A Truly Fair Mechanic?

[Unner]

If you want to be an automotive mechanic in the traditional sense AND you want to own your own garage some day getting your BSME is not a good idea. At all. Why? First, just because you are "good" at math is just one little part of the equation. Also you are misinformed if you think you will learn "why" stuff works with your BSME.

If you learn nothing in this thread learn this:

"An engineering degree in any discipline means you have the ability to learn, nothing else." You will learn how to problem solve a specific way that is fairly unique and fairly hard to do. Remember for every eight guys who qualify to start an engineering program (high ACT score, all the prerequisites, etc) only ONE will complete the course requirements for a BS in engineering from an ABET certified college or university. Most of the others change majors to teaching, accounting or something else besides engineering. Why? Because it's hard!

Becoming a good mechanic is not easy and the skill set is way different from an engineer. There are very few engineers who can competently wrench. Really. Those that can will end up in a job as a field engineer working with the design engineers. Conversely there are very few auto mechanics who can be engineers. Neither job is harder or easier but the skill set is different.

Do like Blackworks said: Go to a Tech school and get your proper certifications. You will also learn how to work on vehicles. Then get a job doing it so you can gain experience which is very valuable. If you eventually want to open your own shop then go get a degree in Business Management. An MBA after that would be nice but definitely not required.

As far as a "fair" mechanic that has to do with, as Blackworks said, how you are getting paid and it also has to do with what kind of person you are. If you have high ethical standards then you won't screw your customers anyway. If you are pond scum then you will. Simple.

I have went through it and my son is currently a senior working on his BSME. This means I have went through it twice lol. There are lots of labs (vibration, physics, fluids, etc) but very few "hands on" gonna learn specifics kind of classes. For example in Thermodynamics you will learn lots of theory like hot goes to cold and cold never goes to hot. While that's great to know when you are designing something it does not help much when replacing a blower motor in a 4Runner.

Don't get me wrong getting an engineering degree is great IF you want to be an engineer. Now, there are all kinds of engineers within the same discipline too, like for mechanical there is sales, field, research, product design, production, shop, test, etc and they all take different skills even though you start with the same engineering degree! Good luck. Have you taken your ACT yet?

You nailed it with these posts. I'm a Junior very close to being a senior in ME and there is almost nothing hands on about it coursework wise. Most of the people in my classes couldn't do simple maintenance on their car let alone tear into it like most of us on here. I like the hands on stuff and not the theory so much myself. The labs for these classes aren't really hands on either, they're just write down these numbers and type up a really long lab report because I told you to. To get the real experience you need to do a co-op or internship with an engineering firm of some sort.

A mechanic takes broke things off of cars and replaces them with non broken items, a mechanical engineer determines why these items broke and designs a new better part to replace it with. I can honestly say that all my classes haven't done anything for my wrenching ability, that all comes from forums like this and just going out there and doing it.

If you do go with engineering you will have to work, and you'll be amazed at how many people don't make it past freshman year. Good luck!

You can go to community college for two years to become an auto mechanic. If you survive freshman year in a college engineering program you will probably develop some different interests. You can get a job in ME and make $60-$80k toward the beginning of your career and keep automotive work as a hobby. There are tons of automotive forums and I have the impression that automotive work doesn't pay all that well and it wears out your body.

There are a couple of universities that have cooperative programs with auto manufacturers with engineering programs. Mercedes Benz has a cooperative program with U of Alabama where you spend a semester in Germany. BMW works with a lot of schools and has a cooperative program at U of South Carolina. They also partner with some community colleges if you want to repair BMW's. I'm sure other manufacturers have similar programs.

U of Alabama is one of the only schools left that give full or partial tuition scholarships to out of state students. If you need college money, check them out.

My son has a friend at VA Tech that made $22/hr last summer plus living expenses for an engineering internship after sophomore year. He was not with an auto manufacturer but you can see the possible income is pretty good.

Engineering programs are pretty competitive and if you are a senior you ought to try applying Early Action. The deadlines are coming up. At most schools it's Nov. 1.

I'm at a sister school of Bama, one of their other campuses essentially. We have the same curriculum for the most part and I have a very good friend going to Bama for ME also. They've got a good program with a lot of opportunities for co-op type of work. I have interviewed and have some interviews coming up with some big names in the automotive field for mechanical engineering co-ops. It's definitively they way to go to get experience in the field so you have something to show for on a resume after graduation other than just a summer job at McDonald's or wherever and your degree.

 

[Nervo19]

Yeah. U of Alabama has a bunch of different campuses. I think the Mercedes co-op is with Tuscaloosa.

