Need some guidance.

I have started highschool finally and i need a bit of help planning out what i want to do. As of now i am going to pursue a career in aviation. My current crude plan is to attempt to get into the coast guard academy and from there move onto flight school. I will then serve in the coast guard for whatever time is needed, I believe it is six years of service. Anyways I'm looking to you guys since some of you guys actually have some experience with the coast guard. Currently i am enrolled in two sophomore level classes (biology 250 (this will eventually lead to physics in my senior year) and English honors). At this point im in Algebra 1 which by my senior, year after taking geometry and algebra 2, I will be in trigonometry/pre-calculus. I'm also in geography which ill probably look into more because it leads into American government and so on. I chose Technology which is like a drafting/architecture class as an elective. I was supposed to take record keeping this year however i somehow ended up in foods? I really don't know what happened there. I don't think im going to take part in clubs but i am planning on applying for the National Honor Society my junior year. My school also offers a credit college which offers classes in construction, engineering, etc... but what I am really interested in is the aviation course which is what I'm going to be taking. It won't interfere with my school schedules as the class is at like 6 at night at our local airport. Other than that I take part in three sports and am active in boyscouts.


What i want to know is if i should change anything or have any suggestions to my plans or anything else. Oh and if anyone knows of any aviation forums that are legit please send me some links so i can ask around.

While it can be good to plan ahead, you still have 4 years of high school ahead of you.

The expensive way of going about an aviation career would be going straight to a University of some sort. (Southern Illinois, Embry-Riddle, etc) and getting your flight training done there.

The free way would be through the Air Force. It would still involve school, but the AF will pay for a lot of it, as well as your flight training. However they go about it.

For an aviation career, your looking at a lot of school. Just stick with it, and explore your options, your mind will probably change numerous times throughout high school.

Flyboy92

AP classes (or whatever they call the college credit classes) are absolutely worth it, take as many as you can.

But flyboy's right, you still have 3 years to figure out college. Don't get too far ahead of yourself

Oh, and my brother went to the coast guard academy for a few semesters. I would recommend against almost any military academy, but especially the USCGA. You have miles of BS and politics to deal with, and it's not really a very good college experience. It's kinda like 4 years of basic military training lite (but it's 4 years long.) You lose freedoms going to college rather than gaining them... Which is the entire reason going away to school is fun and awesome. Seriously, military training is not fun. On top of that once you finally get into the operational military Academy grads do not exactly have a great reputation. Some people seem to think they take themselves too seriously.

That said, if you want to fly military is definitely the way to go. Get a concrete science/technical bachelor's degree (engineering, science, math, something that's not communications) from any school you care to attend that offers it, and then apply towards the end of college. They'll usually accept you the fall or spring of your senior year. At least that's how the air force works, I can't say a whole lot for the USCG.



... okay I have to be honest, none of the other branches of the military take the coast guard seriously. Fun fact-- their entire yearly budget is less than the cost of one of the navy's aircraft carriers, or the cost of a couple B-2 stealth bombers. Just taking a wild guess here, but I bet you could find a 24 hour period where the USAF delivered more ordnance than the coast guard has in its entire history.

If you wanna fly, there's really only one way to go.