The school are optimistic, though this is nagging me a bit.
Nagging feelings are a good thing, they can sometimes prevent expensive mistakes. It’s hardly surprising that the school are ‘optimistic’ - being cynical, their aptitude test merely confirms you’re suitability to give them a huge amount of money. There’s a surprise.
It’s good that you’re considering the downsides of the job at this early stage, and there are plenty to choose from. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and in no particular order:
Fatigue
Short Haul, you could be flying 6 on 1 off, with minimum rest periods in between, Long Haul will give you more time off, but you’ll have constant jet lag to cope with. Either way, you’ll probably spend most of your life feeling knackered.
Family Life (Or lack of it)
Forget weekends, or kids’ birthdays, or Christmas, etc etc. If you are young free and single it’s less of a problem (as long as living out of a suitcase is your thing), but if you’re married with children, the job can place an enormous strain on relationships.
Health
Spending your working life in a space the size of a downstairs loo, at 8,000’ cabin altitude and 10-20% relative humidity, is not particularly healthy. Expect colds, dehydration, stress, back problems, etc etc. And, of course, your career depends on your medical (every 6 months once you turn 40). Lose your medical and it’s all over.
Management Pressure
Sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle, and in fairness it exists in most jobs. However, without sounding too melodramatic, management pressure in this job can kill you. Think about pressure to take minimum fuel, extending duty periods, working on rest days, accepting aircraft with marginal defects, landing in marginal weather - it’s a long list.
Job Insecurity
Again, it exists in many jobs, but the flying can be a risky game to get into. Airlines come and go, small airlines get absorbed into larger ones (often on worse terms and conditions – think of the pilots going from Air UK > KLM UK > Buzz > Ryanair). There are no jobs for life in flying.
Lack of Control
Another one that applies to many jobs, but it’s more extreme in aviation. Your life will be run by the rostering department, and you will constantly be running to someone else’s schedule. If that schedule involves 25 minute turn-rounds, it’s difficult to feel like you’re in charge of your own destiny – more like a glorified hamster turning a wheel. Commercial aviation is a very different world to bimbling around VFR in a Cessna.
My perspective is as a 100 hour wannabe, but although I don’t have any direct experience myself, I’ve been around long enough, had enough jumpseat rides, and broken bread with enough current airline pilots to have a good idea what the lifestyle is like. (Despite the many downsides, a lot of those pilots will still tell you it’s the best job in the world, and that they wouldn’t want to do anything else.)
All you can do is ask as many questions, and get as much information as possible, and then decide for yourself whether it’s all worth it.