Uni or not? (Merged 2013)
Which certainly proves that Scotland is a better run country than England - but I knew that anyhow. I really should have applied for that professor position in aero-eng that came up at UofGlasgow earlier this year and tried harder to persuade Mrs.G to consider a move.
As I said, a degree - university experience - etc. are Good Things. I do not regret mine for a moment. It's deciding whether any particular thing is Good Enough to justify the cost in time and money. And even low interest loans still do need paying back.
As I said, a degree - university experience - etc. are Good Things. I do not regret mine for a moment. It's deciding whether any particular thing is Good Enough to justify the cost in time and money. And even low interest loans still do need paying back.
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In summary:
If you want to be an airline pilot, you've got to do your fATPL and hence this is your priority (and TR etc)
If you can afford to do above plus Uni, it's worth it. Today, not many will be able to.
Therefore the Q is - do you really want to be an airline pilot. In today's market?
If you want to be an airline pilot, you've got to do your fATPL and hence this is your priority (and TR etc)
If you can afford to do above plus Uni, it's worth it. Today, not many will be able to.
Therefore the Q is - do you really want to be an airline pilot. In today's market?
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I'd love to jump straight into the flying! But the way jobs are looking 
no point of joining the 8,000 jobless pilots in Europe. What's it like job wise for bush/Instructing/ferry flying jobs? It's not all just about airline jobs.
Uni is affordable for us Irish! 2,000 odd euro a year
adds up to around 4 with travelling, social nights are a killer on the bank account 
I think the Engineering route looks one I may venture into, though Physics & Astronomy sounds amazingly interesting! Sure as I was told in a lecture before "you pick up certain skills which are transferable, in many degrees it doesn't matter what you're doing" as said here too.
You can follow your head or your heart really, one tells you go from zero to hero(fATPL) the other go to university live your life have fun, get your PPL become more mature with picking up the right life skills!
Also money is the biggest factor of all. Even more for my English counterparts with Uni fee's & Training cost itself! Suppose if you really want it bad enough finding a right seat of an aircraft won't be impossible, but I know I'm sticking to Uni then go off and follow the dream ..
no point of joining the 8,000 jobless pilots in Europe. What's it like job wise for bush/Instructing/ferry flying jobs? It's not all just about airline jobs.Uni is affordable for us Irish! 2,000 odd euro a year
adds up to around 4 with travelling, social nights are a killer on the bank account I think the Engineering route looks one I may venture into, though Physics & Astronomy sounds amazingly interesting! Sure as I was told in a lecture before "you pick up certain skills which are transferable, in many degrees it doesn't matter what you're doing" as said here too.
You can follow your head or your heart really, one tells you go from zero to hero(fATPL) the other go to university live your life have fun, get your PPL become more mature with picking up the right life skills!
Also money is the biggest factor of all. Even more for my English counterparts with Uni fee's & Training cost itself! Suppose if you really want it bad enough finding a right seat of an aircraft won't be impossible, but I know I'm sticking to Uni then go off and follow the dream ..
RotorHead
I'd love to jump straight into the flying! But the way jobs are looking no point of joining the 8,000 jobless pilots in Europe. What's it like job wise for bush/Instructing/ferry flying jobs? It's not all just about airline jobs.
Uni is affordable for us Irish! 2,000 odd euro a year adds up to around 4 with travelling, social nights are a killer on the bank account 
I think the Engineering route looks one I may venture into, though Physics & Astronomy sounds amazingly interesting! Sure as I was told in a lecture before "you pick up certain skills which are transferable, in many degrees it doesn't matter what you're doing" as said here too.
You can follow your head or your heart really, one tells you go from zero to hero(fATPL) the other go to university live your life have fun, get your PPL become more mature with picking up the right life skills!
Also money is the biggest factor of all. Even more for my English counterparts with Uni fee's & Training cost itself! Suppose if you really want it bad enough finding a right seat of an aircraft won't be impossible, but I know I'm sticking to Uni then go off and follow the dream
no point of joining the 8,000 jobless pilots in Europe. What's it like job wise for bush/Instructing/ferry flying jobs? It's not all just about airline jobs.Uni is affordable for us Irish! 2,000 odd euro a year
adds up to around 4 with travelling, social nights are a killer on the bank account I think the Engineering route looks one I may venture into, though Physics & Astronomy sounds amazingly interesting! Sure as I was told in a lecture before "you pick up certain skills which are transferable, in many degrees it doesn't matter what you're doing" as said here too.
You can follow your head or your heart really, one tells you go from zero to hero(fATPL) the other go to university live your life have fun, get your PPL become more mature with picking up the right life skills!
Also money is the biggest factor of all. Even more for my English counterparts with Uni fee's & Training cost itself! Suppose if you really want it bad enough finding a right seat of an aircraft won't be impossible, but I know I'm sticking to Uni then go off and follow the dream
I'm going to Canada in March hopefully for two years. When I return home with some money, I'm going back to the books myself even though I will be 29.
