need help with school

Hello everyone, well just registered and happy that i did. i am in need of some advice from people who are in the electronic field or anyone that may be a teacher of electronics or someone that went to a trade school....

My dilema is i am kinda in a rut and dont have anyone to talk to about it.
I really want to go to school and get somewhere, right now i hate my job and cannot see myself doing this more then another year. so i decided to go with electronics since my father is a electrical engineer and he made great money and now retired which i do not see me doing inless i get some schooling.
i am married and have two small girls which means i cannot go to school full time like i want to and believe me right now i am beating myself i didnt do this years ago.
so i guy i work with is going to a school called Coyne american institute for a electrical construction maintenance which is like a certificate or just a diploma not a associates or bachelors degree and they have night classes.
so i got alittle curious looked them up and met with them.

i decided to go with there electrical systems technician diploma program. just about 12,000 dollars for the 1.5 years. so i started this past april and now am into the 3rd month or class. the first two classes were not bad...
well, we just had a two week summer break and i do not remember anything i learned i do but not like right off the top of my head. so we started new class this monday and the teacher didnt know what classes we had before this new class, he didnt know what chapters for us to read and he was telling us he usually gets the guys who are about to graduate. well, we read are first chapt monday night after that chapter we read another i was like wow i need to read this more then once and i can do that on my own time. i would like to learn or do things there i cannot do myself which is what i thought i paid for... so last night we go to school and thought we were gonna take a test but ended up lab all night but without the teacher they had a sub comein and he was terrible didnt tell us his name and didnt teach or help us with anything till the end of the night which we had a projector and went over power point presentation. so now i feel i am two days behind and i try reading the chapter 12 and 13 and its not staying with me... i would have to sell my house and move in with the inlaws and quit my job if i wanted to go to school full time all day but dont think selling the house will be fast with the market the way it is. so i feel i have to stick it out.

now i know i am still learning the foundation, but will i get more in depth as it goes on or does this school sound not worth the money??? i want to work testing circuits or working on hospital equipment not really into being an electrician. i look on the net but cannot find any help. thanks

If you wanted to be a electronics tech, then why did you pick electrical construction maintenance? That is more like a electrician. From their website:

With the Electrical Construction and Maintenance program, you'll get hands-on training to prepare for a career as an Electrician. You'll learn trouble-shooting skills, residential and industrial wiring systems, and power systems analysis.

Click to expand...

After looking through the other programs, it appears that they really do not have a good training program for a Electronics tech.

Who knows, you may find you like working in a construction field. If you cannot get a refund you might as well stick it out.
Sorry, I am sure that is not what you wanted to hear. Someone else on this forum may have a more to offer in terms of advice.

sorry guys i probably babbled on my first post but i am just upset cause i cannot find any good or bad info on coyne american institue except one report that is from 2004 but i am sure things changed since then.. i just wanna what is the best way to get started in electronics... right now my est or electronic systems tech diploma is all it is and not sure if i should go to a regular college or if a tech school is better like coyne which i am going to right now. i ask the teacher should i be worried that none of this is really sticking to my mind and he says no right now were just touching base on everthing and it will when we split the class cause right now its est and ecm together due to the fundamentals but once that is over we go seperate classes and my est program has alot more classes then the ecm program..

my est program consists of ... electrical principles, electronic principles, electrical principles 2, electrical test equipment and safety, low voltage cabling, fiber optics, electrical construction-residential, advance electrical construction, fire-life safety, communication systems, home theater systems, security and access control systems, building automations and integration, essential workplace skills..

should i be worried that i dont have all this stuff memorized or comes to me in a split second ??? my first two classes i got a 95 and a 96 percent but i feel i forgot everthing and what i am reading now i cannot seem to keep it in my head. arrgghhh

mike bits, i am in the est program not the ecm program... but do you think there programs are not worth it cause i didnt pay in full i pay by month and can stop anytime. i just would like to work at a bench testing circuits or what not i do not really want to be an engineer too much school to late for me. i also wouldnt mind working at a hospital fixing there equipment or something like that. i am so confused and mad right now i feel like i am being taken for a ride kinda

Oh you did say EST program, I misread your first post. From the description it is hard for to say if this program is what you want. It kinda sounds like the training is more of system level than circuit level, but it is hard to tell. Perhaps you should visit your school career office and speak to someone about what you hope to learn, and the type of job you hope to get. They may be able to address some of your concerns.

