MERRILL Institute — Local services in Alma

Well if you never welded before don’t start here. First off they only have one instructor on the floor at a time, only one of them actually has a certification to teach and he doesn’t come out of his office unless you walk down and ask him and he is usually busy doing his other job, making you feel like a huge inconvenience. One of the other two instructors splits time between study to be certified to teach and helping you and nine other people. The other instructor has better things to do in her office. So there is only one instructor helping multiple people so you will be waiting a lot. The only plus side to this place is it is attached to a steel working factory. You should have access to unlimited amount of metal but you are constantly being reminded not to use to much metal so the cost of the class can be cheaper. You have to fabricate everything you weld so you only spend 15% of the time actually welding. The whole class is based off getting certifications from American Welding association. Any welding job you get will make you take a weld test first, even with the certification so it’s really pointless. The worst part is the cost 11 grand plus another half a grand. Most welding jobs start under 20 dollars a hour so it really doesn’t add up. They say they will have a job fair at the end but only 3 companies are actually attending and it almost got canceled this year. At the end of the day it’s simply not worth it. Don’t go here you...

Merrill Institute was a great experience. I had already worked in the field for 10 years before attending. I really wanted to get a much better understanding of the fundamentals before taking my CWI exam. I got exactly that plus more. I was able to pick the brains of two instructors that have more combined knowledge then any duo I've been around. Jason North a CWI and Manager of Operations at Merrill Institute, is a true wizard when it comes to the science of metals. Alex Teselsky is Jasons right hand man and the one that is with you 24/7. I can't say enough good things about Alex. He doesn't like to admit it. But he's also a metals genius. If you're looking for a school where you don't have to go 4 years. Pay 25k plus. Have to take classes where you won't retain 75% of what you learn. Then Merrill Institute is the school for you. You will truly learn all the main processes of welding. And if you want to go the extra mile and learn more in depth processes or more positions. Jason and Alex will do everything they can to make that happen. Thank you Merrill Institute for everything. I recommend this school to anyone that wants to learn a trade. Regardless of what you...

I graduated high school in 2021 and I didn’t feel like college was gonna be the right choice for me. I had joked for years that I was gonna be a welder, but no one thought I was serious cause “girls don’t weld” and I had never welded before in my life. I didn’t want to take welding from a college trade program and found Merrill from a quick google search. I went on a tour at Merrill and I liked what I saw especially the small class sizes and all the hands on experience. Since graduating Merrill in fall of 2021 I have worked at the same shop and I have seen a lot of welders come and go, many of which took welding as at a local college. What you will learn at Merrill in 4 months far exceeds what a college could teach you in a year. I highly recommend Merrill to anyone who is looking to build a career...