Anybody been to or know anyone that has been to NASCAR tech?

[mudonthetires10]

I can't see NTI being worth the money that it costs, but that's just what I have gathered from it all.

 

[latest project]

Howd you get your certification before graduation? From what I was reading you have to have at least 1 year experience after the school to even qualify to take the ASE's. Would you mind sending me a PM or E-mail with a detailed account of your experience? I have a ton of questions for you.

You can take the tests before you have the 2 years experience but you won't receive you're certification until you have your 2 years. I had enough shop experience to take it before I went to NTI, but if you work in a shop full-time while you go to school you should be good by the time you graduate. PM whatever questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[Caver Dave]

you get out of it what you put in

Well stated... welcome to the Big Boy Club!

Promises of high paying jobs and all this crap...then you get there and it sucks royally...

Don't think this junk isn't being propagated in EVERY learning institute past HS. We have kids showing up with a degree in XXXX, no experience what so ever, expecting to make $100K/year. Why? Because some recruiter blew the good smoke up their arses early on! Why? Because, if they told you the truth... you'll spend $50K for school, *MIGHT* get a job out of school making $25-30K (since you'll have no experience), and *MAYBE* after 5-10 years will be at a point where you no longer have to eat Beanie-wienies/Ramen, can afford an Escort & live by yourself in an appartment (without going into debt)...

Again, welcome to the Big Boy Club!

 

[R Q]

ANy reason your friend didn't take those jobs? Decide he didn't want to be a mechanic after spending nearly 50 grand?

Sorry to take so long to answer.
He is a very smart kid and wanted to proceed on to get an engineering degree (which I was pushing him towards in the first place) and also his parents wouldn't totally cut him loose so he was able to surf, go to school, and work at a surf shop rather than get a real job.
He did have 2 or 3 apprentice jobs offered at Mercedes and Volvo but was also offered about 35+k per year to start at a dealer in Sanford, NC.
You want a free mechanical education? Look into Deere Construction equipment. They have programs to start you at a factory and go to school free while you work. It's been a while since my brother was telling me about it but it was a total free ride if you would learn and work on their stuff.

 

[ol'Jeeps]

Have a comment. We get a lot of these NTI guys blowin thru our race shops. We even ran a intern program at Ultra Motorsports. We found, maybe one in ten is a keeper. From just plain not knowin' how to do anything, to plain ol' rotten attitudes. The good ones are generally very good. The bad ones are usually very bad!

In regards to racing, anyway, NTI cannot make you a mechanic, or a fabricator. You better have the basic skills already, going in. They can teach you methods. They can teach you tools. Maybe some of the business end of shops. And they can help connect you to the job market. But you had better already have a good mechanical aptitude to pursue a mechanic or fabricating career. I have seen the ones that dont!

 

[redneckjeep87]

im born and raised mooresville.........nti showed up while i was still in high school, i almost went there until i realized how much money they actually wanted and told me that i was GARUNTEED a job at any shop i wanted....then i talked to a couple guys that graduated from there and at the time i spoke with them about it were schucking oysters at bigdaddys.........and these guys know their stuff, decent techs.....alot of places see nti's name and tend to shy away from hiring....at least around the mooresville area...........alot of the guys that go there are just bullshittin spending mommy and daddys money and dont know much at all about anything except for doin drugs and hookin up with high school girls, but there are also the guys that could do it before they went to the school and are trying to continue their certifications/eduction ...........end rant..............like everyone has said if you know what your doin and u apply urself ull go somewhere in life....if you dont know shit and u go there ur still gonna suck lol........and if you go there stay away from the highschool girls, you have no idea how much that pissed all of us off when we were still in school

 

[bmwboy]

I just left NTI due to not liking it. I felt like I learned alot and the teacher new alot. I thought the information they gave you was great but it wasnt all that they told you it was going to be when I talked to them the first time.
I had just got out of the Army and 2 tours to Iraq and not that Im that old (21) but i felt like I was back at community collage with a lot of kids that couldnt do any thing else. I grew up in Hickory and around racing and working on cars what ever and they had alot of good points at the school but I just couldnt deal with all the guys that just got out of high school that made the day long with bs. I was the 2nd oldest in my class on time and I felt like I was at a little kids bday party that class. I would think about going back if they would take a pre test and place ppl of the same skill set in the same class's.
Another problem was being attendance policy. Theres really over the limits on it I was working and commuting from Hickory so I was late a few times ok but with the money Im paying I souldnt have to hear some one bitch at me for waisting my money u know it didnt slow there class down at all so thats what I think about it hope you have a good time there just stay into it and if you can deal with dumb ppl all the time youll be ok dont let my bad time hold you back from looking more into some thing you want to do let me know how it turns out

 

[supraman1990]

I understand the being around younger people. I am friends with mostly older people in the 20-21 range and I know most kids that are 17-18 are the most annoying age group their is. I've learned to just tune everyone out. You should go back though man,I need a roomie

 

[Ricky B]

then i talked to a couple guys that graduated from there and at the time i spoke with them about it were schucking oysters at bigdaddys

Dude BigDaddys is the greatest place EVER, grew up going to that place.