Anyway I will be looking into doing Aerospace / Astronomy myself. Southampton University does a BEng Aeronautics / Astronautics Course!I have a PPL already only on Helicopters. My initial plan was to get a career in Helicopter flying but I have decided to go the Engineering route myself. It will be a better option career wise and will allow me to fly as a hobbie.
What Degree you going for?
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Canada is a huge venture, wish you all the best abroad!sure it be great craic.
Don't give up on the helicopter dream, so many people in their 30's get jobs in aviation.
Engineering wise looking at Civil/Mechanical not sure on what University?
looking at Dublin City University (DCU) Physics & Astronomy, plus it's walking distance form where I live.
UL do aeronautical engineering, you looking to study outside of Ireland?
Don't give up on the helicopter dream, so many people in their 30's get jobs in aviation.
Engineering wise looking at Civil/Mechanical not sure on what University?
looking at Dublin City University (DCU) Physics & Astronomy, plus it's walking distance form where I live.
UL do aeronautical engineering, you looking to study outside of Ireland?
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Just do a numerical degree that interests you.
Aeronautical engineering gives you no special advantages in becoming a pilot.
Make sure you know what civil engineers do before you go for the course. I have seen many civil's that make funny noises and start dribbling when you show them a cube of something. Apparently crushing test samples of concrete can do funny things to you.
Aeronautical engineering gives you no special advantages in becoming a pilot.
Make sure you know what civil engineers do before you go for the course. I have seen many civil's that make funny noises and start dribbling when you show them a cube of something. Apparently crushing test samples of concrete can do funny things to you.
RotorHead
UL do aeronautical engineering, you looking to study outside of Ireland?
Aeronautical engineering gives you no special advantages in becoming a pilot.
I won't be doing it to become a Pilot. I will be doing it to pursue a job in Engineering. As I said it will still allow me to fly for fun!
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All the numerical engineering science degrees will open up a huge amount of jobs.
Personally I did Mech eng and was of the minority who actually went into mechanical engineering.
A lot went into finance and rumour had it that the mech eng grads actually had a higher pass rate for the chartered accountancy exams than the business school grads.
A load went into Anderson Consulting as it was at the time.
A fair size went on to post grad spin offs, law, teaching etc.
And there was the usual army, police, navy, RAF.
Out of my mates from school about 5-6 of them did physics or maths and they are now mostly company directors with the other two working at CERN.
My personal opinion is that your best not to get too specialised with your degree it only limits your options later. If you realise half way through the course that you only want to do one area of the subject you can do a post grad in that area which will increase your chances of getting into it.
Personally I did Mech eng and was of the minority who actually went into mechanical engineering.
A lot went into finance and rumour had it that the mech eng grads actually had a higher pass rate for the chartered accountancy exams than the business school grads.
A load went into Anderson Consulting as it was at the time.
A fair size went on to post grad spin offs, law, teaching etc.
And there was the usual army, police, navy, RAF.
Out of my mates from school about 5-6 of them did physics or maths and they are now mostly company directors with the other two working at CERN.
My personal opinion is that your best not to get too specialised with your degree it only limits your options later. If you realise half way through the course that you only want to do one area of the subject you can do a post grad in that area which will increase your chances of getting into it.
Just in passing, as Ireland's getting mentioned. About 4 years ago I helped Dublin Institute of Technology set up their first Aero-Eng degree (actually "aviation technology", which is jointly run with the Irish Air Corps. When I was last there, it was all pointing in a pretty sensible direction.
They just invited me back next year to see how they're doing. If they've done as good a job as they looked likely to, that may be worth casting a glance at.
Dublin Institute of Technology - DT011 Aviation Technology
They just invited me back next year to see how they're doing. If they've done as good a job as they looked likely to, that may be worth casting a glance at.
Dublin Institute of Technology - DT011 Aviation Technology
RotorHead
All the numerical engineering science degrees will open up a huge amount of jobs.
My personal opinion is that your best not to get too specialised with your degree it only limits your options later.
I already hold a Level 5 HND in Electrical / Electronic Engineering, but doing the full BEng in that subject doesn't interest me as much as the Aerospace.
Still have 2 years to decide which Degree I want to definitely pursue. Though as I said about my HND, I also hold a National Diploma in the same subject which is equivalent to A Levels so I might be limited to just a Engineering Degree.
They just invited me back next year to see how they're doing. If they've done as good a job as they looked likely to, that may be worth casting a glance at.
This is what's actually bothering me. I would love to do Aerospace and get in with the likes of Agusta-westland or Eurocopter, but I'm sure the likes of a Maths Degree would still get me on the Graduate Programme they run.
Maths tends to lead to relatively "back room" jobs - Aero-Eng on the other hand is regarded as a high quality general engineering degree. Aeronautical engineering grads seem to end up just about everywhere.
If engineering interests you, and you're really concerned about becoming over specialised, then I'd recommend mechanical or electronic.
