Are UTI/Wyotech/Lincoln Tech Worth the money or not?

[steffenaj14]

so i want to learn to become a mechanic and work on my own cars and all that jazz. i'm concidering UTI. but its 30,000... and i've heard people say that it's not really worth it. so here's the question. should i go to an auto specialty school like UTI or Wyotech or should i just go to a local tech school and take the auto tech program for prolly 12,000 at the most for 2 years?

so i guess the question is what is the advantage of going to an automotive specialty school like UTI? is it worth 30,000? do they really get you THAT much more ready and hook you up with a good job THAT much better than just any regular program?

any input will help.. thanks!!

 

[StealthWyvern]

I say go to a local tech school. I know a guy that went to all those high end school making the same amoutn of money in the IT feild but he ended up oweing enough to buy a small house literally (80K). Where I started at a higher end IT tech school and then went to a small local private school. If I had to do it all over again I would just goto a community college. Just about literally NONE of my classes will transfer on over to another school because of the type of accrediation they were in. SO thats another thing you want to look into highly.

 

[_Chris]

First I would ask is are you just wanting to know how to work on your own car or do it for a living? If its just to know what you are doing on your own car. I would say buy some tools and get a shop book for your car. Go to install meets. ask friends that know what they are doing. If you want to do it for a living. You need to decide what type of automotive carrier you want to go with. Your local collage will not teach you how to build a high performance engine or performance engine tuning. You local collage will give you the basics of what you will need to know about it. But a lot of it just comes from doing the actual work. Look at both programs and see what they offer and just make sure you know what you really want to do. Don't let UTI/Whotech convince you that you will be working on race cars when you get out of school. Like anything you get out of it what you put into it.

I have been working on cars since I was 15 and I'm 29 now. I like doing it but you can get burnt out on it quick. And when you are just starting out you will be making next to nothing because any good shop you work at will have you on flat rate. And when you are just starting out you don't know all the tricks you wont always have the correct tool to make a job easier and you will have about 5k in tools you will need and that's the low end.

To sum up: I would not go to school just to know how to work on your own car. Just get some tools and start working on it.

 

[steffenaj14]

well i want to go into this field to open up some opportunities.. i don't necessarily want to be a mechanic. i dont wanta be the guy at the shop who fixes peoples brakes and transmissions and changes the alternator. i want to do something out side the box. and i want it to include automotive's. ya know? maybe after i go to tech school i'll go back to a university for automotive engineering or maybe automotive design (i'm good at design and puzzle-making sort of stuff). or maybe if i find a path that could lead me to a race team or something of that nature that would interest me. or maybe something with a parts manufacturer making and designing aftermarket parts. ya know? i don't just want to be a mechanic. but i want to do SOMETHING in the automotive field so i feel it necessary to have a background in automotives and some type of professional know how when it comes to mechanics ya know? thats why i am second guessing going to UTI or Wyotech. unless they give you 30,000 dollars worth of extra umph towards where i wanta go then its obviously not worth it..


anyone got an opinion? and thanks for your advice chris and stealth

 

[steffenaj14]

so in other words.. what will it take to get the attention of a race team or some kind of aftermarket parts maker/designer? or ANYTHING thats more outside the box like that

 

[_Chris]

Then sounds like you will need a school like UTI or the like. Because you wont do anything that you just said you want to do in a collage class.

 

[steffenaj14]

well i know University of Cincinnati has an industrial design major that focuses on the automotive aspect. and i also know that a good amount of other universities carry an engineering major that focus towards automotives. would going to a community college then a university do me well?

again, thanks for the input and advice!

 

[thecrash91]

if you are talking about getting a bachelors degree then 100% go to community college first 2 years (get associates) THEN go to a university. its evident youre not looking for "the college experience" as i am. and in all honesty it doesnt matter where you did your general education (such as english, history, science etc.) hence, community college. it only matters where you graduate from. so take any general education stuff at community college, then transfer to a state school or any school that will accept the credits. its much cheaper in the end, and you have the same exact degree.

personally ive been going to a state school (not free, ~10k a semester) for 2 years, and plan to finish here with my bachelors ONLY because i wanted the full college experience.

edit: also if you do end up going to a university, check their club listings. There is a club at my school called Baja, where they actually made a Baja from scrap metal, and a briggs and straton 5hp engine mated with an autoclutch harley davidson 4sp transmission. s*** like that looks great on a resume for what youre looking to do.

 

[steffenaj14]

yeah that sounds awesome.. i guess i'm pretty set on going to cincinnati state tech. they got a auto tech course with good interns. then i will figure out where i want to transfer to and what to major in later.

 

[thecrash91]

try and find a place to transfer before you even go, this way you can make sure the credits will transfer over. some schools dont accept other schools credits.