Originally Posted by IAHB756

To all of you reading this who are still in high school: The internship isn’t available to people “currently working on 4 year degree online” that I know of. If United has been one’s goal all along, and the civilian path is the path chosen; attending a reputable university with an internship is paramount. Purdue/Auburn/UND/FIT/ERAU/Middle Tennessee State as well as other universities with aviation programs(and there are several I have not mentioned) OR major in business/music/engineering/anything that interests you at the best university you can get into and have a true fallback should you face Medical disqualification or a major downturn in the industry keeps you out of the cockpit. I often wish I had majored in music or business. When I hear phrases like (and I’m not pointing to the original poster of this thread at all) “United has always been my career goal “, followed by “I’m currently working at a regional and considering getting my 4 year degree online ..”, I shake my head. Either the person has been given bad info or hasn’t really had United/Delta in their crosshairs because they have and always will require a four year degree and traditional degrees will always trump some online degree from a for profit school. Sorry to be so crude about it but that’s true (with notable exceptions).

Originally Posted by Terrain Inop

You do realize that it's possible to earn a 4 year degree online from many of the brick and mortar institutions that you listed, right?

Originally Posted by IAHB756

I do. Thanks for asking. My advice was an attempt to answer the question posed in the title of this thread. If one is flying for a regional airline and “working on a 4 year degree online”, how is one going to do an internship at United? First, the students inside the brick and mortar institution have access to the professors in person which will aid in obtaining recommendations etc for said internship and second, a chief pilot at a regional airline isn’t going to allow a pilot to have a leave of absence in order to take an internship at another airline. That’s why I stated what I did (targeted towards those still in high school where one would conceivably begin the quest to United if that really was their career goal).

Originally Posted by IAHB756

To all of you reading this who are still in high school: The internship isn’t available to people “currently working on 4 year degree online” that I know of. If United has been one’s goal all along, and the civilian path is the path chosen; attending a reputable university with an internship is paramount. Purdue/Auburn/UND/FIT/ERAU/Middle Tennessee State as well as other universities with aviation programs(and there are several I have not mentioned) OR major in business/music/engineering/anything that interests you at the best university you can get into and have a true fallback should you face Medical disqualification or a major downturn in the industry keeps you out of the cockpit. I often wish I had majored in music or business. When I hear phrases like (and I’m not pointing to the original poster of this thread at all) “United has always been my career goal “, followed by “I’m currently working at a regional and considering getting my 4 year degree online ..”, I shake my head. Either the person has been given bad info or hasn’t really had United/Delta in their crosshairs because they have and always will require a four year degree and traditional degrees will always trump some online degree from a for profit school. Sorry to be so crude about it but that’s true (with notable exceptions).

Originally Posted by ReadyRsv

Meh. Someone at a regional would be wasting time taking 6 months off to be an intern. Also, I’ve met three interns doing online degrees, two of which were at religious online programs that were founded by someone who thinks hurricane katrina was caused by gays.

So there you have it.

Originally Posted by gripngrab

How is a degree in music something to fall back on? What type of reasonable paying job can you get with a music degree?

A business degree is slightly better, but you would be competing with hundreds of others out there with biz degrees likely with experience in the position. As a medical dequal pilot, it is unlikely you would fare well against these type of candidates.

I am glad you "shake your head" at those regional guys getting their degree online while they work. For many of us with families, taking time off to attend a "traditional" college isn't feasible.

I'm not sure how you landed at United but the logic of just about your whole post is flawed.

Originally Posted by IAHB756

Deleted. Was trying to edit post two above this.

Originally Posted by pilotgolfer

Maybe you could write a song about it and play it on that stupid little guitar that you lug around with you. 🤣

https://youtu.be/Js-SHDhoNPw