ERAU Daytona

[CumminsPilot]

In short, no, but it all depends on what you want to do on the outside world. Employers have a good feel for the relative weight of resumes based on school and discipline. ERAU is not a school they will value highly. As far as engineering physics or space physics goes, I imagine that employers will be able to quickly decipher the difficulty and legitimacy of your major when they see it spelled out on your resume. ERAU is a FOR PROFIT INSTITUTION.

Bullshit. Sorry, but about that you're just wrong. In the aerospace world, an engineering degree from ERAU is very highly valued. Riddle grads are recruited in droves by the top companies and government organizations in the country. There is not a single graduate from my aerospace engineering class that didn't have a job offer out of school. Two of those have gone to Navy TPS (to counter your other argument). I have no doubt that when I'm done with the USMC, my degree from ERAU will have as much influence on where I end up working as my years as a pilot will.

I went to Riddle, paid for it myself (and still am at $1100/mo), and worked for 4 years after college as an engineer prior to joining the USMC to fly. My degree from ERAU did not give me a leg up on anyone, whether it was my peers as an engineer or my peers as an SNA. But it was valued just as highly as any state school or any private college, and I have never been found lacking due to the "difficult or legitimacy of my major spelled out on my resume." My degree and school of choice will not be the limiting factor in my future endeavors.

Lastly, if I was paying for it, I wouldn't go to ERAU again. If someone else was, I would. It is not a "normal" college experience that you will get from a state school, but some of the experiences are worth that tradeoff. I would also never recommend that someone get an aviation science degree from ERAU...however, an engineering degree from there is something quite different.

Good luck making your decision. My Dad told me he couldn't help me pay for school and that I'd regret taking out that many loans, but I could do what I wanted...so I did. He was right.

 

[RadicalDude]

Why else would I be on here trying to get information if I didn't care what anyone else said? Of course i wish it is what I want to hear, but that doesn't mean I don't take negative views into account about ERAU... Geez

Do yourself a favor and shut up. Scroll back to first page. Pretend you're a reasonable adult who can look at things with an objective eye. Read through this whole thread. Thank the respondents (who, by the way, have a combined hundred thousand hours in military AND commercial aircraft, dozens of deployments, hundreds of years of first-hand life experience in careers in and out of aviation, and have spent more combined time shitting in a combat zone than you have been alive) for their well-informed and informative opinions.

After you've done all of the above, don't post for a long time.

 

[phrogpilot73]

I'm with everyone else that suggests you look elsewhere. Embry Riddle has its place, but I think its overpriced for what you get. Let's use as an example, someone who plans on attending Embry Riddle for Aerospace Engineering, with no intent to do the flight training. You're dropping $30K on tuition and fees. OR, you could drop the same amount and go to the #2 college in the country for Aerospace Engineering. Which do you think carries more weight the name ERAU or the name Georgia Tech?

Don't go to a school just because your Dad went there, and was successful (hint, hint - it doesn't matter what school successful people went to, they're successful regardless of where they went/what they do). Also don't go to a school because it's got "Aviation" in the title. A degree in Physics from MIT, Georgia Tech, Stanford, etc... is going to be more lucrative than a "Space Physics" degree from ERAU. Do more research...

Full disclosure - I went to the school my Dad went to. NOT because he went there, but because I wanted to and knew that I didn't have the discipline to attend class unless ordered. Had I not gotten into (and graduated from) the Naval Academy, The Citadel/VMI was my second choice. Followed by Georgia Tech (which still amazes me how affordable it is for being such a good school).

 

[roflsaurus]

In short, no, but it all depends on what you want to do on the outside world. Employers have a good feel for the relative weight of resumes based on school and discipline. ERAU is not a school they will value highly. As far as engineering physics or space physics goes, I imagine that employers will be able to quickly decipher the difficulty and legitimacy of your major when they see it spelled out on your resume. ERAU is a FOR PROFIT INSTITUTION. It is important to understand what this means, and that the school is in the same group as DeVry and U of Phoenix.com. If you can get their degrees on the internet, then why even bother going to the campus in the first place? The school gives you this option because, frankly, they don't care whether you get your degree in person or via the net - they just want your money.

ERAU is a non-profit... As a student I might find that hard to believe, but it's true.

