Dowling College vs SUNY Farmingdale vs ERAU

Did a quick search, FSC has about 6300 students (full and part time) and 500 dorms. So, 10% live on campus which I would think would be normal.

You need to understand the background or history with FSC. FSC for many years was more of a 2 year college with some 4 year programs. They still have 2 year programs, but now geared more towards 4 year programs. For most of it's history, FSC was a agricultural based college with some business and technical degree's. Most students start FSC and finished elsewhere.

Dowling has about 5500 students and 500 dorms, again about 10% live on campus. Dowling is a smaller campus compared to FSC so that is not surprising.

Dowling is generally known as one of several education colleges (creates teachers) and business degree's colleges. They also have Masters and Doctoral programs where FSC does not (not that it really matters). Most that start at Dowling also finish there.

I will agree that there is more to do around FSC versus Dowling. More variety at FSC versus Dowling, demographics at FSC is more diverse as well.

From a person who lived most of his life on LI (within 5 miles of Farmingdale). FSC was always considered a step above community colleges. Of the state schools on LI, it was considered on the lower tier, but still provided you an education to be successful.

Dowling is a private college, so you are paying for that. Is the education that much better? I don't think so, but that is my opinion.

Either way, you will get a decent education. Do you need to go to Long Island to get it? That is something you have to answer for yourself. That is the same question you should be asking for getting a PPL.

:yeahthat:

dondk hit the nail right on the head. Farmingdale does have a very community college, vocational-ed feel to it. After all, the full title o FSU is "Farmingdale State College of Agriculture and Technology of the State Univerity of New York". I am a commuter, but I can tell you for a fact that the dorm life at FSU is nothing to write home about. Its a ghostown on weekends.

If you're most worried about the price of tuition and flight training, Farmingdale wins hands down. If you're more interested in a better dorm life, and a "more real" college experience overall, I think Dowling wins. Dowling is also a traditional, small liberal arts college that will provides you with more course options (36 majors and many more minors) and also you have the ATC-CTI option as a backup. Another great option is you can minor in aviation flight while majoring in any major that you want.

I think you should go to the FSU (November 8) and Dowling (October 17) open houses and check them out for yourself. IMO, Dowling is probably the better option since you'll get more bang for your buck (I'm considering transferring there myself).

If anyone ever wants to visit Dowling aside from an open house, just PM me....

Hey youngflyer, are you a CFI at Dowling? If you are, man have I got questions for you. How many posts do I need to PM, anyway?

1) How long does it usually take, on average, to get from PPL to CFI? Is it common for pilot students to train during the winter and summer sessions?
2) How much must pilots deposit at the beginning of the semester for flight costs? At Farmingdale, the bursar will charge $7500 every semester to cover flight costs.
3)What planes does Dowling have and how many of them are multi-engine? Are there any single-engine complex airplanes?
4)Do all pilots who train at Dowling stay to become CFI's at Dowling? Do any head to ATP, FSA, to complete their ratings? There are several who do that at FSU.
5) How do Dowling CFI's arrange training schedules around students class schedules. At Farmingdale there is a block system consisting of 5 2-hour flight training sessions.
6) Is MidIslandAir cheaper to train at than Dowling?

I can't think of any more right now so thx A LOT for answering. It really helps!

OK... ANYONE can answer my above questions.

Cheers!

Well guys I've done two years at ERAU and its really not what they make it seem, I've taking the semester off and now i'm doing an internship with Continental Airlines, thats about all ERAU will get you is an internship, sorry to say dowling and FSC can't. But with the bad economy and lack of flying opportunities to build flight time, im looking to transfer to FSC for the spring semester. I'm a ny resident so I cant go wrong with 5 grand a year and all I have left to get is my CFI. After working with continental airlines for about 4 months now, I can truely say an AS degree doesnt make you have better than the other guy, so you are better off getting a degree that you can lean on.

I did my Private at FSU, at the time I was there, there was alot of negativety and alot of people wanted to get out. I changed my major to Aviation Admin and did my Instrument rating at a flight school on the field. Turned out to be very expensive and sometimes I had wished I stayed at Suny.

The aircraft are great, 2003 Warriors all with Garmin 430s. At the time I was there it was hard to schedule flights more then twice a week, had a hard time changing instructors, and alot of people had close to or over 100hrs when they got their Private, I had about 85hrs.

I am currently down in Florida with my Commercial Multi and Finishing up my Commercial Single. Coming down here was the best choice I couldve made, I got about 70hrs of multi time plus about 10hrs single. All in 2 1/2 months for a much cheaper price then I could anywhere in the Northeast.

Since I heard that Suny is much better now, and you dont need to be in the Professional Pilot Course to take flight courses, I am thinking about doing my CFI's there because I dont want to miss another semester of school, since I already missed the Fall Semester. Suny is probably one of the best choices in the NY area. It's definatly a place where I would love to work as a CFI, and from what I am hearing with all the changes going on, a great place for flight training in the Northeast.

Hate to say it, but you can usually apply to internships on your own. The school might have pre-arranged arrangements with airlines, but that is not stopping people from other schools from applying.

Apply all you want, but the chances of you getting that internship is slim to none, at least with a big airline. I'm not saying you have no chance but that's the way it is, they want the big names schools.