a little o/t but what are your thoughts on wyotech?

i know its a little off topic, but im graduating high school and im enrolled at wyotech but ive heard nothing but bad things over the past few weeks. im a bit stressed and dont want to screw my life up. i just want to know your thoughts

 

Go there to learn and walk out of there still wanting to learn.

 

waste of $$$

 

I highered two young men that graduated from there they were hard workers and talanted.They spoke highly of the school.

 

you get out what you put in.

 

do a search.There has been plenty of posts about the place

 

Yea I'm going to agree a little bit on the wast of money part. Graduated there in 02'. Studied Diesel Technology. I must admitt that I did learn some good stuff there about diesel engines and it did help me land a job in the Rail Road industry, but alot of there courses are repeaditive. The last courses I took was chassis fabrication and high performance studies. That course was bitch'n. Learned how to weld with M.I.G and T.I.G there, setting up chassis and other shit like that. Was it worth the cost there charging? Not really sure, but I would say they could charge a little less. I did however use my G.I bill so I didn't feel the burn to bad... I say your already inrolled, go for it. They may have changed the course studies in the last 8 yrs. Take what you can from it and run with it. Heck you'll meet some really great guys there that dig the same shit you do. Engines....

 

big waste of time and money met some cool people that was about it

 

i currently attend wyotech in laramie wyoming and ive been through street rod which is an elective. Autocore sucks if you love nothing but hot rods. Chassis fab is a good class but it is an elective. But when they say you have all snap on tools what they mean to say is some snap on and mostly sk. You have to be clean shaven everyday no sideburns short hair and they have a dresscode. And if you do go DO NOT live in wyotech housing you will get what you pay for no privacy etc. Dont let your recruter lie to you which he will. Although wyotech has a bad name its still better than uti lincoln tech etc. But like everything wyotech a lot of faults. Another thing you cant wait to get here then cant wait to leave so really look into it cause you are about to borrow 30k in loans. best of wishes

 

I say no! I have met a bunch of guys from there, and almost all really aren't that great, and they seem to have a complex because they went to school. Seems that since they went there, they are automatically masters of the automobile. I went to University of Northwestern Ohio for High Performance and I have a nationally accredited degree. Its the only degree program in the world dealing with automotive high performance. The instructors are great, they care more than anything about the students. Its expensive, but I believe its actually cheaper than wyotech-which you don't get a degree from. I work for Posies, a few friends went straight into NHRA funny car teams (schumaker, worsham) a few continued their schooling in engineering and went into R&D, one for honda one for nissan. The high performance part ALONE is longer and more involved than the entire wyotech autoprogram. While I was there I got to personally meet Ed "isky" Iskenderian (even got to have a few beers with him and talk hot rods), John Kaaze, Mark McKewen (sp?) and other top guys in racing and hot rodding. I still talk to my old teachers, which shows you how much they care. I was enrolled in UTI and canceled my enrollment after I visited this school and saw the high performance complex-I garauntee you will too, trust me. Check it out www.unoh.edu

 

And there is a lot less "miliatarianism" about dress code. You have shop shirts which you have to wear unless you wear your work uniform (I worked at a harley dealer, so I wore that) and you have to wear safety glasses at all times when you are in the shop-good policy no matter what. Other than that go for it. I remember one winter me and my friends had a beard growing contest. I had mine 4" off my chin-got the nickname "big nasty", lol-and no one at the school even took a second look.

 

Do your due diligence, go visit the schools you are interested in. There are many fine schools out there. Compare curriculum, accreditation, costs.

Can you earn a degree or simply a diploma? Check post graduate placements and talk to current and past students. Talk to potential employers in the field which you plan to be employed.

 

1000 times better than UTI!

 

If you come to Blairsville, get in touch with me. I guarantee you that none of my students feels like they wasted their money in my Chassis Fab class...

I know, because I ask them...

 

Check out the school of automotive machinists in texas (S.A.M.)

 

ive actually never heard of the school you went to i thought about taking wyotech high performance but could you give me more info on that school. and i do agree with you most kids that go to this school think they know everything and everyone has something badass back home. The dress code i dont have a problem with it but most kids do so i figured i would let you know. Wyotech is an ok school it just depends on what you make of it. But it is pricey and a lot of the equipment is out of date but you still can learn off of it. You can recieve a degree here at wyotech in asm (plied service managment) you get an assocites in business but thats the only degree you will get.

 

Look up the Restoration program at McPhearson College in Kansas, respected, good school. Even Jay Leno sponsors a Scholarship there.