I had on campus interviews with a couple A/D contractors as a business student (I'm not a business student, but I filled up all of my open electives with business classes and I'm a TA for corporate finance). It's not like employers will purposefully turn you down ONLY because you have a degree from ERAU, and overall, we actually have pretty good job placement at graduation. All that being said, I still agree with most on here that its not worth the money when you could get a degree that's just as good if not better, with a much larger alumni network, for a fraction of the cost.

Also, I might be wrong, but I think Engineering Physics is ABET accredited, and part of "the gauntlet." CumminsPilot probably knows better than me.

 

[Chris94]

Bullshit. Sorry, but about that you're just wrong. In the aerospace world, an engineering degree from ERAU is very highly valued. Riddle grads are recruited in droves by the top companies and government organizations in the country. There is not a single graduate from my aerospace engineering class that didn't have a job offer out of school. Two of those have gone to Navy TPS (to counter your other argument). I have no doubt that when I'm done with the USMC, my degree from ERAU will have as much influence on where I end up working as my years as a pilot will.

I went to Riddle, paid for it myself (and still am at $1100/mo), and worked for 4 years after college as an engineer prior to joining the USMC to fly. My degree from ERAU did not give me a leg up on anyone, whether it was my peers as an engineer or my peers as an SNA. But it was valued just as highly as any state school or any private college, and I have never been found lacking due to the "difficult or legitimacy of my major spelled out on my resume." My degree and school of choice will not be the limiting factor in my future endeavors.

Lastly, if I was paying for it, I wouldn't go to ERAU again. If someone else was, I would. It is not a "normal" college experience that you will get from a state school, but some of the experiences are worth that tradeoff. I would also never recommend that someone get an aviation science degree from ERAU...however, an engineering degree from there is something quite different.

Good luck making your decision. My Dad told me he couldn't help me pay for school and that I'd regret taking out that many loans, but I could do what I wanted...so I did. He was right.

Hey thanks for your response. Since you went through the engineering field at ERAU, what do you know about engineering physics or space physics?

 

[Chris94]

Do yourself a favor and shut up. Scroll back to first page. Pretend you're a reasonable adult who can look at things with an objective eye. Read through this whole thread. Thank the respondents (who, by the way, have a combined hundred thousand hours in military AND commercial aircraft, dozens of deployments, hundreds of years of first-hand life experience in careers in and out of aviation, and have spent more combined time shitting in a combat zone than you have been alive) for their well-informed and informative opinions.

After you've done all of the above, don't post for a long time.

Ok thank you for your response.

 

[phrogpilot73]

...space physics...

You seem to be in love with this degree. Near as I can tell, Embry Riddle is the only college that offers this major. That should tell you something. If it was MIT, Stanford, CalTech, etc... I'd say they were leading the field. Further research yields that there are graduate programs out there in a discipline similar to space physics. A Bachelor's degree is supposed to be realtively broad in scope, and specilization happens in graduate programs. Example: Human Computer Interaction. A TON of schools offer a Masters' degree in Human Computer Interaction, but most schools don't offer a Bachelor's in the same discipline. The best you can get is a Bachelor's in Computer Science with a depth track of HCI. I'd look at more traditional degrees, instead of ones that sound sexy.

 

[Calculon]

A TON of schools offer a Masters' degree in Human Computer Interaction, but most schools don't offer a Bachelor's in the same discipline. The best you can get is a Bachelor's in Computer Science with a depth track of HCI. I'd look at more traditional degrees, instead of ones that sound sexy.

Going traditional is good advice.

When Boeing came by my undergrad to give their career info session day presentation (geared towards STEM majors), guess what the top two majors they hired were.... Not aerospace engineering, not material sciences, not physics, not even mechanical engineering. The top two? Computer science and electrical engineering.

Same thing when Northrop and Lockheed did their presentations.

 

[BusyBee604]

Lastly, if I was paying for it, I wouldn't go to ERAU again. If someone else was, I would. It is not a "normal" college experience that you will get from a state school, but some of the experiences are worth that tradeoff. I would also never recommend that someone get an aviation science degree from ERAU...however, an engineering degree from there is something quite different.

Totally agree. I went the ERAU MAS route because:

1. I was post USN retirement, middle age, and had a good aviation-related customer support job, which I knew would be my last one before final retirement.
2. My company recommended the ERAU MAS program, as it was pertinent to my position, all the courses were available at night (while I worked full time 40 hr. weeks), and the company paid books/ tuition in full, a no brainer for me.
As CumminsPilot states, for an military aviator aspirant coming out of HS, I would not recommend ERAU over a State U., especially if you are paying the tab. No ERAU degree will give you ANY 'special' advantage in the selection process. Not even their complete (expensive) flight training program gives any significant edge in selection (and would saddle you with debt far into the future). The MAS has it's place, but is more oriented toward aviation administration, and would be a big plus for those who would aspire to be small/large Airport Manager positions.
BzB

 

[CumminsPilot]

Hey thanks for your response. Since you went through the engineering field at ERAU, what do you know about engineering physics or space physics?

