Thoughts about WyoTech?

Damn thing didnt work here are the rest of my pics.




I did this in 5 weeks, with 7 weeks of learning. It is chopped 6", back windows only 3" shorter. I had made the bottoms ofmy doors to rid the rust, repaired the front fenders, shaved the marker lights and seams on the hood, am making hidden hinges for the rear doors, making new floor pans, and much more all i learned at wyotech. Thanks again Brick.

 

Nice job BRICK!!!! You put something in and you get something out, I hope you get a great job. Rick

 

yeah i went to wyotech and im glad i did. I learned a ton expecially in the rod class. I just got a job up north in edmonton in a custom/body shop and am enjoying it so far. Just trying to get some experience now and learn all i can on the real projects that come in.

 

I am actually on the advisory committee for street rod and custom fab classes in both Wyoming and PA. I thought it was expensive till I went there the first time, they really have all the best tools and eqipment. No, I didn't go there(couldn't afford it). They have some very top notch teachers and some ...well...most all I have seen in the chassis and street rod are the good ones. I always say"just because you went to medical school don't make you a good doctor" the same goes with this, there are some very capable guys comming out of there, there are also some very questionable ones, but some of them also probably can not tie their shoes either, if a shop is thinking about hiring someone from there do call and talk to an instructor, if you can't get a hold of the right one let me know I can help get to the right people. Also if someone has a bitch or something they think they need to be teaching them let me know and I can bring it up at a committee meeting, I have to go to the PA campus next week.

 

I thought about going there right out of HS... My folks weren't so impressed and I went to school for a couple of business degrees. I enjoyed that a good bit. But I presisted, so, out of school I went to a vo-tech school for auto body because I couldn't afford Wyotech, and also worked as a mechanic, and worked in a body shop... My skills are above rookie level AND the money SUCKS. How much do they promise you to make after sinking $30K into an education? I enjoy the work but I have got to EAT. You can't live to well on $8.00 an hour, especially after a $30K student loan. For flat rate, you have to break your back to make a good living, that's ok when your 20, not when your 50...Those are very worthy skills - but in most professions, you are paid based on experience, not on a diploma, especially in mechanics and auto body. Scratching out a living sucks, I'll develop my skills on my own project cars, it's better than working on other people's crap and being too tired to bother with your own stuff. I know I am on the other side of the spectrum, but don't gobble up all those empty promises. If you enjoy it as a hobby, you might hate it as a job.

It's just something to think about. Don't always have your mind set on one thing.

 

Looks like they I have gotten a little lapsed on attendence since I graduated in 2001. If you missed more then three days you were gone for the rest of the course with no refunds. Good school but take a look at Virginia Tech. www.vctechnical.com The head street rod instructor at wyotech went there after wyo was sold to corinthian college.It is a very good school and cheaper then wyo.

 

Badpanel, that's a BAD Panel! Sweet! It's also great to know that you developed these skills at school. It pretty much validates my decision.

Well, to update everyone, I put down my tuition deposit for an April class date. I'm doing Collision/Refinishing, Street Rod/Fabrication, and Chassis Fab/High Perf Engines. One year for everything. I already have a bachelors degree so I decided to go for the diploma in the hard skills instead of the degree.

I've heard good things about other schools (including VaTech) but I'm going to WyoTech because I currently live in Denver and it'll be convenient to come home from Laramie on the weekends.

The grand plan is to come out of school with the basic skills, buy into an auto body shop, and do hot rods on the side. Pretty much the same dream as millions of other guys, but that's the plan anyway.

In the meantime, I'll work on my Bantam altered project and do some other projects on the side (like paint my daughter's jr dragster). I'm looking forward to school, but I know it'll just be the beginning.

 

rodbuilder, you do know what they call a Doctor who graduated with a "C" dont you???.........DOCTOR!

A joke son, I say a joke". I agree with your post.