 

alright ive heard of hot rod institute up in south dakota but i really dont know anything about other than my instructers up here talk a lot of shit on it.

 

i appreciate all the words guys, i think im going to continue to take autobody at a local community college and take a few welding classes after that. ive already been working steadily at a restoration shop and i dont think wyotech is right for me, especially if you dont leave with a degree

 

No matter what trade school you go to, just keep one thing in mind: you aren't going to be ready to compete in the real world. You should have a good grasp of the basics, but other than that you're going to go in green and have to work your way up. Good luck to you, I went to trade school for a different career, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 

Yeah most people haven't heard of the school because they do absolutely no advertising, its all word of mouth, and its mostly in the racing industry. I've always been a hot rodder, but to me hot rods go fast, so I wanted to learn how to make cars go fast, hence this school. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm knocking you because of the school you in-those were not my intentions at all. I know of two wyotech graduates, 1 went to rad rides by troy, and the other to blairs speed shop. Like you said though, it is what you make of it. I dedicated myslef 110% and got a good job out of school, and now I'm pushing forward with what I want to make of life. But there were tons of kids that just didn't care enough, and at that point in time you're not going to amount to much. You seem like you have the desire and the passion, so you'll be plenty fine when you hit the world. Check out the school though, www.unoh.edu. We had top of the line equipment. We actually had to do our "test-off" on the lower grade equipment because most shops didn't have the top end stuff that we had, we used that stuff for education, personal projects, and the school's race cars. it really is an amazing place. I hated the town with deep passion, lol, but I wouldn't mind becoming a teacher there if life took me that way when I get older because of how top-end they are. Really cared about the students, it was up to the students to care about themselves.

 

np i was the same way as you before i came here i did not really know a lot other than what the recruter told me. But im here so gotta make the best of it. And the degree isnt worth it all you can say is you graduated wyotech.

 

HRI is good, the founder of HRI STARTED/SPEARHEADED the program at Wyotech and VA Tech. Sour grapes from the Wyotech pukes. I don't knwo Doug personally but will defend his record.

 

Good choice, get yourself some good experience in welding and bodywork and forget about the "hot rod attitude" schools like wyotech. As others have stated, they are a waste of money and many people just come away with a swelled ego which is ok if you want to be a salesman.

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In the '70's we had MoTech.... I wonder what happened to that school??? Mother MOPAR was behind that one.........

 

I graduated around this time last year, i went for autobody, paint, and took the elective street rod, total 9 months 25k in school loans plus 8k in living expenses. I wasnt making any money as a school bus driver only about 1k a month and wanted to get into a shop but i didnt have any experience or school. some recruiter came to my house and told me a bunch of lies about all the places that are in illinois that could potentially hire me, and that when i was done with school all i have to do is check the names of places i want the school to send my resume to and i just sit back and wait for the calls to come rolling in.

1000 miles later, and being overly determined to be the best in my class i was rewarded with.

2 weeks of sitting in a classroom to 4 weeks shop time per 6 weeks. thats 8 hours a day sitting listening to lectures of how to do this or that, instead of actually doing it. 10:1 student teacher ratio and that was night classes, day class is about 20:1. so help and the actual learning process comes from making mistakes instead of being taught.
Shave everyday, shirt must be tucked in at all times or you will lose points going towards a letter grade if you care about getting a degree or showing transcripts to an employer after school. just about anything fun you can do at the school is prohibited, i dont drink smoke or really party, i was there to learn and i got shit on every day. its like highschool all over again, oh and if some kid calls your black friend a nigger and you feel like curb stomping his face in, think again, because even a mild threat or push can result in you being expelled indefinitely. the icing on the cake, they keep your money, all of it, day two some kid hits your car and you hit his face, thats the most expensive punch youll ever throw.
Street rod was about the only redeemable portion and a very weak one at that. it was a complete recap of the body and paint course, because obviously if some kid just learned how to wrench on an engine he wont know, but if you do, too bad that is about 6 weeks of your time down the shitter sitting in class, back on the bondo. they do teach you how to be a really decent welder i came out i-car welding certified. but i could have taken a welding course at the community college for 200 bucks if i cared that much. again more discussion on how to do things, no real demonstration. all i wanted to learn out there was how to chop a top, section a car, get some good sheet metal fab skills and come out building rods. not ONCE did i even see an instructor attempt to show anyone how to chop a top on a car with tools, just discussed. all in all i have a job as a motorcycle mechanic that i got because i took the time on the hamb and jockey journal and learned how to wrench on a bike/car. wyotech has done absolutely nothing to help me get a job, and when i say nothing i mean NOTHING. calls after calls they tell me to check monster.com, or hot jobs. i am a firm believer in getting out what you put into something. the stress, the money i still dont have to pay back school, the time spent pouring sweat and blood into my work out there only to show as straight A's perfect attendance, and a strong disposition to a school of crooks, liars, and racists. while still in attendance, i had such a bad week of the schools unrelenting abuse and reluctance to help someone who had given up so much just to make themselves better i ousted them via the internet, and to several other news outlets in the area and back at home in chicagoland. wyotech got wind of this and asked me why i was having so much trouble with the school. here is what i said

