People considering Wyotech

[Josh M]

Ok, I see a lot of threads asking about going to Wyotech or UTI. As a former student I will give you my honest opinion and instead of typing out a bunch of PMs or responding to individual posts I will just make a sticky for Wyotech


Most of the people who go talked to a recruiter obviously beforehand. What they tell you about stuff to do is a complete lie. There is NOTHING there to do if you are more of a city person and not an outdoor person. If you are an outdoor person there is plenty of hiking, skiing, paintballing, off road courses. If you are a city person like me your options are limited to going to Ft. Collins CO and Denver every weekend. Neither are very far so it isn't too bad. There is also no drag strip close by either. The closest one is Bandemiere(sp?) and that is a good 1.5 hours away.

Classes are pretty good and straight forward. I wasn't super mechanically inclined before I got there and by the end I was holding my own. They are very fast paced and also unlike most recruiters will tell you, there is about 40% of your time is spent in the classroom, not the "hardly ever" the recruiter says. The classroom stuff is important though especially if you are like me and didn't know a whole lot.

The girls there suck..............you really have to be careful because high school girls will cruise the tech dorms and look for dudes to hook up with and people have gotten in a lot of trouble for it. The whole town hates you as well, I would hate the techers if I were them too. Most of the kids there this is their 1st time away from home and come from podunk hick towns. They blast around everywhere making lots of noise and there are tons of accidents caused by techers and lots of alcohol related deaths as well due to techers. The university is ok and I still have some friends that were students at UW and its nice to go to their parties because there are actually girls.

Wyotech is very strict on their rules about you have to have your haircut a certain length at least and you have to be clean shaven. They check all that stuff sometimes depending on your instructor, they check every day. Attendance they are a bitch on as well. I had to go to the hospital when I smashed my thumb to pieces and I got deducted points for being absent

The weather sucks as well. Maybe 1 or 2 months out of the year its warm and a lot of them are bitter cold. I've never known a place to get so much freaking snow at once. Around thanksgiving time we got 2.5 ft in 1 night before I was about to fly home for the holiday. All the California people who aren't use to snow as well suck because they are all over the road.

The general student body is half and half between ricers and rednecks. You definitely have your import haters but generally most people there are pretty receptive to all cars. I think when I was there I saw about 7 nice cars and the rest were either broke down foxbodies and irocs or they were riced out civics or dsms. They were generally cool though and I keep in contact with a few of my good friends from there.

The instructors are cool as shit in general. Some of them have some great experience. One of the drivetrain instructors was a tech at Porsche for a number of years. Another guy Oli(sp?) is actually a supra nut so I spent some time BSing with him about supras. I loved the instructors there and I learned a lot from them.

Housing is a joke. Do not live in student housing because its like living in the slum. I made the mistake of living in the dorms and wtf there was mouse shit all over the place and looked so fucking run down. I was scared to walk on the carpet too. I would suggest living in an apartment. There is a big complex there, I forgot what exactly its called but most of the UW cheerleading team lived there and lots of hotties from the university so I felt more normal living there.

The important part............jobs. What they said was absolutley true! I got offers from all sorts of dealership and I graduated in 2003 and to this day I STILL am getting job offers. One guy in my class ended up going to work for Lamborghini and a few others went to work for BMW/Mercedes/Audi. The jobs are definitely there for a Wyotech graduate which in the end is the important part.

Overall I had a good experience. I would do it again and I made some awesome life time friends.

[jt granberry]

Good thread. Thanx for the info. I have always thought about attending Wyotech!

[ookimchiboyoo]

i was thinking about attending the sacramento location, anybody go to that location?

[Josh M]

Certain programs aren't offered in other campuses. I don't think diesel or high performance auto are in the Cali location. I am not sure on that though

[WyoSupraSE]

Oh come on Josh the weathers not that bad! sissy lol dont trust them UW'ers either
-J

[slow95tt]

Blairsville location has some of the best teachers for wyotech, we had a few students who had relocated to Blairsville as the school is known for its teachers over the other locations. Yeah the recruiter makes it sound amazing but hes also full of shit to an extent. Class room time is very knowledgable and you really get a great understanding of the theory they teach you. I was one of thoose that went into the school with a lot of backround already so I had a litte more of and advantage.

The job offers though are no joke but look for other areas to relocate for good money as Im looking into Arizona and Texas areas. I also had a bit more fabricating then most going into the street rod and chassis programs as I did welding for 3 years prior to that and had already earned my certification in tig,stick, and mig welding.

