Aerospace Engineering (or other STEM related) or Pilot? Advice needed...

[storm venture]

I am going into IB in a few months and I am deeply passionate with learning about Space and Airplanes.
The only problem is, with the job market showing uncertainties and mixed reactions to the safety in these professions, I am kinda stuck.
The obvious difference between both is, If I want to pursue Aerospace Engineering(or + Mechanical Engineering), I would have to earn a Bachelors or even a Masters by going to a university that I get accepted to, whereas me choosing the Pilot-path; I don't need to attend university at all (I could but I will fall extremely behind...)
I need genuine help with clearing this doubt.
Also I need advice on the how different these 2 paths would be in terms is mental and physical demand and difficulty of the path in general

[real sphinx]

I have the same issue as you, to be honest it all depends on you. Both paths have their own pros and cons as well as risk. In terms of difficulty level, both are the same just that one you learn more about the technical aspects of it (spaceships, airplanes) the other one is more about how to manuevere and use it (pilot path).
If you don't mind me asking, are you more interested in you know being a pilot like flying the plane, or the more technical aspect of it? like how it works so on and so for

From there it can help you clear your doubts better

Also what are the subjects you took and do you have any hobbies or interest currently?

[gleaming bramble]

https://tenor.com/view/ishowspeed-reverse-smile-ishowspeed-confused-gif-17362243368421867313

[storm venture]

Hello
I am deply passionate about Space and tech and from there, it pushed me into gaining interest in spacecraft and airplanes. If I were given a choice of whether I would know about Airplanes or manuever it (if my life depended on it...) I would pick the manuevering-path.
For my IGCSEs I took Maths 0580, Add-Maths 0606, English 0500, English Lit 0475, Biology 0610, Chemistry 0620, Physics 0625, Economics 0455, Comp-Sci 0478 and Spanish.
For my IB choices, I am going for AA HL Maths, HL Physics and HL Econ followed by SL Chem, SL English and Spanish B
In terms of hobbies, its slightly spread out...like I would randomly look at Space news about Spacecraft launches and Exoplanet research and analyse them in terms of practicality and stuff, or just hop on to GeoFs and just fly planes for fun. Sports is also really common (but I wont get into too much details of that...)

[real sphinx]

Is ur igcse results good?

[near herald]

aerospace engineering is much more stable than aviation

1 health issue and you can be grounded for life

or if people start travelling less like in covid tens of thousands of pilots were made redundant and lost their jobs

realistically its much safer to do aerospace engineering and then become a pilot

or js stick with aero

[storm venture]

I am going to get them in ~October

[storm venture]

😔Good point

[real sphinx]

When is ur igcse?

[storm venture]

I am doing it rn....it ends in the 2nd week of June

[near herald]

same

[storm venture]

Oh nice! Good luck to you too!

[storm venture]

Wait but don't you think it will be a bit too late to become one after I finish Uni?? in terms of medicals and training costs yk?

[near herald]

no

a lot of people do training after uni

and if costs is an issue having a degree makes you WAY more competitive for cadet programs (free flight school)

regardless aero is a much safer path

[storm venture]

https://tenor.com/view/wolf-gif-24607072

Thanks for the help!!

[near herald]

your welcome

[empty mason]

Gave +1 Rep to @near herald (54)

[storm venture]

I talked with my parents and they are willing to do the following:
I go a really good Uni and study Aerospace Eng for 4 years and then begin by Pilot-journey!

[near herald]

W

best thing to do

[storm venture]

Yessir!

[real sphinx]

hm a bit useless no aerospace engineering? you might as well go to a flight school

unless you want to be an aerospace engineer

flight school is super expensive as well as aerospace engineering degree

unless ur parents got a lot of money

i suggest really research and see which one you want to do, if you want to go pilot go flight school go to a good one, if you want to do aerospace engineering go do aerospace engineering

as much as both are "similar" it is very different in terms of profession and the certificates

[storm venture]

bro my parents want me to go to a Uni no matter what...but I want to pilot training as well, so they made that decision.

[real sphinx]

well get a degree in engineering or something else like mechanical jus get a degree dont pursue masters unless by then you are like wow i want to do this

talk to them about price

are they okay with it?

because it is gonna be a huge huge huge whole in their wallets if you do this path no offense

[storm venture]

true

then I can just stop at Grad for Eng and then do Pilot ig

[storm venture]

they agree w this as well somehow

[real sphinx]

if ur parents insist a degree get engineering degree do a basic one 2 years , then go flight school because even if you take aerospacce engineering it would be kinda useless as in the flight school you would have to relearn everything again

[real sphinx]

this one is more reasonable

aerospace engineerign degree is if you really want to do it

[storm venture]

yea then I will prolly just do Aerospace Eng (gonna try to reduce the cost by doing 2-3 instead of 4, but ynk with Indian parents...) and then I can do Pilot training

[real sphinx]

no u cant do aerospace engineering in 2 years

[storm venture]

3?

