I am already a Grade 12 student at the start of school year and i am still not sure on what I am gonna take for a backup college degree because I’ve always dreamed on becoming a pilot.

Some said that some airlines require a 4-year degree and I should take what I am interested in. That is why Photography is already an option for me.

But can I ask if Photography is a good choice?
I really need an advice from anyone who has already faced this kind of situation haha

Photography is not a degree, no matter what the college is trying to sell you. Get something useful that makes you employable and increases your value.

Any suggestions for a good backup degree sir?

aviationaware wrote:

Photography is not a degree, no matter what the college is trying to sell you. Get something useful that makes you employable and increases your value.

If one's talented there's plenty of money to make as a photographer and it beats the hell out of life as a boring 9-5 office drone.

bagoldex wrote:

If one's talented there's plenty of money to make as a photographer and it beats the hell out of life as a boring 9-5 office drone.

Oh absolutely, but photography is a very competitive field where most people can't earn a proper living. Since he wants to do it as a backup, he should probably chose something more 'boring' (even though STEM is inherently not boring, at least to me) for safety.

aviationaware wrote:

bagoldex wrote:

If one's talented there's plenty of money to make as a photographer and it beats the hell out of life as a boring 9-5 office drone.

Oh absolutely, but photography is a very competitive field where most people can't earn a proper living. Since he wants to do it as a backup, he should probably chose something more 'boring' (even though STEM is inherently not boring, at least to me) for safety.

Every field is highly competitive. Best option is to figure out what you might enjoy, or at least tolerate, and doing everything in your power to be the best at it. No academic program in and of itself is a guarantee of success or even of employment.

Absolutely true, and I have made my recommendation: Any STEM field that you might enjoy. If you are absolutely transfixed by photography, then go for it, but it didn't sound like it in the beginning. All the best!

Do what you love to do, are good at, and pays the bills. College major is fairly important. I somewhat agree with trying to get a STEM degree if you can, while taking as many humanities classes as you can. The classes that actually matter are as likely to be in humanities, music, art and architecture.

Sometimes I begin to question the relentless money-obsessed culture in the US. I am guilty of it and I don’t even believe in it. Money doesn’t have any value beyond the basics.

Like most liberal arts degrees it would probably benefit you to use the money you'd spend on tuition on working in or doing the thing you want to do instead of going to school for it. Especially if you already have a degree in another field.

Spend money on some equipment and take 6 months to hone your photography craft. Weddings and family portraits are easy to master and you can make tons of money doing it.

The planet has now 7 billions photographers. Being talented will be no guarantee to get a job at all. Whereas being a poor programmer will land you a job for sure.

Web design might also be an option.

Also, this will probably not be a backup degree, as the job of pilot will not last more than a couple decades from now.

I'm older but my boss is in the industry and makes a great deal of money doing photo shoots staging homes and photographing them for hgtv type shows.
its very demanding, so i'm just wondering how you can do both. Fly to photo shoots ? haha I watched him photograph a house and he is a perfectionist and it will take him three days of working from 8 am to 9 pm he's constantly traveling and getting grief from his family for being gone to much. my daughter has her pilots license. She got her degree in ATC and minor in aircraft structural engineering at Riddle. she gave up on being a pilot and now works at FAA as a ATC she had three backup plans, her third was to investigate aircraft accidents. Have you ever thought of getting a secondary degree in the aviation industry as a back up?

I do photography on the side. I'm not sure you actually need a degree to be successful with it, rather, you need a brand and you need to self-study/intern. I'm not sure I'd spend that much money on a college degree in a field where you can make it big time, or you can struggle-bus it for forever. I'm also not sure why you'd need a back up if you've always dreamed of becoming a pilot. Just do it!

because there is a ton of competition. becoming a pilot is easy, getting a job is difficult, you have to be in the right place at the right time, you have to have a growing economy not a shrinking economy, those who are in the military have a big advantage. those with unlimited funds have a big advantage because they can pile on their flight hours, while it takes those with limited resources more time. The OP is being practical. That said, a higher education is never a waste nobody can take that knowledge away from you, and power is knowledge.

I'm not a pilot yet however for me piloting is first something I want to do for pleasure. If you have that mindset there are two options, either you do something else that will pay for your PPL and pleasure flying, or you go for a job, any job that involves piloting. Not restricting yourself to a career at a big name airline.

Jojojo wrote:

But can I ask if Photography is a good choice?

No. It's about as useful as a Bachelor of Basket Weaving, or a Masters of Watching Paint Dry.

Only undertake a university degree if it directly leads into a profession which you need that specific degree (Medicine, Law etc).

As a lot of people say don't go into an Aviation degree because it's useless outside Aviation. I'm going to give a few alternate thoughts:
Lots of colleges have links and pathways into airlines now.
You'll be doing something that you love.
If you lose you're medical it's more likely to happen later in life when a backup college degree you got in your 20's becomes useless.

Maybe just go into a skilled trade if you want some money. Most skilled tradespersons I know are making much money then college grads with no debt to match.

Flighty wrote:

Do what you love to do, are good at, and pays the bills. College major is fairly important. I somewhat agree with trying to get a STEM degree if you can, while taking as many humanities classes as you can. The classes that actually matter are as likely to be in humanities, music, art and architecture.

