Moving to Cleveland OH in 5 days

[94Blackbird]

As the title states, I'm going to be moving to the Cleveland Ohio area in the next few days. I'm going to be starting classes at Ohio Technical College starting July 9th, I'll be taking the High Performance and Racing Technology associates program. Already have a lead on a place to live, just wondering if any locals could tell me a little more about the area, i.e. things to do, places to see and food to eat, things of that nature. Assuming everything goes well, I and my wife should be moving into the nieghborhood next to the nasa research center.

Thanks in advance!

[popo8]

I have nothing to offer as far as advice... BUT, your closer to the SHOOTOUT NOW!!!!

[94Blackbird]

Haha, yup, and I get 3 day weekends off of school as well lol

[Swflbt22]

i haven't been a member here long and i definitely do a lot more reading then posting but when i seen this i had to chime in. i did not attend OTC but i did attend the BMW STEP that is hosted in there facility. i must say IMHO there are way better schools out there. OTC shops are very lack luster,and they seem to allow a lot of jerk offs to attend. this creates a hostile work/learning environment. in fact i know 2 guys now that i didn't know then and they both say if they did not have a full ride they would have never attended/stayed there. but given that one made it into step and work at BMW the other went to skip barber and worked on there track cars and nows work on maserati next to me, so it can work out. (i know your going for high perform ace and not dealer training but just examples) i just want you to be sure and not regret anything. now if you have toured and decided that it is the best place for YOU and your wife i can respect that. given i grew up 45min south of Cleveland there are a few things to do around there. there is the rock and roll hall of fame, 1hr south in canton is the NFL hall of fame. and the browns and cavs suck so tickets are always cheap maybe you can see your favorite team get an easy win. also one piece of advise i always give to others thinking about tech school is you only get out of it what you put in. i have a lot of friends from wyotech who have the same student loan payment as me but don't even work on cars. they are bartenders, unemployed , and loading ups trucks to name a few. I'm not knocking anyones job by any means but i see a huge issue paying 20k for school and not being able to exercise the knowledge you paid for.

[popo8]

Haha, yup, and I get 3 day weekends off of school as well lol

WELL THEN .... NO EXCUSES!!!! lol

[94Blackbird]

i haven't been a member here long and i definitely do a lot more reading then posting but when i seen this i had to chime in. i did not attend OTC but i did attend the BMW STEP that is hosted in there facility. i must say IMHO there are way better schools out there. OTC shops are very lack luster,and they seem to allow a lot of jerk offs to attend. this creates a hostile work/learning environment. in fact i know 2 guys now that i didn't know then and they both say if they did not have a full ride they would have never attended/stayed there. but given that one made it into step and work at BMW the other went to skip barber and worked on there track cars and nows work on maserati next to me, so it can work out. (i know your going for high perform ace and not dealer training but just examples) i just want you to be sure and not regret anything. now if you have toured and decided that it is the best place for YOU and your wife i can respect that. given i grew up 45min south of Cleveland there are a few things to do around there. there is the rock and roll hall of fame, 1hr south in canton is the NFL hall of fame. and the browns and cavs suck so tickets are always cheap maybe you can see your favorite team get an easy win. also one piece of advise i always give to others thinking about tech school is you only get out of it what you put in. i have a lot of friends from wyotech who have the same student loan payment as me but don't even work on cars. they are bartenders, unemployed , and loading ups trucks to name a few. I'm not knocking anyones job by any means but i see a huge issue paying 20k for school and not being able to exercise the knowledge you paid for.

I'm going to be attending the high performance and racing technology course that they recently started offering. Personally, I don't feel that there is a better program out there, as the other schools I looked at start you in basic automotive then move you into a high performance module. I had to interview with the head instructor to make sure I had enough basic automotive knowledge for the exact reason you stated above. I have toured the school, and I liked what I saw. Plus, the way their course is structured, I don't need any extra money under the GI bill. Post 9/11 2.0 went into effect last year putting yearly caps of 17,500 on tuition costs per school year. As OTC's program is 2 school years under federal guidelines, I get 2x17,500 to cover the costs, instead of 1x17,500 at UTI or Wyotech due to their courses only being a year and having to find other money to cover tuition.

I appreciate the advice though, and trust me, I did alot of searching and research before I picked. And for me at least, OTC is the best fit.

[Badbird_96]

Best of luck buddy. Sucks your going farther away. Although maybe when the z is ready next year we can hit the shootout.

[94Blackbird]

Best of luck buddy. Sucks your going farther away. Although maybe when the z is ready next year we can hit the shootout.

Maybe next year Habu will be ready to go. This year I'll be lucky to have it back in driveable condition lol. Gotta slap some emissions stuff back on there to make it legal for the sniffers in ohio.

[Swflbt22]

i hope my post didn't come across as "don't attend" i was just shooting for "tour first"so you know what to expect. i know those brochures are very good and do not accurately portray the schools for the most part. i did not tour wyotech i took the recruiters advise and quickly learned when i arrived why they pay him. over all i had a good time and would return in a heart beat but would tour and possibly look into a normal university with auto program for a real degree. (went to step with a guy from Penn state). i know there are a lot of different factors that make a school right for a person and not every school is a good match for every student. over all really happy for you to be moving on the the next chapter in your life i hope you succeed and thank you for your service. oh one last note check into the emissions with the county your moving into. when i left Ohio in 08 it was only certain counties that had sniffers. when i was in high school my buddies and i registered our cars to my friends dads hunting cabin in another county to avoid it.

[Badbird_96]

Best of luck buddy. Sucks your going farther away. Although maybe when the z is ready next year we can hit the shootout.

Maybe next year Habu will be ready to go. This year I'll be lucky to have it back in driveable condition lol. Gotta slap some emissions stuff back on there to make it legal for the sniffers in ohio.

Emissions huh... that sucks. Leave it tagged wherever to avoid that. Me being from bama but lived in Louisiana for a spell as long as I kept my car tagged in bama never had to mess with it. Left it addressed to my moms address. If hours don't pick up it may be tax time before my turbo kit becomes a reality. But it will be done lol.

@ swflbt22 - Don't worry if Jim had taken it wrong you would know. His response would have been sarcastic in a round about way that you never realize because you would be too confused trying to sift through all the words he just threw at you lol. He is laid back so no worries lol.

[94Blackbird]

normal university with auto program for a real degree. (went to step with a guy from Penn state).

That's another nice thing about OTC. I will have an associates when I'm done with there program. I have to take 4 hours of extra courses per week, but it'll be a real associates degree when I'm done. I know an associates isn't anything really impressive, but it's better than a certificate of completion lol.

I'm half tempted to change my home of record to my dad's place in illinois and register everything there. My dad lives out in the sticks and there's no emmissions or saftey checks there. But we'll see how it goes, my wife's car is bone stock and my truck is exempt by being over 10k gvwr anyways. If the car had to stay unregistered for a bit, that wouldn't be too bad. Basically I just need to slap cats back on it and make sure all the egr stuff is there (if not perfectly functional lol) but we'll see how it works out.

I got what you were saying, it was basically saying don't jump in head first or I'll regret it lol.

[ZGOBYBY]

I know that University of Northwest Ohio (UNO) offers a Bachelor's in Engine Performance. They are located in Lima, you may want to check into them as well. I have a couple buddies who go there now.

[94Blackbird]

I know that University of Northwest Ohio (UNO) offers a Bachelor's in Engine Performance. They are located in Lima, you may want to check into them as well. I have a couple buddies who go there now.

I might look into it, but that's all going to depend on what kind of job offers I have once I'm done at OTC.