Uni or not? (Merged 2013)

[ComeFlyWithB]

Originally Posted by 4015

Guys, let me give you some advice from my perspective.

At 16, the idea of being in your early twenties without flying is horrific. However, that is more than likely going to be the case no matter what route you take.

Should you go to uni? If you ask anyone a few years older than you, and anyone in the know, the answer is most likely "if you can, then yes". Here's why:
1. You will have something to fall back on, and indeed be able to get a decent well paid job whilst you wait for the first flying job.
2. You will have fun. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you need to be flying for a job by the age of 19. Relax, get out of your parent's house, and grow up. It will take most of university to grow up and learn who you actually are.
3. You get out of your parent's house, and get the opportunity to do things you would not otherwise be able to. The level of maturity of people I know who went to university was far above that of those who didn't, until at least the mid twenties.
4. You will actually have things to talk about in interviews. (Insert aircraft operator here) want their pilots to have life experience. Most pax do not want to see a mid pubescent kid with acne and bumfluff flying their aircraft.
5. Just to reiterate, you will grow up. I can't drill this down enough.
6. If you take a look at most pilots these days, a degree is a given. The competition for jobs is high, and anything you have which puts you higher in the food chain is worth having.

As for the lack of maths and physics, if you passed GCSE and are willing to put the work in then there shouldn't be a problem at all. There are a stable of several good flying schools, with anything above PPL you will probably want to be at one of them. You will be investing upwards of £40k. Not something you really want to risk.

My conclusion - Go to university if you can. Well and truly worth it. Save up between now and uni and you can afford to do your PPL one summer whilst you're there, hour build for fun for the rest of your time there. Come out, get a half decent job and continue. You'll still be in a plane by your mid twenties and you'll have a much better grasp on life than the other route.

Just my tuppence though...

Good advice to start off your thread! I’ll chip in whilst trying to sleep after being on night flights with work.

1, You will have something to fall back on and get a decent job (whatever quantifies as decent in you own eyes) if you study something that is actually relevant and leads directly into a career or opens the door into several careers. For arguments sake Architecture or Medicine for going straight into a career on the one hand or Law or economics on the other which opens doors to various careers eg Law, teaching, banking and so fourth. However with that being said and anyone please correct me if I’m wrong besides Medicine and related fields I can’t actually think off the top of my head any other degree courses which directly lead / basically guarantee a job upon completion.

2, Undoubtedly you will have fun and gain life experience which is key for interviews and questions however this is also possible via apprenticeships and travelling. I was literally having this conversation with the captain yesterday evening who happens to be on the recruitment team for the airline I work for. In his eyes and straight from his mouth “life experience or something different eg competing at a high level in sport or balancing ATPLs whilst working full time is far more impressive in my eyes than a degree or mummy and daddy paying £100k for an integrated flight school”

I’ve said it before on this forum and will do many more times Im sure. when it comes to interviews and actually getting a job you could smash the CV sifting, tech interviews and sim assessments but at the end of the day if you can’t make conversation besides what your next Instagram post will be about and the people doing the interviewing can’t imagine sitting next to you for 10hrs or being down route for 4 days, guess what. You aren’t getting hired.

3, It depends who you are as a person. My younger sister went to a red brick university, studied law and achieved a high 2:1, intellectually she’s superb common sense wise ... not so much. Has she used her degree since leaving ? No she’s been in Australia going on 18 months working in solar farms earning £1500 + a week. Is she mature....... probably not in a lot of people’s eyes is she employable undoubtedly. When it comes down to interview questions you have to be a tad different to stand out, will you be able to do that via a university experience ? Probably. Would you be able to answer a similar question having lived and worked in a. Foreign environment outside of your comfort zone ? Most likely! Everyone learns and matured in different ways.


I’ve ranted on far too long so to summaries. Should you go to University, Personally I believe the days of ‘needing’ to are numbered. It’s more of a generational stigma and old boys club talking point unless your chosen profession requires you to do so for example Medicine. Investing time in learning a trade, gaining experience at a company and then opening a business of your own is the way to go. At the end of the day becoming a pilot requires money and determination with a touch of luck on your side. If you want to go to university go for it. If you don’t, then don’t. You have endless options to get where you want to be. save up from a part time job for example, lifeguard, gym instructor, retail and take a year out, work in a different country, save everything you can and come back into a relatively stable job whilst training.

For clarification or because it could potentially help you my ‘story so far’.

I went to Uni on and off 3 times and gained absolutely sweet FA, I’ve worked in America, ran my own business, Competed in swimming internationally and been fortunate to travel Fairly extensively. I can guarantee you all of my interview answers based on experiences did not come from Uni. I’m currently working as cabin crew to pay for the rest of my ATPLs and hours. I’ll be taking a loan out for the CPL/MEIR. I had a trial flight at 15 but it wasn’t until 18 months ago I sat down and worked out I could achieve the goal by saving X amount monthly. I’m 26 now and hope to be finished late next year.