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Masters degree during flight school?

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MIDNJAC

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
CumminsPilot said:
I graduated college in spring of '05...I miss academia. I'm good at it, and enjoy learning, especially in the discipline of aero engineering. I was very competent at my "actual job" that I went to college to one day do, and did that for 4 years. I agree that my focus should now be on re-learning to fly the SNA way, but if it were possible to have the time to better myself and further my future with my Masters while doing that also, then why wouldn't I? It appears from everyone's opinions that it isn't.
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I was in college from '01 until '08 so I guess that maybe I am a little burned out, but that being said, you will have to shift your mindset to some extent once you get here. I don't know that I agree it is "bettering your future"; you will have an opportunity to go to grad school (probably on the government's dime) if you are patient, but you will never have another opportunity to excel in flight school. If you still have a hankering for aero engineering, I'd say your time is probably best spent in that field, rather than hundreds or thousands of miles away from the industry flying military airplanes on active duty. Academia means less than nothing in the VT's....
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
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CumminsPilot said:
I graduated college in spring of '05...I miss academia. I'm good at it, and enjoy learning, especially in the discipline of aero engineering. I was very competent at my "actual job" that I went to college to one day do, and did that for 4 years. I agree that my focus should now be on re-learning to fly the SNA way, but if it were possible to have the time to better myself and further my future with my Masters while doing that also, then why wouldn't I? It appears from everyone's opinions that it isn't.
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Don't be so simplistic. No one is saying that you shouldn't better yourself but take it from people who have 'been there and done that', you almost certainly want to wait to continue with your education after you are in flight school. People who aren't fully focused on flight school very often do poorly, I have seen that and I am certain everyone here with wings can attest to that as well. You might be that one rare individual that can actually do it all, there are certainly a few out there like this stud. But if you are like the rest of us mere mortals I would highly recommend that you focus solely on flight school while you are an SNA/SNFO. There are numerous opportunities to get a further education as your career progresses, either through the Navy or on your own time.
 
CUPike11

CUPike11

Still avoiding work as much as possible....
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To the OP, I have the same goal as you, but know that I can wait to get my Master's either by finishing via distance at CU or at Naval Postgrad when (the Navy decides) the time comes.

Academia is great and I love learning too. I am in the midst of my MS program at CU in Aerospace focusing on Bioastronautics and Space Physiology. Both my advisors, whom were both former astronauts and one is a retired Navy Pilot, and I spoke about what the best course of action will be and I'll tell you what they told me a few days ago.

"The bottom line is this.....Graduate School will ALWAYS be there and so will the opportunity to go, if you choose to take it. The opportunity that is literally dangling in your face is a one in a million chance. The chance to be an Officer in the greatest Navy in the world is not something to take lightly and is also not given to everyone. You've proved to them that you have what it takes and they are going to give you a chance to prove that at OCS and beyond. If you were to deny this, it may not come around again, so take it and run with it."

Getting a MS is a big deal for guys with engineering backgrounds, but I agree with everyone here. It can wait. I've learned not to try to do 1000 different things at once. As someone who has started their MS program, I can fully tell you that if you were in flight school and you had taken the "Aerospace Environment & Plasma Physics" class I had last semester in which 80% of your grade is an 80 page paper, single-space, with mathematical component on a topic related to the class......you would either have to drop the class or fail out of flight school. Now i'm sure it is probably possible to do both, but would you want to? I wouldn't think so. I didn't have flight school OR a job and I STILL struggled to get that damn paper finished. It was hell.

Flight School will need to be the #1 priority when the time comes. Not saying you are, but the training that we will be going through is not something to take lightly.
 
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BigIron said:
Concur with Bunk on this one. However, you're an adult and if you think you can handle it, do it. Never ever ever use your masters program as an excuse for poor performance in flight school.

Recommend you finish it later as well.
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Concur with all the other "salty" folks. Focus on being a Naval Aviator in flight school. If A pool is that long, than sure, maybe take a class or two, but unless you're God's gift to aviation, then you'll probably be spending a lot of time worrying about flight school shit and don't need the distrtaction of grad school. A good time to knock out something like this would after you're done with all your major quals (wings, HAC, section lead, PPC, whatever). Before then, your focus had better be on making those quals. No command is going to take "I was working on my masters" as an excuse.

If you really want a masters bad, get the Navy to pay for it. TPS has a co-op program where you get your masters. And go to TPS.
 
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