.
There is obviously something you fail to understand being airline pilot candidate -
Besides working on "your" private pilot license for... 5 years -

You DO NOT have any choice...
It is IMPOSSIBLE to say "I want to work with American or Southwest" -

You will be extremely lucky to get a job as pilot with a commuter/regional airline -
You know, the little airlines that make you believe you fly for "Delta" or "United" -
These little airlines will pay you a salary of less than $20,000/year -

For (real) airlines... do not have false dreams (which will turn to nightmares) -
Maybe if you are ex-Air Force or Navy pilot, your chances are good -
If you are a GAP (general aviation pilot) - do not dream becoming a captain 787 -

Collage (spell it college, with an E, please) -

Further... do you confuse spelling "carrier" or "career" - Not the same animal -
I think you do not have a dictionary at home... is English your native language...?

Do not waste your time and money for an aviation degree at Embry-Riddicule -
Aviation degrees are worthless - They do not help you get hired as airline pilot -

So if Alaska, or Frontier airlines offer you a job, lucky bastard - TAKE IT -

My advice - if you want to be a pilot, make a CAREER with the Air Force or Navy -
And after you retire, get a Gulfstream rating and fly corporate jets -
Forget the airlines, they are no longer worth it -
High salaries, fringe benefits and pension plans are dwindling -

Or go to China - Learn to speak Mandarin -
They pay decently, and that country will be the leading world nation as of 2030 -

You will need your hot air balloon to fly over the pile of cash Disney will extract from you, either in licence fees if they were prepared to allow them, which is very doubtful, or in damages if you don't ask.

They defend their intellectual property like a mother bear with cubs!

In the very beginning, pilots did, indeed, learn by building themselves an aircraft and launching forth on their own, some succeeded and some didn't.

It was often a case of which would fail first, the pilot or the airplane and the honours were fairly equally divided.

The very first flying school was started at Brooklands, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1909 run by a Mr Colyns Pizey and Frederick Warren-Merriam, who also has the distinction of being the first pilot to successfully fly in cloud.

This was only six years after the Wright Brothers flew and since aircraft had only just started scale production, most pilots have always been taught by instructors, pretty much from the start of the aviation industry.