Sound Advice..

I recently was contacted by a friend for some information about my degree as her brother was thinking of doing the same.

I jotted off what became a fairly long email answering his questions. I am posting it just incase anyone finds it at all useful when selecting university degrees. I did an Undergraduate Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

Here it is;

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1) Did you enjoy it and if not, why not? - The best part of the degree for me, was finishing it. I would say that it was nothing short of four years of relentless torture. I really enjoyed the thought of knowing that i had finished one of the three most difficult degrees at one of the best universities in the country (not one of those joke degrees like ..... did, lol). There is a real sense of pride and achievement that goes along with it. But whilst on the degree i hated every second of it.

2) What did your friends on the course go into jobwise? - Aeronautical Engineers are generally socially inept, and there are only a limited few who are not like this, as a result i did not really have that many friends on the course, mostly people i would call colleagues or acquaintances. Most of my friends were from other degrees. The people however; the most socially inept, stayed on at the university in post graduate roles such as PhDs, etc. Then a handful went into the industry as engineers; these were with big companies, many of which you will recognise, such as Airbus, RR, Smiths, BAe, GE. A few did go into finance; this is generally a common career path for those who can, but because of the economic situation this was not the case. A few are following the pilot route.

3) How hard was the maths? - Very hard, very very hard. The maths was extremely difficult, but once you get the hang of it, it ends up being the subject that you get the highest marks in.

4) Did you do further maths A level? - I didn't do further maths at A level. At ...... having done further maths actually makes your life more difficult, as you have to do certain things. I would advise doing a more fun subject at A level than further maths. You will get more maths on the degree than you can shake a stick at; this is usually enough for most normal people.

5) Best/Worst bits -

Best bit - Finishing the degree

Worst bit - The rest of the degree, but you will find that it makes you appreciate the time you have for the fun things at university.

6) How practical vs academic was it? - Practical, not so much. It was very academic, it is just the nature of the degree. But it does set you up very well for the real world. If you mean practical as in 'hands on' then there is almost nothing. Except for a few things in the first year, such as the Wing build and design and build projects; which are more a chance to play with tools and balsa wood.

7) Would you consider any other jobs in the aero field other than piloting? - I probably wouldn't consider an engineering job in any industry, this is solely because i have been there done that and got a number of t-shirts, and it wasn't for me. I found it really had nothing that could inspire to want to work there (as an engineer). However, as mentioned above, some people love it and are engineers now. It is purely a personal preference. You may enjoy it. Something a bit more hands on is for me, hence the piloting.

Hope that helps.

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If anyone has any further questions, please get in touch..