Hey everyone,
I know for a fact that this question has been asked tons of times before me, however I have a few more details that I would like to have anyone's input on. So here goes:

I'm currently a student in the University of the Fraser Valley's and Coastal Pacific Aviation's 4 year BBA degree program. Right now, I'm just about finished the first year. I haven't taken the flight test for the PPL yet so I'm still a student pilot. So far, I'm really enjoying the program, or at least the aviation aspects of it. As for the business part, I find it a bit, for a lack of a better word, dry. I've never really been into business, instead being quite interested in science related stuff. Don't get me wrong, I do find some aspects of business interesting, but I really think I would enjoy a degree in something else. My main goal in life is to be employed as a pilot, but I want a degree in something I would be happy doing in case my health goes down the toilet. So here's my dilemma; I'm faced with 3 options really. The first is to continue in what I'm doing (which I'm really not opposed to or anything) and leave it at that. The second choice is just to switch the degree into General Studies (which I can do) and minor in a science or something like that. The issue with this choice is that it's a General Studies degree, and I really don't think employers would hold that in high regard, not to mention, I'm not sure that I'd like to study in such a broad field. Finally, the third option (and the one I am most leaning towards) is to quit the aviation program, but not the flight training. My plan would be to take training privately (more than likely at Coastal because I really like that school) and to enter the engineering program at UFV here. The advantage to this is that I could potentially complete my flight training in 2-3 years, including CPL, multi, IFR (could be even shorter, who knows) and that would coincide with UFV's option to transfer to SFU/UBC to complete an engineering degree (more than likely of the aerospace variety). The disadvantages that I can think of this are the losses of a good regimented program, the options in the 4th year to become a instructor/training with heavy jets and the general social factor of my year. Also, taking ground school classes at nights and on weekends may not sit well with me, but I've never tried yet. So I think that's all I have. If anyone needs additional info, I'll be happy to provide. If anyone has alternate suggestions I haven't thought of, I would love to hear them. I'd also like to say that I'm going to be speaking with a career counsellor next week about this.

Finally, thanks for reading this novel, it's my first post on AvCanada and I look forward to taking part in this forum.

You will get many opinions on this question, so FWIW here is mine.

In my opinion the "Aviation" degrees are pretty much useless except for a few bonus points in the major airline recruitment process. They have very little value or recognition outside of aviation so they do not represent a fall back if aviation work dries up and they are very expensive. I have a non aviation degree and I started commercial training after the degree and paid for it as I took the training. I started my first flying job (instructing) at age 27 with no debts, money in the bank and enough life experience to know when to push back unreasonable employer demands.

Well that's the thing. The program I'm in right now doesn't give some aviation diploma, it actually does give a full fledged business administration degree.

Hey Cops. Welcome to AvCanada.

With regard to your writing of a "novel" (your word), there's nothing at all wrong with long posts. But I would recommend splitting them up into paragraphs. That makes them a helluvalot easier to read .

As for your actual question,

My plan would be to take training privately (more than likely at Coastal because I really like that school) and to enter the engineering program at UFV here.

Go with this one!

If you're planning on investing the time, money, and effort to get a degree, get one that has a realistic chance of getting you a job. Even if you don't plan to pursue the degree topic as a career, it's a nice loss-of-medical backup (as you stated). My degree is in engineering, and as frustrating as it was to only fly part-time for 4 years, I consider it a worthwhile investment. In fact, when I graduated in '03, there were no aviation jobs to be had, and it was nice to be able to fall back on something to pay the bills. Now I'm back in the aviation game, and it's still nice to know that if I lose my medical or if (if?) the industry crashes, I have a nice plan B.

it actually does give a full fledged business administration degree.

That's a good start. I'd have to echo BPF's thoughts on "aviation degrees". But if you don't find the program inspiring, move on to something that interests you more. If you really are interested in business admin, having an undergrad in engineering combined with an MBA is much better than an undergrad in business. The MBA can be done part time, and if you plan it right, it doesn't have to interfere with your flying at all.

As one final point, if you do decide to go the engineering route, go with mechanical. I wanted to do aerospace, but did mech instead because I had a job in a city with a university that only offered mech. No aerospace option. I was annoyed at the time, but it turns out mech and aerospace are almost identical anyway. Aerospace could limit your job options right out of school, mech won't. With aerospace, the really interesting jobs are in the US, and most of them require you to be a US citizen in order to get a security clearance. If you really want to do aerospace, do a mech undergrad and follow it up with an aerospace masters. The aero masters is still on my wish list. Further to that, there are a couple of universities that offer a joint mechanical-aerospace program. I don't know if UFV is one of them, but that may be worth looking into.

it actually does give a full fledged business administration degree.

IMO that's a pretty useless degree. Business degree has a value when you major in something like finance or accounting or management. Otherwise you just learn some general business conceps, which is not enough to get a more or less decent job unless you have another degree in something else.
Go for engineering!

I would recommend splitting them up into paragraphs

Duly noted.

So just for my own knowledge, how do people hiring pilots respond to the fact that you have a degree? Does it really matter at all what type of degree it is or is it just the fact that you slugged it out for 4 years to earn it is what impresses employers?

Cops wrote:...how do people hiring pilots respond to the fact that you have a degree?

With a few exceptions, they don't. Most of the exceptions are at the major airline level. The purpose of a degree is personal achievement, personal interest, and loss-of-medical backup. If these three points don't hold any value to you, don't waste your money on a degree. The 4 years you spend in school could be thousands of hours in your logbook, which will serve you better for most job searches.

Cops wrote:Does it really matter at all what type of degree it is or is it just the fact that you slugged it out for 4 years to earn it is what impresses employers?

If you find yourself applying to an employer that cares that you have a degree, it probably won't matter what the discipline is. And if it does, the preference will depend on who you ask. Some like Science, some like Engineering, some like English (communication skills??), some like business, some like Psychology (apparently due to it's relationship to human factors). Make your choice for you, not for your future employers.

Make your choice for you, not for your future employers.

Trust me, I'm doing just that.

I am also considering just having a degree in science (likely to major in Physics) and doing my training during the summer so I might be able to average more than 4 flights per month. I've learned that this coastal weather is complete crap for flight training. Anyways, as you can see I'm still bloody indecisive about this matter but after further browsing of related topics, separating the flying and university does seem to be the more beneficial way to go.

Thanks for the comments so far, keep 'em coming if anyone has anymore.

From personal experience, school (degree) before flying was the way to go for me. I did an Integrated Course at Southern Skies Aviation and I loved having a structured approach specifically tailored to flying. Also, getting the degree first allowed me to mature a bit prior to flight training.

I now work as a flight instructor and the general impression I get from most of the contacts I've made is that a degree is valuable, a diploma less so and student pilots are most successful when they can devote themselves to flying without studying for other subjects - it can be distracting.

Hope that helps