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I came to this school to learn how to do ONE thing, and hoped to learn other things along the same lines. All i wanted to learn was how to chop a top on an old car. There has been classroom discussions about it, walk arounds of cars in the shop and discussed how to do it. however this is nor more different than having a lecture on and discussing how to weld. you learn by welding, by actually doing the process. i was unable to just take the street rod class, so i had to attend a full 9 months 1000 miles away from home learning information i will almost certainly never use. Not only was the information that was presented to me irrelevant, so was the manor in which we all must behave and dress at school. uniforms, shave everyday, tucked in shirts, countless wasted hours cleaning and cleaning. the behavior of others and being completely helpless to do anything about it was also a major factor. ive had to sit in front of a blatant ignorant racist for the past 9 months, ive informed instructors i dont want to be anywhere near him and i have never been put on a car group since i have said anything. but the fact that he has made racist comments aloud, and no one for fear of expulsion, or violent repercussion from the individual has done anything. For the amount of money this school rakes in, using 10 year old, severely damaged equipment, and witnessing the poor and decrepit state the facilities are in. It is almost like a slap in the face from the people who own and run this school.

I feel as though every student here has a dollar sign over their head. Pay Wyotech enough money and you are awarded certain privileges. About 2 months ago someone hit the back end of my car in the parking lot of campus courtyard knocking my muffler off. having all my money go to food, housing or school, i cant afford to replace my muffler. Just this week I asked an instructor if I were to bring in a muffler either durring class, after school, on my lunch, anytime it would work to weld it to my exhaust, seeing as how i have a 1000 mile drive back home in under a week. he told me "No way that can happen......We dont do exhaust work here"
So Im a bit confused, instructors are allowed to bring their cars in to work on them during class? after class? over lunch? and not ONE has ever touched an exhaust pipe with a welder? I thought i was paying to be a student here to learn about obtaining a career in the automotive field. Currently I can sweep, mop, and build a mailbox, but if i got into a shop and they told me to chop a top on a car and i went to reference a book because i said i had never done it before, i would probably get fired on the spot.

I feel swindled on a daily basis, due to the lack of support i get from this school. Im a firm believer in what you put into something you will get that out of it. The amount that I as well as thousands of others have sacrificed to come to this school, to be treated like a 30 thousand dollar liability, makes absolutely no sense.How can institution of education that cares so much about accreditation to treat its pupils this way?
Living in the dorms and having room checks, to make sure its clean is just ridiculous. Im not a child nor do i need to be checked up on.

On a final note, i had to return home briefly for the weekend in early may. a day that fell on a Saturday class. I had no control over why i had to leave, and because this school feels that accreditation is pertinent, my grade suffered tremendously via losing points over hours i missed. 7 months of perfect attendance means nothing when your treated like a paying customer rather than a valued student. I was then unable to work on my car after i had finished up my shop work because of my attendance. Therefor directly impacting me learning anything further at this school.
Some of the few positives I have gained over the past 9 months would be the fact that not only students but instructors feel the same way if not more deeply than i do about this school. I have never had an issue with an instructor here and have learned more from them from time spent talking to them, and personal instruction out in the shop, than from any book we were forced to read in class.

I will make it a personal goal to steer as many people towards; shops and independents in the field to apprentice under. Instead of wasting money, and time, at a place that doesnt appreciate or value them as a person who is trying to make their life better.

Wyotech is not MY school.

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go to a shop, ANY shop, tell them you know how to do this or that or if nothing at all just be straight with them, you would be surprised how cool most older guys are about taking up apprentices. ill put it this way, go to the most rad hot rod shop you can think of, tell them you just want to get into the field youll do whatever it takes, sand bondo, clean parts, do parts runs, be the epitome of the shop bitch, and youll do it for free. better yet tell them youll pay them 500 bucks a month to let you work there. it will take you 2 years to build up the debt i built in 9 months, meanwhile youre getting shop experience, good reference, probably filling your tool box, and lets say after paying a shop 500 for two years, you tapped out that 24k you were going to spend at wyo, id bet after 2 years they wont want to just let you up and leave. minimum wage, no shop bitch status, and a job with the guys you have been working next to the last couple years. better than i can say i was making at my first job out of wyo.

or just buy up some classic for 5k, fill a tool box, buy a tig welder, do your homework on the HAMB talk to the cool cats and vets on here, and youre still ahead of the game.

