College and University -> is it just me....

[Tovarish 0]

I know this is a bit OT for OT, but I gotta vent and I really wonder if I'm the only one who feels this way. This is a summary of my experience this semester with my college and student loan center:

So I'm almost done college, 3 courses left, and I'm taking two this semester and one the next. In the middle of July, I went and applied for a part time student loan - the process was supposed to take a month. A month and a half later, (August 25- 5 days from the beginning of classes) - penniless, I go to the Financial Aid office to see what's going on.

First, I stand in line for a few minutes to take a number.

45 minutes later, that number is shown on the display above the office door and I go in. I explain to the guy that I need my student loan ASAP if I'm to continue my studies - I'm broke and tuition is due. He confirms that in a month and a half nothing has been done about my application and says

"Here, I'll give you a number, and you can talk to the Student Loans Officer"

30 minutes later, I go in and I meet Debbie. I like Debbie instantly, as she has my loan application in her hands, and approves it right in front of me. She gives me a sheet of paper and tells me I can go to the registrar's office and get registered with that - no problem.

I go to the registrar's office, take a number, and wait about 15 minutes

My number comes up, and I go in. I hand the girl the paper Debbie gave me, and after looking at me like I have 5 heads, she tells me that since I was full time and am switching to part time (what choice do I have - I only have a few courses left!) I need a memo from my Program Coordinator that says it's ok.

So I walk across campus to his office. Sadly, he does not have any numbers to give out. He gives me the memo, starts telling me "you should make a copy of this...." then "nah, that shouldn't be necessary".

So I walk back across campus to the registrar's office....and take a number.

I walk five steps to the All Powerful Holy Number Screen - and notice that my number is already up - great I think, but after 10 minutes no one comes to get me - so I go back to the number girl and explain the problem

"Oh...you missed it"

"How could I miss it?!? I took the number from you and I was right there!!!"

"Don't get mad! Here' I'll give you another number!"  

15 more minutes, and another girl comes to register me. After looking at the sheet from Debbie and the memo from my PC, and typing on the computer, she announces I still need to pay $350 right there. I tell her that's just not so, and tell her to call Debbie. They talk, and come to an agreement - My loan does indeed cover all the fees.

So she registers me, and just before she prints out my time table goes

"Aww shit...."

then

"You're part time, I can't register you till Sept 1st, I'm going to have to de-register you..."

Trying not to think of the best place in her neck to insert my pen, I ask her

"If I leave these papers with you, can you promise you'll register me on the 1st?"

"Sure"

"Are you sure, I can leave this with you and not worry about it?"

"Yes"

Sept 2nd (I've been going to class for 3 days even though I'm not registered), I call the financial aid office, and the nice lady on the phone tells me they don't have any student loan information for my file, and I still need to pay up if I want to register.

I bus to school and go see my PC immediately. As he lets me in I say "I should have made a copy of that memo..." he laughs and writes me another one, and I go to the gym (where late registrations are being processed.

There, the girl tells me they still don't have my loan information, and I tell them to call Debbie. They talk and work it out - Apparently when I got registered and deregistered on the 25th my loan information got wiped out. They work it out, and I'm finally registered.

Fast forward a few months....

So, I was supposed to get my loan (the part that didn't go directly towards tuition) over a week ago, but that's not why I called the Loan center - They've been late every year so why would this be different? In fact, I'm calling because I am filling out a bursary application and need to know how much interest I need to pay monthly. The girl on the phone asks if I have recieved my loan, and I say no - she says

"We've direct deposited your loan into your CIBC account Oct 13"

There's a long pause on my end as I try to decide wether I should laugh or scream. Finally I say

"That's very funny...I don't have a CIBC account"

So then she takes the info for my one and only bank account (TD Canada Trust), and puts me on hold. 10 minutes later she tells me she launched and investigation which will take half a month, and at the end of it, they'll probably send me a cheque with my loan. Meanwhile, someone, somewhere, is doing this:

[Akira 0]

I assume this is undergraduate, and being undergraduate you do indeed get the shaft many times. Thinks aren't too different here in the States at large campuses where students are pretty much herded through and little care is taken for them. Smaller colleges tend to be a little better.

Graduate on the other hand tends to be better.

[Tovarish 0]

Yeah, it's community college, but I never did expect quite this level of ineptitude....

[SpongeBob 0]

Guess all that waiting in line really cuts into those frat beer-bong-a-thon parties you could be at.

[Colossus 2]

Nice system you got over there  

I surely can't help you with that, I'm just a bystander  

[ran 0]

Just do as I did ... have fun for a couple of years, get drunk, get laid and then enlist in the French Foreign Legion ;)

From what I've been told by the few persons in my family here who went to university, it's a tad different here and similar cases don't cause much problem as great progresses have been made in matter of administration lately and the range of financial support provided by the states and some other private organism covers all the possible cases and cover various aspects of the student life (except the get drunk and get laid part).

