Expert: David A. NewMyer - 9/11/2004

Question
My son is a 16 year old honor student who has always been interested in becoming a pilot.  His 8th grade teacher had a son in the Naval Academy and she has since put my son under her wing to encourage him to apply.  He is now a junior in h.s. and still wants to be a pilot, just not sure what route he should go.  Naval Academy versus a college degree in meterology and then flight school.  He's not once drawn away from being a pilot, but has expressed the best way to go and he feels very confused right now.  We have been up many a night talking about it.  I told him that we could visit the naval academy, talk to "experts in the field" and find out what would be the best way to go.  Please help us out...greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi, Ms. Wise:

Nice to hear from you!  I will try to assist.

Choosing a college is, in itself, not easy, so, the fact that you son has narrowed things down a bit in the sense that he wants to be a pilot does help!  The choice of the Naval Academy vs. a civilian college represents one of the key choices he has to make--should I go the "military route" or the "civilian route" to become a pilot?

The military route via the Naval Academy has some additional advantages in that it provides a way for one to serve their country and, as an aside, the tuition and fees are paid, etc.  In addition, the military, in general, provides excellent flight training and education opportunities.  The only things that your son has to carefully consider about the military route are:

1.  the military lifestyle;

2.  the time commitment after graduation; and,

3.  the needs of the government/military make it such that your son may or may not get to fly right out of the Naval Academy depending on the Navy budget, the competition for jobs, his grades, etc.

All I am saying is that you and your son should be realistic about this choice.

On the "civilian" side or route, there are also a number of considerations, including:

1.  Different paths to take in the civilian side:

A.  As you noted in your email, he could go to to college and study meteorology and then do flight school after that.  I assume that, the way it was mentioned in your question, that flight school in this instance is separate from the college or university environment.  

B.  He could also go to an aviation-oriented aviation school where he can take flight training within his undergraduate curriculum.  The post-secondary institution that I work for is one of these aviation-oriented universities.  In this version of the civilian route, aviation flight is built into his daily college or university curriculum and he gets direct college or university credit for flying.  If you are interested in finding out which colleges or universities offer aviation degree programs, order the following publication from the University Aviation Association:

THE COLLEGIATE AVIATION GUIDE.

It costs around $25 and is available from UAA by calling them at (334) 844-2434 or by emailing them at uaa@auburn.edu

C.  Or, as another way to go into the military, he could attend an aviation-oriented university that has ROTC and both fly and do ROTC as a way into the military.  Again, there are no guarantees of a flight slot from ROTC, but, the availability of flight slots by ROTC unit can be checked as you visit each school.  Also, each university or college offers different ROTC unit choices....some have Army, some have Navy, some have Air Force and some have a combination.

2.  Costs of each civilian option.

Flight training costs money.  If you go any of the civilian routes, you will pay for it.  The question to keep in mind is that, if you pay for it, figure out how you can make it part of the overall university or college cost so that is at least eligible for financial aid and loans.

3.  What does your son want to do after graduation from college....fly in the military or fly in the civilian world?  If the military is his objective, then, have him apply to the Naval Academy with a university aviation program that has ROTC as a back up.  That way, the miliary route can be pursued by your son no matter what happens on the Naval Academy application.

I hope that I have not confused the issue by giving more options.  Please let me know if you have any additional questions by sending a follow up question via AllExperts.

Sincerely,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
http://www.aviation.siu.edu