I have been accepted into Power Engineering at 3 places in Alberta...Medicine Hat College, Grande Prairie Regional College, and Fairview College. I know people in Medicine Hat, but some friends have heard that the P.E. programs up north are really good so I am not sure what way to go. If anyone has any experiences regarding these places, feel free to post them. Thanks.
Dalton

It is my understanding that the Fairview Campus is now a NAIT campus, so it should be the same course as NAIT offers in Edmonton.

I have no experience with the PE course at any of them.

I know a couple friends of friends that have landed good jobs after going to school here, but I can't tell you anything about the course. I know the parties in the residence were really good 20 years ago. If you need anything from the College, let me know, and if you come here, let me know. I run the machine shop in an auto parts store, so I'll make sure you get good pricing if you need something

I will ask some people that I know and get back to you on that one

Thanks for the replies guys. Dean, anything you can find out would be great.

I know a couple of guys that have taken the course at Nait.
One is working and the other is too picky for work location.
Pretty sure Sait offers it too.
My $.02 is take it at SAIT if possible. I took some electrical courses and PLC (programmable logic controlers) at Nait and then took some at Sait after I moved. Sait has better sponsership. I was working with the same equipment that is found on operating facilities. Nait had outdated equipment to learn on. My opinion is just from my experience of over 5 years ago so this may have changed.

If you take the course are you prepared to move?

Moving out of P.A. is priority #1. Med. Hat uses the SAIT power engineering course materials, and they claim to have modern equipment to get steam time on. I would really like to live in the Hat or Lethbridge, but to start out I am sure I will suck it up for a few years in Rainbow Lake or some other desolate place with only the wolves for company. I know Fairview College uses NAIT course materials, but I am not sure what Grande Prairie uses. I was going to apply to SAIT and the SAIT P.E. guy actually told me to take it somwhere smaller to save $$ on living costs, since I will have no problem getting work. Of course with Ft Mac hiring the entire planet he can say that with confidence, but that is not my first choice for working locations.

I'm from the Hat originally; and tried the PE course there just out of HS.....until I realized it wasn't exactly what I wanted. They have new residencies in the Hat now which are much nicer than the older ones, and I'm sure the equipment MAY have been upgraded, but it wasn't new when I was there (11 yrs ago now)

Bottom line; I think the curriculum is pretty standard. SAIT and NAIT will have the better equipment due to just being more visible in the world market. You WILL find a job no matter where you go. The Hat WILL be the cheapest in all situations, and coming from PA you'll like it there the best I think....(half of 'Skatch is there already)

My advice is go to MH, and during your practicum module, get placed in Ft.Mac to make connections and SEE if you like the lifestyle up there....don't be fooled; it is much different than most places. Imagine a town with 20,000 transient workers all making 120k a year, you'll get the idea.

Good luck in your endeavor!

most of the guys I talked too said they went to Sait.best is to call the schools where you wanna go and see what is up?.......then check out the real estate in that city.

Ya, Calgary real estate and rentals might scare ya away.

Ya, Calgary real estate and rentals might scare ya away.



They scare most of the people living in Calgary, its great if you are moving out, but in:( :( :( :crazy:

I definitely like Med Hat as a city, but since this will be a one year thing I want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck regarding education. Then again, all will give me a 4th class certificate so maybe I should just go to the Hat and be done with it. Thanks for the input guys.

Let us know when you get here and we can get together

Will do.