Here the only real difficulty is to find a correct shelter. There are o such things as dorms or at least not on a large scale and the queue to eventually be given a room is awfully long. People who rent small rooms and apartments profite of the students and you get to pay a huge prices for a little closet with room for a bed and a chair. The student housing support fund is notably inefficient but it doesn't directly depends of the local campus administrators and other university heads.

[bn880 5]

It is not just you, people working at Universities are just an average blend of citizens, often getting in through friendships. People who never mention any problems and never question a system they work for are ones who retain their positions, and are also usually quite sloppy in their work. (because they are not evaluated for performance/precision, everyone around them never mentions problems)

[hellfish6 7]

See I had it easy - the Army paid for my college. All I did was walk up to the VA counter, say "Hi" to the guys I already knew, turn in my class schedule and DD214 and in a couple of weeks the tuition cheque and the GI Bill cheques would start to arrive.

God bless the US Army.

[Acecombat 0]

Quote[/b] ]God bless the US Army.

But if you'd had joined AQ you wouldnt even need to study see , ah the benefits

[Bordoy 0]

See I had it easy - the Army paid for my college. All I did was walk up to the VA counter, say "Hi" to the guys I already knew, turn in my class schedule and DD214 and in a couple of weeks the tuition cheque and the GI Bill cheques would start to arrive.

God bless the US Army.  

I'm think im gonna get paid by the RAF in my second year of college.

[HotShot 0]

is that A-level college, or college/uni college?

[VerySolidSnake 0]

Rarely do you find an academic organization not ran by idiots. rarely

[Tovarish 0]

is that A-level college, or college/uni college?

wtf's an A-Level college?

And does that answer your question ?

[ran 0]

A-levels is IIRC the equivalent of Baccalauréat/Abitur/Esame di maturitŕ

does that help ?

[BoweryBaker 0]

All this talk about college makes me think about starting my own.  Like professor xavier.  A school for gifted children.  Gifted in spirit.  That which cannot be extinguished or stomped out. Movements. Ideals. Understandings. Things of that nature.

[Tovarish 0]

A-levels is IIRC the equivalent of Baccalauréat/Abitur/Esame di maturitŕ

does that help ?

Well, since Algonquin College doesn't sound nearly as weird as any of those, it helps in that I can tell it's not the kind of school I'm going to....I think.

[ran 0]

A-levels (UK) Baccalauréat (France) Abitur (Germany) Esame di maturitŕ (Italy) are the names given to the diploma you receive if you finish successfully your secondary studies. Then come the superior studies in University where you go for a Master, a License and if you're "gifted" enough, a Degree.

All this is the result of European reforms as these diplomas (especially for superior studies) hold theoretically the same value wherever you go in the Europe Union (it's just the name that change as for exemple in France, we talk about maîtrise, license and doctorat)

[Tovarish 0]

....or you could all be a whole lot of a heck less confusing and call it a high school diploma  

[joltan 0]

Having been a student and later even worked as a researcher/lecturer at the university for some time I can tell you there's hardly anything more deserving of a good car bomb than your average university administration (j/k, but sometimes it was really, really tempting!).

[ralphwiggum 6]

Quote[/b] ]God bless the US Army.

But if you'd had joined AQ you wouldnt even need to study see , ah the benefits  

yeah, but you can also have that benefit at Bovine college.

anyways, too OT, but the thread went somewhat productive as it ended up discussing about various college systems. so for now it is open, but only by a slim chance.

[skynet 0]

yes, i have similar problems....

uni sends u the bills really quickly..but everything else, a day before it is due or needs to be filled out, or whatever... (plus they've increased fees by 25%!!!)

as long as they have their money...its all good, even if the lecturers aren't able to teach or speak....

learn it by urself...unfortunately!

my two cents worth. :angry

[xawery 0]

To all European students out there - how do you feel about the implementation of the bachelor-master structure? I cannot tell how it has progressed in another countries, but here in the Netherlands the process is in full swing... My year was actually the first one to experience the full spectrum of the Ba-Ma system. All I can say is that it sucks big time to be the guinea pigs caught in a transition.... but the prospect of being able to study abroad without too much hassle seems worth it. For example, after receiving my BSc I could easily go abroad to get my MSc (the costs, however, prevented me from doing so ).

Any thoughts, experiences?

[ozanzac 0]

Rarely do you find an academic organization not ran by idiots. rarely

I'll second that.

I don't know what I owe, when it's due, who to pay it too, and where to go to seek relevent info. I do know that I'm still enrolled, and still doing well, and that's all that really matters.

All I know is back in my fathers time. There were no tuition fees....now they seem to rise everytime you stop to look at your watch.