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Should I switch majors. Engineering to Flight

ManWitQuestions

New Member
I am currently in my first semester at Purdue University as an engineering major. While Purdue is a great engineering school, it also has a good baccalaureate flight program. Pretty much the only reason I'm in the engineering program is because my family suggested it and I needed to major in something. But now that I'm here it just seems weird to be putting this much time and effort into a degree that doesn't really interest me and I have no intention of using. Because of this I have been considering switching my major to professional flight. I have enough credits from high school that even if I don't start until next fall, I will still be able to finish in 4 years. I would love any advice on the matter that you guys can offer. My main concern is that a selection board wouldn't look favorably upon a professional flight degree.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
I am currently in my first semester at Purdue University as an engineering major. While Purdue is a great engineering school, it also has a good baccalaureate flight program. Pretty much the only reason I'm in the engineering program is because my family suggested it and I needed to major in something. But now that I'm here it just seems weird to be putting this much time and effort into a degree that doesn't really interest me and I have no intention of using. Because of this I have been considering switching my major to professional flight. I have enough credits from high school that even if I don't start until next fall, I will still be able to finish in 4 years. I would love any advice on the matter that you guys can offer. My main concern is that a selection board wouldn't look favorably upon a professional flight degree.

Boards don’t care what your degree is.
 

robav8r

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Boards don’t care what your degree is.
Well, maybe . . .
I would certainly look more favorably at a candidate (all other things being equal) who has a difficult STEM major, like engineering, compared against a candidate with a BA in some liberal arts degree. No?
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
Depends on what you want to do in and out of the Navy. If you want to fly then go with what interests you. If you want to go into test then go with engineering. If you’re not planning on full 20, pick something that will be useful for your post navy career.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Well, maybe . . .
I would certainly look more favorably at a candidate (all other things being equal) who has a difficult STEM major, like engineering, compared against a candidate with a BA in some liberal arts degree. No?

If there are two similar “doppelgänger” applicants: same college, same GPA, same LORs, same ASTB scores - but one of them has a STEM degree then maybe they will take the STEM degree versus non-STEM.

In the end, the OP should be getting a degree he/she wants and likes and something that will benefit them post-Navy. I discourage telling applicants to change their degree to set themselves up for the Navy because getting picked up for officer programs is never guaranteed.

@xj220 hit some good points.
 

IKE

Nerd Whirler
pilot
Agree with all, but would add:

Aviation selection depends MUCH more on GPA than major (I believe it's on the order of 20:1). So, take something you'll enjoy and hopefully excel at.

To clarify what XJ220 said. Test Pilot School requires a STEM degree for Navy applicants. You could still try to go AEDO later, but I know they're looking for people with masters, preferably engineering. If you don't want any part of that nerdery, then it's no problem.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Flight degrees are worthless for anything other than the pilot licenses. If you become a professional pilot and get furloughed, that flight degree is not going to get you a job. Just ask all the Embry-Riddle flight degree guys who worked at McDonald's during the post 9/11 furlough.

Get a degree that will put food on the table if flying doesn't work for you. You can get your pilot license on the side.
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
Before you switch, how many flight hours do you currently have? If zero or close to it, and/or you have never taken a flying lesson, I'd suggest you do so before you make the switch. You don't want to switch and find out you don't actually enjoy flying. Believe me, it happens.

Dropping engineering at Purdue is a major decision. I personally would stick with it, if you can handle the program. Engineering will give you a LOT of potential follow-on job opportunities, both inside and outside the Navy. Many more than just sitting at a desk doing math all day.
 

Python

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
I did flight at Purdue. The scholarship paying for all my licenses and ratings was awesome and it helped me crush primary to get to my dream of jets. I enjoyed the program and learned a lot about professional aviation. That being said, I do feel uneasy about not having a nonaviation related degree to fall back on. I still think with my military experience I can be employed if I were to lose my medical or the economy goes to shit, but it won’t be as easy to get that job compared to if I had a different degree.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot

Pags

N/A
pilot
What are your thoughts about guys who go to school to play ball hoping to get to the majors and then get injured to the point they can't play anymore?

A flight degree is a lot like that. If something happens such as the market tanks or you have a health issue develop that prevents you from passing a flight physical then what?

As others have said, having a Plan B is a good idea. It should be something youre interested in that would serve as the foundation of a career. You can always fly on the side or just go to flight school with no flight experience like so many others have.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
What Pags said.

Aviation is a skilled trade, not an education. To be honest, what you do in the big wide world usually doesn’t have much to do with what you learned with your undergrad. A respectable degree from a reputable institution - and engineering from Perdue is definitely nothing to sneeze at - does open doors. But fields that really care about your formal education, like law or medicine, care a lot more about postgrad. Most other fields are more interested in your work experience. If you want to be a professional pilot outside the military, they’ll care about certs and hours, not a degree.

If being an engineer is making you miserable, then by all means find something else, but I can’t recommend pursuing an aviation program. Find something that interests you and that you enjoy and that will lead you into either good starter jobs or a solid basis for postgrad, should this aviation thing not work out. I don’t know what undergrad programs Purdue offers, but you can’t go too wrong with something like management or economics.
 

Fallonflyr

Well-Known Member
pilot
A real world sample of non flying jobs that the forlouhed guys I know did; Swat cop, real estate, BART train driver, teaching, back into the military (best overall deal). The only guy I know who’s college education directly contributed to post flying employment was a guy who had a nursing degree. Every single one came back to the airline with an appreciation of how great a job it is.
 

ManWitQuestions

New Member
I would like to thank everyone for responding. This thread has definitely given me a lot to think about. Some things that I didn't mention in my original post. One is that I am attending partially on GI bill from my father, so even with the switch to flight, I will graduate with only about 15k of debt, significantly less than a civilian flight school. Also there is significant room in the program to pursue a minor in something such as computer science which with minimal additional training could help me land a job as a programmer should things go south. Luckily I have time before I need to make the decision, so before I do I have a laundry list of questions for three separate academic advisers and I am also going to discuss it with my family .
 
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