As far as memorizing things, I feel your pain. I too am back in school after many years of being in the work force. Last semester I had a molecular biology class and now I can't remember a thing I studied. I think it is called CRS disease (Can't Remember Shi%$#).
I believe after repetition of subsequent classes that re cover things from previous classes memory retention improves.

Good luck.

You should be in a field in which you have an interest. It's difficult to learn or retain the information if you don't really like the subject. You say you went into electronics because your father was in that field but that isn't a good reason if you don't really like it.

If you do like electronics, but the school seems bad, then you may need to consider another school. I would recommend going to a community college (or even high school) guidance counseler to discuss your issues (both about your course of study and where to pursue it). They should know about the various trade schools available and be able to help you get a better idea of what to do next.

P.S. It's a nit, but it's hard to read your posts when you don't use CAPS.

Anyone looking to attend a private school esp a vo-tech should look at the default rate for student loans at that school. They are more reliable then placement numbers which can be manipulated.

One place to look is Official Cohort Default Rates for Schools

The national average is about 5%

This looks like the school you are talking about
IL Chicago 330 North Green Street Coyne American Institute

Default rate for
2005 17.3%
2004 16.9%
2003 15.4%

These are not good numbers, but you may want to check them against other schools in your area. Default rates tend to run higher at trade/vo-tech schools for a number of reasons. Very bad ones have default rates much higher then this, like 50%-80%. This schools numbers are iffy enough that I would look into it further. Could be OK.

A very bad school will have some number of students that manage to payback loans. Just as a very good school will have a number of students that default.

EDIT: For kicks and giggles I looked up info regarding a few schools I am familar with. The state U's run about 2% A state run vo-tech school was 6% the better private trade schools were showing as low as 2%. The web site above lets you search by location. Checkout the school where you live.

I find that my students retain more when there's a lot of hands on. If we're on voltage regulators for example, I have them build a circuit or two with fixed and adjustable regulators and let them see the effects of filtering, heat sinks, under/over voltage problems
etc. They all say that reading a dry book isn't near as insightfull as doing it hands on.
we use Nida here(computer assisted instruction), do you have anything like that?
With Nida you have to physicaly use a meter,scope,frequncy generator,counter,etc..
The students like that second best.

The school has a satisfactory rating with the BBB (Good sign).
Chicago, IL: Check Out a Business or Charity

Wow the school was founded in 1899, so It has been around for quite awhile.

Mikebits said:

The school has a satisfactory rating with the BBB (Good sign).
Chicago, IL: Check Out a Business or Charity

Wow the school was founded in 1899, so It has been around for quite awhile.

Click to expand...

I am not a big fan of the BBB. The membership fee's they charge create a bias.

Does a school's BBB standing relate to the quality of education it provides ?
Can you find many schools the BBB lists as nonsatisfactory ?

wow thank you guys so much for helping me out... i just took a my lunch and read my chapter 13 again and i feel i know it now but tomorrow i will feel i dont know it and hopefully when the quiz comes i will when i read the multi choice questions...

i appreciate the link to the checking of the default rates i am looking at that now.

i didnt choose electronics just cause my father did it ... i meant i am doing it cause i always saw him working in the basement on electronics and it caught my interest. even before i started the school i was reading his old 70's books from devry and man they do not make books like that anymore i swear it was all very technical like another language but i was reading them and i liked it so i know it is for me. i just dont feel i am learning anything cause its not sticking in my head like right now i try to think what a semiconductor is and i cannot remember for the life of me and this creates a big like hole in my stomache... now i know when i ask the teachers should i have this all memorized and there like no theres too much to do that and that we are only touching base on alot of things cause in the later classes is when we get in depth this is what was told to me last night ....
But like i said when i try to think of a semiconductor theres a blank but i know the resistor color code, ohms law, the formulas, how to use a meter for volt, amps, resistance. do you guys remember everything you went to school for?

Simply reading the chapters will do little in helping you remember things. It is best to write things down in a notebook. Also doing the homework problems at the end of the chapters helps a lot. I had to retake a Chem class because the first time all I did was read the book. Second time around I worked all the homework problems and did much better, got an A.

