Major affects chances of getting a pilot slot?

(This might be a bit of a read, but bear with me)
Here's some background: I'm currently a high school junior, and I've been exploring my options. I want to become a pilot at some point without going to school to major in pilot technology (as I have heard those degrees are useless). I decided on majoring in the maintenance aspect of aeronautical technology. I planned on going into the Air Force afterwards (through ROTC during school) with the hopes of eventually getting a pilot slot. But due to their vision requirements, I am not eligible to be an Air Force pilot.

So then I went on to exploring my second option; the Coast Guard. Their vision requirements are nowhere near as strict and I would be completely eligible. I knew they didn't have an ROTC program, so tried to see if there was another way I could receive some sort of scholarship from them. Thankfully, there is the CSPI scholarship program. Though to be eligible, I had to change my choice of university. My choice does not offer the degree I was interested in, so I had to change my mind and it is between mechanical or electrical engineering technology, which I guess is similar to what I was interested, but much more complicated I imagine.

Now my concern is, since I would be getting an engineering degree, I wouldn't be much of a candidate for a pilot slot or the Wilks Flight Initiative (formerly BLUE 21). The way I see it, they would see me as a guy with an engineering degree that they rather put on a cutter or working in maintenance somewhere instead of putting him in a cockpit.

Would this be the case? I imagine it must have at least some influence on the decision that is made.

While I'm at it, how competitive are CSPI scholarships? I don't know if they would be as competitive as an ROTC scholarship, which I know are really competitive.

Here's my two cents.....

I don't think your engineering degree will help or hurt you from the perspective you are looking at. You won't get over looked for an aviation slot and sent to a cutter turning wrenches because you have an engineering degree. In my opinion, a technical degree is always a plus on any board....especially aviation.

I can't speak much on the Wilks Flight Initiative as I don't know anyone who has gone through it. Honestly, I thought it had died when Blue 21 went away so that shows how out-of-the-loop I am. Maybe someone else in the forums can help out on that one.

My advice is to get a degree you want and can use in case aviation doesn't work out for you (which most engineering and technical degrees do).

Also, I see this a lot with people wanting to fly before they even put a uniform on so it's worth mentioning. Sadly, being a pilot in the Coast Guard isn't always all about flying. It's about being an officer first which includes collateral assignments that entail meetings, piles of paperwork and sorting through tens of hundreds of emails on a daily basis. There is momentum to change this and put more focus on flying due to several years of accidents but I don't think we are quite there yet. Only a fraction of the time at work will you get to spend in the aircraft so please be forewarned. It's not like being a commercial pilot where you show up, go flying, land, hand the plane over to maintenance, get in your car and go home to your family.

But I will tell you this on a brighter note, the flying you get to do when you are away from your desk will be some of the most amazing and unforgettable hours of your life!

How many hours of flight time does the average CG pilot log a month?

Your typical duty stander can range anywhere from 20 to 50 hours a month depending on what you are doing. Deployments boost that number up big time. I would say, I averaged about 400 hours a year which was slightly above the average for a fixed wing guy. I think helo guys tended to be a little below that on average but it totally depends on where you are at.

Percentage wise.....I'd guess (big guess here) that it's higher than 65% in helicopters. Probably closer to 75-80%....but that's a guess. It seems as if everyone these days wants to fly helicopters which is the opposite from when I went through. Mainly due to the attention that helo's got during Katrina and movies like the Guardian.

I have my hopes up for a fixed wing seat. Let's say I do not get a fixed wing seat, after flying helos for a bit, would I be able to get fixed wing training?

Here at the Academy a few of my friends and I were debating: Does engineering help you get flight school or does it hurt you? For instance, a lot of engineers have lower GPA's than government or management majors...is it worth majoring in engineering if you just want to fly?

For a Super Moderator you're really rude. Notice my last sentence....IS IT WORTH MAJORING IN ENGINEERING IF YOU JUST WANT TO FLY.

That seems to contradict and be different from CoastieFlyer's last sentence. "My advice is to get a digree you want and can use in case aviation doesn't work out for you..."

SamAca10 are you indicative of what I can expect when I work with Academy grads in the future?

Wow. That went a lot better than I was hoping it would. I'm kind of shocked.

Ok, deep breath everybody.

