Sault? Confed?

[06echo]

Hi Everyone!

I am newbie in the aviation field so I am not familiar with aviation lingo and licenses so please just english.

A little background. I am from out of the province (not Ontario) and is finishing a bachelor degree in an unrelated field to aviation.

I have applied to Sault, Seneca and Confederation. Initially I had my eyes set on Seneca but unfortunately I'm missing classes from high school that I would rather not take now. I have been waitlisted on Confed and accepted in Sault.

Originally, I would rather go to Confed due to the fact that they their program includes flight training on the first semester but I've also heard numerous bad reviews about the program. I'm also having second thoughts about Sault because (1) No flying till second semester and (2) being trained in the humanities for the past 4 years in my university career, I'm afraid going back to my math and sciences would be harder which will affect my chances to move into the second semester. Also I've read in some of the forums that Sault uses older planes (?)

Lastly, I would like to know what licences are obtain upon completion on both colleges? As mentioned earlier, I am not familiar with aviation lingo as of the moment, so looking it up on their website all doesn't help me at all.

Any suggestions and comments would be helpful! Thanks!

[flyingcanuck]

I can only speak for Sault College.

For your concerns,
-that math and physics are definitely hard but if you've done them in the past I don't think getting back up to speed would be too hard. There are free tutors and the profs I've had that did help out.

-I had previous training but i rather enjoyed flying the Zlin242 instead, its different and not as boring. While the planes arent brand new, we still have touch screen GPS and an Aspin for navigation. It really doesnt have any factor on your training. The Seminole is def older but again not a huge deal, you just use older instruments instead of brand new glass cockpits

-with the no flying for the first semester... it sucks but i dont see it as a huge problem, you need to get how things work here, and the workload before jumping into the plane. You have to remember we get a "technologist" diploma which has more academics involved. Tbh I wouldnt make that a deciding factor.

-Seneca vs SC... I dont know much about seneca, my deciding factor was money, its less than half the price of Seneca, i was told to budget 100,000$ if i went there. At the Soo tuition I believe goes just over 20k and then living expenses.

-Licenses go like this;
1. Private pilots license (sem 2-3)
2. Night and then commercial (sem 4-5)
3. Multi rating (sem 6)
4. IFR rating (sem 7)

Ideally get all that done in that order on time...

Other things as im thinking of them;
You will hear alot of bitching about our program, about management and such. There is alot of bs and in my opinion extra rules and they dont really go out of their way to help you (except some of the instructors) but if you just do your own thing and do what they say, you shouldn't have a problem.

[the_Leader]

Originally, I would rather go to Confed due to the fact that they their program includes flight training on the first semester but I've also heard numerous bad reviews about the program

Can you elaborate on what you've heard? As a graduate of the program some years ago, I'm interested to hear what people are saying.

[Black_Tusk]

Based on flying with and hearing all kinds of stories from Confed and Sault guys, go with Confed. Apparently Sault isn't quite what it used to be and is run like a military camp. I've flown with great pilots from both places, but it seems like Confed is a bit more "fun" (but still high standards) and I seem to see a lot of Confed pilots finding jobs pretty fast right out of school.

And most importantly, Confed is a faster program which will get you into the working world sooner. And based on how things are moving these days a year is a big deal.

[goingnowherefast]

From my understanding, Confed gets you your single-engine IFR rating while at Sault you get your multi-engine IFR rating. Difference being that you will have to go do your multi engine rating separately and on your own dime afterwards.

The cost of completing all the multi training to get your multi-IFR after Confed is probably about the same as the additional year of tuition, rent, food, etc. at Sault College.

Which one would I pick? Well it's a tough choice, both look good on a resume. Sault College does has a nicer fleet.

[fpsbc]

Originally, I would rather go to Confed due to the fact that they their program includes flight training on the first semester but I've also heard numerous bad reviews about the program

Can you elaborate on what you've heard? As a graduate of the program some years ago, I'm interested to hear what people are saying.

Yes, please elaborate.

[06echo]

Hi guys! So I've been accepted to both Sault and Confederation now and I have just about a day to decide where I want to go as I've only been waitlisted at Confed and they want my decision right away. The forums I've been reading so far are from atleast 10 years ago.Is there anybody here who is familiar with both schools with their most recent programs? What I'm still really torn about is what is one year in the industry compared to getting a better (?) license (multi) that I would most probably have to still get in the future? Any help would be appreciated! My time is ticking!

[ChairFlyingMK16]

Confed is 5 semesters and 17.5K (housing and food not included).
Sault is 7 semesters and 23K (housing and food not included).

Confed is almost a year quicker and gives you a single-engine IFR while Sault gives you a Multi-IFR (MIFR). In theory the multi-ifr is preferred if you were to pick up a regional job straight out of school (unlikely but both colleges offer routes into the regionals for their best students). If you were however to get an instructor rating then move on to a multi after... confed's probably slightly the better deal for just the time alone.

Both are great deals and heavily subsidised.

[Black_Tusk]

Go to confed, take a year less to finish and spend 2 weeks at the end upgrading your group 3 to a group 1. A year is a lot of time. Good luck.