Lamar University — Attraction in Beaumont

I was accepted into the online MA in Mental Health Counseling on the 10th and withdrew from the university today, the 14th. This university is a joke. During the admissions process I got conflicting information from different reps. I got a call one day saying that all my application components had been received and the the next time I was contacted it would be with a decision. 2 days later I get a voicemail saying that my departmental application, references, and essays had not been received. I immediately call to find out what is going on, but can't get to a rep. That same day I sent an email to the rep who left the voicemail, and to this day I have no reply to the email. I have emails from the university stating that my departmental submission was received. I call back again in a few days and ge a different rep (this is the 3rd or 4th I've dealt with). This rep tells me that the essays and reference info are not missing, just the actual reference form from my reference. The university calls me to the point of harassment trying to get my reference form; my reference is a professional and did not have the time to fill it out right away, it took her about a week and a half. I get a voicemail on the 9th stating that there is a "problem with my file". I call back, and cannot get to a rep to ask what the problem was about. To this day I have no idea what the problem was, if there even was one. One day later on the 10th, I get an acceptance email. On the 12th, I get an email from the university stating that my start date is Feb 26th. My application was for the April 9th start date, not Feb, 26th. I get a call from an advisor the same day, wanting to enroll me in classes ASAP. The rep informs me that Lamar changed my start date from April 9 to Feb 26 (without my knowledge or consent), and I will have to submit a status change form to change it back to April 9. During the call with the rep, I can barely hear her over all the reps in the background; this call sounded like it came from a call center.

After nothing but problems from this joke of a university, I filled out the status change form to be withdrawn from this disaster of a school. If you're thinking about applying here, don't. I wasted MONTHS of my time writing those entrance essays, and wasted my mentor's time filling out the reference form. I thought that this was a good program, only to find out it's all smoke and mirrors. This was a disappointing waste of time and money. ZERO STARS. Don't make the same mistake I did, don't walk,...

I tried to get info on transferring from my current master's program. I filled out the info on the website and then used the link they sent me to schedule an appointment. Then I kept getting calls to schedule an appointment. Someone called me 20 minutes before my appointment and tried to book me with someone else even though I told her I had been receiving confirmations and reminders. Obviously she gets credit for booking people. Then Karen Rojas called me at my appointment time and asked me twice if I knew we had an appointment. I asked if the program was COAMFTE accredited. She didn't know what that was and said she needed to reschedule me to answer that. I googled it and said that it was so we continued. When I asked if their program only has the 60 hour masters for the TX required hours or if they allowed shorter programs for licensing requirements in other states. My state only requires a 45 hour masters. She told me I would have to talk to someone in licensing. My question wasn't a licensing question. It was a question about the program. She said several things, one of them being that I should only take 45 credits. When I asked her if that would get me a degree she said no. When I asked what she had meant she said she only ever said they had a 60 hour program. I told her that I had the information I needed to make my decision and ended the call. It was the most frustrating 13 minutes I've...

This University has a lot of shady practices going on. Please be careful with taking information given by financial aid employees as fact. I have been given conflicting information from this department to where I feel I can no longer trust them.

I HIGHLY recommend doing emailing communications with them and BCC other departments that is pertinent to your concern for a second opinion. It's unfortunate, but employees will lie and say they did not say a certain thing to keep their jobs and will lie about what was said with no problems. EVERY DEPT IS RAN LIKE ITS OWN BUSINESS, THE DEPARTMENTS DO NOT COMMUNICATE.

I have been a student here for almost 3 years, and it has been a nightmare. ALSO, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GO TO YOUR DEPT DIRECTLY FOR ADVISING. THE UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING CENTER WILL REGISTER YOU FOR CLASSES YOU DON'T NEED AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE AND WILL NOT CARE. THEY CAN BE SOMETHING ELSE!

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE YOUR SAVING GRACE BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE RECEIPTS FOR EVERYTHING.

ALSO, DO NOT TAKE OUT UNSUBSIDIZED LOANS! THEY ARE AWFUL, THE INTEREST ACCRUES THE MOMENT YOU ACCEPT THEM. SO MANY I KNOW ARE PAYING THE PRICE BECAUSE THE STUDENT DEBT IS...