I think I understand the angle Sam is coming from. If you major in something other than engineering at the academy, your GPA tends to be higher. My roommate was a government major (or 'political engineer' as he liked to call it) and his GPA was much higher than mine yet he hit the rack every night at 2200 while I burned the midnight oil calculating moment vectors. Sam's trying to find out if his GPA plays into the equation of getting picked up for flight school which I think is a fair question.

Sam (once again this is just my opinion), your GPA will have very little, if any, affect on getting flight school unless you are looking at getting a slot directly out of the academy. That opportunity didn't exist when I went through, so I don't know what you need to do to compete for one of those spots.

Once you graduate and are in the fleet (on a boat, shore unit...whatever), the biggest thing you can do to increase your chances is to perform well and have good OER's. You will quickly learn that everything you want to compete for, whether it be job billets, post graduate school, flight school and promotions will all weigh heavily on your OER's. Things like your major and GPA will all be secondary factors the boards may looks at depending on the nature of the assignment.

So with that said, I wouldn't sweat what major you decide on and the potential GPA ramifications it may have. Get a degree you will enjoy and potentially use in life, make the best of your academy experience, and once you get out in the fleet....perform! If you do all that, you're chances at flight school will be solid.

The thing is, Electrical Engineering Technology, which I was considering, and any engineering degree in general, seems like it is really difficult. I don't know if I'd be up for it, especially since I don't have the strongest background in math. That's why I'm thinking that I will go for a Bachelors of Applied Science in Industrial Electronics and Manufacturing. It still has some engineering concepts, but I imagine it would be a lighter load, and it's probably still considered a technical degree, I'm assuming. And this would be at a public university, not at the academy. I'm really hoping to get the CSPI scholarship, though. And if I get CSPI, I have a chance at the wilks flight initiative for that guaranteed flight slot.

So are you saying I should look into a different major? Or maybe stick with the BAS in Electronics and Manufacturing?

Not sure how the boards view Engineering Technology vs Engineering, but in the civilian world it is the difference between a gourmet chef and a cook at McDonald's.
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*sigh*
What is it that you folks don't get? Why do you insist, incesantly I might add, on playing this "what if, what degree, might not work out, I need a graduate degree, can't decide" bullshit? What if your other career doesn't work out for you? What is it that your passionate about? What is it that motivates the hell out of you when you get up in the morning? Find it and chase it - until you're either dead or successful.

I've had to show transcripts for my Naval Architecture degree a number of times to prove it was a "real" engineering degree (and that is even with having an M.E. as well). Some HR departments (the initial screeners at large to medium companies) might let those engineering-lite degrees through for engineering related jobs but the actual hiring authority will junk them.

All of the jobs I looked at that involved managing engineers wanted real engineering degrees - though DAWIA quals seemed like they could substitute for PM-type positions. I only just retired so that is fairly current info.

The point here is that at some point, you've just gotta 'man up and get dirty'. I say that in reference to the Math stuff and difficulty of the degree.

Can you go to school for "Cake Baking and Basket Weaving 101" and still get a pilot slot? Yes, absolutely you can. But, if you're not good at math (or whatever) and genuinely want to get better/learn the hard stuff then you're gonna have to suck it up and put the work in to get better and get the degree that you want. If you really want the engineering degree.

I was in the same boat that ea6bflyer was in. I sucked at math in high school and didn't really have the advanced background to do EE in college, but I said "to hell with you" to anyone who doubted me and pushed through the 'hellaciousness' of it in college to get my degree. And yes, it has paid off in the end.

Here's the thing - if you select an engineering degree so that it sets you up for aviation (especially at a service academy, where your ability to take 5 years to complete an engineering degree is limited at best), and your mind doesn't work that way/you don't enjoy it... You could end up not graduating because of your grades. I've seen it happen.

Life does not start nor end with being an aviator. I had a buddy that barely graduated from USNA, was a prior Marine - but got SWO. He's now and MH-60S pilot, after having been a SWO and a MH-53E pilot.

Degree means shit. Hard work/good attitude means everything.

^
What phrog said . . . .

Not quite that high. 45% of USN 1310s are rotary.

I quit the USNA and I am still here! Sad times though... had to transfer and spend my own money to attend the U of Arizona. Lots of wasted money on beer and booze. If I could only choose again~