How hard is it to become a pilot?

I'm not sure whether I want to pursue law or aviation. I'm aware of the whole process for law school but I'm looking into a flight program at my current university. The program is FAA accredited and grants a Private Pilot license as well as a Commercial license, of course if you pass all the tests and courses. I love to travel and I'm fascinated by airplanes. However, I heard a lot of pilots don't make it to the airlines and their license turned out to be a waste of money. Is this true or is that only for certain situations?

Go for the law degree. You can always take flight lessons AFTER you become a successful lawyer and have a comfortable disposable income.

That's never going to get you a job with airlines. They hire Air Force, Navy, etc, pilots with years of training, experience & flight hours in jets. There are plenty of military pilots for airlines, helicopters, commuter lines, etc. You will ONLY be eligible to fly your own plane, or perhaps some executive service (IF you ever get several thousand hours of flight-time).

What you are looking at is strictly small-time, small planes.

Facts -

An ''FAA accredited'' flight school is meaningless to an aviation employer such as an airline. Ulike professions such as law or engineering it does not matter where you go to school or learn to fly. The only exception is military flight training but that comes with a iniu ten year military commitment. What matters is the experience you gain after obtaining the required certificates.

A commercial license with instrument rating is the bare minimum entry-level qualification for a job. An airline transport pilot certificate [ATP] is required to work for an airline - even a regional airline - or to obtain most corporate or medevac positions. The pilots working in entry level flying jobs as flight instructors or tour pilots don't even get paid half of what a clerk in a law office earns. It can take years to obtain a decent paying position with good seniority and pay - sometimes as long as it takes to become a full partner in a law firm and at a lower income.

''Travel'' as a pilot isn't all what people think it is - on trips you get to spend most of your non-flying hours at airports and in airport shuttles and in hotels and hotel restaurants - not as a sight-seeing tourist. Layovers rarely allow that. Work days aren't just 8 hours - they are typically 10-14 hours long and you can expect to work weekends and holidays and all sorts of odd hours that normal workers aren't subjected to.

And as a pilot you will be subjected to continuous scrutiny as in no other profession. One screw-up and it could severely hurt your advancement or end a career altogether. So could a serious medical issue. There are also mandatory annual and bi-annual refresher training and flight checks to be passed throughout your career and for every change in aircraft type and when upgrading from copilot to captain. The pressure to perform at a high standard of competence never relaxes so if you don't do well in tests or under pressure it's not a career for you.

Unless you can't imagine doing anything else because you are that infatuated with it, I'd suggest keeping flying as a hobby instead of making it a profession. Yes, it can be a great occupation but it's a pyramid scheme - there are a few good jobs at the top and a lot of not so good jobs at the bottom.

Been there, done that.