Looking for a school. Any Advice?

Hey!
I am in high school and am exploring colleges. I had thought about Wyotech but from what I gather, I'm better off somewhere else. I am looking at the Hot Rod Institute and Lincoln Tech. If it helps at all, I am looking for somewhere that has a collision/auto tech, and maybe even a good diesel/heavy equipment program.
Thanks for the input guys, thought I'd ask the best before the rest!

Jake

 

i didn't go to either school , so i won't comment on them.... i got most of my education from the School of Hard Knocks

 

go to real college. get a 4 year degree. I went to a 2 year auto program, I still couldn't get a job changing oil. consider a mechanical engineering degree, its a lot harder but the payoff will be better in the long run. if you have to go to a vocational school, I would suggest the heavy equip/diesel stuff I guess.

ohh yea, I am now 3 years into an electrical engineering program. I knew the 2 year thing wasnt going to count for shit, but I had to build up some college grade cred before a real institution would let me in.

whatever you do, go to fafsa.gov <--$ for school.

 

Trinidad State in Colorado. ASE certification at the end. If the school you choose doesn't give the test for ASE cert. then run quickly! Any school with the cert. at end will mean a good school, and you'll have no problem getting a job once you've got the ASE cert.

 

I would suggest going to a community college, and going through their automotive courses.

 

ASE certification ? ASK SOMEONE ELSE !
The price of school & no job after finishing , don't add up.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

Search here wyotech uti and similar terms you will learn a lot that way

Poverty leaves an impression

 

HRI is a good school. Jamie, the welding instructor and many students are here on the HAMB. Any questions on Rapid City ask me, he is willing to give you the 411 on the school. Feel free to PM me. Trent

 

4 year degree from a reputable university. Engineering preferred if your so inclined.
Study hard. Learn it. Be very open minded. Then learn more. Learn automation if that will trip your trigger. Then learn more. Soak everything in like a sponge.

After 5-10 years of working gaining experience you will have a much greater appreciation of how business and the world works. Maybe start a business later on...

When your making very good money you can buy or make whatever hot rod you want.

Leave the two year schools alone.

My opinion. ( I did the above. It works. Work hard! )

Good luck!

 

Where are you? We have some good trade schools here in Georgia. They even offer internships to get your foot in the real world.

I went to a 4 year college for education- I wish they had let me play around in the welding department- A lot of times, if you pick a major you are not allowed to get into classes you may want.

 

Thanks for the input fellas! The only reason I am looking at trade schools and tech schools is because my family has always been mechanics: Grandpa was a 30 year Sears mechanic with certifications out the wazoo, all my cousins are in Heavy Equipment, My uncles are all engineers and managers of big business, and my old man is a precision tooling engineer. My dad has a 4 year Journeyman's Cert.. I was thinking of going that route. Harder than heck but still looked at as a college degree of sorts and a big deal in the eyes of machinists.

 

I would check out University of Northwestern Ohio (www.unoh.edu). They offer a Diploma's, Associate's, Bachelor's and even Masters in Auto tech. They also require you to take ASE's before you graduate. They don't have a collision/auto body but they do offer diesel and even high performance.

Oh and they have some cool teachers that even build straight axle cars and love hot rods......

 

You would be doing good to look at the 2 or 4 year program at Pittsburg State University, ( in KANSAS) they have a great program that also includes diesel/heavy equip and the auto body/collision your are interesed in.
They have gotten my money for a few years, i think that you would like it too. If you want, i can send you info on it as i know most of the people etc.

http://www.pittstate.edu/department/auto/about-the-department/index.dot

jason

 

If you go the trade school route, do a ton of careful research before you pick one. I've worked with a lot of guys who came out of UTI who know everything in the world about electronics theory, etc. but they can't do a brake job. I've heard questionable things about the practices WyoTech teaches as well. Then again a close friend of mine got an excellent education from WyoTech.

Keep in mind most of these trade schools are after your money, and a lot of it. You probably can get the same or better education from a community college for a lot less dough. There may even be a shop or dealership who will offer an apprentice-type job, so you can learn the best way possible - with experience.

As many have said, go for a 4-year university degree in engineering or whatever interests you. You can always get a job turning wrenches once you get out. But you will have the education and the paper if you decide to change careers.

I've been a professional mechanic for almost 20 years now, and I've found that my body giving out (knee and back problems) and the stress of the flat rate pay aren't worth it to me any more. So I'm back to school, pursuing an engineering degree at 37 years old, and trying to support a wife and two kids at the same time. You don't wanna find yourself in my shoes.

