Carolina Flyboy
New member
I'm seventeen, and a student pilot. I love flying. I eventually want to fly for an airline. For a time, I was looking at two schools- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Daniel Webster College. ERAU has a total fee of nearly $53,000 per year. DWC costs around $38,000 per semester. Both of these schools cost so much due to the expensive hands-on flight training.
My father is 64 and retired. My mother is in her mid-fifties, and is making $30,000 - 35,000 per year. I know they can't afford for me to go to either college. My father is already in debt from sending my two older brothers to college. I doubt the bank will lend him another plus-loan, as old and as in-debt as he is. I've looked at scholarships, but we're talking about a grand total of anywhere from $120,000 - 210,000 for my entire education.
Recently I've been looking at the benefits that the Army has to offer. I've been told that if I choose Aviation Operations as my "career choice" upon enlisting in the Army, then I'll be tagging along with a helicopter 24/7, getting to know the thing inside and out. And after two years or so, I can apply for a Warrant Officer position. For the next two years after that, if I'm promoted to Warrant Officer, I'll get to fly choppers. And at the end of my four-year term, I'll be able to receive up to $80,000 for my college education. Which is nearly half of my total fees. So it's nothing to laugh at.
Is the Army worth it, in terms of its benefits? Having grown up in a small town where nothing exciting ever happened, I'm starting to look forward to what I suspect is adventure and travel. But so far, all I've heard are stories of 22 year-olds coming back from Iraq with severe psychological problems, or with a sense of complete alienation for everything they used to know.
I'm looking for answers from soldiers and veterans of the army, with true-to-life experience. No BS posers.
What is your stance on the U.S. Army? Could I return from four years of service and not be any different? Or would I get messed up?
I always have alternate options. I could go with a cheaper flight school, but I really like the idea of attending a school where United States astronauts are trained. Embry-Riddle is the leader in higher education in all aeronautical fields of study, and I'm just that kind of guy who always aspires to be the best. I could get student loans and work a few years before going to college. Even if I enlist and get military training, I still want to go to college- to fly fixed-wing aircraft. In the Army, I'll be flying helicopters, and that will amount to good military flight time, but you can see why I will still want to go to Embry-Riddle or Daniel Webster, even after I've gotten great training in the Army.
Thanks for reading, sorry my question is so long, and thanks to all who answer in advance.
My father is 64 and retired. My mother is in her mid-fifties, and is making $30,000 - 35,000 per year. I know they can't afford for me to go to either college. My father is already in debt from sending my two older brothers to college. I doubt the bank will lend him another plus-loan, as old and as in-debt as he is. I've looked at scholarships, but we're talking about a grand total of anywhere from $120,000 - 210,000 for my entire education.
Recently I've been looking at the benefits that the Army has to offer. I've been told that if I choose Aviation Operations as my "career choice" upon enlisting in the Army, then I'll be tagging along with a helicopter 24/7, getting to know the thing inside and out. And after two years or so, I can apply for a Warrant Officer position. For the next two years after that, if I'm promoted to Warrant Officer, I'll get to fly choppers. And at the end of my four-year term, I'll be able to receive up to $80,000 for my college education. Which is nearly half of my total fees. So it's nothing to laugh at.
Is the Army worth it, in terms of its benefits? Having grown up in a small town where nothing exciting ever happened, I'm starting to look forward to what I suspect is adventure and travel. But so far, all I've heard are stories of 22 year-olds coming back from Iraq with severe psychological problems, or with a sense of complete alienation for everything they used to know.
I'm looking for answers from soldiers and veterans of the army, with true-to-life experience. No BS posers.
What is your stance on the U.S. Army? Could I return from four years of service and not be any different? Or would I get messed up?
I always have alternate options. I could go with a cheaper flight school, but I really like the idea of attending a school where United States astronauts are trained. Embry-Riddle is the leader in higher education in all aeronautical fields of study, and I'm just that kind of guy who always aspires to be the best. I could get student loans and work a few years before going to college. Even if I enlist and get military training, I still want to go to college- to fly fixed-wing aircraft. In the Army, I'll be flying helicopters, and that will amount to good military flight time, but you can see why I will still want to go to Embry-Riddle or Daniel Webster, even after I've gotten great training in the Army.
Thanks for reading, sorry my question is so long, and thanks to all who answer in advance.