<p>If this young man is interested in the military, he needs to be clear about the fact that it’s a near certainty that he’ll be fixing those engines in or near combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan if he joins the Army or the Marine Corps. And joining the Navy or Air Force is not a guarentee that he won’t. </p>
<p>This is not to discourage but rather a reality check. There are tremendous benefits, especially now with the Post 9/11 GI Bill but they are being offered for a reason.</p>
<p>We’ve been busy checking out some of the websites for a bachelor’s program that offers the auto tech stuff too and we’ll suggest that and hopfully there will be a compromise. With a tech school he could go for a month and hate it or hate living away in an apt and we will lose the money and he can’t take the credits anywhere. With a bachelors program at least he can take the credits after the first semester just in case. We found one in our home state (he’s in another state) coincidentally that looks the best of all so maybe that will appeal to him. We also found out that the reason he found this tech school was a very strong sales pitch at his high school and not that he really researched it and found it to be the best choice. We also found out that even though he thinks he’ll go to college at the end of the tech school that the tech school credits would not transfer to some of the programs we already looked at. It would make sense to do it all at once if that is his ultimate goal.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to single anyone out but I did want to address the “smart” issue.</p>
<p>There are smart people in nearly all fields. That a person has a high gpa and scores well on standarized tests does not mean that their passion in life is going to be something they must go to college to study. Of course, we’re talking about young people but I question the validity of the idea that a smart person is wasting their talent in becoming a mechanic or whatnot.</p>
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<p>He may not pass all of his classes. That one semester with a really low gpa can take a long time to bring up. It’s very easy to blow it the first semester, even with kids who want to be there. </p>
<p>I can only imagine the stress level of him applying to colleges and then this change of plans. I would be looking at ways to compromise as well but at the end of the day, it’s up to the student to make it worthwhile. </p>
<p>Best of luck to all of you.</p>
<p>I agree with Post #17 above. If cost & lack of school housing is a concern, then consider going to work for a large car dealership–such as a Toyota franchise–which pay mechanics to learn while working and while studying at their own auto mechanic school sponsored & run by Toyota. This gives the student a chance to live in one of many cities in the US while getting both paid real world &, alternately, paid classroom, experience.</p>
<p>When I take my car in to be serviced I hope that the person working on it is ‘smart’ and of course, many times they are. When I get the bill charging $80/hour I usually think they must have something on the ball to command that kind of revenue.</p>
<p>Regarding opportunity, I think a smart person trained in auto repair will probably have more opportunities than someone with a poliSci or psych undergrad degree. Also, as in most fields, the ‘smarter’ person in that field is liable to end up doing better than others. They may end up owning their own business, franchising their business, heading high-end
race car building facilities, getting involved in advanced automotive technology, or enter a myriad of other opportunities. They won’t always end up as a guy in a garage for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>Regarding moving to an apartment in another town - thousands of people do this all the time including college students who don’t stay in dorms. It’s not a big deal and IMO not worth being concerned about.</p>
<p>Good luck to the kid and if he end up in my area I wouldn’t mind taking my car to be serviced by a smart young enthusiastic person like him.</p>
<p>[Southern</a> Illinois University Carbondale](<a href=“http://siucautomotive.com%5DSouthern”>http://siucautomotive.com) - Automotive Technology at SIUC</p>
<p>I advised my own son to graduate from college and then go to a technical school to get job-training, because he always wanted to ‘work with his hands’.</p>
<p>I suggested the college route first so he would always have that back-up. What if he discovered a job requiring a college degree that he would like to do when he’s in his 30’s, with a family to support? I reasoned that if he had already gotten the college degree in his young adulthood, that would be ‘locked in’, and all he would have to do is take about 12 college courses and he would then have that new college major. A LOT easier to add to an already existing college degree than to have to start.</p>
<p>Has your stepson considered that manual jobs are hard on the body, and most men past a certain age, like early to mid-40’s, have developed arthritis or something else which makes it hard to do the work? It’s awfully nice to have a back-up plan at that time.</p>
<p>I knew a car mechanic who was making big bucks during the day, but was using his college degree by teaching astronomy courses at night at the local university (actually I think he had a master’s). He said he couldn’t afford to just teach full-time as he was paid too much as a mechanic, but when he retired from car mechanics, he could smoothly move right into a full-time or whatever position as a college teacher. </p>
<p>It’s nice to create options for yourself when you are in your early 20’s and not bound by obligations yet. </p>
<p>I hope your stepson listens!</p>
<p>I know a car mechanic who later became a doctor. His wife said the professions didn’t seem that different to her (lots of diagnostics) but the family laundry got easier after he went into medicine.</p>
<p>Just for fun, you might suggest that your stepson look at the web site of Luscious Garage in San Francisco. It’s owned and run by a college graduate who always liked working on cars, and they specialize in hybrids.</p>
<p>I think we may have come up with a solution. Thanks to some posters I looked up auto tech programs that are bachelors programs and found that is close to us which was amazing as there are only 5 listed in the country. It would give him the first 2 years doing hands on and the second 2 years as the business/degree part of it. He’ll do what he likes and get the degree too. He’ll be at a university and have that part of the experience and can live at the dorms if he wants too. It’s out of state for him but his dad lives in that state which gives him in state tuition which will be nice. If he decides in the end he doesn’t like the hands on stuff, he can apply the credits towards another major. His mom seems to be on board with the idea too as he applied today!! So we’ll see what happens but I already feel better. He’ll get a degree, be guaranteed a job when he graduates and do what he thinks he likes right now. If he’s wrong he’ll still have the degree instead of just the technical school. We’ll see…</p>
<p>Congratulations on finding a good option!</p>
<p>Sounds like a good fit. What does he think of the idea? Is there still time to apply?</p>
<p>I just did a search using collegeboard.com for 2 year colleges that have available housing for their students and offer automotive engineering and technologies. I found 179 colleges, some of those probably will have on-campus housing. Maybe do a search yourself and come up with some alternatives for your soon-to-be son. Embrace his decision but see if you can steer him to a school that will give him more of the on-campus experience you are hoping for him and that might also offer some engineering courses that he will come into contact with that might peek his interest. You can set the search parameters to also include business courses. It might be a way you can be “involved” without being the one to be trying to change his mind.</p>
<p>oops see you have already done a search - that’s what I get for not reading the entire thread. COngrats on finding such a great option!</p>
<p>Glad to hear that a solution that is agreeable to everyone was found.</p>
<p>While reading this thread, I was thinking of “Car Talk”, hosted by two brothers who are MIT graduates. I wish I lived on the east coast, so I could go to their garage for car repairs.</p>
<p>Wonderful!</p>
<p>Could you post the programs?</p>
<p>Good luck to your kid!</p>
<p>I think it will work out. The idea has a lot of safety nets around it. He’ll be close to us, at a university instead of a tech school, have the bachelors option, paid internship et. Fingers crossed…</p>
<p>Here’s the link Treetopleaf
[Automotive</a> Technology Department - Weber State University](<a href=“http://weber.edu/automotive/default.html]Automotive”>Department of Automotive)</p>
<p>Your future stepson is a lucky guy - congrats on finding a good match for him!</p>
<p>I second that- Congrats!!</p>
<p>That program looks like a perfect match.</p>
<p>I think it’s wonderful that you were able to process this and work it out as a family.</p>