im thinkin about going back to school for mechanics. any thoughts or recomendations? i was thinkin about checkin out my local community collage as thats all i can afford at the moment. then try and get my foot in the door with that, THEN once i have some moeny go to a better school, whyotec or something. Anybody go to school for something like this? or have a recomendation for it?

 

im going to be starting up at vermont technical college in the fall to study automotive technology. i wanted to do that program instead of uti or wyotech because it is an associates degree instead of just a certificate. but definitely explore all the options both uti and wyotech have great programs, i have several friends who are going to uti right now and several more that will be going there starting up in the next couple of months. if your local community college has classes on mechanic stuff then by all means that would be your best bet because it will be the least expensive with the same education coming out of it.

good luck with whatever it is that you do and keep in mind the wonder of scholarships...they will cut all costs in half if you get enough of them and all you have to do is fill out a paper. i filled out 90+ applications online at fastweb.com and im still waiting to hear back on them so they're def. out there

dennis

 

right on, i need to get back to school bad, i took my year off, now its time to get back in. My big plan, joining the Marines, didnt go as planned due to medical reasons, so now im kinda effed andim not sure what i want to do. But i do know i love cars, always have. so i thought i MIGHT look into it. Thanks.

 

i will be going to uti in about a month for general automotive repair and diesel

 

That would be a good palan, but I suggest you stick around long enough to get the associate degree. You'll have a better rounded off education which will help a lot later on. After your degree, go to one of the good auto schools to specialize in what you want to do. After that you can always find a good job. Try to work at a large new car dealeship, and by doing a good job and the college degree you'll have a good chance at advancement.

 

whats UTI? i THINK i have heard of it, but im not that familiar with it. i was planning on getting at least the associate degree, MAYBE a masters, depending on what i get out of the other degree.

 

UTI is Universal Technical Institute. One is in Illinois, Chicago. Good school plus job placement during school and after school in the field you took as a class. Diesel mechanics, automotive, autobody...etc. Myself I started wrenching when I was 14, 1984. Worked pumping gas and wrenching. Then took shop classes in High School. Later on, started working at a GM dealership, then joined military. Navy. Then after that our family started a family business, called File Auto Repair. That lasted 7 years, economy and the steel mill down the road closed and bit us in the ***. So we closed. My father got in the wrenching in 1967, still wrenching till this day and brother also a mechanic. We are a Chevy family and have all learned the hard way, hands on. My father did attend schooling at Wyo tech in the early 70's for about a year.and my brother attended local college for 2 years in auto mechanics.

As for your future, remember this in the automotive field, flat rate is what most garages pay and base jobs on. This is a timed repair that is logged by the dealers. Most dealers want this met or they feel it is lost time and money. Get good tools, Snap-on is the ticket. As for a course study, power train is the ticket, computer guys are taken car of. Good luck!!

 

WTG again Danzig, nice post, i have a degree in marine engineering, father was a diesel mech for forty years, brother is also a hellava mech, and i know about the flat rate, he had a shop that went under, but he told me most shops, have a time limit on the service your performing, and get bonuses if your in under opr penalized if over, good luck, 350rs, microkid,danzig, and all, cars well be around for quite some time yet, and you know they,ll need wrenching.[sm=signs003.gif]

 

Joining the Marines didn't work out for me either. Also, pushing paper is not my thing. So I got into computers, CAD, and ended up with my own tommmm