Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Dunwoody College of Technology.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Saint Paul College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Northland Community and Technical College, Minnesota State, Southeast Technical, and Minnesota West.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Minnesota State Mankato, Northwest Technical College, HCC, and Minnesota State.
Excellence
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Dunwoody College of Technology.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Dunwoody College of Technology, HCC, South Central College, and Northland Community and Technical College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Pine Technical College • Pine City, MN
Studying Automotive Technology (completion in 2009)
• 1/12/2012
"Pine Tech was exactly what I needed. I knew what I wanted to do and didn't need other general classes."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Pine Tech is a good school for anyone pursuing a career in Auto Technology. It's perfect for people wanting to get through school quickly. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Pine Tech has been shown to provide quality auto mechanics. Most mechanics I know have heard about the program at Pine Tech. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Pine Tech provides students with a lot of hands-on experience, as well as classroom knowledge. Instructors are available to answer questions and class sizes are very small. |
| Instruction | 8 | Instructors are experienced mechanics. The teaching is thorough and put into practice. |
| How Difficult | 6 | Work load outside of class was not high. However, there was a great deal of lab work in class and many hours spent in lab. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There is a good mix of book learning, followed by hands-on application. It's good concerning the hands-on aspect of my career. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | Classes must be taken at a specific time and during a specific semester. There is very little flexibility. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | For the size of the school, it is very good. However, there aren't many tutors and the advisors are not very helpful. |
| Social Life | 4 | Being a technical college, many students have full-time jobs and are only on campus for classes. There are few social events. |
| Placement Services | 6 | Students are required to go through a job-seeking class before graduation. They don't have a lot of resources to find an actual job, though. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | Pine Tech doesn't have much of an alumni program. Most students go on to another college. |
Firestone Training Center • Minneapolis, MN
Studying Fuel Injection/Drivability (completion in 1988)
• 4/4/2012
"I got great knowledge from them. I also got great confidence from them by having the knowledge to make a sound vehicle repair."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend them. They are a great training facility. They have awesome instructors in an awesome training facility. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Firestone is still doing very well. Even with the down economy Firestone is very busy. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The trainers at Firestone are grade A. Many trainers are former dealership trainers. |
| Instruction | 10 | They give practical hands on instruction. You are made to feel like you matter in the program. |
| How Difficult | 8 | There are some difficult areas of study. You have to memorize allot of things. Some tasks are very labor intensive. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | They have most of the training as hands on. I think you learn allot more in a real world setting than out of a book. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | The school operates in normal business hours. There are times where classes went later into the evening though. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | They have very good facilities. They use an actual working garage to train in so the quality is A number one. |
| Social Life | 7 | There are a great many good people to become friends with. I am more concerned with getting an awesome education than socializing. |
| Placement Services | 8 | They have great job placement. If you want to transfer they will let you do that too. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | The people I work with also had attended the school. They would help out in remembering instructions. |
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