On NASCAR tech, got a buddy that went there and now is a Mechanic for the Ford dealership off exit 23, but from my experience working with people from there they all seem to think they know allot more than they do and expect to get paid extra for there degree without proving them selfs . . . .

 

[supraman1990]

Dude BigDaddys is the greatest place EVER, grew up going to that place.
On NASCAR tech, got a buddy that went there and now is a Mechanic for the Ford dealership off exit 23, but from my experience working with people from there they all seem to think they know allot more than they do and expect to get paid extra for there degree without proving them selfs . . . .

I think all that comes from the fact that the recruiters are blwoing smoke up everyone that goes there's ass. I've only done the initial phone meeting and he is already touting to me that something like 45% of Mercedes tech's are UTI grads. I don't expect to go there and automatically get a $5 dollar an hour bonus. If anything, I'd like to be the one that took a $2-3 an hour reduction so that the dealership would pay for my school.

Another question, does anyone have any experience with the brand specific advanced training? I saw that UTI offered the Ford FACT, and consequentially I would like to work at either a Ford or Chrysler dealership after school. Is it as hard as I am hearing to get in to those programs? Some are saying that if you aren't the top 5 or so percent you can kiss your chance of getting in to one of those programs goodbye.

 

[Ricky B]

I know they have a deisel specific program from my buddy that went there, but yea you have to be at a certain level to do the extra stuff, but to be honest if you go there, try, and actually focus, you probably will be up there in ranking cause like I said most of the people I have met that went there didn't give a fawk and were just there to "get it over with"

 

[supraman1990]

I plan to apply myself. I'm a 3.1 student that sucks at math and foreign language, so they both killed my GPA. I don't want to slack whent eh school costs over 20 grand a year. Anyone else have experience with it?

 

[SSWaters]

I'm assuming all these places are ASE certified? If they aren't that's what you want. Have friends that started in dealerships then went out on their own after 4-5 years. They do pretty good. My advice would be to "specialize" in american or foriegn or whatever truly interest you, to be happy and satisfied, the money will eventulay come if you're good and prove it. Don't expect to be the greenhorn in the shop and make top pay, got'ta pay you're dues ya'know.

 

[Ron]

As a total outsiders perspective, they would have to convince me how much extra I get for the $$$$.
A local tech school would run 5-7k/year. If you spend the extra 30k, what does it give you to help you make up the difference?

My experience with Auto/Diesel techs has been that regardless of pedigree or education, the ones that work hard and have the right attitude can command their price after a few years. The ones with shitty attitudes and always chasing low hanging fruit jobs regardless of schooling are expendable and always seem to have trouble keeping work.

 

[snappy]

Do some simple math. I just talked to a few guys looking at the same deal. $37000.00 for the whole deal is what I was told. These guys are coming out still making less big money then they were told they would.MO here's a better way to go if you're looking a local dealership job. Go to a tech school like gtcc or forysth tech. for 7000.00. It takes alot of difference to make up the pay differnce. Lets say you start out at 10.00ph for the local shool. and 14.00 for the nascar tech. It will take you 7500 hours to make up the difference. Plus the bigger bonus is that most tech schools have good working relationships with the local dealerships and will get you started with an in. Alot of dealerships want local guys that will stay around. Just my .02, I see alot of young guys get burned by the promise of big money from these schools(I'm the local Snapon dealer). If you want nascar job it's great, for dealership work I'd put the simple math together.

 

[Franklin]

Just like anything in life, success is usually reserved for the ones that bust their ass.

 

[bmwboy]

you can pay and go to ford fact but for bmw or any thing like that you have to get excepted and have like a 3.7 gpa or higher and your attendence applys to your gpa

 

[Kustom Fabrikated]

I went there and graduated in october, I had a 3.9 gpa, like 97or98% attendance and had passed 5 ASEs before i left. I started my job at a chevy dealer at 12hr and then went to 20/hr flat rate after a little time and doing as much gm training as i could. Like others have said you do get out of it what you put in, there were a good portion of people that either quit or didn't show up much and atleast the jobs they got first leaving school reflected that, At the Mercedes in cary IIRC there are 4guys from different campuses and 1 that took the mercedes elite classes, he has been working there less time and has passed the others in pay in a short time.