The girl situation sucks. They seriously should have just called it guyotech. Its a damn cock smacking fest. The bad part about the Blairsville location though is its right next to the high school and junior highs so yeah needless to say quite a few guys got into some serious trouble for the younger girls. So guys rub it out to something other then what we called the prostitots.

I looked into quite a few other schools including UTI, and Penn tech but to be honest neither of thoose schools could compare to Wyotech. The "Emphasis on employability" that wyotech continues to pursue is looked highly upon by employers. The school is considered to be the harvard of automotive schools so with that said many many employers look into that school for potential employees. I will say one other thing take the diesel course if offered by your school its very very much well worth it as there is many advances in diesel coming in the future (chrysler has 3 cars expected to enter the states offering diesel engines from the mercedes line, Audi is looking to explore the diesel industry more just look at the v12 tt diesel that won the 24 hours, that is amazing technology there my friends)

After attending and havine previous auto backround I was asked to instruct there but the pay is somewhat to be desired of for having to deal with some of the students that create a bit of problems.

For what its worth I hope this helps a little more in conclusion to Josh's post and if anyone needs help while attending dont be afraid to ask me. I enjoy helping others out in learning and understanding things in a different way.

[slow95tt]

Oh and for thoose curious on classes offered, heres a list


They require a main course of study which is approx 6 months long with weak long breaks and graduation every 3 months, and an elective course at 3 months.

Main courses are as follows:

Heavy duty diesel

Automotive technology (work allowed to be performed on personal cars with instructor permission and pending points or missed days/tardys)

Automotive autobody repair (They do not allow work on personal cars in this course)

The elective courses are as follows:

Business management (Very worth while if planning on opening your own business down the road) I attended this class as well

Street rod (Sees some welding and painting, work on own projects allowed)

Chassis fabrication (excellent for welding courses also allows you to work on your own car)

Upholstery and trim class (work on personal cars allowed here as well)
Light duty diesel

High performance engine and drivetrain (very fun class to take for dyno time and working on your own car)

Theese were classes offered at the Blairsville Location student housing is also available as well as the dorm rooms located in the Indiana University area (great party scene and lots of legal women)

[ookimchiboyoo]

how old were you when you went?? becasue im thinking about going to a local community collage for auto tech then go to wyotech

[slow95tt]

I went a little later then most as I had planned on moving out of the area and that almighty piece of paper can get you far. I was 24 when I went. I did a few other things prior to that welding and what not and typical in between work at a few local garages. To be honest though to go to community college then to wyotech would help but not needed. The things youll learn at wyotech will far exceed the things they will teach at a community college. The biggest reason for me choosing wyotech over a tech college was that it was everyday 7am till 4pm for 9 months and your done with and associates degree in Auto technology and whatever else you may choose. I was in there with a person from a community college and he said all he really did with the community was pretty much waste a lot of money on loans. He said that compared to what he had learned from wyotech was no where near what the community college had taught. Personally if you want to cut the costs of school and student loans swing more towards the wyotech over the college. Employers know what to look for when it comes to skills and the enviroment of wyotech with the rules about apperance and attendance will greatly be looked better upon then a community college. If you have any other questions dont be afraid to ask. I looked at many different options and I personally think going to wyotech is a much better choice then doing both and youll come out on top with the wyotech training.

[Jarrett H]

don't do it!!!!! I went to wyotech, after going to school there for a while most of us come to a conclusion. You go to the school for a piece of paper and to be #1 on any employers list when it comes to hiring you.


aight peace

[slow95tt]

don't do it!!!!! I went to wyotech, after going to school there for a while most of us come to a conclusion. You go to the school for a piece of paper and to be #1 on any employers list when it comes to hiring you.


aight peace

Well isnt that the point? To be considered over everyone else. Yeah its only a piece of paper but if you actually make something out of it then its worth while. I graduated with a lot more then what I went there with sure I knew the basics but they really teach you how to excel with the knowledge they teach you. Maybe you just didnt use that to your advantage or was one of thoose few kids that went there just for going or whatever reason and not to make something out of it.

[Josh M]

Eh, 4 years later I don't even change my own oil

[IIJoshIII]

Ok, I see a lot of threads asking about going to Wyotech or UTI. As a former student I will give you my honest opinion and instead of typing out a bunch of PMs or responding to individual posts I will just make a sticky for Wyotech


Most of the people who go talked to a recruiter obviously beforehand. What they tell you about stuff to do is a complete lie. There is NOTHING there to do if you are more of a city person and not an outdoor person. If you are an outdoor person there is plenty of hiking, skiing, paintballing, off road courses. If you are a city person like me your options are limited to going to Ft. Collins CO and Denver every weekend. Neither are very far so it isn't too bad. There is also no drag strip close by either. The closest one is Bandemiere(sp?) and that is a good 1.5 hours away.

