My background: I am going to be a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering at a large university in the midwest. I am in the Air Force ROTC, and this is typically when cadets create their "dream sheet" of jobs they wish to do once commissioned.
Now, I am torn between putting down pilot (I have a great chance of being selected: 3.7 GPA, 100% fitness score, good recs) and engineering/intelligence. However, the difference in years of service vary greatly among the two, with 10 years for pilot and 4 years for the others. I aim to get into a good MBA program after my service and into either finance or consulting.
My main aspiration in life is to make money and lots of it. My family was poor and I never had any great experiences as a kid. I want my children to get more from life than I ever did and having money is simply a tool for that.
I am thinking to just go for pilot if I get selected then transition into the private sector, but 6-7 years seems a lot in opportunity cost.
What would you guys do?
I'd go for pilot, considering military reserves at the moment, will definitely do when i am next on gardening leave.
banking is a hellstorm to get into at the moment, and is one of those things that you can look back on with pride. it'll make a man out of you, give you the discipline and confidence that you need to make something of yourself in banking. Apply to both, sure, but take the pilot if given the choice.
I would take being an Air Force pilot over banking any day of the week.
What school do you go to? Don't have to be specific, but I also go to a large Midwest university and we have all 3 ROTC programs at my school
Stryfe - I go to a Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa type school. We also have 3 ROTC programs housed in the same building. It's interesting to be mixed with all of them since some schools don't have it that way. I even play pickup basketball with E-5/E-6s from other branches. Cool guys.
trazer - mind if I ask where you did S&T? Also why reserves now?
Something to add too: I'm doing this non-finance internship currently (acquisitions/PM type) and it is mind numbing work. It's painful (physically) to be sitting in a cubicle for 7 hours a day. I can't imagine doing 100+ hrs a week in IBD like that.
Out of undergrad, Air Force makes sense. If you swing a high housing-allowance area, you'll be making 100K all-in when you get out as a 1Lt in 4 years. That's better than many corporate jobs, and still sets you up for B-school then ibanking at the Associate level.
I wouldn't (and didn't) do pilot because the commitment. I was fortunate, because more than half of my class year got drones, even the top sticks. Also, the pilot career field is in a general decline. That having been said, if you truly are passionate about flying, then do it!
Current Army officer here. I was facing a similar decision while in ROTC. The Army lets you add 3 years of service on to your contract in exchange for a certain branch, ie if you agree to serve longer they move you higher up the list. A lot of people did this to get the really competitive Army branches like Aviation, Infantry, Intel.
I chose not to add any years of service onto my contract and ended up getting a less competitive branch... I don't regret it one bit. Serving the minimum time lets you keep your options open after four years. I never even considered an MBA when I was a cadet, but I am now. Hell, I didn't even know what "consulting" meant. Things change and you may too.
The only way I'd go for the aviator spot is if you are absolutely, positively dying to fly. But even you making this post suggests that there is some doubt in your mind. I understand the massive organizational pressure that exists in the AF about aviation... I imagine it is similar to the way the Infantry is viewed in the Army. I can't even count how many times someone talked me into going infantry at all costs. Just keep in mind that you'll be a USAF officer regardless of your job. I'd be careful about getting sucked into what everyone else thinks, especially if you have specific goals you want to accomplish outside the military.
Just my opinion though. Honestly, you can't go wrong either way.
1st, you don't go to the Academy. 2nd, you have a 25% chance of getting SUPT from ROTC as opposed to 50% from the Academy. 3rd, you're posting about your indecisiveness and most importantly, the opportunity cost of becoming a pilot.
Conclusion and echo of earlier posts: you won't get a SUPT slot. Your competition for SUPT slots WANT to become pilots at all costs and most won't make it through SUPT.
Next you'll post about putting STO (Special Tactics Officer for the uninformed) on your list as well.
I second this post. Even if you did get a slot, it sounds like your heart may not be in it, which is not something the people in your plane/those flying formation with you want you to discover when crunch time rolls around.
As soft as the air force is, they actually do a pretty decent job of ensuring that their flight school candidates actually enjoy what they do via a demanding syllabus. And if you get found out, you will be back on the street or in a box in Nevada "flying" a UAV.
If you end goal is to get rich, just go into the supply corps / acquisitions manager / finiance officer. You'll be out in 4 years and business schools will think that your military service will be just as relevant as the guys in the cockpit.
WSO is not real life
Thanks for the comment guys.
Is it really true that it doesn't matter what job you did in the military in terms of admission into a top B-school? I always thought that the more selective pipelines (Pilot, Special Forces, etc.) had a better chance of getting into a H/S/W than say, an aircraft maintenance officer. If anyone can shed some insight on military folks getting admitted into a top MBA, I'd appreciate it.
Let's clarify something-it's a 10 year commitment after graduation from UPT, which can take a year to start and a year to complete. Total pilot commitment is approx 12 years minimum.
H/S/W prefer operators. I was the only non-operational guy in a group of 6 prospective MBAs at a H/S/W interview, and the guy interviewing me was an ex SEAL.
But... H/S/W also give preference to people from disadvantaged backgrounds (i.e. if neither of your parents graduated college) which it sounds like you may be able to leverage.
It will be much easier for you to get a top 1% GMAT and get into H/S/W as a non-operator after 4 years than it will be for you to try to fly for 12 years because of the small bump the prestige of that career will give you in a b-school application.
As Ivyleague and Wannabe pointed out, you're setting yourself up for massive failure if you're going to fly for 12 years when your ultimate goals lie elsewhere.
Don't you realize that you need to go to 20 years at that point because your retirement is 8 years away and worth several million dollars? When you're 8 years away from it, free family healthcare and an inflation-adjusted salary for life (on top of whatever else you can make in a crappy full-time airlines/corporate job) is more lucrative than your return on a H/S/W degree.
Cost it out--if you become a pilot to chase dollars and prestige, you will most likely be a bitter Southwest airlines pilot or USAA manager 30 years from now.
HSWC takes plenty of non operators, especially Wharton and CBS; I think there's a distinct preference for Academy grads. Now, that could be a function of top performers going to top schools etc etc, but I know plenty of non operators (Academy grads) that are attending or have graduated from HSWC.
DP
Hey everyone, I just wanted to give an update: I was selected to enter pilot training recently and will be going into that as soon as I graduate from college. As of now, I have set aside notions of going into b-school and will simply focus on doing well in school and eventually pilot training and being the best Air Force officer I can be.
Thank you for all the insight and comments; I greatly appreciate it.
Go do that while I make six figures and slay models as an investment banker, while you MAY or MAY NOT even pilot a plane.
Great decision man. Hopefully you get to fly a air superiority fighter (F15 or F22). Good luck. You'll have a much more interesting life than making spreadsheets.
necro
Any updates?
i know this is an old thread but i couldn't fucking believe my eyes - how is it even a choice between boring old IB/consulting or being a TOP GUN ... the fact that your profile says you are now a first year consultant saddens me beyond what i thought was possible. i have to drink about 5 tequila shots to forget this thread now. i hope your engagement lead finds out you gave up on being a top gun and kicks you in the nuts on a regular basis. Don't fucking talk to me goose.
Dude....half the pilots in the Air Force think they're Top Gun and are massive douchebags as a result.
You also seem like one as well judging by the contents of your post. The only people who would say things like calling other people "goose" I've ever known are the kind of people wearing tapout shirts at the local dive bar while high fiving each other over how "epic" their drunken stupor is.
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