). If you’re seriously contemplating this journey, go do a few introductory flights if you can, really make sure this is something you could see yourself partaking. This job is fun and awesome but holds a lot of responsibility. Please let us know on what you decide! 
Brady
Maryam,
Welcome to the forum! We’re happy to see you here. You’re perfectly on track now just completing your bachelors degree. With a year to go, you have the perfect amount of time to research and plan ahead without missing a beat. Full disclosure, this forum is sponsored by ATP and all of us mentors are ATP alumni. We were all in your shoes once and chose ATP to get us where we want to be. You have that same choice ahead. Chris posted a great list of questions for any prospective flight school you want to check out.
At a year out from graduation now you can begin the exploratory phase by going flying at your local FBO, researching flight schools, reading through threads here and talking to any airline pilots you know if your life right now. Once you get within the 6-9 month mark, you want to decide where you want to go with your training. If it’s ATP, you can start to apply for financing, take a discovery flight, get a first class medical and secure a start date. That way as soon as you graduate you can get flying right away with minimal delays.
Hannah