frustrated

[mjost]

hi to anyone who is reading. just need to vent a little bit.

I am a student starting nursing classes in the fall and I can't wait! I am just a little frustrated with the school I am attending.

first of all I sent my nursing app in January of this year, (They already had my transcripts and such) it took them 5 months to let me know I was in (there is no waiting list right now there are only about 10 people who will be in my class they are practically begging people to sign up)

secondly since I am a non-trad student (married with family-wont be making money from me for room and board!) I had a terrible time registering for my classes -I couldn't register until everyone else had gone (meaning normal trad students) and when I did register they really gave me attitude,

thirdly I was required to fill out papers for admission (which i hand delivered) and I noticed they did not have thoses records on my data sheet, well it seems they have misplaced them and i will have to fill them out again,

fourthly I keep getting letters addressed to "the parents of" and calls from the college to see if I need help registering-(does no one read my file and see that I am 30 yrs old and have already registered!)

and then finally to top it all off I get a letter the other day from the registrar telling me that I have not met one of my competencies for general education (public speaking) i already have a bachelors degree in accounting -meaning I would have had to met that requirement for graduation. is my degree bogus, I guess in their eyes it is?! I guess what really eats me is that I have been talking to the director of the nursing program since last september to see if i was taking all the correct prereqs- she even asked the registrar if my transcipt was acceptable and nothing more was said so i figured I was okay....also this college that i graduated from is a rival to the college i will be attending(same size christian school in same division) so i don't know if that has anything to do with it. are they that arrogent to think that their courses are so much better that my degree from the other college doesn't count?!!!

oh my this is so long sorry. I won't find out until tomorrow what will happen. has anyone else had this much trouble???

thanks for reading

[essarge]

I am very familiar with problems of registration, financial aid etc. as a non-traditional student.

Did they send you a list of classes/credits that they accepted? If you can get your hands on a catolog from the other school you went to (the year/s you went) then this is a good weapon to use in your battle. I'm assuming that "speech" was a pre-req for your other degree.

I have the following suggestions for you:

1. Make and keep copies of everything that you give them or they give you.

2. Start a journal of who, what, where, and when you spoke to over the phone.

3. Go up the "chain of command". These people are there because of the students, they ARE NOT there as a separate entity. In other words, they work for you!!

4. If things don't get resolved, tell them that you are going to the accreditation institute and ask for a full investigation (this usually gets them moving because they don't want any unannounced audits done).

Hope this helps!! Don't forget to document everything, including your visits!!

[JennieBSN]

Essarge gives EXCELLENT advice, especially the making copies and documenting the who what where and when of whom you talked to.

I transferred universities in the middle of my junior year, and even though I was a traditional student, the red tape seemed ENDLESS. I found myself CONSTANTLY having to drag my old transcript into the admissions/registrars office to 'prove' to them that I'd indeed taken a prereq they insisted I needed to take. It was MADDENING!! And you wanna talk ATTITUDE? Yikes!! I think they purposely put the snottiest, rudest, look-down-your-nose people to work in admissions.

Just be persistent and consistent. Stay on top of them. Keep your old transcripts with you. Keep descriptions of the courses you took handy (I had to give them a description of a course I took once to get credit for it..ugh!!). I can tell you one thing, though...once you start your 'actual' nursing classes, it gets MUCH MUCH better. The problems with the registrar magically disappear. HANG IN THERE!!

[BrandyBSN]

Sounds Terrible! I can sort of relate...

My problems are never with my classes, but with the Financial Aid office! They never get my papers right, everything gets messed up, and its the middle of the semester before anything gets to me.

Good luck to you! Its so frustrating!

BrandyBSN

[KristaB]

Originally posted by kday

I think they purposely put the snottiest, rudest, look-down-your-nose people to work in admissions

I'm now at my third college, and I've found this to be the case at all three! The admissions people seem to get burned out quickly and easily. But as kday said, they work for you!

I know it's frustrating right now, but things really will all fall into place. :) Just keep being persistant and don't give up until things go the way you know they should.

Krista

[mjost]

thanks for your replies. I called my advisor about the situation and she said that they just want to verify that I had done stand up speech presentations. I have to get a description from the catalog (1991) so they can verify. I guess maybe I am blowing this whole thing out of proportion but what if the description doesn't say what they think it should!!! I do not want to have to take a freshman level course again nor do I think i have to do a presentation in front of a panel of people to prove my situation. UGGGGHHH!!

I am a terrible worry wart and I let my imagination get out of control with worse case scenerioes. This summer break has been hard on me ...I just want to work hard on my nursing classes and be a nurse!! I think I will get plenty of oral communication practice during clinicals.

thanks for listening