Test Pilot School Admission

[RedFive]

Also great is Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. Free online copy...

That's an amazing book, we used it freshman year for Intro Aero. Too bad it doesn't get used in flight school anymore. Powerpoint for all my friends!

 

[PilotEngineer]

Times are evolving. I know of remote learning PhD programs too. Colorado State University has one in Systems Engineering that is going well. Good fits are people with day jobs that they can use to pose a thesis-worthy problem against.

OP, if you’ve not seen these before, you can get a sense of the math needed to understand the curriculum. Interesting to read for their own sake.

USNTPS Alumni Assoc - Document Library

www.usntpsalumni.com

Also great is Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. Free online copy...

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/00-80t-80.pdf

Thanks! That covers a lot I didn't see in my past aerodynamics and flight dynamics courses.

 

[PilotEngineer]

FWIW, I got into TPS with a 3.0 undergrad engineering degree and no masters. It is possible. Of the guys in my class, about 50% had a masters from what I can recall. Regarding degree selection, I think your major is fine, although higher GPAs are obviously better. The board looks at what classes you took, and they really want to make sure you have the academic background to progress through the syllabus.

The #1 prereq is getting into flight school. Focus on that first. Then focus on quals, flight time, and solid performance in flight school and the fleet. All that matters more than anything you can do to change your GPA as a college senior. There's time after your first fleet tour to get an MS if you want.

Thanks for the advice! It seems like a lot of its out of my control, so I'll just focus on doing the best I can.

 

[AllAmerican75]

Admittedly, I'm neither in industry nor looking to be at the moment, but I don't know anyone with a truly technical MS earned remotely. Systems Engineering/Engineering Mgmt is one thing; Mech, Aero, EE, etc. are another. Even NPS doesn't offer every MS remotely (see Operations Research).

My resident MS in SE is no different than other TPS grads' remote MS on paper, and I think that's appropriate given how heavy the coursework was on PM, cost, etc. and what the Navy expects me to do with the degree. If I wanted to actually do engineering work (not engineering mgmt or programmatics), I'd want a resident program (with lab work, etc.)

Distance and night school Masters are very common and often have little in the way of lab work. Over the last ten years or so, there's been a rise in Masters in Engineering, which are targeted at engineers in industry looking to expand their professional knowledge and skills. These often do not have a thesis attached to them or any of the academia klaptrap needed to prepare for a PhD but are based upon group and capstone projects. These programs are still ABET accredited which is what really matters at the end of the day.

Honestly, a Masters really only matters if you have a reason to get it.

 

[taxi1]

The ideal MS comes when you actually have an intellectual thirst for the material and aren’t just bagging a credential. When that is the case, it shines through in discussions, interviews, and performance too.

Best of luck, OP.

 

[Jim123]

The ideal MS comes when you actually have an intellectual thirst for the material and aren’t just bagging a credential. When that is the case, it shines through in discussions, interviews, and performance too.

In the event of a lack of intellectual thirst, there are interview prep services to coach you in faking it.



(Wait, should I have written that in sarcasm?)

 

[HAL Pilot]

The ideal MS comes when you actually have an intellectual thirst for the material and aren’t just bagging a credential. When that is the case, it shines through in discussions, interviews, and performance too.

Best of luck, OP.

That’s what people in academia say. In the real world, not so much.

(Does that meet your non-censorship criteria whichever mod deleted my first response for including a well know saying?)

 

[Dontcallmegump]

That's an amazing book, we used it freshman year for Intro Aero. Too bad it doesn't get used in flight school anymore. Powerpoint for all my friends!

Only time any of that material is even nodded to is in API during the week and a half they have classes on aero it would be impossible for the studs to pick it up or the instructors to do it much justice.

When I went though I remember thinking most of the concepts I learned from ANA were simplified to the point of being wrong.

 

[taxi1]

That’s what people in academia say. In the real world, not so much.

So in the “real world” it’s all about just bagging a credential? Might as well buy it from a diploma mill and save the brain cells.

 

[Mos]

So in the “real world” it’s all about just bagging a credential? Might as well buy it from a diploma mill and save the brain cells.

In the real world, wanting to learn and wanting to boost one's credentials aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[IKE]

In the real world, wanting to learn and wanting to boost one's credentials aren't mutually exclusive.

He didn't say they were, just that the best MS is the result of a self-motivated intellectual pursuit.

 

[HAL Pilot]

So in the “real world” it’s all about just bagging a credential? Might as well buy it from a diploma mill and save the brain cells.

Most people get a Master’s to improve their employment prospects, qualifications or salary. Very few do it for purely intellectual sake.

Or they just got their Bachelor’s and realize:
A. They got a worthless degree and need a better one for a job
B. They don’t want to go to the real world yet, especially if parents are paying.
C. A few that do have intellectual curiosity. Unfortunately many of these are the “those that can’t” in the “Those that can do, those that can’t teach” saying.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Don't think a typical MS/MA is the ticket to teaching higher ed, but I get what you mean. I've thought about doing it, and have jumped back and forth between a cookie cutter MBA and something more interesting (Econ or ENGR being top of list for me). Right now, I'm the only person in the immediate family (i.e. parents, in-laws, wife, brother/sister) who doesn't have a masters level ed, and this seems like a good intermission in life to do it, when I'm guessing the future will interfere if I don't do it now. I'm sure I won't be blowing my GI Bill on whatever type rating makes a dude competitive in the upcoming few years, ala 2003-201X.

 

[Griz882]

I did my graduate work as a purely intellectual pursuit...hell, as a historian you have too. When I taught my advice to young students was...don’t do it if you think you are going to work in academia because you aren’t. Your chances of getting jets in the Navy are better than your chances of getting a tenure track job - especially in the field of history (and most others for that matter). Now, I am proud of my post-graduate work. It was hard, it took a at lot of time and dedication, it made a difference in how I approach things and has landed me some great work. That said, it is worth noting that the only reason I allowed myself the luxury was because Uncle Sam was willing to foot the bill in exchange for part-time service.

I think an MS in engineering or other hard science is a great idea if that is the field you are working in. The intellectual rigor does indeed look good on a resume. A PhD is a waste of time in any hard science unless you want to work in academia...and you won’t.

 

[taxi1]

Most people get a Master’s to improve their employment prospects, qualifications or salary. Very few do it for purely intellectual sake.

We're actually in agreement a lot. Believe me, universities sell nothing if not credentialing. Brand is everything.

I'm not saying do it purely for the intellectual sake. I am saying you'll get a lot more out of it when you show up with that too. Takes too much time and money to waste it.

(Unless Uncle Sam is paying for it and you just rolled off of sea duty and are looking forward to spending some time with the spouse and the kids.)

In short, come when you're ready. You'll get more out of it.

By the way, most PhDs don't teach full time or go into academia. Those that do (in the sciences) don't get promoted for being good teachers.

A PhD is a waste of time in any hard science unless you want to work in academia...and you won’t.

I tell anyone who asks that going for a PhD isn't a rational decision.