Any education you can accquire is NOT wasted money. You can "get by" with "on job training" but you usually work for the lamest person there or the one who need the most help.

What do I know? Nothing. I'm just an old hotrodder who has "got by" all my life.

IMO you can get a degree in basket weaving and still land a good job IF you try hard enough.

Tommy Mc

 

I am about a week away from graduating from the PA campus. I took the automotive program and the street rod and chassis fab courses also.The school might be worth the time and money, depending on what you want to do with your skills. If you want to be a dealer mechanic, its probably OK, but if you don't know how to rebuild an engine before you come to the school, you probably won't be able to do it afterwards. Someone who didn't know better might think you could fix every problem w/ a DVOM and a wiring diagram. There are huge gaps in the curriculum.

The street rod and custom fab class gives you preety much theory only. They might have some nice equipment, but I've never actually seen anyone use their power hammer, so what good is it? Obviously some of this has to do with the instrucors you get and how much you put into it, but I think a big part of the problem is that Wyotech is now focusing on being a business rather than a school. They pack as many students in as they can, and if you're not really learning anything, that's alright, they've got your money.

Recruiters: These guys are great. They are independant contractors that get paid per student who actually registers. They don't know what goes on at the school and they will tell you anything to get you here. ,The tours they give at the school are even worse, since they know what's going on. I've stood two feet away from a tour guide and listened to him flat out lie to twenty kids and their parents.

As far as the housing goes in PA, every landlord you find through the school is way overpriced for this area. Abouy half of the places I've seen are shitty and half are OK, but if you can't come look, its just luck of the draw. If you're able, try finding housing through the local classified ads. I've paid $325/month for a small room w/ shared everything else. A friend of mine had a two bedroom apt. to himself for $275/month about 15 mins. from school.
WHEW! Sorry, guess that's been building for awhile. Anyone W/ specific questions about the school who has managed to read this far can PM me.

 

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So it is Harpoon that mde me Duct Tape 3 monitors together to read this thread?! Tie him to the bumper and drag him!


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lol, thats what I was thinking

Do you know toby wuarez?

 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So it is Harpoon that mde me Duct Tape 3 monitors together to read this thread?! Tie him to the bumper and drag him!


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lol, thats what I was thinking

Do you know toby wuarez?

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yeah i know toby we killed him last night, tied him to the bumper and dragged him...

 

i honestly have to say i seriously agree with you my friend, i was really looking forward to goin to wyo tech this up cuming term, i have a recruiter coming out here sunday to talk with my mom about it, bt it was wayyyyy before i knew about any of this that i considered goin there,
my hair is one of the things that i value the most , i just started growin it nd i dont plain on cutting it for noone unless they payin me good to, i have tattoos , i have piercings, you know, when i look at being a mechanic i think who gives a shit how u look when you cum to work , long as ur the best at what you do nd you get the job done thats all that should matter, who the fuck cums to get there hands dirty in a suit nd tie with a clean cut?
nd u mean to tell me i have to change my personal features, when im payiing u a shit load of money, psssss yea right fuk dats da most dumbest shit i have ever heard like really,
can i ask you, what school did u go to?
and how has it made u successful? , because changing my lifestyle nd worth me cumin out of my own pocket
nd im willing to see what theschool you went to offered over this shit.

 

Are you wanting to go to school to be a fabricator or a PORNSTAR???

Wyotech is great in theory. When I first became a partner in our shop, I was all about Wyotech grads. They went to school for HOT RODS for God's sake. They should be the best employees you could ever hope for! Hahahahaha! Boy was I WRONG. Only 1 of them has ever turned out to be all they promised, willing to work, and be dependable. The rest... worthless. Most didn't even make it past their trial period.

