I'm going to Wyotech!

[tim]

Originally Posted by Jakey

Does US News & World Report post Junior/Technical/Community College program rankings like they do for 4-year schools? I'd be interested to see where the WyoTech and UTI diesel programs rank against others as I know there are multiple good diesel programs out there. For example, the diesel program at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) is excellent as well as the one at a community college in the Peoria, IL area (the name escapes me).

DMACC is where you want to go in this area if you are wanting to work on big trucks. My cousin went there and is now making somewhere around $40/hr with only 5 years experience in the field. But it is a lot of work and you wont have much of a back left if you plan on doing this for years.


A close friend of mine went to Wyotech for the same programs as you are thinking. He hardly partied and did his very best to do good in school. He is living just feet from a river in Colorado where he can go fishing all he wants and has a job at a Ford dealership making really good money. Everytime I talk to him he seems to be getting a promotion within the dealership.

He doesnt regret it one bit except for being so far away from his friends and family back here.

Another friend of mine went to UTI and is working at a local garage back home not doing anything more than he would be doing if he went to a local tech school. Probably his fault for lack of ambition but he is still happy he went there.

[blageo23]

Im currently at Century for auto tech and I have learned alot more then I ever thought I would. Im in the second year and still learning.

Yah I could have went to dunwoody and spent my $29000 or I could learn the same stuff and only pay like $8000. Personally Ill save that $20000 and not be broke the rest of my life.

And maybe a employer may look at the fact you went to dunwoody. But in the auto world I think its more about experience and working your way up. Also there is the ASE factor. I have 5 ASEs passed(out of the 5 I have taken) and I just went to good ol Century. And I feel theat an employer will look at those over where you went to school. Its not about where you learned it but how you took it in and how you apply it.

Also a friend of mine went to UTI and he works on big rigs and he enjoys it. Another friend went to wyotech and he works at a tire place. Havent gotten thier opinions on education yet tho.

JUST MY 2 CENTS

Mike

[b00stcreep21]

I just finished up goin through auto/chassis fab at Wyo. Like you've been hearing, you're going to f*cking hate living there. There is SERIOUSLY nothing to do unless you go down to Fort Collins, Colorado every weekend like me

[Speedfreak]

I actually had a great time out there in Laramie. I know the whole group of friends I made while there had a blast. Anything from some seriously hardcore mudding/off roading mountain style(with groups of like 10-15 trucks/4x4's). To house parties/bars/clubs, even though I don't drink. The city is 85% students of the University of Wyoming and Wyotech, the rest are locals. Not to mention, I mountain biked some of the best trails/mountains of my life. Also hiked the mountains. But the best part of all was the fact that Steamboat(skiing/snowboarding) was only two hours away. Also some amazing rock climbing as well. Basically if you like the outdoors, it's a great place. And if you find the right people.. there are some of the best street racing roads like 5 minutes outside the city. BTW, I did not live in the Wyotech housing, I had my own apartment on the U of W campus, that may have helped a bit.

So there you go, the experience is what you make of it.

[FattyBoomBatty]

Make us proud with something like this:

[BOVADDICT]

my uddies in laramie too. his names noah.. whats areyour guys buddies names. maye theyll meet lol.

[Pimpin Dsmstyle]

No school can MAKE you smart. It works like this.

School provides working space, jobs, and direction if needed
Class time gives you general pointers, but doing jobs over and over is where the skill is developed.

If you went to school and came out with nothing, blame yourself. The information you learn may or may not be relevant in the life you choose, but the more you can retain the better.

I'm speaking from experience. Not the positive experience I wish I would have gotten. I spent my time in transmission / transaxle tech fucking around, skipping class and eating food in the lunch area at DCTC. The teachers try and give you order so that you know what's important to understand. Everything else is up to you. I'm just sick of people complaining about not learning anything. When I actually went to class, I learned alot and I really wish I would have taken advantage of it. After all, I paid for 2 semesters and only attended 1/2 of the first semester and not one day of the 2nd.

EDIT - by "school provides jobs" I meant jobs in class. It is not the schoolsl job to find your lazy ass a job. That's up to you. The schools discussed here compaired to DCTC or Henepin tech would be similar to saying " the U of M vs Harvard." Sure a genious could come from UofM but Harvard TYPICALLY spawns off better students since the standard is higher.