[real sphinx]

first 2 years you would always do basic engineering

[near herald]

flight school can be free

[storm venture]

wait how though?

[real sphinx]

is only IF the airline wants you

[near herald]

yes and a degree greatly helps with getting into cadet schools

[real sphinx]

you need some type of proof to show that you are worth doing the airline flight school sponsored

[near herald]

yea u can do aero in 3

[storm venture]

bro how can the Airline make my flight school free if I will apply to them AFTER my flight training??

[storm venture]

oh nice

[real sphinx]

he will come out bald by the time he finishes

[near herald]

do u even know how cadet schools work

[storm venture]

Gotta think abt this a lot now

[real sphinx]

honestly no

[near herald]

aero ain't that bad

[near herald]

can tell

with cadet schools

anybody can apply from ages 17-50

and the acceptance rate is pretty small

so obvi a degree helps

[real sphinx]

yea that one i know bru

[near herald]

then they have aptitude and psychometric testing

[real sphinx]

i am planning to do aerospace engineering

[near herald]

and a fitness test

[real sphinx]

hopefully at japan or australia

[near herald]

I considered it and thought

nah

its not transferrable enough to other countries

[storm venture]

Class 2 and Class 1 Medicals

[real sphinx]

what do you plan to do?

mechanical?

[near herald]

electrical or mechanical yea

[real sphinx]

honestly considering mechanical

[near herald]

probs electrical

[near herald]

mechanical is better if u ever wanna work in a country

other than your own

[real sphinx]

cos aerospace the job market is quite competitive

[near herald]

its not even that

[real sphinx]

very competitive

[storm venture]

I also agree

[near herald]

u cant work for an aerospace company

in a country your not a citizen of

[near herald]

if u go to a good uni its chill

depends on country asw

[real sphinx]

well i wanna work for like airbus

[near herald]

France UK USA have massive aerospace industries

same w germany

so its not that competitive

[real sphinx]

i know in terms of military and stuff you have to be a citizen of your own country

[near herald]

pretty sure in some countries its all

[storm venture]

and if you not a citizen from the Americas or Europe, its even harder

[near herald]

yea lol

if i ever do aerospace

[real sphinx]

fr

[near herald]

ill be so happy

i have a european passport

[real sphinx]

lucky you

[storm venture]

what do you plan to do @near herald

[near herald]

aerospace has crazy earning potential but only if your in europe or north america

[near herald]

still deciding between electrical mechanical and aero

although aero is least likely

unless i get a US passport

[real sphinx]

well i am from malaysia so ii probably would focus more on the mantainence repair and overhaul side of things

[near herald]

fairs

[real sphinx]

but i plan to work overseas

[near herald]

yea that will be difficult

[real sphinx]

yea but if i really want to be successful in this industry you got to do what you got to do

in malaysia the job market is so so small its non existent

[near herald]

real

is it that bad?

[real sphinx]

other than working in like my local airlines

[near herald]

Ik dyson has a massive office there

idk about aerospace there though

[real sphinx]

i know a friend who took aerospace engineering degree its been 3 years and he still couldnt find a job

so i am worried tbh

[near herald]

well depends on uni

what uni did he go to

[storm venture]

In India you have ISRO but the whole pilot thing is limited to only domestic ones, like you need to be hella educated to percieve international jobs and flights

[real sphinx]

i think it was local thats why

[near herald]

yea

in engineering uni prestige is everything

[real sphinx]

hopefully hopefully i can go unsw or uni of tokyo

[near herald]

new south wales is excellent

[real sphinx]

my japanese isnt that good tho i only got the official cert for n5

[near herald]

unsw>tokyo

[real sphinx]

but uni of tokyo got international course

[real sphinx]

but its hard to get in

[near herald]

so is tokyo

[real sphinx]

but tbh both is lwky same level of difficulty to get in

[near herald]

fr

and unsw is miles better

[real sphinx]

either ways i have to take a levels lol

cos ion think any would accept igcse results

[near herald]

which u taking

lemme guess

maths physics further math

[near herald]

yea lol u cant do aero at a good uni w js igcse

[storm venture]

fr

[real sphinx]

replace further maths w either chem or something else

[near herald]

fair

[real sphinx]

i feel like further maths is lwky yk not that useful

[near herald]

it is

[real sphinx]

well yes it is but its unnecessary

[near herald]

maths physics fm is the best combo for aerospace engineering

[real sphinx]

might as well take chem or bio

[near herald]

+chemistry as a 4th

[near herald]

why would u take bio

for engineering

[real sphinx]

i most likely take chem

[near herald]

there is probs like at least 10 better subs than bio

for engineering

[real sphinx]

i am graduating this year lol for igcse

[real sphinx]

i would take 3 tbh

[near herald]

same

[near herald]

fairs

[real sphinx]

4 sounds too much to me

[near herald]

4 rlly isnt that bad

especially if the 4th is fm

[real sphinx]

tru tru

i aim for at least partial scholarship tbh

[near herald]

if i go abroad I'm gonna aim for a full one

[real sphinx]

same but i am being realistic

[near herald]

I mean i already know my application will be good enough for full

interview and allat

will be decider

[real sphinx]

whats ur app

what u got in ur app

[near herald]

im doing maths physics further maths btec engineering

then a bunch of super+extra curricular

[real sphinx]

curriculars?