Classes are pretty good and straight forward. I wasn't super mechanically inclined before I got there and by the end I was holding my own. They are very fast paced and also unlike most recruiters will tell you, there is about 40% of your time is spent in the classroom, not the "hardly ever" the recruiter says. The classroom stuff is important though especially if you are like me and didn't know a whole lot.

The girls there suck..............you really have to be careful because high school girls will cruise the tech dorms and look for dudes to hook up with and people have gotten in a lot of trouble for it. The whole town hates you as well, I would hate the techers if I were them too. Most of the kids there this is their 1st time away from home and come from podunk hick towns. They blast around everywhere making lots of noise and there are tons of accidents caused by techers and lots of alcohol related deaths as well due to techers. The university is ok and I still have some friends that were students at UW and its nice to go to their parties because there are actually girls.

Wyotech is very strict on their rules about you have to have your haircut a certain length at least and you have to be clean shaven. They check all that stuff sometimes depending on your instructor, they check every day. Attendance they are a bitch on as well. I had to go to the hospital when I smashed my thumb to pieces and I got deducted points for being absent

The weather sucks as well. Maybe 1 or 2 months out of the year its warm and a lot of them are bitter cold. I've never known a place to get so much freaking snow at once. Around thanksgiving time we got 2.5 ft in 1 night before I was about to fly home for the holiday. All the California people who aren't use to snow as well suck because they are all over the road.

The general student body is half and half between ricers and rednecks. You definitely have your import haters but generally most people there are pretty receptive to all cars. I think when I was there I saw about 7 nice cars and the rest were either broke down foxbodies and irocs or they were riced out civics or dsms. They were generally cool though and I keep in contact with a few of my good friends from there.

The instructors are cool as shit in general. Some of them have some great experience. One of the drivetrain instructors was a tech at Porsche for a number of years. Another guy Oli(sp?) is actually a supra nut so I spent some time BSing with him about supras. I loved the instructors there and I learned a lot from them.

Housing is a joke. Do not live in student housing because its like living in the slum. I made the mistake of living in the dorms and wtf there was mouse shit all over the place and looked so fucking run down. I was scared to walk on the carpet too. I would suggest living in an apartment. There is a big complex there, I forgot what exactly its called but most of the UW cheerleading team lived there and lots of hotties from the university so I felt more normal living there.

The important part............jobs. What they said was absolutley true! I got offers from all sorts of dealership and I graduated in 2003 and to this day I STILL am getting job offers. One guy in my class ended up going to work for Lamborghini and a few others went to work for BMW/Mercedes/Audi. The jobs are definitely there for a Wyotech graduate which in the end is the important part.

Overall I had a good experience. I would do it again and I made some awesome life time friends.

Very helpful. I have a few questions of my own:
1. Are there any pre-requisties, such as High School/College degree?
2. Did they help you find housing and a job while you attended?
3. How was the schedule?
4. Would you recommend Wyotech over UTI?
5. As stated below, I see that one main course is selected, plus elective(s). Can you have more than one elective or are you just limited to the main+1 elective?
6. Were you offered good jobs after graduation as stated in their ads?
7. Is there alot of "hands on" work?

Sorry for so many questions.

-Josh

[Josh M]

1. I am not sure, I think a HS or equivilant degree is required
2. No, they dont........the tech dorms absolutley suck
3. Not too bad, you have a choice of either day classes 7-4:30 or evening classes 5:00-2am or something like that
4. I would
5. You can pick as many as you want...........I know some people who took every course that was offered
6. I was offered "good" jobs........honestly though my idea of good and someone else's might be different. I was offered jobs at Mercedes, Toyota, Firestone, CarMax..............1 kid from my graduating class got a job at Lamborghini. Honestly though no tech is gonna make great money. When you have been a tech for awhile and start doing just electronics and diagnostics you can make 125k/yr but honestly I needed more. Only a few people that I went to school with stayed in the field and they are all doing well for themselves, just wasn't for me.
7. Yes a lot of hands on work...................I'd say half and half maybe a bit more leaning towards hands on.



Oh and everyone there will tell you to get a job at a domestic dealership..........they break the most. Most imports like Toyota and Honda you are just doing routine maintenance and there isn't much to that..........where you make the money is when you move to flat rate.

