Opinions on Tulsa Welding School

admin

My son just came out of Marine Corps. I let him try out my welding machines while he was here for the holidays and it looks like he wants to go to school. I know Hobart and Lincoln have good facilities, but Tulsa is better for him geographically.Has anyone attended their 7 month Master Welder Program? Opinions on quality of training and equipment, etc.Have read some good, and not so good reviews on the net. There are always some who aren't happy for one reason or another.Rest assured, my son is aware that you get out of it what you put into it, but that can only go so far if the instruction isn't there and the equipment is all but unusable.Thanks for any feedback you can give on this. Even though his military benefits will cover the cost, I don't want him wasting the money if the place is no good.Regards,PapaLincoln Idealarc 250 (circa 1962)Lincoln Weldpak 155 w/Mig KitLincoln Squarewave TIG 175
Reply:My son is doing it as we speak, in Tulsa. He is US Army BTW. He was in Afganistan when I started setting the school up for him, they were very helpful and worked with him and me to get it going, and his VA so it wasn't out of pocket.They are one of the top three welding schools ( just welding not a college program ), the other two are Lincoln and Hobart. The reason I signed my son up at Tulsa is they are a VA Yellow Ribbon program, which means they difference in tuition from what the VA pays is compensated by the school. Lincoln and Hobart do not work with the VA.My son has been in since early October, he likes it a lot. He started in a class of about 35 they are down to 8-9, and they are pretty much all veterans left. Oklahoma pretty much pays for vocational retraining for ex-cons, free ticket. All of the guys ( which was most of the starting class ) that did the free ticket tuition have flunked out or been dropped do to lack of attendance, there is only 1 non Vet left in my sons class, all the rest are either ex army, navy or marines.Tulsa is tough in they don't play non attendance games, and its not a push button welding certificate, they maintain their standards, there is one day a week in classroom, they have tests and homework.They have a very good job placement program, and a high percentage of their graduates immediately get jobs, and not low paying flunky jobs either.PM me and I can give some names and information if your interested.
Reply:I went and graduated from that school 7 years ago. It was and is TERRIBLE. Now, all votech school are only going to give you what you put in. BUT, the instructors when I went were almost all lazy and didnt care. I had one instructor that was amazing. He truely cared about the students/people.  They do NOT reallly have a good job placement program, they use craiglist, weldingjobs.com or tulsa world ads. Almost all of the students that leave the school cannot pass welding tests or get decent jobs. I worked my butt off at that school, had 100% attendance, won several top 1 awards, felt very comfortable with everything I learned, and still started at the very bottom of the shop.  The machines and equipment were sub-standard when I atteneded, but I know they have expanded and I hope that includes new machines. I do not think it is worth the money they charge, however your son should be going for free so no worries there.  Many of the processes run in real world welding are not touched upon in TWS, so unless he wants to be a field hand pipliner then forget it. I dont regret going, but I wouldn't do it again.  All the negatives aside, if your son is into welding, can get it paid in full from gi bill, then he should go for it. From my experience, all welding/votech schools are a joke. If he truely wantts to be a welder, puts in his time and wants to get better, he will succeed. The master welder card you get upon graduation of there school means absolutely nothing. You do not leave certified in anything, and most local companies steer clear of tws grads. I hope this has helped you, i tried to be neutral as I have nothing personal against the school. But if you ask any graduate of this schoool, you will get very similar responses.  Doug
Reply:Doug,Maybe stuff has changed my son is welding on a new inverter Lincoln welder, and they are required to pass welding tests to graduate now.Is it as good as a 2 year college program, probably not, it is a vocational school. I was down at Lewis and Clark college in their welding school a couple of months ago, really a good program, BUT 2 years. Also our 2 local community colleges that teach welding have waiting lists.I know a welder that graduated from Lewis and Clark, he pretty much told me he welded better when he got out of school than he does now, he started at the bottom in the union apprentice program and spent a couple of years being cheap labor and not really welding in the apprentice program.I think it is you get out what you put in, which sounds like you worked hard at it.My son did say it depends on the instructor though he had one that wasn't really motivated. They change phase to phase though. But I would say it beats where I went to school, they did weld inspections and that seem to take priority. My instructors were very good though, but there was no classroom and theory, and they are not VA friendly.If I was picking I would say the Lincoln school is probably the best, BUT not VA friendly, and I my son didn't want to go to location to attend and pay for it all out of pocket.
