Green River College — Local services in Auburn

Do your Bachelors elsewhere! They only care about your money.

Terrible college, having gone to both Highline and UW I can easily say this is the worst college experience I've ever had. From the terrible website and registration process, to the gigantic waste of money, this college truly sucks. There is a lack of communication etiquette among admissions, financial aid, and even higher level professors. I had to leave due to several issues, one being risk of losing home due to personal family issues. I let Green River know this as I dropped classes two class sessions in (two weeks meeting once a week). They were strict on their ridiculous policy and said tough shet you owe us or we are sending you to collections, taking three weeks to respond pretty much each email. I've showed several individuals our correspondence, and every person was in awe about how they talk down to people and ignore you once they are shown how unprofessional and disrespectful they are. Other students agreed they were in the wrong and it was typical of Green River to be underwhelming in the care/respect department. This school only looks at you as a $, as they waste money every quarter on bouncy houses and such. If a student needed money for medical expenses and needed some sympathy on what they owed when leaving classes, they wouldn't care. This isn't the case at other colleges/universities who are more than happy to help, I can guarantee that. I've talked to several individuals in this college and pretty much all of them stopped responding or said the same regurgitated BS. People can say I'm exaggerating but there is a reason some of the better professors are leaving, as well as why there was a school wide strike a couple years back. This school DOES NOT care about you, they care about your money. I cannot warn you enough this college has some quality professors, but ultimately they aren't going to be as caring as other colleges. Go to Highline, Bellevue, or UW where you'll be shown more care and will have a better college experience.

You'll see a glimmer of others questioning Green Rivers ethics regarding money in the reviews below. I have proof of the terrible customer service if needed, they took weeks to respond, constantly forward you to others, and finally stop responding. The whole time they talk to you they talk down to you like you're an imbecile. While in communication with them about money I owed, they sent me a letter with intent to send to collections. Only one person who I talked to was kind and professional in their responses, the rest were god awful. Several students can attest to this and can't leave this college soon enough

In terms of the BAS pricing, it's pretty much over priced. You're paying near $3,000 for one meeting a week per class , which is way beyond the estimated cost on their web site. Your learning comes from reading, and free online videos. And if you email your professor for help they point you to tutoring. Raising the question of why am I paying for free online learning? I told my professors of my situation and why I'm leaving, and got NO response. Further proving my point you're just seen as money to this college. Gigantic waste of money and time, I had a better learning experience watching YouTube...

The school it's self is an overall good school. I completed my AA degree there.

As a warning they have real issues with their Financial Aid office. There is a breakdown in their application process, for some reason they can't complete the applications even a couple weeks into the semester. Their director needs to visit other colleges and universities and restructure their process.

1. GRCC will drop you from your classes, and 2) your aid can be up to two months late, even if your Fasfa is approved, 3) They will hold your refund and distribute it in 2 disbursement payments, beginning of quarter (if your lucky!) and then 6 weeks in! No one lump some like other schools!

I have gone to 2 other colleges and 1 other university, all of them no matter how late my paperwork, even if I finished turning in paperwork the week before school, I would wait no more then 2 weeks after school started for my refund. No threat of being dropped from classes, if you don't pay at the end of the quarter they will just put a hold on your transcript and/or not let you enroll in next quarter. a guarantee they get their money at some point. Their employee count in the financial aid department, exact same as GRCC.

Also with the university I went to they had a book charge option, so if you had been approved for financial aid through Fasfa, you could charge your books and supplies to an account at the book store. You signed a waiver of course showing responsibility for the books and supplies signed for, all you had to have was your state ID or school ID. This all prior to receiving your aid this way kids had their books before their aid and the store made a ton of money; win win! Kids would spend mad amounts of money on supplies, back packs, lap tops and text books.

So it seems like someone needs to lose their job or someone needs to address the problem. The school is losing capital from students getting dropped from classes, scarred off by threats of being dropped, scarred off by not being able to afford books, getting scared off by not having their student loan money to live off of and not buying books and supplies through their store! Some real poor management going on, especially for a learning institution! I'm a business student and can see the problem don't get why management can't or GRCC isn't in the game...

The professors do a good job for the most part, but financial aid and counseling services are almost non-existent.

Financial aid will almost certainly arrive late as they say they have a 3-4 month backlog on paperwork at any given moment. So if you need to buy books or supplies at the beginning of the quarter you'll probably have to put it on your credit card or skip meals. They can never give you a timeline for completion and they say they process paperwork at random instead of the order received to "ensure fairness".The guy in the office makes my blood boil. He almost looks entertained by telling you you'll have to use your food and rent money for books, because they'll file your paperwork sometime over the next several weeks.

The financial aid office builds up long lines as most people have to come back again after receiving wrong/incomplete information. The form deposit box outside the office to avoid the lines is a black hole where paperwork goes to never been seen again, only heard from in the form of an email saying the form you dropped off there never lived to see processing. RIP financial aid forms, you will be missed and were sorely needed.

Don't expect to see class finder working during registration. Don't expect the classes you need to have seats open - even if you register within 30 mins of your registration deadline opening.

EDIT: I revised my original rating upwards from 1 to 2 because my interactions with the staff, particularly the adjunct professors, in the science, physics, and engineering departments have been phenomenal. I don't understand how an administration that at times seems so apathetic and disorganized could staff such great departments. After seeing the placards on campus, I really hope they give the adjunct professors their first raise in five years before the school loses some of the talent it's been lucky enough to attract. I would have adjusted higher, but I still think the performance of my original english professor, in the 4 weeks before she was fired, should bring the overall score...