24 still living at home making 500 a month, with the experience to make a shop more than 400 a day. do yourself a favor and sort through my ramblings, dont go to wyotech.

 

BIGGEST!! damn mistake I have ever made in my short 20yr life. for the training you get for that $30,000 it is about $22,000 over priced. good for basics but they do not train "field ready professionals". I went the Laramie campus and graduated back in september and every employer I have talked to doesnt give a damn about WyoTech training.

xedge4lifex I totally i agree. good idea paying a shop owner to come and learn from them wish I had thought of that.If I had I wouldn't be stuck in this WyoTech shit storm

I lost points on a regular basis because my shirt was untucked, I am 6'7 and the shirts were about level with my waist line (had bout a 1/4 inch to tuck in). They wouldn't even order up some tall shirts for me, even after I offered to pay for them.

Worked my ass off at wyotech and got nothing in return. I cant even get into a shop to sweep a broom and learn because of Wyotech. A shop owner, at least in my experience,will turn you away when they find out you went to wyotech.

 

For that money, you buy tools an a car & go for it. I'm lucky to inherit everything to build a car, so I'm not the typical case. Growing up around my Dad, I was exposed to building cars. Experience is the best teacher, when you've been pointed in the right direction. So it all depends on what you know. Not a lot of people can succesfully complete every aspect of building a car. Do you nly plan on concentrating on one thing. If you want to do bodywork/paint, get a job as a sand boy.. work your way up. upholstery.. same thing. How ambitious your are is up to you. I learned good business, working for the local Ford Parts Dept. Do you plan on working for someone else.. There's a lot of questions to ask yourself. How disciplined are you.. it's stuff like that they try to instill. This business will make you cuss a lot, but I like to cuss!

 

Ok, gotta chime in here.

1st you get out of school what you put in it. Plain and simple.

2nd if you want to learn autobody I see nothing wrong with Wyotech or UTI

3rd if you want to learn nothing but engine building then SAM's is your school

But as John has stated, UNOH is by far the best bar none not to mention the ORGINAL High Performance College (all others are copys). He says its the teachers, I say its the students. Without students who give 110% UNOH wouldn't be in business. Ya there are students who just want to party, sleep and do normal college stuff, these are the guys/gals who are going to be saying "Would you like fries with that?" for most of their lives. Classes are kept to 20 students so there is a lot of one-on-one time with the instructors. Not to mention when an instructor sees a student with potential they kind of take them under their wing even on "off" days and spend time with the students (some come in and work on cars, some go to places like Thompson, others go to races or just plain hang out) Most of the High-Po instructors practice what they preach as well, hot rodders, racers, off road junkys etc.....

As stated the students usually do test offs on "lower grade" equipment because the school has more state of the art equipment then what most shops in the real world have. There custom engine shop is almost 20000 sq ft by its self, not to mention the rest of the building, housing FAB, High Performance Welding (no oxy/acettleen or mig), High Performance Steering and Suspension and High Performance Drive lines. Or how about the fuels class with two engine dynos and two chassis dynos. Lets not forget the off road hill course, the drag strip launch pad, or the autocross lot. Like sports, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, oh and a circle track race team (4 modifieds, 3 stock cars)

Then there is the nationally accredited degree, no other University or College offers that. The Jegs Engine Master's Challenge is held there, SEMA is starting to hold seminars there, along with reality TV crews walking around most of the time.

I can't say enough about that place, I got my degree back in 89 and am thankful for it everyday.

 

Any Voc Tech School; They are in business to reap government funded student loans. Any 'degree' they issue won't get you anywhere in the academic sense. If you wish to pay big money for an education, concentrate on an academic subject where the degree gets you the status, Dr, Lawyer, Mechanical Engineer, Mathemetician, Astromener, Chemist, Art, etc.

Voc Tech School can't teach you a thing you can't learn by yourself in your garage with a tool box, a welder, a drill press, a paint gun, the technical information available online(free) and something to work on.

Somewhere along the line you will learn that mechanical trades are learned by doing them yourself. No mechanic can teach somebody else how to be a mechanic. Some have to go through the motions of attending a school to get where they have the confidence in themselves.

Or not.