The Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology

Date: Dec 19 2009
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
As I finished my high school year I decided to dedicate may career focus to be an aircraft mechanic; I began by researching schools that offered this type of education. So when I came upon this school prospect, I was genuinely excited that my dream had a possibility of becoming a reality, and most importantly, I would be able to learn what I needed in a professional environment.

Discovering this school was as exciting as becoming an astronaut; or at least this is what my recruiter made it sound like… He told stories of how the school is extremely selective of its students that get accepted and the important meeting where they discuss the student's ability to attend their school. Stories of the basketball court, great spacious "apartments" that were offered to the students, and the Boeing 747 jet engine that we would get to perform important projects on. It all seemed so perfect as I was sucked into what this school could actually be and/or once was. So I began the process; filling out the application and essay which I was promised would be strictly reviewed by their counsel for the final decision on if I was worthy to step foot into their school as a student and waited for the results. My next step was to visit the campus.

I arrived at the open house/tour and was immediately surprised by how updated the buildings were (as I pretended in my head that I was living in the 1940's) and staying true was the accompanying high tech aircraft equipment that we would be utilizing in our training projects. I saw the jet engines and was especially excited by the 747 engine I once again was promised we would be performing projects on. Once finished with the tour of the "north campus" (the main campus for A&P, NDT, and the Avionic Programs), it was time to visit the, five star, apartments called "The Landing" that we had the option of living in while we were attending the college. As we pulled up and exited our tour van, one of the residents was on the process of backing out of their parking space to leave the complex. But while most people would yield to other parked vehicles in other parking places, this person continued to reverse straight into the parked car behind them. None the less, the demonstration of precise driving abilities from a student, was the selling point for a lucky, different, apartment complex that I would chose to be far away from the one I had just stepped foot on. This should have also been the first warning sign to me that most of the students here may not truly be hand selected for their intelligence, as I watched the person complain that they clearly didn't see the parked car and that their roommate wouldn't care about the damage that has just been caused.

Attending the college I immediately learned that EVERYONE gets accepted. This has to be the biggest and most detrimental flaw that Spartan has; by allowing people that do not even want to be there the school is ruined. I understand that the college is not able to deny someone their right to attend, but there can be certain criteria that would more than help separate the ones that will try to be there, from the ones that are just there. By allowing anyone into their school so easily they have just cause yet another problem, other than worthless bodies taking up space and time, it brings in people that destroy the equipment, tools, and building in which I had to use for my education. That being said, the buildings themselves are from the 1920's but if were maintained in good condition, would have continued to provide a good shelter to learn in. It doesn't help that the amounts of people that do not even want to attend the school destroy the aged building. As for the promised "basketball court," it was basically just a basketball backboard on a pole with a ring, big enough for a basketball to go though, attached to it. The equipment, which included (not limited to) some 150 Cessnas, a Aero Commander, some Pratt and Whitney JT12A engines, and so on, were all worn and abused. As for the promised project to work on the 747 engine; well we just got to look into the compression, combustion, and turbine sections though the inspection holes via a fiber optic scope. At the same time I'm not blaming them for not getting any more creative with the project considering how many people would have gone to work on defacing the million dollar display engine Boeing had permanently let the school borrow.

Eventually by the second class I decided, like most of the other people dissatisfied with the school, to not waist the non-refundable money I had already spent and ride the school out. I eventually learned that the schools biggest advantage was actually the instructors; the instructors were not doing it for the money, and you could tell this by their poor rundown cars they drove. All the instructor's cars sold combined wouldn't be able to buy the head honcho's hyper Audi. Which comes to another small problem; if the 90 thousand plus dollar Audi with its fancy electronics could make it to school on a sheet of Tulsa's notorious winter ice, then everyone should be able to make it to school. To add to this, if you think that you will find out if you have school on a bad weather day the night before while safe at home, you're very badly mistaken, count on finding out by the time you get to school.

I can go on and on about how disappointing this college is and write a book about it if I truly wanted to. Yes the school has a name, but a name that is dying because of all the people that are just walking in there just for something to do other than taking the information seriously. I can't complain that I wasn't more than able to learn all the information needed achieve the end goal of successfully finishing my selected program and attaining my FAA A&P License;because I did graduate. But truly, it was a nightmare having to deal with unprofessional people that enjoyed destroying the equipment and facility. Too many "wanna bee gangstas," the ones that even destroyed one of the student's $25,000 car in The Landing's parking lot by slashing the tires, breaking all the windows, and not even stealing the anything inside (just one incident that I had witnessed the aftermath)!

Think twice before trying to attend this college, especially if you want a good way to get some hand on training and earn your FAA A&P License in a professional environment. Remember you will be attending this college all while dealing with the gangsters that get sifted out in the first few classes and the ones that cheat their way through the tests to continue through the program to bother you more.

One more warning, what makes most of these instructors in the A&P program so good is that they used to be normal mechanics on aircraft; none really have degrees as teachers. They have had life experiences that are better than a classroom; but at the same time, being the mechanics that they are, they have been known to have some colorful language.
I wish I had someone tell me the truth about this college before I signed my life away. I shouldn't have listened to those over optimistic lies that were being fed to me by the greedy recruiter. Make sure you do not make the same mistake and research for yourself what this school is actually about before you sign anything to give some hard earned money away.