Hey there! There has been a certain issue playing on my mind over the past few weeks. I have just completed my 2nd year in Aeronautical Engineering and I have just sat my final 5 exams, finished last week. I am confident I have passed them all and can begin to look at 3rd year. This time next year, providing I satisfy the requirements, I'll have to decide if I want to do a BEng or an MEng in Aeronautics. I believe people get told that if you do a BEng it's either you don't satisfy the requirements for the masters, you want to pursue a career in finance or management (for example) and not strictly go into engineering or you're you going onto a PhD (or so I have read up on the internet). Having done research into becoming a pilot since my early years of high school, I know you have to keep your options open on the career side of things. I didn't choose to study Aero on the basis it's great because I want to be a pilot, I choose it as engineering would be an ideal back-up choice - something I'm interested in. Here lies my issue. Do I select the Masters, spend another year at uni, increase my student loan further and then pursue flying or just do the Batchelors and the learn to fly? The compliicated issue is that many engineering companies want applicants who apply to their graduate schemes to have obtained a MEng. Some companies do accept BEng degrees with a 2:1 or above, so far, according to my advisor I'm on track with a 1st class.
I was just wanting to know what other people thoughts are on the current climate...would you do another year to obtain a degree so you have loads of options when it came to applying for back-up jobs if flying didn't work out or would you shave a year off your degree, graduate with a BEng and go into flying with a smaller level of debt but less options for engineering/back-up jobs.
Any input, ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
