Davfo
New Member
(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 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.