Should I enroll in a CTI School?

neo Newcomer

Hey everyone. Like most of you, I'll be applying for pubnat9 if and when it comes out. I'm in the OTS category, as I have no experience in the field and have not gone to an AT-CTI school.

I did go to a university though and have a bachelors degree, along with 5 years of full time work experience. I wanted to know what kind of chance i have realistically of getting into the program, if pubnat9 were to come around.

Also, I'll be 28 in May, and am considering starting at an accredited AT-CTI school, as the clock to 31 is ticking. Should I seriously consider enrolling, or wait for a bit. Thanks for reading this, and i appreciate any feedback. I'm glad this forum exists.

Cirrus12 Epic Member So. NH

If you really want the job go CTI. You don't have time for military and OTS is about the furthest thing there is from a sure thing, no mater what you're qualifications.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

Your situation describes where I was when I applied to PUBNAT3 to a T. Same degree, same work experience, same age.

Statistically speaking, you're out of luck -- the FAA doesn't provide them. But they have made clear their hiring preferences and have mentioned some predicted numbers. Combine those with hiring trends, training slowdowns, and so on, and the odds of getting picked up as an OTS candidate aren't great.

You're not going to get specific odds, but most everyone who's been around here for a while and have absorbed enough information to offer an informed opinion (which is often what we have to rely on in the hiring process) agrees that it's sunk to less than a 1 in 3 chance. My own guess is probably between one and three to one in four -- don't quote me on it, as it's just speculation -- and it can very easily be much lower than that. Of course, if things change or there's more going on in the background than we know about, it may be higher, too. The FAA is notoriously unpredictable when it comes to hiring. But after all those caveats, a lot of us here have spent much more time than we'd like to admit trying to figure it out through collaborating, writing and calling people, and scouring the internet and FAA documentation for clues. We're not always right, but we often are.

Anyway. Combine that with your age, and you should weigh the risks carefully. Your age becomes locked in once you receive your tentative offer letter (TOL), but that may be as much as a year from the application date. Sure, that leaves you two years short of the age cutoff, but what if you have to wait until a later PUBNAT? What if there's a hitch in processing your application? What if a glitch on their side or a clerical error on yours drops you out altogether and sends you back to square one? They've all been known to happen.

Were I in your shoes -- and this is just me -- I'd consider looking at one of the faster CTI programs. You can get through some in a year's time if you already have a degree, and many are relatively inexpensive. The odds of getting picked up as a CTI are much greater, so long as you get a good AT-SAT score (and most people here do). And while it adds on an extra year till you can apply CTI, you can continue to do PUBNATs in the meantime.

Anyway, just my two cents. Just have to weigh how much you want the job, how much risk you want to take, how much time you're willing to commit, and several other factors. Kind of a headache, eh?

GolfJuliet F*** Terrorism

That's pretty much what I was gonna say. Vaughn's fast track program takes a year to do online, CCBC can be done in one year if you already have your PPL, and I'm pretty sure there are 1 or 2 more that I'm not thinking of right now.

neo Newcomer

I really appreciate your feedback everyone: cirrus12, rosstafari, golfjuliet, jholw311. much needed, and thanks for taking the time to post.

it would be in my best interest to apply to a CTI school, and hopefully get on the fast track to finish up as soon as i can, applying for pubnats as they come up. there's no gaurentees being OTS, so this is the safest thing i can do, while getting the training and education i need anyway.

i appreciate your thorough response rosstafari. you obviously have a lot of experience with this, and you really made me see that fast track CTI school is the most intelligent option right now.

jholw311 have you started online courses with vaughn yet? let me know what you think of it. good luck man.

GolfJuliet F*** Terrorism

You do know there is no guarantee with CTI either right? CTI is one of those things where your not guaranteed, but your pretty much guaranteed. I read somewhere that about 75% of CTI students end up making it and actually get a job, considerably more than your OTS chances, but you must also consider the number of students who get DQ'd for medical, background, etc...

ryount45 Newcomer northern illinois

im Much younger than the op, just had my 22nd birthday so the stress of the age clock really isnt a factor but im kinda in the same boat of thinking about going CTI while waiting on the Pubnat's. Does anyone have a general idea of what a 2 year degree costs? I am over weight but in good health. I do wear glasses and just squeaked by my 3rd class medical(PPL) However I have since gotten a new prescription

RdRunnr12 Site Editor

To what magazine? One with big letters?

Sorry, saw that and had to say something. Seriously though, make sure you are corrected to 20/20. They really will fail you (medically) if your glasses/contacts don't correct you to that level. No point in wasting money on CTI tuition if that will be an issue.

About the CTI thing, all the school's have their tuition/fees schedule listed on their websites. I know there are some that are really expensive (embry riddle) and some that are a little more reasonable. There's 31 of them out there now, so find one that fits your eye and make some phone calls. Time is on your side!

ryount45 Newcomer northern illinois

lol Hey my spelling sucks as well as my grammar but it is what it is, i've tried to get better and just not good at it. As I said I passed my vision with glasses that were 4 years old. The new ones are definitely better, just something I have to do a better job keeping up on.

GolfJuliet F*** Terrorism

Embry Riddle, UND, LeTourneau..all the private university's will run you about $25-30k a year easy. Idk about all of them bc I haven't looked into them but I know CCBC(Where I am going) is like $8,500 a year. BTW I got these numbers off of collegeboard.com, they are reliable and they figure a year as two semesters hence those prices are for two semesters.