On the other hand I'm a chartered mechanical engineer (as well as aero) off the back of an aerospace engineering degree. I have friends with the same degree, from the same university who are variously RAF and RN officers, a schoolteacher, running half of parcelforce, and a recently retired bank manager. Oh yes, and quite a few professional engineers, and a number of professional pilots - including quite a few test pilots.
RotorHead
If engineering interests you, and you're really concerned about becoming over specialised, then I'd recommend mechanical or electronic.
I was looking through the different Universities that provide Aerospace Engineering. I noticed the course at Southampton is still called Aeronautics and Astronautics. I'm guessing they just haven't changed the name of the course as it's the same as the Aerospace Degrees elsewhere?
I've known many people go into other engineering work with aero degrees, so I'd really have no concerns on that particular score.
Back when Pontious was still a pilot, and I was applying for degree places, most universities called their programmes "aeronautical engineering". Southampton, which had been one of the pioneers of space engineering decided to set themselves apart so called their programme "aeronautics an astronautics". In the time since, both space and systems have become integral to pretty much all programmes, so most universities changed their names to "aerospace". Southampton didn't feel the need.
(I did my BEng at Southampton in aero/astro and had a fantastic time, as well as learning loads that I've used ever since. However, given just about everybody who taught me has since retired, I'd not take that as a specific recommendation and look at it fresh. That said, Southampton was, and remains, a fantastic city.)
That makes a valuable point however - look at the individual syllabi. Whilst there are minimum content lists: set in the UK by the Royal Aeronautical Society in particular, for BEng or MEng degrees, in practice universities set their own broader syllabi and these can vary significantly. Generally there should be a fair bit on each institution's website, and you can see what the modules and module options are. That is much more important to you than the degree name - whether that's aerospace, aeronautics and astronautics, aviation....
Other than - avoid any BSc programmes, which are unlikely to meet the ECUK (Engineering Council United Kingdom) minima for a "proper" engineering degree. Stick to the BEng and MEng options, but then look at the module lists and also have a browse through their websites to see what sort of quality and skill of people are teaching on them.
Back when Pontious was still a pilot, and I was applying for degree places, most universities called their programmes "aeronautical engineering". Southampton, which had been one of the pioneers of space engineering decided to set themselves apart so called their programme "aeronautics an astronautics". In the time since, both space and systems have become integral to pretty much all programmes, so most universities changed their names to "aerospace". Southampton didn't feel the need.
(I did my BEng at Southampton in aero/astro and had a fantastic time, as well as learning loads that I've used ever since. However, given just about everybody who taught me has since retired, I'd not take that as a specific recommendation and look at it fresh. That said, Southampton was, and remains, a fantastic city.)
That makes a valuable point however - look at the individual syllabi. Whilst there are minimum content lists: set in the UK by the Royal Aeronautical Society in particular, for BEng or MEng degrees, in practice universities set their own broader syllabi and these can vary significantly. Generally there should be a fair bit on each institution's website, and you can see what the modules and module options are. That is much more important to you than the degree name - whether that's aerospace, aeronautics and astronautics, aviation....
Other than - avoid any BSc programmes, which are unlikely to meet the ECUK (Engineering Council United Kingdom) minima for a "proper" engineering degree. Stick to the BEng and MEng options, but then look at the module lists and also have a browse through their websites to see what sort of quality and skill of people are teaching on them.
Backup? Does it qualify you to go straight into any job with a shortage of people? If not, it's not a backup.
If you are planning to become a professional pilot anyhow, does it provide anything that will be of value to you in those studies, or the subsequent career? If not, it's not better than no degree.
On the other hand, do you have a passion and fascination for the subject? If you do, it may be worth doing despite the above.
If you are planning to become a professional pilot anyhow, does it provide anything that will be of value to you in those studies, or the subsequent career? If not, it's not better than no degree.
On the other hand, do you have a passion and fascination for the subject? If you do, it may be worth doing despite the above.
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Thanks for the reply. I was thinking more towards the fact that many/most airlines require tertiary degrees as either a requirement or a strong preference when hiring. So even having the degree itself would be an advantage, even if on paper in a resume? Or am I mistaken here?
You're certainly mistaken about tertiary degrees - I've never yet met an employer of pilots looking for people with doctorates.
US airlines like pilots to have some kind of first degree level qualification, British and I think European airlines couldn't care less. It's worth finding out what your local airlines think but don't get hung up about most of the world really caring whether you hsve a degree or not as an entry level pilot - it usually doesn't.
US airlines like pilots to have some kind of first degree level qualification, British and I think European airlines couldn't care less. It's worth finding out what your local airlines think but don't get hung up about most of the world really caring whether you hsve a degree or not as an entry level pilot - it usually doesn't.
I believe in Australia "tertiary" refers to education after leaving school (ie after primary and secondary education). Therefore this is a reference to undergraduate degrees or diplomas - not postgraduate.
Tertiary education is the same in Britain as well. But no other sector awards degrees and the first degree is normally a BSc / etc, next level Masters and and a tertiary degree would be a PhD.
None of which helps anybody very much.
None of which helps anybody very much.