[real sphinx]

what u got

[near herald]

gonna do 3 projects maths+physics olympiad

essay comp

[real sphinx]

i lwky dont have much bro i code a lot the most i got rn is jus that i build an app for a massive company

[near herald]

2

[real sphinx]

but obvo cant say name due to compliance contract

[near herald]

thats pretty good

[real sphinx]

my dad asked me to do it lol but

idk

i am scared of the future

[near herald]

they might question it if u cant give evidence/state company

[near herald]

wdym why

[real sphinx]

like lwky feel like i am super behind

[real sphinx]

my dad says dw about it for now he say he will handle it or sum

[near herald]

your not lol

[real sphinx]

i am not good for academics honestly

[near herald]

same my ig results will be so mid

[real sphinx]

i am getting A,B and sometimes C

[near herald]

im js focusing on a levels + extra/supercurriculars

[real sphinx]

its rlly bad

[real sphinx]

well since ur done i suggest learn some coding lang or sum like that near engineering path

learn adruino is so fun haha

jus don be like me and spend way too much on it

[near herald]

I've already done a project using one

in C++

[real sphinx]

ooo

[near herald]

not done yet

im doing igs rn

A level starts september

[real sphinx]

oh what

[near herald]

yea

[real sphinx]

when ur ig?

[near herald]

in the middle of them

dont half my exams

[real sphinx]

ah i see

i did 2 in m/j

got 7 more in o/n

[near herald]

im doing all 9 rn

[real sphinx]

tbh rn i jus do consistant since i got a few months

like 1.5 hours a day

[near herald]

fairs

[real sphinx]

maybe 1 month before igcse i go hard mode and do like 5-6hr/day

[near herald]

most ppl dont do 5-6 hours a day ever so your doing pretty good

[real sphinx]

i am having holiday lol so havinh balance is important to me

i dont want to be a lazy bum during holidays

[near herald]

fair

[real sphinx]

currently learning python

suprised out of all languages i did not do python

[near herald]

pythons probs the easiest

[real sphinx]

na imo is html

[near herald]

other than html

[real sphinx]

css not rlly tho

[real sphinx]

i learned javascript, html and css and lua as well

lua cos i used to make roblox games but a lot of them flopped

[near herald]

ik C++, python and html

i'm tryna learn lua

[real sphinx]

its easy

[near herald]

I'm gonna make one w my friends in the summer

[real sphinx]

easiest language oat

[near herald]

I've barely started

seems light though

[real sphinx]

bro it only has 22 reserved keywords lmao for lua

very less syntax rules as well

[near herald]

fairs

[real sphinx]

what u plannin to make

[near herald]

dk yet

gonna be slop though

easy money

[real sphinx]

if i am gon be straight w u i suggest make some really entertaining and slop game

but dont put brainrots

roblox start to crack down on those

[near herald]

thats what we're doing

[near herald]

yea

they changed the algorithm

to stop pushing them

[real sphinx]

which is a w update

[near herald]

its js gonna be some slop game made w claude assitance

[near herald]

ngl changes nothing

now ppl js make slop w out the brainrot name

[real sphinx]

so far i havent used ai at all for coding which i am very suprised

[near herald]

I use it at every opportunity

[real sphinx]

only time i used it was planning what to do like the app i told u

[near herald]

its probs saved me at least 2 days worth of time

[real sphinx]

tbh thats the problem tho especially w people not knowing how to code

[near herald]

its js so easy

why would i sit here and code 300 lines

when my ai can do it in 5 mins

and even add more features

[real sphinx]

tbh ai is good for frontend

backend is absolute buns

ir makes really beautiful pages ngl

but like the backend code is not good

[near herald]

fairs

[storm venture]

Do you guys know some top-tier unis for Aerospace in either US or UK??

[near herald]

Imperial, bristol, southampton, bath

[storm venture]

I know imperial is good but I was also hoping that the unis would have some strong ties with big companies for a slightly secure job opportunities

Bristol and Sheffield I heard are pretty good at that, I was wondering if US had unis like this

[storm venture]

Thanks for the examples though

[empty mason]

Gave +1 Rep to @near herald (85)

[near herald]

loughborough, bristol, southampton, bath, sheffield are all good for industry ties

imperial is js pure prestige ties are unecessary u will get in anywhere

idk much about aerospace in USA

[storm venture]

ooh I see

nah its fine

goated advices btw

Georgia Tech is good for Aerospace I heard but how good exactly, I am unsure

[near herald]

georgia tech is a top 10 engineering uni in the USA so