Columbus State Community College

Date: Dec 09 2009
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
Be prepared to have to navigate things on your own. When I first applied to CSCC I called to make sure that everything was in order, as I was a transfer student. I called, and it was confirmed that everything had been prepared, and that I would be attending that quarter. I kept an eye on my student loan information and started looking in to which classes I would like to take. As the start of the quarter approached, I began to feel uncomfortable signing up for classes, since my student loan information had still not been shown as processed. I called the financial aid staff, and was informed that my student loan information, had in fact, not been processed. I was told that because classes were to begin soon, I would not be able to attend that quarter, and would have to wait until the next quarter. I was irritated, but I waited. The next quarter, I was sure to call multiple times. I must have contacted the financial aid staff at least twice a week leading up to the beginning of that quarter, until about 5 days before the quarter started, at which point I was calling them practically every day. Yet again, my information had not been updated, and I couldn't register for classes, as my loan had not been processed. I again waited for the next quarter and kept in contact with the staff to make sure that everything had been processed. I was told that everything was processed, and that I would be attending CSCC for the summer quarter. Imagine my disgust when for a third time my loans had not been processed.

At this point I was tired of dealing with CSCC, and wrote an email requesting that my transcript be returned to me, as it was money out of my own wallet to pay the $30+ to have my transcript sent to CSCC. I was told that they could not return it, as it was worthless once it was no longer sealed. This time the financial aid assistant offered to look in to what was holding up my loans (as they should have the first time). After a few emails had been sent back and forth, it was discovered that someone in the financial aid office had not "packaged" me (I'm going to assume that means they did not finish putting my information together).

Finally, after three attempts, they managed to disburse ( a portion of) my financial aid to me. Unfortunately it was still so close to the new quarter, I had very few options for classes to take. I managed to snag three classes after camping at least one (that is I kept constant watch over a class that was full, until someone dropped). The first quarter wasn't fantastic, but knowing what I know now, I'd gladly take that quarter, again.

The next quarters were just terrible. I had professors that really didn't seem to care at all, and I was even inexplicably dropped from an online course in which I was getting good grades, with no explanation other than that it may have been a technical glitch. Unfortunately, that happened at the very end of the class, so I was listed as having dropped (which I did not do) and I was denied re-entry into the course, since the class was

getting ready for finals

, according to the professor.

So, to break down my list of problems: my loans were held back for three quarters, then when they were disbursed, they were incomplete (which happened every quarter, ranging from less than $100 to nearly $900), some of the instructors were excellent, and were really thorough, while others didn't seem to care at all (more of these ones than I would have liked), I was randomly dropped from a class in which I had been performing quite well, and because of this my student loans were screwed up, because I went under full-time status when this particular class had been removed. There are a lot of other things that I could complain about, but I'm going to leave it at this for now.

When I paid this school money for my education, it was for more than just a certificate, it was for guidance, as well. It's sad, but I really didn't feel that this school provided that at all.