Reply:Doug,A last thought Tulsa welding is in Tulsa home of the pipeliners 398, I would expect them to a tad bit pipe focused.You didn't 6 g pipe cert in your final phase?
Reply:Originally Posted by fredschromIf I was picking I would say the Lincoln school is probably the best, BUT not VA friendly, and I my son didn't want to go to location to attend and pay for it all out of pocket.
Reply:I dont have any first hand expedience with that school, but I have heard a lot of bad things about it in the past. Plus, I make YouTube videos, mostly directed towards people who are newer to welding, and I've had people leave comments on really basic videos (such as my electrode-numbers-explained-video) saying they appreciated the help, they were at Tulsa and apparently didn't learn that kind of thing there. Id avoid that place, IMHO.[Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:Papaharley, just out of curiosity, why dont you teach him? I went to welding school years ago, it was a good place to practice but other then that no big deal. If my dad had a bunch of welding machines that is where I would learn. Its good to have an instructor over your shoulder, but learning welding is 9/10 practice. I think a new welder is better off practicing for the some 6G pipe tests and getting certified for that rather then spending all that time in school. If you can pass a 6G you pretty much can pass everything else. Employers dont really care if you went to welding school. I could be wrong though.
Reply:Originally Posted by CapozzoliPapaharley, just out of curiosity, why dont you teach him? I went to welding school years ago, it was a good place to practice but other then that no big deal. If my dad had a bunch of welding machines that is where I would learn. Its good to have an instructor over your shoulder, but learning welding is 9/10 practice. I think a new welder is better off practicing for the some 6G pipe tests and getting certified for that rather then spending all that time in school. If you can pass a 6G you pretty much can pass everything else. Employers dont really care if you went to welding school. I could be wrong though.
Reply:Tulsa Welding School....Here in the Tulsa area a large number of welding shops put TWS applications straight to the bottom of the stack. It has been considered a welder "puppy mill". This is not to say that every graduate is sub par. I have tested many welders from TWS Tulsa OK that could not even pass a 2G GMAW test on 1/4" A36 material.One more short story. I know of a guy that was instructing at TWS Tulsa OK. He quit to go way up North to weld. He ended up getting let go in under 2 weeks for failing x-rays. His excuse..... there was a hole in his argon hose. They were welding 6" and 8" pipe and he was getting 6 to 10 welds a day completed, said he was so busy that he did not have time to figure out why he was failing x-rays. I guess it is a good thing that particular guy is no longer instructing there.I do know they have really been trying to improve lately and I think they have a new facility. As said, a lot has to do with the student as well. A highly motivated student might do well there, but anything less is asking for failure. Best of luck whichever way you choose to go.jrw159
Reply:" A highly motivated student might do well there, but anything less is asking for failure."Hmm.....Maybe when my son finishes up, I will have him cert locally here, its a couple of hundred dollars, you need a Washington cert to do structural here anyway, same as AWS cert but Washington who is broke figures they need to do there own certification program.
Reply:Originally Posted by fredschromDoug,A last thought Tulsa welding is in Tulsa home of the pipeliners 398, I would expect them to a tad bit pipe focused.You didn't 6 g pipe cert in your final phase?
Reply:I don't have any experience with this school or any other welding schools, but I have some experience with the same type of schools.When I was about to graduate from high school, I was considering going to UTI for heavy truck mechanic training.  I wound up going to the NAVY instead, but several buddies of mine went to the UTI.I came out of the NAVY with a lot of actual manufacture certifications, real OTJ experience, and cash in my pocket.They got out of UTI with a lot of debt, no certifications, no experience.You don't get any ASE certs from the school, just "the knowledge to obtain the certs".  You drop a ton of money getting limited hands on experience.  No employer will think that you are better prepared for a job than someone with two years of actual wrench time.In my opinion, my buddies would have been better off starting at a mechanic shop as a helper.  They would have been payed, even at minimum wage they would have been earning money instead earning debt.  They also would have had some OTJ experience and probably would have learned more from "the real world".I know this isn't the exact same thing, but I believe a lot of these high end technical type schools are all selling the same snake oil. Originally Posted by SundownIIIDon't get me wrong.  They are just as ill informed about politics as they are about welding, they just post more on that subject.
