Private vs. College (Please Help)

[jasonalchi]

Hey Everyone!

I am stuck in a dilemma and need help figuring out what my best option is. To give you a little background, here's a little information about myself:

I am currently a 20 year old student completing my undergraduate degree. After this semester I will have completed my third year of university and will be going on to my last year of schooling. Last summer, I enrolled into a private flying school and have around 8.5 hours under my belt. However when September came around, due to school and work picking up I chose to put flying aside until this summer.

As summer nears closer I have thought of completing a semester of my undergrad in summer and a semester in fall to be fully graduated come January. If scheduling does not permit (i.e. not enough courses are available in the summer for me to graduate), I have thought of completing as many courses as possible in my fall and summer semesters with the intention of flying continuously from January onwards.

Here is where I need help:

MY OPTIONS:
1. Take this summer to fly and leave my undergraduate studies for there proposed times.
Pros:
I will have four months of continuous flying.

Cons:
I will fly for four months straight and then have to cut down to, if lucky, once per week (most likely 1-2 times per month).

2. Try and graduate by January.

Pros:
I will be done my undergraduate and will be able to fly nonstop from January onwards.

Cons:
Will be starting flight school again in winter months.
Not guaranteed. Dependent on how many courses are offered in summer I may have to take 2-3 courses in the winter semester while completing flight school simultaneously.
Aircraft and instructor availability diminishing.
Will be a year and a half since my last flight.

With all that in mind I need some more help:

For anyone completing their flight training privately there is obviously a huge financial investment required. However, with that being said you are capable of completing your licenses at a much quicker pace. With that in mind here are the options I've laid out for myself and I need advice into which is the best for me.

1. Continue Privately.
Although financially speaking it is more expensive, it can be completed at a quick pace.

If I graduate from my undergraduate in January or even May, I will be 21 years of age. With that in mind, how quickly can I have all my licenses competed by through private schooling?

2. Sault.
I know I'm about to start a whirlwind in the comments. From my understanding, Sault's flying is government subsidized. I believe it is a three year program and I will be around 24/25 upon completion of the program.
Is that too late of an age to begin instructing and then maybe a year or two after enter the airlines?

3. I understand there are other colleges such as Seneca, Confed, Thunder Bay. Any pieces of information on these programs? Are they government subsidized, how many years am I looking at, etc? If any of you attended these institutions and have any piece of advice, I'd love to hear it.

If anyone is enrolled in any of these programs or have friends there, are they progressing on time or are they delayed?

As you can see I could really use some advice. Whether you attended these schools or not, I would love to hear everyone's opinions. I could really use the help!

[altiplano]

Complete your undergrad and don't bother with a flight college.

The time it takes and the opportunity lost are more significant than the extra cost of private flight training IMO. Also private flight training lets you rent and build flight time on your own schedule.

I would suggest you complete your PPL and start time building when your course load permits... If you can't do a full course load this summer due course availability for example, use your extra time to knock off your PPL. Maybe then you manage a little time building here and there concurrent with the balance of your undergrad.

What works for you, only you know, but a motivated and capable student with means should be able to go ab initio to CPL/MIFR in under a year. If you are done Uni and managed to pick up 100 hours by the end of this year flying on weekends or whatever, you should be able to finish your CPL and be ready to look for a job flying come summer next year.

Time lost is opportunity lost in this business, right now things are moving fast... the sooner you get on the train the better for your future.

[jasonalchi]

Complete your undergrad and don't bother with a flight college.

The time it takes and the opportunity lost are more significant than the extra cost of private flight training IMO. Also private flight training lets you rent and build flight time on your own schedule.

I would suggest you complete your PPL and start time building when your course load permits... If you can't do a full course load this summer due course availability for example, use your extra time to knock off your PPL. Maybe then you manage a little time building here and there concurrent with the balance of your undergrad.

What works for you, only you know, but a motivated and capable student with means should be able to go ab initio to CPL/MIFR in under a year. If you are done Uni and managed to pick up 100 hours by the end of this year flying on weekends or whatever, you should be able to finish your CPL and be ready to look for a job flying come summer next year.

Time lost is opportunity lost in this business, right now things are moving fast... the sooner you get on the train the better for your future.

Hi Altiplano,

Thank you for the response! I have a few questions that maybe you could help answer:

With regards to flight college, do you think those with a degree in aviation are at an advantage amongst those without one? For instance, I was looking at AirCanada's postings to get an understanding of what a desired pilot looks like. They indicated that a college/university degree is recommended however also mentioned that an aviation degree is recommended. Of course I'll have my university degree, however, do you think not having an aviation degree will put me at a disadvantage?

Secondly, I forgot to mention I work part-time. Im obliged to work nearly 20 hours per week and thus between that and school it can be tough to fit in flight material. If I was to take courses in summer and work as well the problem I face is I would rather not pickup flight just to potentially come to a complete halt come fall semester. Instead, what I am thinking of doing is completing my written examinations all during summer, so that whenever the time comes to start flying again, I'll just be learning to fly the plane What are your thoughts on that?

Lastly, let's say I am able to start flying full-time in January. From start to finish, what is a reasonable timeline to put for myself to acquire all my licenses and then move onto instructing?

[altiplano]

No disadvantage to not having an aviation diploma at AC if you have a degree. Undergraduate degree is superior to aviation diploma.

Absolutely. Get the book work done, whatever fits your schedule and commitments and makes sense to you. Might be worth keeping some connection with a school/instructor though to be sure they are available to support your timeline when you're ready.

As I said, under a year ab initio to go time for a motivated and capable individual is very doable, depends on weather and how much you want to go too... but I can't see why not even faster if you have a head start on your book work and exams and are capable. I would talk to your school/instructor about your goals, tell them you are prepared to fly every day. Private in a month, time build for a month, CPL/MIFR over a couple more months. A time building instructor will love you...

I'm sure there are instructors on here who can give you a more current idea of what's reasonable, I'm a ways out from those days but I kicked myself for somewhat taking my time... I thought I was being responsible by not just going flying everyday. Turned out that's exactly what I should have done.

Good luck.