Vent: 1-byte people in education

[berlinerd]

Just decided to start this thread for general vent, maybe someone also has some bad experience to have a primal scream about?

I'm just so tired after a few months of constant dealing with 1-byte people who just cannot process the idea that there are students (like this forum) who are mature adults (even if they are 16 years old, different mindset) who actually own their education, come to the university prepared and know more about their university and programs than these so-called "advisors" do. I'm so pissed, that's insane. Here's some of mine experience below. 

Snow College - nobody at their school knows a thing about their CBE programs, they have no idea how that works, what are the prices, what are even the programs which you can take. Etc. They just don't care because cash flow still exists from offline students, why bother with those strange people from the internet tasking difficult questions which invoke some thinking. 

SNHU - I've had great experience talking to one of the "enrollment specialists" when I was just looking around, she was answering (not just giving some not noise response) all the questions and I thought everything should be OK. When I applied I was assigned a guy who is very friendly but still does not process anything heavier than 1 byte. He still does not believe that I know all their CS program by heart. And, when I said him that I need their GenEd map for AS in CS because on the website they have a bug - you can see only GenEd map for BS in CS, but not in AS in CS, he sent me the exact same link for BS in CS... so he never actually processed the data in my email. So I am sitting waiting just for somebody to talk to me on their side... lol

UMPI - just applied yesterday, got an unsolicited call from those extraterrestrials (I've been watching to much of X-files lately) who are passive-aggressive about your questions which do not fit into their single-axis way of thinking. Why does a great and progressive (in a good sense of this word) school like UMPI keep them? Everybody who comes from this forum knows a lot more and talking to those guys is just discouraging people from applying because you could think the whole school is like that.

I also tried to apply to some of Arizona colleges to collect some cheaper credits. I'd be happy to support with my humble dollar those Native American-associated colleges like Dine College. But their website infrastructure is so bad... tried to work around but did not succeed, maybe a bit later. Those are the only folks whom I feel really sorry for, as they seems to try their best for community and they don't have many people, obviously, to staff for all the important tasks.

I can't say that I'm burnt out, because that's what my full-time job is for. But it's just so funny that the main problem is not to collect credits and not even the finances. The main problem, especially when you're like me, not from the U.S. originally, to communicate with very ignorant people and get what you need. These people are here to teach you some serious stuff, they teach "project management", invoke some ideas like Agile, but their workflow is so outdated that it's funny. Physician, heal thyself!

But whatever... only forward as we have no choice!

[ss20ts]

Many colleges outsource and hire enrollment specialists. My advise...avoid them. Rarely do they help. They're not typically employed by the college. Admissions staff can also be hit or miss. Some are awesome and some seem like they were hired 30 seconds ago.

[davewill]

Having gone to TESU and put three kids through brick and morter schools, two via community college, I can tell you that, in general, it doesn't get much better for undergraduate advising. Almost every school advisor was fine until you wanted to know about something out of the ordinary.

I remember one daughter applied as a transfer student to the local state university (CSU), and had a few credits from a single semester at a school in the other state university system (UC). They simply said they couldn't accept those credits as fulfilling any of her degree reqs as they had no equivalencies. We're talking about courses like "British Literature". She had even gotten a letter from the dean of the dept detailing how they should be applied...and they still said no simply because they didn't want to do the extra work. She didn't end up going there.

I think that it comes from them being overworked and understaffed. They are trying to get rid of people as fast as they can, simply put. I saw that from TESU, ask multiple questions in one email or an "If this then that" type question and you will get an answer back that addresses one element from your email, or they will simply make a change on your degree plan and close out the ticket. No real information, and no thought involved. Honestly, I often get better responses from overseas call support centers.

[bjcheung77]

Yeah, UMPI they're enrollment specialists (sales people, not staff), that's why I want to find alternative options to apply instead of using the Your Pace apply link. I wonder if there is a route direct to the institution but also get into the Your Pace as they have two other application links...

TESU seems to be the same way since I first applied years ago, they've not changed staff much as turnover rates are somewhat lower at TESU, even with the changes made over the years and a few staff coming/going. In short, depending on institution you apply to, make sure to do your research.