 

If you are dead set on being a mechanic and think that education is a must maybe you should consider a UAW Apprenticeship. I know that some of the fellas on here have graduated from hot rod school but when you get done as a rule you are going to do the same as serving an apprenticeship anyway.

Its just a thought. You will no doubt sort it out when the time comes.

 

Take it from me.....

Do what you love to do because you want to wake up everyday and want to go to work.

Here is my story, read it so you dont end up doing what I did...

I was doing what I loved to do (machinist welder fabricator) but thought I "could do better". So I continued with junior college studying computer drafting. From there I got interested in architecture and thought I might become an Architech. Found out what I needed to become an Architech and decided "ahh, maybe not for me". So I looked into construction management (thought I would learn up on the biz and become a house flipper). I then transfered to a 4 year university to study construction management. After coming to reality and realising I was not cut out for this in Soooo many ways I ended my first year at college in a failure.
So I regrouped and decided I needed to do what I enjoy and I loved shop work and teaching, so I went on and changed my major to Agriculture Education where I would become a High School Ag Mechanics teacher. After spending 4.5 years at that university (which was the time of my life!!!!!!) I got to the point where I just wanted to get to work and stop going to school. So I decided to skip getting the teaching credential and just finish my BS degree and return home and get a job with a vineyard farming company (grow the grapes that make the wine). I grew up around vineyards and a some of my friends had job with them so I joined the crowd. After an internship and a scouting job I was offered a great position at a farming company (they were looking for sombody that had little experiance and was looking for more that they could pay less than the regular wage due to the economy). I make good enough money and get a truck to drive everyday with good benifits. Seems great! Well I spend 80% of my day hating it and wondering what the f#$k im doing with a job that consumes so much of my life. Five out of the six days I work I want to quit but and just start over. I would rather get paid less and do something that i love or do something that is not that bad and only requires me to go to work 40hrs a week and not have work follow me home.
So the other day the High School in town asked me to come in and talk about what we are doing in the vineyards now. I enjoied every minuet of it and realised I need to quit screwing around and do what I wanted to do, and use all my talents and teach them to others. So I contacted my old university and am looking at what its going to take to get back on track to becoming a Ag mechanics teacher. Wish me luck!

I only told you this, not to bitch about my job, but to show you how one can get off track and end up in a hole. Do what you want to do even if its not a high paying job.

 

I agree with this^

 

Tech schools are a disappointment if you think your going to graduate and get a big paying job that they promise you. at least the first couple years you cost a company money since you wont have the experience to be efficient . im not a recruiter but the Airforce has one of the best heavy diesel equipment programs. i have watched a lot of young men get out and land high paying diesel mechanic jobs after they have finished there commitment. you will get all the experience you need and a free education. a lot of employers look at military applicants first. you can get all of your ASE certifications while on active duty and they pay for it. its not bad for a job that feeds you and clothes you but don't expect a free hair cut , even in basic they charge you for that lol.

 

This decision all depends on what you want to do with your life. There are exceptions to any rule, think about sports, how many people that were good in sports in school got wealthy (or well off) by playing in the pros? Same with cars, some have gotten wealthy (rich) off what we do, most just do it because we love it and survive the best we can.
If money is your main goal, and don't get me wrong it's damn hard to live without money, go to a 4 year college and work your butt off then do hot rods as a hobby. If you want a little more laid back work environment stay with cars but your life will be much harder survival wise.
I have taught at some auto schools, I won't say which ones because I still have friends that work in them, and my advice is to go to a community college (MUCH cheaper) take their auto programs and beg a shop to let you apprentice. You will be soooo much further ahead without the huge tuition bill to pay back.
The best piece of advice I will give you is to NOT go to work with a chip on your shoulder!!!!!!!!!!!! you are LEARNING from the shop employees. GOD gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason, listen twice as much as you talk, don't tell them what you can do, show them.
I will now step down from my soap box!
the coupeman36

 

Seems like alot of those guys that go to UTI and wyo-tech all come back with big hard-ons for snap-on tools. They may be nice tools but dont get sucked in and owe the snap-on guy for the rest of your life.