Avoid this advice like the plague. Humanities subjects are worthless. Taught by professors and teachers who have almost never worked a real job or lived a life outside their campus. Go out into the real world and explore how it works. All the humanities subjects taught in high school and college taught me less about the world than a couple of months of travelling around it. You don't need to spend years of your life listening to purple haired nose ring wearers expressing their opinions on how to "smash the patriarchy" or how there are more than two genders. Go out and live and travel in the real world and you'll learn far more about it than from within a college campus.

Jojojo wrote:

I am already a Grade 12 student at the start of school year and i am still not sure on what I am gonna take for a backup college degree because I’ve always dreamed on becoming a pilot. Some said that some airlines require a 4-year degree and I should take what I am interested in.

Unless it's a professional degree such as law or medicine, a degree is good to get you your first job, and less-and-less relevant the more years of experience you have in your profession.

If the goal is to have a degree to do something other than pilot school when the moment comes to make a choice, see the posts above. If the goal is a backup plan for 5, 10 years after becoming a pilot, don't bother. If you lose your job after 5 years as a pilot, you will be an unemployed pilot and no degree issued 5 years earlier will change that.

Jojojo wrote:

I am already a Grade 12 student at the start of school year and i am still not sure on what I am gonna take for a backup college degree because I’ve always dreamed on becoming a pilot.

Some said that some airlines require a 4-year degree and I should take what I am interested in. That is why Photography is already an option for me.

But can I ask if Photography is a good choice?
I really need an advice from anyone who has already faced this kind of situation haha

Photography is a bad choice. Really, really bad.

If you want to go well in that, take a lot of pictures yourself and become an assistant to a real photographer. And I don't mean Mr local, I mean the top photographers. That is where you learn the skills that matter.

However things are bleak with the millions of people with their iPhones and social media. News outlets don't need proper photographers anymore so they've all gutted their photographic departments.

Even at my place there are no more full time photographers anymore.

sierrakilo44 wrote:

Jojojo wrote:

But can I ask if Photography is a good choice?

No. It's about as useful as a Bachelor of Basket Weaving, or a Masters of Watching Paint Dry.

Only undertake a university degree if it directly leads into a profession which you need that specific degree (Medicine, Law etc).

As a lot of people say don't go into an Aviation degree because it's useless outside Aviation. I'm going to give a few alternate thoughts:
Lots of colleges have links and pathways into airlines now.
You'll be doing something that you love.
If you lose you're medical it's more likely to happen later in life when a backup college degree you got in your 20's becomes useless.

Maybe just go into a skilled trade if you want some money. Most skilled tradespersons I know are making much money then college grads with no debt to match.

Flighty wrote:

Do what you love to do, are good at, and pays the bills. College major is fairly important. I somewhat agree with trying to get a STEM degree if you can, while taking as many humanities classes as you can. The classes that actually matter are as likely to be in humanities, music, art and architecture.

Avoid this advice like the plague. Humanities subjects are worthless. Taught by professors and teachers who have almost never worked a real job or lived a life outside their campus. Go out into the real world and explore how it works. All the humanities subjects taught in high school and college taught me less about the world than a couple of months of travelling around it. You don't need to spend years of your life listening to purple haired nose ring wearers expressing their opinions on how to "smash the patriarchy" or how there are more than two genders. Go out and live and travel in the real world and you'll learn far more about it than from within a college campus.

Ok grampa, we all get that you’re bitter and have a lot of pent up hostility towards the younger generations and the changing world.

The best thing is to figure out what your anticipated trajectory in life is and what your ideal lifestyle and obligations might entail - married/single, kids/no kids, etc. If you aren’t likely to have too many financial encumbrances, take a gamble on photography. If it doesn’t work out, try something else. People are always reinventing themselves. On the other hand if you expect to have to house, feed, clothe and educate a couple kids then you’re probably better off focusing on a professional degree with a direct career path.

Jojojo wrote:

Any suggestions for a good backup degree sir?

Foreign language.

Arabic, Russian, or Vietnamese.

Another thing, if it involves student loans, don’t do anything but a STEM degree. Else they will crush you.

Jojojo wrote:

I am already a Grade 12 student at the start of school year and i am still not sure on what I am gonna take for a backup college degree because I’ve always dreamed on becoming a pilot.

Some said that some airlines require a 4-year degree and I should take what I am interested in. That is why Photography is already an option for me.

But can I ask if Photography is a good choice?
I really need an advice from anyone who has already faced this kind of situation haha

If you are well off and do not intend for your degree to earn an income, do not intend to depend on it to pay normal living expenses, and you are just going to college for the fun and experience and additional learning that can come with it then a Photography should be fine.

Otherwise I would suggest a more marketable degree, in whatever field most interests you. My friends son intend to be a pilot, he just graduated with a business degree and has worked running fuel at the local airfield for the last three years He hopes his degree will help him in life and if he is lucky any business he wants to start. And on the other side it is a fall back if something happens that he can't be a commercial airline pilot.

When I went to college I had a roommate who was working on hie pilots license and studying aeronautical engineering, his eyesight went to 20/400 two weeks prior to getting his cert and he could no longer be a pilot. He is now a successful engineer. Life sucks sometimes but he was smart and had a good head about him on what to do.

Tugg