Uni is pointless if you're going down the pilot route. I just do not see the point. Back-up plan? Perhaps, but how many people out there have degrees that are unemployed or work in Tesco? Lots. Degrees are pretty worthless these days, 20 years ago it used to be "oh wow you have a degree" now over half the people I went to college with now have degrees.
You're only adding to your debt from flight school. Plus, if this degree is a back up plan, what's the back up for? When you lose a medical in 20 years time? Will employers still favour a degree you did 20 years ago and never used as opposed to somebody who just left university with the same degree?
Just remember, a degree won't help you get a job. Unless you apply for the BA cadet scheme but competition is still really high even if you do.
You don't really need a back-up plan yet. As long as you get your initial class 1, the chances are that you will still have it by the time you're 40. And when you finish flight training, if you can't get a pilot job you should get a job within aviation like operations. So your degree won't help you there. Unless it's an aviation degree.
Just seems like an incredibly expensive back up plan which you'll probably never use. If you're worried about losing your medical/licence when you're older, you can get loss of medical/licence insurance (it's surprisingly cheap for a good payout) which will cover your bills for a while whilst you look for a new job. And chances are, as a previous pilot you could end up in an aviation job again where you degree has no use.
Last edited by pudoc; 20th Jul 2013 at 18:13.