Reply:You had me worried, yes he is focused and trying to be top grade in his class and he is working hard at it going in Saturdays if he thinks he needs more practice.I can get him certs locally, the local school ( small ), and the best around does certs every day, they are actualy more focused on certs than the school and they keep the wabo ( washington coupons ) I think a cert test on structural vertical and horizontal and the two pipe certs are about $300 ish, they don't bend the rules and they are the place to go locally (200 mile radius) for welding certs.I am rebuilding my sa-250 from the ground up, I will put him on that for a a week welding pipe and send him to recert.
Reply:Look into Missouri welding institute.
Reply:Originally Posted by JoeMayoLook into Missouri welding institute.
Reply:Why not consider an Associates degree in welding, sometimes labeled as a degree in general technology - your costs are probably the same or close to a welding certificate school.You can piggy-back a bachelor's degree onto it later on in the future as the classes should transfer to College or University.I feel its a much better use of the money and you have an actual degree.Check out the community colleges.....JanErik"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Abraham Lincoln
Reply:I've typed about my first hand experience from there before, which I'm sure you've read on here.  But let me reiterate some things.As stated, they don't offer any cert there.  Also, go down and talk to the head of the job placement department by himself.  The placement stats the school gives in their brochures is complete BS.  And while there are a few good instructors, most are just biding time until the next pipe gig comes along.  I found it hard to find them half the time I needed help, and the other half didn't get anything out of it.  Also, while they say that they are accredited, and your credtis should transfer, they won't because they are accredited in a different "association" if you will, than traditional colleges are.I will say though, if you have the time, you are allowed to practice during the other two classes if there is room.  All in all, I still don't think it is worth the money.  I feel my classes at the local community college are worth far more.Last edited by eclipse; 01-10-2012 at 10:55 PM.
Reply:So, I can't comment on the Oklahoma campus. And since I'm a student at the Jax school, I feel obligated to say a few things. First, I know this thread is old. Second, I have yet to meet an instructor who will pass a student if he hasn't grasped the concepts of that phases instruction. My class started with 27 people and we are down to 17, including rephases from the previous class. The equipment does suck... but thankfully they've replaced all grinders and fixed most torches since March. The welding machines are perfect and mostly easy to use. All I can really say is they must have done a full turnaround since the last batch of complaints. And you can never trust a woman in a cubicle. Do things right and take the initiative to find work and there are tons of jobs you can get. Two buddies from the last grad phase are working for Zachry. Another 5 went to Ingalls. Yet another three went to BAE. And that was all provided by the school.They are far from perfect, but the tools are there if you're smart enough to use them.
Reply:I lived in Tulsa for over 12 years working as a welder-welding supervisor.  I did all the hiring in two different shops.  One was mig and tig production shop and one was aircraft. Now I am a Welding Instructor at a small Comunity College.  I probly interviewed over 200 welders in that time.  People in Tulsa have a bad opinion of Tulsa Welding School because all the bad welders never go anywhere and stay in town failing tests.  Anybody that can weld heads out of town to good paying jobs.  Only the weak stay in town.  Look up Tulsa on Craigslist.  There are hundreds of low paying shops in town that cater to people that can barely weld.  If you have 10 years of pressure vessel experience they start you at 18 bucks.  B3, B3severe, ASME sec 8&9,  stick and flux you might start at 20.  Its not the school.  Its the town.I think there was a big shakedown at the school a couple years ago.  I believe Jerry Griggs and half or all of the instructors were let go just because they were hiring a new director and a bunch of instructors all at the same time.  I could be wrong.  So things may have changed as of late.  What we herd two years ago may not be true now.  I find it hard to believe a school of this magnitude not to have the latest in technology.  They might have old transformer machines but so do the shops we work in.  I know they dont pay the instructors much because I applied there.   I think thats why they have a high turnover rate.More is never enough.
Reply:I noticed you are located near Dallas.  I would consider the Dallas community colleges, mostly because I am currently in their two year associate program.  I am at the mountain view campus and find all 3 of their instructors to be great.  It is an older facility but the equipment is great and you can get help since it is a smaller program.  It is also cheap, I live out of county and it cost me around $1500 a semester.  The jobs here seem to be available after school.  A the end of the semesters job opportunities start coming in.  The instructor gives these leads to the student to follow up.  Overall I am pleased.  There is also Lincoln tech, a 9 month course and $16,000.  No matter what, if your son shows up, works hard, he can do very well in this field.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions.