I am hoping to find some guidance on my choice of major in college. Currently I am an MSI in the Army ROTC program at Penn State. After college, I want to become a pilot in the army (fixed wing or rotary). If a major called "Aviation" was available at my school I would be in it, however, the closest thing I could find was Aerospace Engineering.

Seven weeks into my first college semester, I have come to the realization that I really do not want to stay an engineering major, and I would rather take something more up my alley like military history or history in general, or even English.

My question is, if I were to make myself suffer through 4 years of Aerospace Engineering to give myself a better chance of becoming a pilot, would it really matter in the end, or does overall GPA, no matter the major, matter more?

Unfortunately in Army ROTC major does not matter at all. One of the MSIV's that just graduated was a sociology major and she went aviation. On the other hand GPA does mean a **** load, so if you have a terrible GPA in engineering and a 4.0 in underwater basket weaving then you will be more likely to get Aviation with the 4.0 in basket weaving.

if AROTC is like AFROTC, your major doesnt matter when it comes to aviation... your GPA is what matters.

What are some of the "easier" majors to get a higher GPA?

depends on your college and what they offer. Some "easier" majors are easy at most colleges, but hard at a few.

poli sci is usually fairly easy. Criminal justice is too...

But remember, if the whole military thing doesnt work out, you want a degree you can fall back on. Pick something you enjoy and the GPA will work itself out.

I am currently in a apache unit with a bunch of cadets awaiting flight school.

If you really want to be a pilot, drop the engineering major for sure. In our ROTC program, ALL engineer majors dropped their major.

GPA is all that matters, if you do Military History then you will be spending a lot more time with ROTC and thus making you look even better in front of the cadre.

Talk to your cadre and see if they can get you to drill with an AVN unit. That should help.

Quick addition, be sure to select a degree that sustain you right after college.

There are a bunch of butter bars (2nd LT's) that have been playing pocket pool for the last year waiting for a flight school slot. And a few are having troubles making ends meet in the mean time.

Look to wait at least 1 year after college before you get your flight training.

They didnt even let the LT's goto their OBC courses since they prefer to get it all knocked out in one go.

quote:

Originally posted by DaConfusion:
I am currently in a apache unit with a bunch of cadets awaiting flight school.

If you really want to be a pilot, drop the engineering major for sure. In our ROTC program, ALL engineer majors dropped their major.

GPA is all that matters, if you do Military History then you will be spending a lot more time with ROTC and thus making you look even better in front of the cadre.

Talk to your cadre and see if they can get you to drill with an AVN unit. That should help.

Well, GPA is important for aviation, but NOT for flight school. Yes, the guys I knew in college who went aviation were brains, but I have known others, such as medevac pilots, who were not. My brother is a perfect example. History major--medical service corps--less than 3.0 GPA--still went to flight school as a medevac pilot in two years after commissioning.

quote:

Originally posted by MCO85:
depends on your college and what they offer. Some "easier" majors are easy at most colleges, but hard at a few.

poli sci is usually fairly easy. Criminal justice is too...

But remember, if the whole military thing doesnt work out, you want a degree you can fall back on. Pick something you enjoy and the GPA will work itself out.

Yea but what can you do with criminal justice

quote:

Originally posted by SWDmeansKILL:
Yea but what can you do with criminal justice

haha you'd be surprised.

quote:

Originally posted by 15244206:

quote:

Originally posted by SWDmeansKILL:
Yea but what can you do with criminal justice

haha you'd be surprised.

True enough. Got a friend who graduated with a BA in Business Admin who is a IT tech. Another bud got a history degree and hes now a hot shot executive at Cartoon Network. Another dude got a Physics degree and hes a lowly clerk working for a defence contractor. Most times, your chosen major has no impact on what field you wind up in.