tulsa welding school

[Live_wire]

Has anyone attended? Is it worthy of the 16 grand to attend? or should I just go to the local community college?

[nicebead]

i went there back in 84. at that time, i thought it was a great place to learn, great instructors.took the 6 month course at the time.

[Live_wire]

Seems to be alot of money for a 7 month course. From what I have gathered you have to re cert at any job. What would the advantage be verse spending 4 grand at a communnity college?

[Live_wire]

sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.

[teckn9ne]

My mom worked there as a secretary and she said it wasnt worth it, I would recommend a vo-tech or community college over them

[Fegenbush]

$16k?!? You gotta be out of your mind. Here's my breakdown for what you could do with that money:

$500 - Oxy-Acetylene torch setup
$3000 - Miller Dynasty 200DX TIG/Stick setup
$1500 - Millermatic 211 MIG setup
$500 - Consumables
$500 - Metal

Maybe I'm a little off on my numbers here, but that comes to $6000. You can put the other $10k in the bank or take an adult education class (with a small portion of it). Between the literature available, this forum, youtube, and a little get-up-and-go, I think you could do pretty well. I am sure others have an opinion on the matter, also. If the instruction was twice as long, and they had job placement assistance, it would be a tougher call to make for me.

[Tensaiteki]

Yeah, 16k for 7 months doesn't make any sense to me.

Since it seems you're willing to go out of state, I would recommend my alma mater Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Waco. It cost me less than 10 grand for 5 semesters (~2 years), and I ended up with a actual applied science degree (AAS), not just some certificate. I got a welding engineering inter job while I was attending that allowed me to pay off my entire degree several months before I even graduated (didn't use financial aid or grants).

TSTC welding cost: http://www.waco.tstc.edu/wlt/wlt_aas/cost.php
TSTC Welding general info: http://www.waco.tstc.edu/wlt/wlt_aas/index.php

[Live_wire]

Thank you guy's.

I've been getting alot of similar feedback all around. I'm going to wait for the spring semester at the local college.

I'm looking to get a small stick welder so I can practice at home until then. I can't always get the time to drive to the shop I have access to.

[quasi]

I went 8 years ago (when it was ~11k) and I thought I got my moneys worth. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind with any welding school is they are pretty much going to how to pass a weld test and not much more. I learned twice as much in my first 7 months on the job than I did in the 7 months I spent in school. However I don't think I would have passed the 3 position FCAW test or the 6g pipe test I needed to get that first job without the schooling.

I imagine they saw all the grant money the government is pouring out for people to go back to school during the high unemployment spike and jacked rates up. 16k seems like a lot for tech school but it's not much different than a year at a good state school.

[Bryan27]

Originally Posted by Live_wire

Thank you guy's.

I've been getting alot of similar feedback all around. I'm going to wait for the spring semester at the local college.

I'm looking to get a small stick welder so I can practice at home until then. I can't always get the time to drive to the shop I have access to.

I am about 3 weeks into welding school at a local tech school and really enjoying it. Kinda funny that I'm enjoying school when I absolutely hated it all the way from kindergarten through college, but now that it's something I choose to learn I like it...... Anyway, I think you're making a good choice by going to a local college and saving your money. A full year, three trimesters, at the school I'm attending runs about $3600 for tuition and fees add another $500 or so for your hood, jacket, sleeves and a couple small tools like some channel locks and a chipping hammer and wire brush. That's going to put you right in the $4000 range depending on how much you spend on tools and a hood, for an entire year that puts you under the hood 30 hours a week. To learn it on your own, I doubt that you could pay for your electricity and consumables for that amount of welding at that price. One thing I've noticed is that you are going to get out of it what your put into it. Some guys spend 5 hours a day playing hide and seek with 1 hour of welding mixed in, while others work on their welding the whole time. There are guys that started last semester still working on the same chapter of the book as I am because they spend their time socializing while I'm practicing welds.

One thing that you might want to consider if you plan on getting a head start is to talk with the teacher at the class you end up taking and find out what book he will be using when you start. I saved a ton of money buying my books online. While you are talking to him, get a course syllabus if he has one and start practicing on things that are on the syllabus in that order. In the class I'm taking, we jump around quite a bit in the chapters.

Another thing that has become pretty clear to me is that while welding isn't something that you can just pick up a machine and be a professional welder, it is something that you could become proficient on your own at doing if you are resourceful enough. Practice, practice, practice is what it is going to take. Having never welded before, I was able to start making some decent welds on the first day just based on what I've seen from others welding. I've had 15+ welds graded so far in the first 3 weeks and have gotten A's on all of them. That said, having an instructor there to help you when you are stuck on something will help you learn much faster.

[JoeMayo]

Why not lincoln.. school is 15weeks long and under 6k$

[eclipse]

Good choice on the cc. I went to Tulsa this past September, but dropped out right before Thanksgiving, after too much happened down there to make me realize it wasn't worth the money. I'm starting at my local cc next week and expect SO much more.

By the way, while I was down there I heard they may in fact raise tuition to $20K. All that and over 50% of their grads can't find work.

[Live_wire]

More good input, I love it. I picked up a little 70 amp arc welder today in trade for a little plumbing work and jumped straight into a small project. I've figured out that I am the worlds worst weldork welder weldor. i'll post some pics if I get through it tonight but my toes are freezing out in the shop. I had just got the hang of stick (kind of) (imean it wasn't all arc and park) Now with this little 70 amp I am humbled to a new level. Much respect to those who have it down to a craft. it's 18 degrees the kids are almost asleep and I am determined to make this damned coat rack! I was using my fathers autodarking helmet in his shop and now stuck with a 10 can't see nothing until it arcs three feet from my target jump tag park. eeeeek!