 

I'm a grad from 2004, yeah it was worth every penny i spent. I would strongly recommend going. As for the nay sayer's its like any other school or job.If you go into it with a I know it all attitude your not going to learn anything. There were a number of these people when i attended and most quit before the pase was up because they couldn't make it to class on time. If you walk into it with a open mind and are willing to work the instructors will bend over backwards for you. and even show you some neat tricks along the way. Yes it is a TON of money, but there are scolarships and grants and Federal assistance... Its all about how bad you want it.

 

First of all, you probably wouldn't make the cut. You have not used the education presented to you based on your grammar. How are you going to be the best without any experience? If you are not going to cut your hair for a measly year and expect to somehow be the best right out of school, you are going to have a hard time in life.

 

Before I go on my rant I would like to point out that I am not one of those know it all kids when I started at Wyotech I knew how to MIG weld and that's about it.That being said I did get a very basic idea of how to work in a collision shop.I put everything I had into learning and got very little in return.
I graduated from the Laramie campus back in September and in my opinion with the exception of a few things in the street rod program it was a waste of time and money. I could have learned the same stuff at my local community college which I will be attending next term and in comparison I will save roughly $10,000,get an associates degree in applied sciences and will come out with 2yrs of experience. With Wyotech there is no degree unless you take the ASM class which in realty is only good for managing a collisin shop and not much good any where else. Wyotechs housing is a joke I opted for the more expensive rooms with 4 rooms I got stuck with 3 idiots and had to move out as soon as i could, the rooms were dirty when I moved in, and when you check out to leave they charge you for every bit of damage even if you write it down on yor damage check list ( out of my $250 deposit I got nothing back even though the housing director checked my room out and said it was all good). I would highly suggest looking at community colleges before you sign up for Wyotech.

This is just a few of the many things that are wrong with Wyotech. They may have been a good school in the past but today they are all about money, I had 83 students in my street rod class paying upwards of $8,500 for a 3 month class you do the math. If any one wants to know anything else I will be glad to tell you more.

 

I agree with the guy that said you would be better off pushing brooms in a REAL shop. I wish that is the route I would have took. I spent 2 years at the local CC for auto body tech. They had a A+ program, but you can only learn so much in 2 years, 5 hours a day. My second year of school I got a job at a local body shop, I learned more there in a few months then I did my first year of school. Mostly because it was 100% hands on with no partners and no groups. Also instead of 1 teacher and 30 students I had 5 teachers and I was the only student. Also, didn't believe a WORD the recruiters tell you on what you can make once you are out of school. Go to local shops and ask them. Go to way more then one. The school I went to told me we could get 15-20 after our 2 years. I made 15c more then minimum wage at my first job, and 11.50 two years latter at my last auto body job. I ended up leaving the trade because no one wants to pay you anything. Especially when they can hire scabs and tweakers for less.

I didn't go to wyotech, I went to a CC. Ive worked with 5 or 6 guys from wyo thou. None of them were outstanding at what they did. Two of them would flat out tell you they didn't learn crap and it was a waste of money. The last one joked about suing wyotech because the recruiters lied to him about the wages he would make.

 

Special ED GT; I suggest the school of hard knocks. I would recommend taking that money and putting it in savings for your retirement. Then, if working on automobiles is your bag, the school of hard knocks will get you where you want to go in life. There is absolutely nothing the best tech instructor in the world can tell you that you can't do on your own. Paying for higher education is one thing, for example one can't get to be a rocket scientist or brain surgeon without a degree, but paying somebody to teach you mechanical things is akin to pissing in the wind.

 

See above- It depends on what field you are looking for-IE: general,specialized,fabrication,custom.....apply at shops that cover the field your most interested in,and tell them your intentions.After going through a "program" many years ago,I would have worked for $5 an hour to learn"THE REAL WORLD". A book will only carry you so far. It's hands on that will be your teacher,shop environment,skills. Look at it this way- you'll spend $ for an "edjumacation",but if you get in a shop,and explain yourself to the boss,you might get lucky. Hands on is REAL. If I knew what was real after I completed my program,I would have done it for free!
BUT-There's that piece of paper that say's you know what your doing....
It could lead to better things later(the paper). it's your call,but by experience,and been and done,I encourage you to try to get your feet wet-even if it means being the shop gopher or boy. You won't know until you try......Good luck!