Space physics was just being brought around when I graduated (or was at Prescott at least). I don't know anything about it. Same for engineering physics...never heard of that at Prescott when I was there. We had AE, EE, and CE/CS. With AE you could go aeronautical or space concentration...I was aero.

 

[Spekkio]

If you're not majoring in one of these things, or enrolling in a professional program like education, law, medicine, etc (which usually let you major in any of the linked majors, anyway), you're screwing up at a high rate of speed. Bonus if you can enroll in a university renowned for the program. College is a means to an end -- starting a well-paying career. Ideally you'll have a passion for one of those things but if not, then you're going to have to choose the one you least hate. Want to learn something you enjoy that's not on the list? Read books on it in your spare time. Otherwise you're pissing away tens of thousands of dollars to make a comparable salary to what you would with a high school diploma, except you'll have student loan payments, too.

So your starting point needs to be analyzing where the job market is right now and where it's going to be 5-10 years from now. That gives your your list of possibilities, and a safe bet is always someone who has the basic tools to innovate new technology, ie engineering degrees. After that, you pick a program you want and apply for schools that are well known for it. I don't know whether ERAU is a renowned school or not for its programs, but the other responses in this thread tell me that it's not worth the cost.

Wish I had known that when I attended college, but instead some 20-something advisor with an associates in communications told me to do whatever interested me. She instead should've handed me a similar list and said "there are your choices."

Regardless of what happens with your career in the Navy, there will come a time when you seek employment elsewhere. It's a lot easier to make yourself marketable now than to go back when you have a family.

 

[scoober78]

But it was valued just as highly as any state school or any private college...

To quote you, "bullshit".

I'm not debating any other point in your post, but this my friend, is a crock of shit. Do you honestly put Embry-Riddle in the same camp as CalTech, MIT, Harvey Mudd, Cornell (shameless alma mater plug...hehe)? If so, you might be the only one.

 

[Chris94]

If you're not majoring in one of these things, or enrolling in a professional program like education, law, medicine, etc (which usually let you major in any of the linked majors, anyway), you're screwing up at a high rate of speed. Bonus if you can enroll in a university renowned for the program. College is a means to an end -- starting a well-paying career. Ideally you'll have a passion for one of those things but if not, then you're going to have to choose the one you least hate. Want to learn something you enjoy that's not on the list? Read books on it in your spare time. Otherwise you're pissing away tens of thousands of dollars to make a comparable salary to what you would with a high school diploma, except you'll have student loan payments, too.

So your starting point needs to be analyzing where the job market is right now and where it's going to be 5-10 years from now. That gives your your list of possibilities, and a safe bet is always someone who has the basic tools to innovate new technology, ie engineering degrees. After that, you pick a program you want and apply for schools that are well known for it. I don't know whether ERAU is a renowned school or not for its programs, but the other responses in this thread tell me that it's not worth the cost.

Wish I had known that when I attended college, but instead some 20-something advisor with an associates in communications told me to do whatever interested me. She instead should've handed me a similar list and said "there are your choices."

Regardless of what happens with your career in the Navy, there will come a time when you seek employment elsewhere. It's a lot easier to make yourself marketable now than to go back when you have a family.

I will be majoring in something related to science or engineering so that's the good news. Family friends that went on to be engineers for Boeing after Embry Riddle, they were a part of the idea and design of winglets... You know that never caught on or anything....

 

[phrogpilot73]

I will be majoring in something related to science or engineering so that's the good news. Family friends that went on to be engineers for Boeing after Embry Riddle, they were a part of the idea and design of winglets... You know that never caught on or anything....

You're right. Only Riddle nerds are capable of amazing design concepts like that. I guess guys that go to MIT, CalTech, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Princeton, UT Austin, etc... are merely farts in the wind compared to a kid from Riddle. I give up. Go to Riddle. I don't give a shit.

 

[Spekkio]

"Related to" isn't the same as the real thing. You can find success stories of people who went to school anywhere or who didn't even attend college at all, but they are the exception and not the rule.