Does your degree/major matter?

[ClearedHot]

Make sure the theology degree is accredited. I had a friend in my old squadron who got a masters degree in theology and it turns out it was not recognized by the Air Force. He ended up getting passed over to LtCol.

Good Luck!

[HerkDerka]

Any degree is fine. The main point to remember is that a degree in theology will NEVER get you a job on the outside. Trust me, my brother has a masters in philosophy and works at a Mailbox Etc.

Just make sure you're going into the military. I would suggest majoring in Aviation Science like me, Chuckflys17s, and ENJJPT stud did. Easy major that is fun, interesting, and looks good on paper.

PD

[ 02. April 2004, 12:44: Message edited by: PegDriver24 ]

[Guest Bushmaster]

Yea I think I will pick something like that, I can still study Theology down the line, eArmyU doesn't have any colleges that provide the theology degree.

Do you have any good link where I can read on Aviation Science? What is it about? What do they study?

[Guest TEXASPILOT]

I would be careful choosing an aviation degree. Although it might look good now, there are always chances that your aviation career finds an unexpected wall(knock on wood). I am done w/my BA in Finc here in a month and am glad to know that if my aviation dreams fall short(knock on wood) that I have something to fall back on that makes a decent living. Good luck, TP

[Guest Bushmaster]

It seems like, it will be a difficult choice to make, fortunately, I have to concentrate on finishing my Army training first and start my AD. Well, I thank all you guys for responses, I will knock this door in a year or so, don't go anywhere :D

[Stiffler]

Dude, I wouldnt worry too much about what your degree is in. If you feel called to get a degree in Theology, it will all work out! Maybe you are gonna be a preacher instead of a preacher of military justice;-_)

[Ryder1587]

Ok Im confused about something. Most people say to get a pilot slot the AF wants you to have a technical degree and I want to do computer science, because it interests me and a good technical degree. However, over on ######.com they're saying if you get a degree such as computer science its a risk because someone with political science would get it over you? Whats up with that?

[Guest Trojanlud]

My understanding is that major is not weighed heavily in pilot selection, The risk (I think) is that someone with a political science major could have a higher GPA if that's an easier program

[Riddller]

Degree doesn't matter getting a slot, GPA, AFOQT, PCSM, PFT, Rating/ Reccomendations, etc... are what matter for getting a slot. If you want an AFROTC scholarship right now, though, technical is the way to go, as those majors are what the AF is handing out scholarships for (that and meterology). Some people have said that if you do good in a technical major, then the AF will look at your Pilot package and say, "Wow, this guy would make a great pilot, but we need him more doing Engineering stuff, so no slot." Which I can't really believe. If you have your ducks in a row going for the slot, then doing well in a technical major should look better on you and increase your chances of a slot.

[Guest CAVOK]

Riddller is correct.

GPA matters much more then degree.

Degree, in general, matters more then where you got it.

You can try to justify that you had a tougher college or tougher degree program, or you can sit there with a 4.0 and not have to justify anything.

The AF is not in the habit of taking pilots out of the cockpit to do engineering jobs. Staff jobs once you have some rank--yes. The only time you "need" an engineering type degree is if you want to go to test pilot school some day.

CAVOK

[Born a Longhorn]

Bottom line is you should choose the major that interests you the most, so that years from now if things don't work out with the Air Force like you thought (medical DQ, change of heart), you can pursue a career in your degree area.

[Guest bmmcgraw]

the way the ROTC pilot selection process works is a straight formula that you plug your PCSM score, PT test, GPA, Field Training Ranking, and Unit Commander Rating in to. Once you have all those raw numbers, candidates are racked and stacked nationwide....the AF says they need 500 pilots, so the first 500 at the top of this list get it. Back to the answer of your question, the GPA is just plugged into the formula, irregardless if it's nuclear engineering or flower picking (but don't expect to get a scholarship these days for flower picking)

[ 16. February 2005, 16:26: Message edited by: Quickdraw ]

[Champ Kind]

I just want to second what people are saying about picking a degree that genuinely interests you. In high school, I took a bunch of AP college-prep type classes, and I pretty much balanced them between liberal arts and sciences to get a taste of what I liked. Turns out I was good at all of it, but government/political science/history really got me going (sts). Physics, biology, etc never really interested me outside of the classroom, even if I got good grades.

When I was applying for the Air Force ROTC scholarship, many people told me to pick a technical major or else I could hang up any chances to get it. It didn't take me long to decide that I needed to pick a major based on my interests, not the military's. So, I picked Political Scienece, and, sure enough, I got the ROTC scholarship, went to my first choice school, graduated last May, start pilot training next month, and hopefully I'll live happily ever after.

I don't have any empirical data to back it up, but I think its pretty common sense that engineering/techie degrees offer more opportunities straight out of college than BA's. But, as far as the pilot selection process goes, it has no relevance (this is coming from someone that has been through the process themself fairly recently, and anyone else (including cadre) that tells you otherwise is either misinformed or lying.

Bottom line: pick a major that interests you and don't spend four of your best years getting the life sucked out of you chasing a degree that doesn't even fuel your passions. If it's meant to be, then it will work out. If not, things happen for a reason.

[Guest fosterbeer]

I can't speak for the ROTC side of things, but I was selected for OTS with a Business Management degree. A guy who got picked up as an ABM on the same board had a degree in chemistry. I think there was also a guy on airforceots.com that had a computer science degree like you are seeking.

Unless you are dead set on test pilot school and need the engineering degree, the guys above are correct - take classes that interest you.