Compared to other schools I can't really say I took shop in high school and it was much better than that. I actually just came back from a GM training center today and everything they taught I had already learned at NTI, the same goes for just about every other training I have done through GM, with the exception of manufacturer specific items such as onstar and similar things.

Also I beleive that it came out to about 28k total which may or may not have been worth it but I chose NTI over UNCC's automotive engineering program. But all my friends from high school are still in school and before they get out i will have it paid for.

If you do decide to go take advantage of the 1/2 price tools through snap-on and i believe if you contact mac tools they aslo offer the same kind of program for automotive students.

Sorry for the long post and I hope this helps

chris

 

[supraman1990]

I went there and graduated in october, I had a 3.9 gpa, like 97or98% attendance and had passed 5 ASEs before i left. I started my job at a chevy dealer at 12hr and then went to 20/hr flat rate after a little time and doing as much gm training as i could. Like others have said you do get out of it what you put in, there were a good portion of people that either quit or didn't show up much and atleast the jobs they got first leaving school reflected that, At the Mercedes in cary IIRC there are 4guys from different campuses and 1 that took the mercedes elite classes, he has been working there less time and has passed the others in pay in a short time.
Compared to other schools I can't really say I took shop in high school and it was much better than that. I actually just came back from a GM training center today and everything they taught I had already learned at NTI, the same goes for just about every other training I have done through GM, with the exception of manufacturer specific items such as onstar and similar things.
Also I beleive that it came out to about 28k total which may or may not have been worth it but I chose NTI over UNCC's automotive engineering program. But all my friends from high school are still in school and before they get out i will have it paid for.
If you do decide to go take advantage of the 1/2 price tools through snap-on and i believe if you contact mac tools they aslo offer the same kind of program for automotive students.
Sorry for the long post and I hope this helps
chris

Helps a ton. Were you invited to any of the speacialized courses with that high of a GPA? Do they help you to take the ASE's? Did you hear of any of the dealerships paying off the tuition, as I'm hoping to do well enough to get in a Mercedes or BMW program.

 

[Kustom Fabrikated]

i did not apply to any of them, when i was but i had 3 friends that did and 1 had better grades and attendance and got in to audi, 1 had just better attendance and got into i believe VW, the other had lower of both and got into mercedes. At the time i was just ready to get out of school but in hindsight taking one of the manufacturer specific courses probably would have been a good decision.

They do help you get prepared for the ASEs and if you register early enough you can take them on campus, the ASEs are the only excused absence that does not count against your attendance.

There were some people that did not go to manufacturer specific programs that had part of their tuition paid for but this was arranged before or during their time at school and was not part of what they asked for when looking for a job after getting out

 

[highrollintj]

one of my younger cousins is there right now and from what i have heard he enjoys it.

 

[supraman1990]

I went and did my little tour yesterday and it is a VERY nice institution. By far blows out of the water any other automotive school I've seen just in facilities alone. The tuition is hovering right around 30.5K. However, the loan payments really aren't that bad. I was pretty impressed witht he place, but they did like to blow smoke. Little thiongs were slipped in countless times about what kind of money could be made and that it's the best training around. But, I like it. Any more opinions?

 

[rattlecanpaint]

$37000 for NTI???!!! Holy crap that's waaaay too much money for an associates degree! I went to UTI twice, once for HVAC and once for automotive. Didn't spend near that much for two degrees. I did HVAC first and got a job in the industry, but really didn't like crawling around in crawl spaces and attics with the spiders, mice and (worst of all) the blown in insulation, so I went back and did automotive, always bee into cars but my high school was so small we didn't have an auto shop. I knew a little going in, but nothing compared to someone who had auto shop in high school. It was a good enough education for me to get into the BMW STEP program and after a few years in the field I was making $55k a year. IF you go to NTI or any school, make sure they have ways to get into the manufacturer programs, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Volkswagen, Lexus etc. Something to remeber is that people who buy luxury cars (As a rule, there will be exceptions) have more disposable income and are more apt to buy the extra stuf the car needs as opposed to the everyday cars. If you branch Honda, there will be no shortage of work...ever. Gotta love those oil changes and bumper covers!

Oh, and you get out of your education what you put into it. I learned tons.

 

[Kustom Fabrikated]

rattlecanpaint does have a point about the luxury if you can, from talking to people that work at luxury dealers they tend to have alot more work during the slow times and the economy doesnt seem to affect the customers as much

 

[supraman1990]

NTI has all those connections.