Deciding on the right college

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I need some advice. Sorry for the long post and any typos.</p>

<p>I will be a senior in high school this upcoming 2014-2015 school year, and I'm in the process of applying to colleges. I am interested in aerospace and mechanical engineering (leaning towards aerospace). My goals for the last year or two have been devoted to service academies (1.USNA 2.USAFA), although, I am also equally interested in good civilian engineering schools such as Texas A&M, Penn State, and MIT. I have already begun the application process for the two academies and have received letters informing me of my candidacy from both.
I recently completed an internship at NASA JSC after completing a 7-8 month online course through Texas High School Aerospace Scholars or HAS. That experience really shook up my future aspirations for college and career path after. Prior to HAS and the internship, I was 100% sure I wanted to go to the USNA (or USAFA) and do my best to become a pilot like several others in my family. I want to attend one of these schools because I want the military experience and the unparalleled education. In addition to becoming a military pilot, I would also eventually like to pursue a career with NASA or aerospace company such as Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop etc. </p>

<p>This is where my dilemma comes in to play. I have no intention of settling for anything less than a masters degree in at least one of the engineering fields I mentioned above. I think I understand that that only around 20 of roughly 1200 academy grads are annually selected to undertake a post-graduate education at MIT, Penn and so forth. I also would like to apply for flight school as I mentioned earlier. On the very slim chance I were to be selected for a post-grad education and/or flight school, I believe I would owe in the neighborhood of 12 years of service to my service branch. It would be an honor and I would be more than happy to spend that time in exchange for the $million education, leadership and experience that can't be found anywhere else. My concern is that I will be in my early thirties when I retire from the military and I feel like that's kind of late in the game to settle down and have a non-government salary.</p>

<p>I would love to hear your opinion(s) on how 12 years military service would (positively/negatively) effect one's ability to get a job in the engineering field at a firm or NASA. Will my engineering skills be "rusty" and therefore have a harder time getting a job? Would having experience as a pilot help in the field of aerospace or mechanical engineering?</p>

<p>I also really want to have the opportunity to participate in some great internships. The academies offer really great ones, but I understand that at least your first two summers are taken up by PT/training and time at sea. This offers a short window for 1 (maybe 2 if I get into a post-grad program) internships.</p>

<p>My second option is to go the civilian route for college, get a masters in 5 years or sooner depending on how hard I work, have as many as 4 internships at NASA or aerospace firms and try to land a real career job with one of the previously mentioned. I am applying to A&M, Penn State, and possibly UT, Embry Riddle, Colorado School of Mines to name a few. Academically, I qualify (although I intend to improve) for many of these schools, especially in combo with my Eagle Scout and working on Palms, varsity sports, leadership and community service experience and by the time I head off to wherever, I should have some odds and ends such as a scuba certification and commercial pilot's license. </p>

<p>Would the civilian route be the better path to a NASA/engineering career with higher pay and provide more time to grow with a job in the aerospace engineering field</p>

<p>I am told I stand a good chance to get into an academy and into the civilian schools. MIT would be my biggest challenge to get into due to the fact that they look for nearly perfect SAT/ACT scores plus a 4.0 gpa and not so much non-academic extra curricular activities from what I've researched. (I don't believe it's even possible to have a 4.0 in my school district based on the way our required and unevenly weighted courses add up on a 7.0 scale)</p>

<p>Thanks for reading and for your valuable help! </p>

2

<p>I am not very educated on this topic but I would say that 12 years if military experience would put you in a very good position to be hired by a firm like Lockheed or Boeing. I encourage you to check out purdue as well, Lockheed and Boeing are corporate partners with them as well as many others and purdue is famous for its flight school aeronautical stuff. Hope this helped!</p>

3

<p>In short, yes, your engineering skills will become “rusty” after 12 years of being a military pilot. In fact, after that long, your skills might be obsolete even if you remember everything. Engineering is a rapidly changing profession which requires life long learning.</p>

<p>My advice is to get your master’s immediately after separating from the military, or perhaps a little beforehand (online, for example).</p>

<p>Being a military pilot will only be slightly helpful to becoming an engineer.</p>

<p>If you can get into MIT, then go. Even if it means not serving in the military. The salary benefits of an MIT education are huge! MIT has both Naval ROTC and Air Force ROTC. If you can get into MIT, then you almost certainly have what it takes to get an ROTC scholarship to pay for it.</p>

4

<p>JMPO…if you are offered admittance to MIT as an undregrad…take it. </p>

<p>You seem to have left a military option off the table. Considering your desire for engineering and a post grad degree…why pursue military pilot training? That is the cause of your 12 year military obligation. By pursuing one of the engineering AFSCs (AF) you could keep current on your engineering skills and pursue a Masters at the same time. Your obligation from the AF after graduating from USAFA is only 5 years. In theory, after five years you could join the civilian work force with an engineering degree from USAFA, a Masters in engineering and five years military leadership and engineering experience AND no educational debt. </p>

<p>If you decide to be a pilot and incur the additional 10 years commitment after earning your wings…then you should seriously consider staying in for another 8 years and retire at aprox 42 yrs old on half your salary and free medical for the rest of your life. THEN you can either continue to fly commercially (making 100K+) or start back into engineering with a nice paycheck coming in from the AF while you work towards a SECOND retirement. </p>

<p>BTW - if you are able to take advantage of the ED (Educational Delay) Program after graduation from one of the SAs…your additional time commitment is served concurrently with your original obligation. Just something else to consider. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>