Hello I’m currently am in 9th grade and am an aspiring pilot. I was curious what should I do for my education after high school. Should I go to an aviation college such as the university of North Dekota and major in aviation and minor in maybe medicine. Should I just go to a normal university as my grades are pretty high and just get my bachelors in medicine? Could you please help me out?
Thanks for your time
-Matt
I believe you mean “higher education after high school”.
First of all you are in 9th grade in high school and you have 3 more full years of opportunities to get AP credit, dual credit, etc. all of which would allow you to graduate with a 4 year degree faster. What I mean by this is you can take AP credit for college courses and not take them (because you got credit).
Second of all, you mentioned major in aviation and minor in medicine at North Dakota. Honestly it is totally up to you but as of my current knowledge all you need is one 4 year degree in anything from an accredited University. It can be pottery, piano composition, engineering, accounting, all of the above. I would just focus on getting a 4 year degree in something other than aviation just in case the whole industry collapses (probably won’t happen, but you never know). For example I am majoring in Logistics with an emphasis on Aviation Logistics.
Lastly, you have 3 full years to decide and expirement. Take different courses and see what sparks your interest and see if it something you would like to major in. Furthermore if you haven’t done so already I would advise you to go on an introductory flight, it helped me really get excited about flight training and I am now looking forward to finishing my degree to start at ATP.
Hopefully this helps! And hopefully anyone else more qualified than I am can also help Matt out! Good luck
I haven’t looked into an introductory flight. How would I go about getting one. Also what is considered an accredited university?
P.S. I live near JFK if that’s any help
Well there’s a start. Before you even think about having a career as a pilot you should take an introductory flight.
Since you are by JFK there should be some flight schools or companies that offer introductory flights for a fee. It is a 1 hour - 2 hour flight and you will be flying the plane for the most part so you know what it is like. Look it up online and call different flight schools.
Also any University that is recognized to offer multiple majors and minors (and passes state and national standards) is an accredited University. So in my case I would probably want to go get my 4 year degree at University of North Texas rather than Byron Nelson College (which only offers summer classes and is not as recognized). Use your best judgement. It really doesn’t matter what university you attend, but later on people will probably take notice of someone who graduated at UNT or UTA or Baylor with a Logistics, Medical, Marketing, Accounting major than someone who graduated from Lamar University with a degree in Pottery.
Alright thankyou for your help
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Hey Matt,
Hosam has provided some pretty sound advice. Thanks for that, Hosam.
Don’t worry about majoring in an aviation degree unless you really want to.
AP classes is an excellent idea. That’s something I should have done.
I would recommend attending a junior college to save yourself some money.
You need to be at least 18 to start at ATP. So, you can re-evaluate your
situation after you have your 2-year degree; either transfer to a 4-year
college to get your Bachelors or start flight training and get your
Bachelors later. The major airlines require a 4 year degree so you’ll have
to get one regardless.
Tory
Could I still do an introductory flight now or do I have to wait till I turn 18?
You’ll need to do one at a different school. The minimum age for an ATP
intro flight is 18.
Is ATP like the gold standard flight school?
It’s the largest in the nation…