On May 27, 7:54*am, chd wrote:

...What motivated me to be an aero engineer was a desire to
design aircraft...

In my own direct experience, I've found a relatively weak correlation
between engineering credentials and actual design ability. It's there,
but it's not as strong as you'd expect or want.

If you want a career as any sort of aircraft designer outside of the
established industry, you end up having to bootstrap yourself somehow.
You will have trouble getting gigs, especially paying gigs, until you
can demonstrate your ability in a very tangible way such as with a
prototype that shows how you approach and conquer the various
challenges. But how do you finance that first project with no paying
customer? It's a chicken-and-egg thing that calls for an act of faith
and some out-of-pocket investment.

Thanks, and good luck!

Bob K.