OP mentioned an ACT score of 29. That qualifies for an automatic half tuition scholarship for four years:

Out-of-State Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama

 

[02SE]

A mechanic takes broke things off of cars and replaces them with non broken items, a mechanical engineer determines why these items broke and designs a new better part to replace it with.

Just for the sake of accuracy, there are people with a very wide range of abilities, that call themselves "Mechanics".

There are the guys at the Jiffy Lube that might not know much more than how to perform an oil change . Then there are people like me and some of my colleagues that can determine why a part broke, design a better part, make the new part, test it, and install it.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I don't think a mechanical engineer and a certified mechanic or master tech are in the same career line by default.

I could be wrong here but my understanding is these are different paths.

 

[T4R2014]

I don't think a mechanical engineer and a certified mechanic or master tech are in the same career line by default.

I could be wrong here but my understanding is these are different paths.

You are correct. Honestly, OP had me going "WTF?" when I read the original post. I'm not entirely sure if he knows what he is getting into IMO.

And frankly, quite a few of the mechanical engineers I know can barely turn a wrench.

 

[1engineer]

...And frankly, quite a few of the mechanical engineers I know can barely turn a wrench.

Very true. Back in the day when I was chief engineer I did a lot of interviews and new hires. One of my discussion points to the prospective employee was "what are your hobbies?" If they enjoyed carpentry, woodwork or wrenching on old cars or if they were hunters or rode dirt bikes (any type) then I know they could wrench and enjoyed the outdoors. That put them on my radar for field engineer or test engineer.

 

[Jernik]

I am not an engineer nor a mechanic, but here is my opinion: Become an engineer. Make good money. Use that money to set up your PERSONAL garage, and keep wrenching as a hobby you enjoy outside of work. Best of both worlds, unless what you ultimately want is to be self employed - in which case a business degree would be a better route to take.

Good luck man, at least you have an idea of what you want to do when you grow up. Hell, I'm 40 and still don't know what I want to do...

 

[amalik]

I am not an engineer nor a mechanic, but here is my opinion: Become an engineer. Make good money. Use that money to set up your PERSONAL garage, and keep wrenching as a hobby you enjoy outside of work. Best of both worlds, unless what you ultimately want is to be self employed - in which case a business degree would be a better route to take.

Good luck man, at least you have an idea of what you want to do when you grow up. Hell, I'm 40 and still don't know what I want to do...

This!

 

[JeepKiller]

I'm aware that the degree isn't specifically for a mechanic I was asking if it would assist at all in being one. Just questions guys. I'm looking at getting my Bachelors in ME and I was trying to evaluate everything I could do with that degree and it's looking like a mechanic isn't one of those things. I'll most likely end up pursuing my ME degree and wrench on the side for friends and family when I've got time just because I love it so much. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

 

[AKmoney]

Great posts in this thread.

One thing I'll add is this: Completing a 4-year engineering degree is not only very difficult, but these days it's also extremely expensive. The University of California costs over $30K/year to attend for an in-state resident. The cost is probably similar at other public universities across the country. Unless you're lucky enough to come from a well-off family, it's likely you'll be carrying a lot of that as debt upon graduation.

If you're not already, familiarize yourself with basic financial concepts like the time value of money. Learn how the "IPMT" and "PPMT" functions in Microsoft Excel work so you can calculate how much more your debt grows over time if you don't pay it off in a timely manner. Work backwards from there - "If I owe $100K upon graduation at x% interest how many years will it take to pay it back if I pay $x per month" - then try to think about what career path you're going to take to successfully earn enough to make those payments.

Bottom line: an automotive mechanic, whether "good" or not, doesn't need to earn an engineering degree. They do need to earn other certificates (ASE) as others have mentioned but I suspect the cost to earn one isn't the same as a university degree.

One other thing: My old neighbor owns/runs a BMW specialist indy shop. He's extremely successful as there's no shortage of aging BMWs out there in need of valve cover gaskets, water pumps and suspension bushings. It's not a glamorous profession (IMHO) but trust me, he makes a good living and he's not a 4-year college graduate.

 

[JeepKiller]

[MENTION=84801]AKmoney[/MENTION] I've gotten a 29 on the ACT and a 1400 on the sat (without my writing score) so Im going to be getting a fair amount of money from scholarships. My family is lower middle class so Im sure theyll help a little but only as much as they can. Average tuition at USC Columbia is around 22,000 a year for in state.

 

[AKmoney]

[MENTION=84801]AKmoney[/MENTION] I've gotten a 29 on the ACT and a 1400 on the sat (without my writing score) so Im going to be getting a fair amount of money from scholarships. My family is lower middle class so Im sure theyll help a little but only as much as they can. Average tuition at USC Columbia is around 22,000 a year for in state.

Great job - definitely look around for other scholarship opportunities. You absolutely want to minimize the amount of debt you'll carry upon graduation.