 

I teach a high school auto tech lab in Sealy Texas. If you were in Texas here are the choices I give my students.
1. TSTC(Texas State Technical College)
2. San Jacinto Jr College
3 Wyotech

I prefer for good students to get a 2 yr associates degree. That way if later on you decide like me that you are smarter than many of the guys you meet who do have a 4 yr degree and you give it a go, you now have 2 years out of the the way, and a way to pay for future education too(that is what I did) Plus in Texas the tuition for a resident is about 7000 bucks for 2 yrs. Beats the heck out of 25 grand.
Both TSTC and San Jac offer help and have 2 yr programs. That is what I recommend. I bet where ever you are there is a similar deal.
The 3rd choice is wyotech. I have had several students go there and do quite well. They are all making more money than me and like what they do. They were all really good students and would have succeeded no matter what they did. I did have one student go to Wyotech and not do so well. He was not a premier student for me and it showed later. He did blame his failure on the school and everybody else....He could look in the mirror anytime and find the real reason for failure. He had a sorry attitude from the start.
Basically if you are motivated you will succeed. Don't give up, have a positive attitude, work hard, show up for work/school on time everyday and have a smile on your face, don't hang out in the lounge/whine club and listen to the guys complain about how unfair things are.
If you do those things and like what you do you will always have work.

 

OP, you still haven't given a location. I'm also an instructor and have nothing against the "for profit" schools like Wyo, Lincoln and UTI except they are EXPENSIVE! So I think their value is poor.

If you have a local community college that is NATEF (ASE) certified then it's teaching the same material as those "for profit" schools.
It looks like I'm a neighbor to fossilfish and agree; working hard with the right attitude is one key to success. In my own career I work in many positions and the automotive industry has been very good to me.

 

I get a kick from the Wyotec ads,"get on the fast track to making money" Yeah, right!

 

im a graduate of Hot Rod Institute. You arent going to get any collision or diesel info from these guys. all the instructors are amazing at what they teach and about 80% of the time is spent in the shop on your vehicle, if they have enough room. when i went thru there was 5-8 people in each class which allowed for alot of different projects. Kyle the admissions guy is always willing to take a person on the tour of the shops. the classes are work at your own pace, if you dont know how to weld expect to be sitting at the welding table until you got it down. if you have any more guestions please send me a PM.

 

If you are mechanically inclined, go after a four year engineering degree. If you still want to work on cars, do it on the side. Cars are changing so much, they are almost to the point that it takes an electrical engineer to work on them.

 

A coworker of mine, her son went to UNOH for two years, upon graduation he was hired by the local Chevy dealership, he's making good money on the flatrate fixing late model cars.

 

You are young and basically knowing what you want to do and smart enough to ask. Stay away from Wyo-tech-U.T.I. and The Diesel Institute types of rip-off schools. Promise you the world,charge you a fortune,give after you pay some tools,promise you placement in a job that normally is 2000 miles from nowhere. Had a young kid come in the shop,had a bunch of fancy tools,went to diesel institute,had a truck in the shop with a shutting down problem. Told him show us what you learned.After an hour he was ready to give up,asked him if he checked the cam sensor. His responce was they didn't teach us that in the school. As everybody else has suggested go to a reputable school,the money today in diesel and gas cars and trucks is in the diagnostics and computers on the vehicles. Half the repairs I do anymore ,hell, no wrenches needed,just a laptop and programming or resetting stuff.

 

If you want to be a tech go to uti if you want to build hotrods your dumb and will end up broke but wyotech is the best hot rod fab school. I went to wyotech and got a good job with a good builder. pretty much everyone in my class went on to do very well in the hot rod field. The problem is the tool type business men who pay to have their cars built dont have the extra cash anymore to fund them a lot of hot rod shops are laying people off. Sure I can build hot rods but I also have a huge student loan I had to pay off. It was very good training but if you want to just be a mechanic go to junior college or UTI. Better yet if your family are all mechanics get them to teach you. or even better go to school for something other than cars you will just end up broke lol. With the way the economy is now Im happy in the army getting regular pay checks that I in turn wast on car lol

 

also something to keep in mind for everyone who is bashing Tech Shools. Its not the 50's or 60's anymore in very few cases can you just walk into a shop an say " my pa taught me to work on cars" an get a job you may be shop bitch but nothing worth while. Bosses want to see your education on paper they wanna know who they are going to hire. Ive seen skilled workers passed by for a new kid with a degree who didnt know half as much Its not rite but its the way it is.

 

How's about this?
Go to a state school or even a com college if money is an issue (which it always is) and go for a small business degree... In a few years (keep your credit good) start your own shop as the owner and have family work for you! Win-win in my book, and heck if you get sick off your family you will know how and when to fire them!!