Seconday education opinions

HondaChild · Post by **HondaChild** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:28 am

Okay so some of you know that I am graduating from high school in May. And I still am not sure what I want to do for post high school education. I plan on being a mechanic so my plan goes along those lines. I have 2 different schools in mind.

The first idea is to go to Ranken tech. for High performance racing. This would be cheap and easy education but I am not sure on the quality of the classes, and job placement programs. I know several people who have or are going to Ranken for various courses and some had trouble find employment.

The other choice was suggested to me by my older brother. He thinks that I should go to UTI in Arizona. This is a great school from everything that I have heard but it would be expensive not including finding housing ect. My brother's friend went to UTI and he is tech. at BMW and making decent money.

What I am asking for is opinions, options, comments from people with experience or just people with some ideas on the subject.

99PreludeSh · Post by **99PreludeSh** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:41 am

In order to go through that high performance class at Ranken you have to

A. Go through all 4 semesters of maintenance
B. Be an Alumni
C. Take a qualifying test(which a lot of people don't pass)

orange94hatch · Post by **orange94hatch** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:44 am

i went to uti in chicago. and i dont see where your getting your cheap!! from.

Macbeth182 · Post by **Macbeth182** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:02 am

+1 to what 99Preludesh said
True, Ranken is cheaper than a 4 year college, but the tuition is still around $30,000.
Obviously you can qualify for Financial aid and scholarships, but if you were planning on going there in the fall, you had better get on it soon.
Ranken has an excellent program, last time I checked it was ranked among the top automotive programs in the country.
Here's my advice to you, go to meramec or scc or someplace like that and get your general courses out of the way (sociology, into to business admin., oral comm, etc.) By doing that, you'll save quite a bit of money. Then transfer over to Ranken and you'll be able to concentrate 100% on your core instruction for auto technology, and not have to worry about a sociology course or business course when you just want to devote yourself completely to your automotive career.
If you haven't already you need to take a visit to Ranken and get info on classes and courses that transfer from the community college, and actually see first hand what you are going to be getting into.
And where have you heard about problems with job placement? I know you'll run into problems if you walk into ranken and think you can just show up to class, get a c average thought your program, then try and get a job. It's just something you have to really work for, then you won't run into those types of problems.
Also, you say you want to go into High Performance, so what were your plans on doing with that certification when you got out??

Also just so you know, Ranken and UTI are not the only tech schools in the country.
If you have any more questions about it feel free to ask me.

GTI-Guy · Post by **GTI-Guy** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:20 am

Try looking at it from the other direction ... start googling service technician job postings and see what programs / schools get listed

My take ... the Performance Racing path is a come on to sell tuition to those with dreams of working on pro race team ... sounds great, but it's a steep climb and I suspect Ranken is not the Harvard of such programs

Good service techs make good money, and have a lot more opportunity. Spend what it takes to get onboard with a good school that is the desired program by those who hire the most ... this point is critical

Ideally, after you get settled in your first job, take some small business management classes too from the community college ... this will give you the chance to not work for "the man" and open your own "dealer alternative" shop that keeps the hondas / toyotas / etc running after the cars come off warranty and people get sticker shocked at the dealer

After five-ish years of that, you can be doing well enough to hire your own techs and focus on managing more and only doing the tech work you want to

If that doesn't interest you, with some business education, you'd still be the pick of the litter for managing the service department of a traditional dealer service operation ... that income potential is in the strong six figure range

I envy your position in life right now, so pardon the long speech ... I struggle with what path to try to steer my kids toward and I like the one you're on. Combining a technical skill with some business management knowledge is a good combo ... lots of options

The Performance Racing thing sounds like a "hail mary" and if that doesn't work out, not much to fall back on ... you don't want to be stuck doing mufflers at Midas

GTI-Guy · Post by **GTI-Guy** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:24 am

Macbeth182;160440 wrote:+
Ranken has an excellent program, last time I checked it was ranked among the top automotive programs in the country. .

Wasn't aware of that ... if you can dig up a link I'd like to see that, thanks

Phate · Post by **Phate** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:31 am

VERY well said Gti-Guy.. im serious. He has a awesome point. :thumbup: I will be taking some business classes when I get home from my deployment.

Macbeth182 · Post by **Macbeth182** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:31 am

It's on their website, in the automotive maintenance technology section.

GTI-Guy · Post by **GTI-Guy** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:47 am

Phate;160447 wrote:VERY well said Gti-Guy.. im serious. He has a awesome point. :thumbup: I will be taking some business classes when I get home from my deployment.

Good luck! Some days I'm of value. Where you stationed? What branch?

Macbeth182;160448 wrote:It's on their website, in the automotive maintenance technology section.

Got it, pasted below. The state stuff doesn't say a lot, but to the OP, you'd also want to see who's been getting the national recognition as of late. Good to know Ranken's still solid though

[INDENT]Over the past ten years, Ranken’s AMT program has been named Best in the State eight times and was most recently named Best in the Nation for 2003 by the Automotive Industry Planning Council (AIPC).[/INDENT]

andyjt · Post by **andyjt** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:48 am

GTI-Guy;160442 wrote:Wasn't aware of that ... if you can dig up a link I'd like to see that, thanks

It was a Top 10 tier Rated NATEF school in the counrty.

Job placement is "99%" or whatever they say. Ranken did a great job of finiding you plenty of job opportunintes.. They have numerous employers coming in from time to time. A few job fairs every year. In fact i even remember when i went there they let us out of class in order to attend these job fairs. You go to ranken to get the education and they do a great job in my opinion in setting you up with employers. Getting the job is all up to you/ how you act/ do in the interview/ resumes...

IDK if you have any other questions just ask. I attended and graduated a few years ago.

-Andrew