[Guest futureaf]

In the college detachment section of the AFROTC site it has at the bottom of each school decription a list that looks like this:

Approved Technical Majors: Computer Science

Chemical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

General Duty Nursing

Chemistry

Meteorology

Physics

Does this mean I have to take these classes to be in the ROTC or get a scholarship? Or are they just suggestions. Anyone know about this.

Thanks

Kyle

[Gravedigger]

They are just a classification used for scholarships and academic planning. You absolutely don't have to be a tech major to be in ROTC or be a pilot. In fact, don't major in any of those unless you really want to be an engineer. I know cadets that started tech and went management when they failed their first semester, don't make that mistake.

[brabus]

Yep, every year 90% of the Freshman class do some kind of engineering. By the 2nd semester, 70% of them change. By the end of the first year, 90% of them are out of engineering. DO NOT do it unless engineering is what you want to do. I know several people who will get engineering degrees this Spring but would absolutely kill themselves if they had to do engineering as a career. If you want to fly, do something smart and choose a major in which 1) you like, and 2) you can get a good GPA in (becuase that's ALL that matters in school as far as pilot slots go).

P.S. I was one of those kids who switched out of engineering (to Poli Sci) after the first semester. Had to work up to a 3.4 from 2.5...that was not fun (luckily got it to that in time for boards). Don't screw yourself like I and tons of other people have.

[ 07. October 2005, 13:31: Message edited by: brabus ]

[Guest Sebastian]

Should point out that engineers aren't always engineers in the AF. Out of the 10 engineers at my DET: 3 got pilot/nav, 5 got Comm, and only 2 got some type of engineering. Out of the ones that did get comm only 1 had it on their list at all.

But, point taken, don't be an engineer major just because you think that's what the AF wants.

[drewpey]

Originally posted by Sebastian:

]Out of the ones that did get comm only 1 had it on their list at all.

I don't know if this is the way it goes, or even if it applies to the cadets at your det, but rumor has it that only the top 50% of cadets in ROTC actually have someone at AFROTC HQ look at their papers and assign them a job. The bottom 50% basically fill in the holes.

Have seen a lot of horribly assigned AFSCs in only my 4 years of ROTC. Wouldn't suprise me.

Sometimes the good cadets get pushed to the bottom though, b/c they don't want to be pilot/nav...and sometimes rankings will be altered to help those trying to categorize, while hurting others. Who knows...

[KennyB]

Originally posted by Sebastian:

Should point out that engineers aren't always engineers in the AF. Out of the 10 engineers at my DET: 3 got pilot/nav, 5 got Comm, and only 2 got some type of engineering. Out of the ones that did get comm only 1 had it on their list at all.

But, point taken, don't be an engineer major just because you think that's what the AF wants.

Just don't be an engineer major, period! Unless you have a desire to possibly follow a career in engineering, stay the hell away from it. I know several guys and gals in bad positions because their primary AFSC fell through for various reasons. You know what the AF told them? Oh, your major is ### engineering? That's what your new job is!

You DO NOT have to be an engineer to be a pilot. The living proof of that is all around you. This biology major is here to tell you do what you LIKE. If that's engineering, be prepared to be pigeon-holed into that career field later. If you want to fly, do something you're good at that will present yourself well for the boards.

[Guest F-15-Eagle]

I'm a Freshman engineer, and I'm in the bad position that you guys are talking about. It does suck! I want to change, but I don't know what to. I'm currently only having problems in Chemistry, so Biology and all that stuff is out. Any other good majors out there? For example, is it really possible to become a pilot with a History major?

I've also heard that the USAF is currently overmanned in the officer position. Will this affect pilot selections?

[Login Name]

yes, there will be less of them. it's a cycle, happens all the time. they don't look at your major when they give out pilot slots....i'd suggest getting a major that you'll get a great gpa with. if you're an engineer and don't get picked up for pilot, then you're most likely going engineering in the AF.

Originally posted by drewpey:

Have seen a lot of horribly assigned AFSCs in only my 4 years of ROTC. Wouldn't suprise me.

What AFSC's are you talking about? The list for officer's really isn't that bad. Sure you laugh at the guys that got cops, abm, engineering or a space/missiles, but all the rest of them are decent and will carry over into the civilian world where you'll make a fortune.

It's the needs of the AF and what your det/cc says about you is what you'll get if you don't go pilot. Mine recommended me for mx, and guess what i'm doing?

[drewpey]

Physics major, asked for space and missiles, got communications. Aero engineer, asked for engineering aquisitions, got communications. I realize the needs of the air force are #1, but why keep whining about an engineering shortage when you just assign them to other career fields? Plus rumor has it that they are overpacked with Comm assigned cadets, and are looking to switch their AFSC. I realize the AF might have needed comm officers, but I just find it hard to believe that they ran out of majors that would apply to Comms a lot more than physics and aero engineering.

[Login Name]

they keep assigning comm officers b/c they're probably undermanned for FGOs...so they beef up the cgos so that it'll even out in 5 years. everything is longterm, you can't look at the needs of the AF now...you have to look at 5 years from now.

[drewpey]

You don't fix a problem for the long term by jamming the schools full of comm officers, it should be a gradual process. The military is based around quick fixes...there are too many people in charge who want things fixed now...and those who are "fixing" it are the ones wanting it to be on their OPR. Its a cycle of over-reaction to problems. Thats why we are overmanned right now, and in 3 years we will be throwing money at people to come into the AF, and 4 years after that we will be kicking them out by the handfull again.