Officially a student...

cleared4theoption

cleared4theoption

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
363
Location
Flowery Branch, GA
Display Name
Display name:
Jeremy
Well, I went down to Atlanta Area Technical School and spent a hectic day enrolling in my first semester for the AMT program. So far I am taking Aviation Physics, Applied Aircraft Sciences 1 and 2 and hopefully will be able to get into Turbine Powerplants 1 on Monday....:D
I am stoked!
 
Have fun with school. I remember my first day at Spartan like it was yesterday. 18 month seemed like a lifetime, then suddenly it was over.
 
kmead said:
Have fun with school. I remember my first day at Spartan like it was yesterday. 18 month seemed like a lifetime, then suddenly it was over.
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Yep. Still remember exactly what that hangar smelled like. Royaly goofing up rivets and lots of blood shed learning to safety wire.

Good times!
 
Well... 1st week of class in the books, figured I would update. First off, let me get this off my chest. The instructors at the AMT program seem to be great, and knowledgeable...but dealing with the admissions/financial aid/advisors at this school has been an absolute nightmare. The other day I took a half day from work to try and straighten out a financial aid issue before class. I stood in line for 3.5 hours before giving up and going to class. You can't call anyone, they don't answer and they don't return messages...

Anyway...on to the positive.
The way the program works is you basically take one class at a time. You are in that class Monday through Thursday 9-3 day or 4:30 to 9:30 evening. Then you take a final and move on to the next class. This semester I am taking Aviation Physics (6 days) then Gas Turbine Powerplants I (10 days) then Aircraft Applied Sciences I (23 Days) and Aircraft Applied Sciences II (20 Days)

So far I am halfway through the first class. Most of it is a refresher of the stuff I learned in High School Physics. Basic Atom and Molecule stuff. Force/Power/Work calculations. Simple machines, mechanical advantage. Fluid and Sound. Then next week Aircraft Dynamics and other stuff. It hasn't been ultra challenging so far. We already know our final is going to be the 29 questions from the Prepware for the A&P test...so we just have to study that.

All in all I am just excited to be starting the journey.:D
 
cleared4theoption said:
but dealing with the admissions/financial aid/advisors at this school has been an absolute nightmare. The other day I took a half day from work to try and straighten out a financial aid issue before class. I stood in line for 3.5 hours before giving up and going to class. You can't call anyone, they don't answer and they don't return messages...
Click to expand...

This is common, even at "real" universities (no offense intended). Email the "chancellor" with a cc to financial aid and any suits you think might help; be very polite. Include a link to this thread; it'll help that you named the school. Unfortunately sometimes you just have to yell louder than anyone else.
 
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Yes, welcome to the university system. There is a stupid, stupid, stupid amount of red tape to do anything. Private universities can be exceptions.
 
Enjoy it, if I had a time machine I'd go back to A&P school in a heartbeat.
 
My time at Spartan was very good. I never a very good student in high school, but I found the courses very easy. I was surprised when people in my class, fresh out of high school couldn't do fractions and beginner algebra. I worked line crew for a Piper dealer at Riverside airport on evenings and weekends during my time there.

A lot of work, but somehow I got perfect attendance and highest GPA in the end.

I would do it again!
 
More updates...
So far in my Aviation Physics class I have a 100%...and already reviewing the final we will take on Wednesday...i think I have a chance to ace it as well...so far i am doing well...but it is only one class.

On a different note, last night before class we had an inspector from the FSDO come and talk to all the students. Apparently, about two weeks before I enrolled, there was a surprise inspection. The school didn't fare well. There were issues with attendance and required equipment not being available to students, as well as instructor-student ratio issues. Long story short, the School is not in danger of losing it's certification or anything drastic like that, but the did say until some issues were cleared up, they were suspending all Powerplant sign-offs. Also, apparently due to the instructor-student ratio issues, they suspended all new entries into the program the DAY AFTER I ENROLLED
ohnoes.gif

That was close!
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting glimpse into regulations and FAA controll over part 147 schools.
The inspector wanted to talk to the students to ensure us that everything was being done to try and minimze the impact on the students. After all, most of the issues were not the students fault.
 
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