 

Good Luck I mean it Roger

 

i went to tech,the suit and tie is true for business, they have strict rules and most of them are bullshit. i really enjoyed street rod and custom fab i feel that i learned alot. i wish i would have taken chassis fab and then high performance engines. i do agree with the comments about hangingout at rod shops and learning. i wish i would have just gotten the knowledge from experience rather than getting a 30,000 dollar piece of paper saying i kind of have an idea what im doing haha. i learned alot from the place and it looks great on paper. im working at a restoration shop in texas and i graduated in september of 09. other than this man im working for no one else will take me seriously. my cousin also graduated from tech and took street rod/ chassis fab and hes working for vermont sports car building rally cars for the subaru rally america team. the awesome jobs are there, but the school is what you make it. there are times i wish i would have saved the money but there are also times im really glad i went.

 

Through out the last 4 or 5 years, I have run into a bunch of WyoTech grads that aren't doing anything remotely related to their "degrees". Now, that may be for personal reasons, but I have the feeling that WyoTech has done a damn good job of saturating the job market (and this wonderfull economy isn't helping any). That being said, for the same or less money you could probably get a 4 year Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or Industrial Tech, or other similar field and have many more job options. There is a serious lack of qualified engineers in this country, and I hate to see us importing Asian and Indian engineers to fill the ranks.

 

I have had a few students work for me out of the trade schools & Wyotec they were clueless on how to do even simple rusts out repairs. They all have said basically the same thing 2/3 class time & maybe 1/3 in the shop. As a potential employer I would expect you to be able to hand you a basic simple rust out repair, explain to me how you would do the job & do it. Yes I would expect you to ask questions after you told me your thoughts about the repair then start the project.

Now I am open to teaching people in a real world working shop for less money then Wyotec charges. You would learn how to install replacement after market panels & hand fab panel work in real world working conditions the best way possible for that high end quality work. If you want the paper certificate I can supply that but I will supply you with a complete photo documentation of your work & skills which is better then any piece of paper. If you or any one Else is interested PM me I am 30 minutes south of Seattle Wa.

 

A degree in most anything, will get your foot in the door...one more thing on the resume the next guy might not have.

HR people will also know you've made an effort to get yourself some kind training & experiance.

 

I'm also a former Wyo Tech student.

I went, I graduated, came home to Sacramento and started looking for a job. I searched for a month then finally came back around to one of the shops I first tried and got to talking to the owner. He actually told me he was going to give me a call till he read "Wyo Tech" under my education. I guess he had a bad experience with a few know it all jackasses who had gone there and didn't want to deal with that crap again.

I had actually heard this from a few more shop owners over the years. The general conciseness was if you came from Wyo Tech you were probably some punk ass know it all kid and they usually wanted nothing to do with you. Most shops prefer to groom you to there style and there way of doing things, the last thing they want is some punk kid coming in and acting like he knows everything. I actually took Wyo Tech off of my resume' and got a job about a month later....

It may be different now, I wouldn't know as I'm no longer in the auto industry but that is just my experience with the school.

As for the dress code and all of that bullshit, there was a lot of it I didn't understand but I've been told it was all about being in a professional setting and the safety of students. It was the only time I've ever had to shave my goatee and shave on a daily basis. They actually did a shave check every day to make sure everyone had shaven, they also checked your appearance and clothing to make sure it met there standards. I don't know about most of you but I never once had my boss ask me if I had shaved when I worked in an actual shop nor had them concerned over my clothing unless it was unsafe......

So my opinion on Wyo Tech? Don't go. Go sweep floors in a shop and work your way up, do it the old fashion way, you'll be happier with yourself in the long run.