[IIJoshIII]

Thank you sir.

[Jazman]

I hooked up with a girl going to Wyotech so I could use her tool discount.


Good times...

[azteamextreme]

i get tool disconted and im dont even go to wyotech or uti i get a disconted because i in a auto class in highschool that is frree and is not costing me 25000 to 30000 a year just to go there

[Josh L.]

i get tool disconted and im dont even go to wyotech or uti i get a disconted because i in a auto class in highschool that is frree and is not costing me 25000 to 30000 a year just to go there

People don't go to Wyotech and spend 25-30k a year on tools. They spend it on an education.

[Josh L.]

How were the costs for Wyotech, if you don't mind?

[Nmarple254]

Josh M, When did you go to Tech I think we were there around the same time. I went in 2003.

My opinion of it?... Well it just wasn't my thing. I honestly wish I didn't go but you make mistakes and move on. The best thing I can say about it is that it does help you get a job and quick. Thing was I hated the job. Plus all the people I was working with had no education or went to the local community college for 1/5 of what I paid. I'm still paying on my loans and not really close to finishing them yet but o well... It's building credit right? I didn't like the industry and having to work on other peoples cars and dealing with insurance companies trying to fight for hours. But it was an experience and all I can say is for people that are thinking about going there. If you have the chance, try to see if a shop will let you do some work with them for cheap or maybe even for free if you can swing the extra work and that way you may be able to get a feel for the work you will be doing. So after my time there.. I worked at a dealership for bout 7-8 months hating it and now just signed my re-enlistment papers happily for another 4 years of the good ol USMC. Good luck to anyone who decidedes to go. Study, Show Up, and just from personal experience... Don't crash a U W party and sleep with some frat guy's girlfriend your first weekend... makes for a long couple months.

P.S. The name of the apartments was Sterling Apartments or something along those lines. Bad Ass lots of lady folk. But bad management.

[street demon]

well im in the wyotech in blairville pa right now omm not much to expect for race at the drag tack down the street and thats about it i mean there is other things to do but not that exciting the school isnt all that bad i like it like i said im going there right know and its ok

[street demon]

o and go to the strip club

[street demon]

i mean yea its a great way to get a decent job quick i mean guys your gonna get what you put into it

[Katze]

Just to update... as I grew up in Laramie... and felt the overwhelming desire to add my two cents...

1. All student housing at the Laramie campus got moved to a centralized location with newer dorms. This was due to complaints of all the traffic and problems that citizens complained about, so Wyotech did centralized housing in the West Laramie campus. So the old crappy student housing = gone.

2. The town WILL hate you. You're probably better off trying to pass as a UW student. There are even landlords that will deny you housing if they know you're a WyoTech student (happened to my best friend and her husband, as he was a student there, she went to UW).

3. The police department specifically targets WyoTech students, especially at the beginning of the terms. They actually issue bulletins... I worked at BioLife Plasma Center, just down the street from West Campus, and the police actually came into my work and issued us a statement telling us to drive carefully as they would be targeting WyoTech students and they didn't want any "innocent" Laramie citizens getting caught up in it. Local plates will help, but if you're in a modified car that isn't American made, they don't care where your plates are from.

4. From what I've noticed, over the past 3-4 years, there's been a decrease in the number of imports, and it's mostly diesel guys now. I think this is because... well, who the hell wants to move to Laramie for school?! The roads are not friendly for lowered vehicles, and neither is the snow in the winter. Your car not making it down the street due to the 2 feet of snow is NOT a valid excuse to missing class!

5. Like in the first post, watch out for the girls... They're known as "techer hoes" and they love nothing more than a fine techer to bang... A lot are underage from the high school, but plenty are also over 18. A lot are dirty (STDs...) and not that attractive, don't waste your time. There are plenty of nice girls in Laramie for you to meet, it just might be a little harder.

6. From what I've heard, the Laramie campus has stopped offering some classes, and are focusing mostly on the diesel/street rod sections. I'm pretty sure you have to attend another campus for any of the high performance engine classes.

7. If you can avoid it, and don't have a huge desire to live in WY (some do, as there is hunting, fishing, hiking, outdoors stuff, easy to own guns, etc.), you're probably better off going to another campus if you can. Not that Laramie is hell on earth, but I can see how someone not from a rural western area would hate it. Add on the weather (-30* anyone? yeah, it happens a few times a winter), the general bias against the students, and the fact that there is nothing to do... if you can, save yourself the trouble.

[Murf]

good write up...however Flat Rate sucks balls