Mt. San Antonio College — Attraction in Walnut

Beware! I've been to multiple community colleges due to moving, and specialized programs. This is the most disorganized and it could have a huge effect.

Attempting to enroll, the school sends an auto email that says to wait up to two weeks to get the email with ID number, etc. After waiting two weeks, I called and was told no one could help me and appointments were booked out past the enrollment. After multiple calls, one guy finally asked the issue and someone else got on to say everyone enrolling faces that bug in the system where no ID number email goes out. I could have called to have it sent two weeks ago. By that time most classes were full, I decided to wait a year for the main program I wanted that began in fall. No other enrollment has been this messy.

Most recently after losing my entire Mt. Sac program with about a weeks notice to scramble and find a program elsewhere; I received a notice, well actually seven identical notices saying I owed $11. It was because the school accidentally processed an $11 overage to me and demanded it back in October! That's the tightest month if your aid comes late because you had to scramble to switch it to another school, and when all students are very busy with midterms. They for some reason only gave a month between the notice and the due date. I have $35 in my account. If my aid is delayed past the deadline and I pay late, they will jack the cost up a little and if not paid by around finals it could effect my credit, which has become crucial to find housing... like when about to transfer to a University for instance. Also the 7 notices they sent the same day showed a postage of nearly $1. The cost to mess up sending a request for $11? About $6. Cost to continue to stress out a student even after you've finally succeeded in driving them away? Priceless.

I also had trouble during aid. The financial aid office people are on top of it, but I was put in the wrong category (freshman vs sophomore) by one of the other messy departments, because they don't process any incoming students transcripts unless specifically requested... this was a year after I sent them. That also affects if you enroll in time to get into classes you need when nearing transfer.

I'm confused why a school that teaches tech doesn't use any to the point where it pushes people away from enrollment/ completion without heroic efforts. Thank goodness for the amazing people in financial aid for always fixing things with so much less runaround than other deptments.

I enrolled in a program that was three co-req classes each semester for two academic years. The idea was that the things you design in one class you then experience making in another and learn to present professionally in the third. That didn't happen. I learned a lot, but the classes didn't sync as promised, so the co-req situation was unnecessary. All this system did was cause the program for my year to be completely cancelled when everyone failed except me and a couple other people. It's concerning when that many fail.

Also, I understand making random items that test skill; but at every school when starting to create actual items, I feel like assignments are often too narrow to end up in a portfolio. Mt. Sac took that further, where almost every real item we made in my program had to be an item to store tools. The only one even considerable for portfolio, was partially predesigned, so it may have been plagerism if we used it.

At PCC I have similar classes with criteria for assignments that are flexible enough to create with your own vision as an artist or designer (something required in a University portfolio). Time and money is tight, even over the summer when no aid means working instead of school. It is incredibly valuable being able to use a school assignment with professor feedback/ crit for your portfolio, and even sometimes free materials. Not all classes are like that at PCC, but it is becoming a trend there with many teachers. If you are pursuing a major that will require a portfolio, it might be worth the...

Great teachers, great academics, great courses. HORRENDOUS parking (ALL lots, NO structures, and they penalize YOU for THEIR shortcomings - not very bright or fair). Never received my financial aid. Satisfied my requirements, then they created more requirements, satisfied those, then they needed additional paperwork that I had already originally gave them in the first place. Never had this experience with CSUDH. School semester is now over and I received nothing. Courses were covered, but I paid for my books, supplies, parking, etc. out-of-pocket. May or may not go back. Better education than my CSUDH years, though.

Also, I have really bad allergies and swell up whenever my body feels like it. I had a knee immobilizer from a car accident, was on crutches, then my feet and ankles decided to swell up because of my allergies (doctors do not know what I am allergic to). So, I could not walk (the campus is all hills and stairs, as well). I called the disability number saying I needed a ride to my car so I can drive myself to urgent care. They said I had to fill out paperwork and get it signed by my doctor. I told them I could not even walk, and just needed assistance to my car to get a steroid shot in my a$s, like always. I told her to call my doctor, she'll confirm, and was still refusing to give me the ride, when 1.) It is rarely in use; it is always parked by student services, 2.) I've seen people who CAN walk use it to get from their class to the parking lot ONE lot away (-__-). Where I had to park, there is not even a sidewalk, you walk in the street for the most part. They eventually sent the cart and I tried my best to walk up some stairs and a partial hill when the guy in the cart finally came and when I told him what happened, he didn't understand it either, he said he was always available to assist anyone who needed it. The woman on the phone gave NO fcks about anything but paperwork. If it's money they are worried about, I'll pay him directly for the .09 gallons of gas he used to get me to my car plus a tip! When I went to fill out the paperwork I was treated like I WANTED to have on a knee immobilizer, stitches in my knee (the whole joint), and wanted to be on crutches. I wanted to reach over the desk and slap the smug attitude off of her, but I remained calm, walked away, and said "Karma is a btch." Thank you, Mt. SAC for convenience and...

I give it 2 stars because most people don't read 1 star reviews, this would normally be a 1 star review.

I have been attending college for a majority of 25 years now. I have an MBA, BA, AS, AA, a certificate and many years of finding my direction. I would have to say that out of the 9 schools I have attended this is by far the worst school I have had the opportunity to attend. Some reasons: One class required all assignments be completed or you fail. Meaning out of 1000 points if you missed a 5 point assignment you would fail. Tell me if that makes sense? A teacher that I had spent most of the class discrediting a market society but did not give solutions to rectify the problem. This same teacher would make general negative comments about other majors creating a sense of maliciousness about those subjects. Creating an uncomfortable environment for everyone not his major. This same teacher would use foul language in almost ever sentence that came out of his mouth. This teacher also talked about how his videos of his teaching should be monitored by YouTube and focused on this extensively for a few weeks of the first part of class. Another teacher that I had would inject her political ideas at random times. Like during a DNA lecture she decided that this would be a good time to express her opinion about Georgia's Election Reform laws. The to have nothing to do with each other. This same teacher divulged that Mt. SAC Ed code falls under k-12 standards. How is this conducive to preparing students for a higher education? Lastly my current teacher made comments about dropping me after I told her that I am a Veteran using my benefits. After, I kindly and I do mean kindly, gave her my thoughts on her discrimination. She filled a complaint of harassment to the disciplinary board against me. She never disclosed her discontent with my words at her but went straight to filing an unsupported complaint. If you value your health as others have said, stay away from this college as stress other from learning could be...