noahice

Awesome AMA, thanks! Lots of great advice, definitely some great guidance for me.

I'm 18, planning to start my training at ATP in Chicago at Du Page in Fall. I'm very familiar with flying and I study constantly, but going through school is something that I'm nervous about. I won't have a college education, and the more I look into it the more it seems like it's a necessity. I wanted to rush through getting my commercial license and ratings to get a head start on my hours and career in general, but now I'm not sure, and as I get closer to school I'm starting to panic. I don't even know what field of aviation I'd like to pursue; missionary aviation is great, almost like a calling to me, plus I love back country flying. Problem is I want to put money away early in life which is hard to do with borderline non-profit work, and most missionary aviation organization require a degree in Bible studies. Lolwut. I want to help people, not force my religion on them. I'll never understand why that is a requirement. But anyways, commercial aviation is what I plan on pursuing as of right now, I'm just not sure what the steps are for me, or what I should be doing now to prepare. I am out of high school, and I work part time. I will also be away from Chicago for two months this summer.

Whatever anyone can tell me, I'll be so grateful for. Thanks!

I've been saving like crazy, but I think family is going to help me out when it comes time. I'm worried because I feel like going to get a degree will cost more, especially since I screwed around in high school until mid junior year, so my GPA sucks. Scholarships would be hard to come by, and if I decide to pursue a degree, I haven't looked into schools and application deadlines are approaching fast.

I needed a good reality check; I still have a lot of work to do, and going across the country for a couple months isn't going to help. As for immediate plans after, ATP has an instruction program their graduates can opt into, I wanted to build hours with that after completing my schooling there, then build up. I'll look into going to college, see if that might be an option, but in the meantime, what does it look like for pilots that are without a degree?