[AJ]

Education is all in how you apply yourself no matter where you go. When I was 18 and fresh out of high school I wasted a shit load of my parents money in a few semesters of school in Chicago with bad grades. Now I finally have my shit straight and I have worked my cumlative GPA up to a 3.3 from a 1.2 (that's right, a 1.2 bitches) with an almost pefrect GPA of 4.0 since I have been back in school.

I've set my goals to have a 2 degrees and then go for my maters.


What's a education out at Wyotech run these days?

[b00stcreep21]

Originally Posted by DSMStyle

What's a education out at Wyotech run these days?

Basically 30k for a core program, plus one elective. (which together equal 9 month) The core is basically what Dunwoody's 2 year program is in 6 months though. The whole idea with Wyotech is to get done fast, and get out into the field. Couple of my buddy's started the Dunwoody program at the same time I started at Wyo..... I'm done with school, and working a full time job while they're still sitting in class. It really is all about how you apply yourself there though. Most people that go there can't handle the courseload (class for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week), and just slack off. There are a descent amount of people that leave Wyotech having gained soemthing from it, and ready to use it to their advantage and apply is twards a career, but there's also ALOT of people that walk away from it with nothing, but can still say they graduated from Wyotech to make themselves look better

[dumb_ricer]

Here's what I think I have learned from going to UTI for 3 months before dropping out.

1. It *IS* all about how you apply yourself. If you are going into school with a lot of automotive knowledge, you aren't going to learn much. If you are kind of middle of the road, or have never worked on a car, these schools do an AWESOME job setting up a foundation to build your skills off of. They tell you how to do it, you try it once, and then its on to the next thing. So you are learning about it, but not really getting all too hands on with it.

If you know how a brake system works, understand electrical, know how to build motors, know how to troubleshoot, and understand engine electronics, and understand steering and suspension, school will do little to nothing for you. You come out with the same knowledge, but you just lost 25,000 dollars in the process. If you do not know those areas well, by all means go for it.

DO NOT expect yourself to come out of school knowing how to do anything on cars. Expect yourself to come out knowing how you should do it, but not with a "I can now wrench" attitude. You don't get down and dirty in school and learn how to actually wrench, that comes with practice.

[Shane55113]

Originally Posted by dumb_ricer

Here's what I think I have learned from going to UTI for 3 months before dropping out.

1. It *IS* all about how you apply yourself. If you are going into school with a lot of automotive knowledge, you aren't going to learn much. If you are kind of middle of the road, or have never worked on a car, these schools do an AWESOME job setting up a foundation to build your skills off of. They tell you how to do it, you try it once, and then its on to the next thing. So you are learning about it, but not really getting all too hands on with it.

If you know how a brake system works, understand electrical, know how to build motors, know how to troubleshoot, and understand engine electronics, and understand steering and suspension, school will do little to nothing for you. You come out with the same knowledge, but you just lost 25,000 dollars in the process. If you do not know those areas well, by all means go for it.

DO NOT expect yourself to come out of school knowing how to do anything on cars. Expect yourself to come out knowing how you should do it, but not with a "I can now wrench" attitude. You don't get down and dirty in school and learn how to actually wrench, that comes with practice.

I can understand that for the 6 month program but the 3 month elective i'm taking after that will be hands on. It wouldn't really be a fabrication class without fabricating anything.

I know a fair amount about cars but on the 1st day of class i'm going to throw all i know out the window so i actually re-learn things, who knows maybe what i think is the absolutely right way and i learn from class its the wrong way because of... you know situations like that.

I can understand why some of the people are shunning Wyotech and UTI for cheaper local schools, but the fact of the matter is that dealerships look to those "high(er) profile schools" because they always have the latest technology to teach students with. Not all mechanics go back to school to get certified when a new technology comes out, thats why they higher new people straight out of schools like this.

I can't stand the average college education schedule, going for a couple hours then having to kill an hour or so and then going back to class later. This is an 8-hour a day program in a fast paced environment to simulate the real thing which i think is brilliant. It also fires you through a 2 year program in 9 months which is great because time is $ and i want to make some soon.