One more thing... Most of my school textbooks have website that you get access to with online activities and virtual labs and such. These are good resources that you should utilize.

wow wish my book had that in it .. they must give us the basic of the basic... i even went out and purchased another book which is much much easier to read then this book the school gives out.. this book i bought i can read and not fall asleep, the schools book man every paragraph i nod off and have to read again and again... your right about the question at the end of the chapters i do that alot but i notice alot of the times the questions miss some stuff that will appear on a test. but like you said notes help alot too. that is exactly what i am doing now better notes.

maybe i have to do hands on myself, i have the electronic workbench or also known as multiism version9. maybe i should start using that alot. i noticed that there are circuits already designed you can download and mess with i believe. maybe thats what i need... other then that anyone have any good web sites???

also, just out of curiousity what are some of the schools you guys went too?? i am in chicago myself so if anyone had gone to school for electronics in the chicagoland area please let me know about the school you went to maybe its within my reach and i can switch.. thanks guys

The only school I attended in Chicago was Navy Training base in No. Chicago. I sure do miss the great food (Not on the base rather in town).

Have you looked into ITT tech, I think they have a good rep.

The quality of the student is much more important then the school they attended. If you continue with the good grades you should land a job when you graduate.

Taking time to understand the how and why of what you are learning will help to increase your knowledge and ability. That will help.

Where you shopping for a school the numbers I provided would be a useful guide. Given that you have already started I suggest you make the most of what the school has to offer.

If you want to talk about what and how to succeed in school we can do that.

Good luck.

I would have to say 3V0 offers good advice, afterall he is a teacher, or professor

3v0, yeah i took a look at the numbers you provided and the website thanks for that... i like the school i am going to now but its the teachers i am questioning, dont get me wrong they are smart and knowledgeable and are quite qualified...

What has me worried is this. Monday we started ecm 105 which so far consists of magnetism and relays this is what we have started on so far, now monday night was are first night and first day back from a 2 week summer break. So we are in the class and he asks us are we about to graduate and were like no this is only are third month... He tells us that he usually has the people who are about 2 months away from graduating but then i thought this is good then he can give good tips and what not..... then he asks us what have we covered so far and what are we are we going to be covering in this class but i thought shouldnt he know this already??? lol

So before we left for break we took are final and i got 8 wrong out of 100 and was very happy. i had asked that teacher what we would be covering in the next class and he gave me the 6 chapters we would cover for ecm 105. i wanted this so i could get ahead over the break but of course that didnt happen now i wish i did.

but i asked this new teacher what chapters we would cover, all he was able to give was 13 and 14. then at the end of the class i asked would we be covering 13,14,22,23,24,25,26 he said yes, then i said did i just give you the answer cause earlier you only could give me 13, 14 chapters. he didnt say anything. so then for monday night all we did was read 13 and 14 chapters but i was like wait a minute i could read out of school i thought we were here for the stuff we couldnt do outside of school without help... this is why i am so concerned it seems like they dont have there act together... so sv0 thanks for willing to help me out with the classroom stuff...what ya guys think?

I have been going to school for quite some time now, and one thing I have learned is that you will get all sorts of instructors. As a student you must learn to adapt to their particular teaching style, as styles will vary greatly.
Anecdote time:
I once had this professor who did the following:
First day of class he read off the course outline (I can't spell syllabus, or did I), and told us to read first chapter of book, then told us class was over for the day.
Day two, teacher says, "Well I assume you read chap 1, so do you have any questions? Anyone...nope?" Ok class is over, read chap 2 for next class.

Needless to say by third class hands were raised when he asked if there were any questions.

Ok, I think I was going somewhere here. Oh yeah, you need to study the instructor, learn their teaching style and adapt accordingly. This has helped me through much of my coursework.

Well, last night on my way home from work i started to review chapters i already had read and did the review questions and it turns out i do remember the stuff just not off the top of my head like i had thought we were supposed to be able to do. i also, noticed that some chapters i have gone through already kinda introduced something but then later on in another chapter like the two i am reading now get into it more then when introduced before. like magnetism, one earlier chapter introduced it, but now my chapter 13 is all magnetism... so i think i need to read alittle more and find a way to do the hands on out of class as well... i mentioned yesterday that i have the workbench program or also called multism 9 anyone use this or is this what i should use for hands on out of school? can anyone give me some links or info on something for hands on out of the class for at home learning? thanks