 

Well stated!Tech schools do nothing to prepare these kids for the real world.We have students come and observe at the shop I work for.They all come in thinking they already know it all.There is a big difference between doing the work in a lab type setting and doing it on the line every day.

 

ahhh yes another wyotech thread.... i guess i should chime in here. I graduated wyotech in spring of '08 after taking almost every class there (a year and a half worth). Basically wyotech doesn't make or break your skills. If you go to wyotech as a punk-ass (and believe me, many people do...) you will also graduate as a punk-ass with less money, and still no skills. If you go in there, act like a professional, study hard and truly WANT to learn, you will most likely have a leg up over a lot of other people looking for jobs. There are plenty of students who go there, spend the entire time bitching about how much there spending and how they aren't learning anything. they then proceed to sleep through class, and then bitch when they graduate because they can't get a job. these are the people who give wyotech a bad reputation. So if you're attending wyotech-unless you want to end up like one of them, my advice is to:

1. Stop bitching and complaining about money, hard work, teachers, etc.
2. Cut your long ass hair, shave your stupid goatee, and stay awake (especially during the electrical lectures. As boring as they are theres good info in there.)
3. Do as much hands-on work as possible while you're there. seriously. anything you can put a wrench on, do it.
4. Realize that you are not Jesse James, Troy trepanier, or Jimmy Shine. be humble.

I went there wanting to be a hot rod builder, then after building hot rods for 8 hours a day, I realized it wasnt for me. I didnt have the patience or the natural skill to do that on a professional level. I also did not want to make 8 bucks an hour. I decided I wanted to become a technician instead.

When I graduated school I had a full time job lined up at a dealership (i got the job at the wyotech career fair and had to turn down other offers from there as well.) They paid me to train for two months at their shop, and put me in at a vw dealer. Two years later I'm 21, I still work there, I make a decent amount of $ hr. flat-rate (easily 40-50 hours a week) I mostly sit in front of a scanner or a meter or a wiring diagram most of the day diagnosing electrical issues that other guys with much more experience than me can't fix. I'm vw certified in electrical work and make a pretty good living for my age doing work that I love. And I come to work everyday with the attitude that I still need to learn a lot and in no way am i an expert.

 

trade school kids
out of all the ones I have had to retrain , only one worth keeping

today the shop gravy boy inquired why he is doing all of the tough jobs
he said 'I want to be the best '
you can't get that ethic in federal student aid mills like the aforementioned

 

i went to wyotech in 2005. got hired on a shop with no problems.
its all in what you put into it. ive worked for the same shop now since 2006. its a 84,000 square foot shop and i can hang with all the guys that have been doing it for 30 years. they have alot of respect for me and what i know. wyotech did help me get my foot in the door and help me learn my basic and theory bout collision. gave me a huge upper hand on the other younger techs.

there is another tech that started six months after me. he had no schooling or anything. just the love for wanting to work. he still is way behind on being able to a lot of work cause he never new the basics. and still has a long way to go. he asked me how to use a cutting torch the other day =/.

that 30k is a b*tch though on monthly payments but i would do it again if i had to

 

I went to Wyo tech in 1976. I graduated #1 in the body and paint course. The course cost about 2500$ at that time. The problem is you cant teach work ethics to kids who dont want them.PEROID The guys that did well live and breathed cars and trucks. We spent the weekends hunting the best junkyards I ever seen in Chyenne Wyoming. The classes cant teach COMMON SENSE to spoiled little brats. But they can add to someone looking to build skills. 20k is a lot of money but not to parents looking to get there pain in the ass little bastard out of their hair. No school can teach experience and floor sweeping may seem degrading but many of the students have NO other skills before they get there and dont have the desire to get dirty. Clean up is necessary in any shop or work area so stop bitchen.
In life you get out what you put in. As all of us know we get better as we do more. You cant get a whole lot of experience in a few months. Only the basics. Its up to each student to decide if he will excel or be a slug.
Ron