[Outlaw1]

Originally Posted by DSMStyle

Education is all in how you apply yourself no matter where you go. When I was 18 and fresh out of high school I wasted a shit load of my parents money in a few semesters of school in Chicago with bad grades. Now I finally have my shit straight and I have worked my cumlative GPA up to a 3.3 from a 1.2 (that's right, a 1.2 bitches) with an almost pefrect GPA of 4.0 since I have been back in school.

That's awesome. I'm planning on getting back into college at some point. Because my work dictates my location, I'll have to work something out through online classes. At this point in my career I need to start looking towards a business degree.

Originally Posted by DSMStyle

I've set my goals to have a 2 degrees and then go for my maters.

I'd be happy with any sort of degree. Even a tater or 'mater.



I was a technician for a while, then I was an owner/operator of a performance shop. Working long hours, spinning wrenchs, being dirty all the time and dealing with fucking stupid customers sucks ass. An honest person can't sell parts and if you can't sell parts you will starve. I did live the drag racer's dream though. I had the opportunity to race at tracks all over the place and beat the hell out of other people's cars...and get paid for it! I honestly don't know how any of my friends can still be technicians after doing it for 15+ years. I have three friends that work at Ford dealerships as diesel techs. If you learn the angles you can make 80-100k a year, keep in mind wages are way lower here in The South. After I realized I could make MORE money and do LESS work, I ditched the car thing and got my butt into construction and worked my way into supervision. In the end it boils down to being happy and sitting on my butt telling people what to and making large amounts of money makes me happy.

[Shane55113]

^ Something around $25k. I personally plan on getting my ASE's during school or right after school, It would be cool to work at a shop like LSE or DB but i don't know if thats what i'd want to do right off the bat, i think i'd work at a dealer for a while and work on my car at night.

If i get the opportunity to do a high end program like PTEP or Bmw or Audi i will take them but they are not my main focus, i am going to this school for myself i do not plan on being strictly a mechanic for the rest of my life.

[sleepydsm]

I just hate when people come out of these expensive tech. schools as if they are God. Someone I never liked came out of Dunwoody thinking he was a higher being. Bought up a whole bunch of Snap-On tools, and somehow thought he'd be able to start up his own repair shop... with no previous experience. A few months later, I heard he gave up and was selling all his tools to try and help cover all his debt.

[Shane55113]

Originally Posted by sleepydsm

I just hate when people come out of these expensive tech. schools as if they are God. Someone I never liked came out of Dunwoody thinking he was a higher being. Bought up a whole bunch of Snap-On tools, and somehow thought he'd be able to start up his own repair shop... with no previous experience. A few months later, I heard he gave up and was selling all his tools to try and help cover all his debt.

lol, u know me kevin, i'm not like that.

[dumb_ricer]

Im not going to get into it here.

Lets just say UTI and WyoTech do a really good job of thinking you are going to come out as a superior and are going to be looked up upon by dealerships. It is not true. Anyone out of school can land a good dealership job, it has nothing to do with what's on your resume.

Oh, and yes, you learn on the newest equipment. It makes things really easy. And then you go into the "real world" where not all shops have those 30,000 dollar machines, and you relearn everything yet again. Even our Ford dealership doesn't really have updated equipment except for their own software. Neither did Tires Plus or Goodyear.

[Shane55113]

dont get the wrong impression, i didn't buy into the t.v. ads and internet mumbo jumbo i am going (1.) for myself (2.)to learn how to build engines the professional way and (3.) to get away from mn for a while. I also was thinking of getting into the Manager program where i would go an additional 3 months and get a degree along with a diploma. My origional aspiration was to get a degree in buisness managment anyways.

Like i tried to say before i am not going to this school to become a mechanic, thats a bonus i guess you would say that i will utilize to get my life started. I am not worried about the $ like most of you are complaining about, i am not rich or anything but $ is not going to hold me back from what i want to do (within reason!).

Honestly not to downplay any of your responses but, to each his own you know?

[gofastman]

Just got back from checking out Wyotech, very nice facilitys. Denver sucks ALOT imo. Larame, WY isnt as bad as I thought it was going to be, but its not my favorite place in the world. 7000 ft. altitude, you actualy notice shortness of breath after any physical activity, and Im in pretty good shape.
Shane and I looked at a few apartments outside of the Wyotech housing facility and found some we liked for a reasonable price.
I think it's going to be a fun experience