Bluegrass Community & Technical College - Cooper Campus — Local services in Lexington

I haven’t even made it to scheduling and this is already the most trouble I’ve been given by any academic program. And I’ve went to “better” programs. I’m stuck due to a terrible work accident that has left me 100% physically disabled until my surgery soon. I will not be recovered until mid 2025. Due to this I had to relocate a while back to my hometown to have help being taken care of. I can’t stop my life. I have to continue with my credits. I can’t work. I’m a liability. I cannot study ON campus for an unknown amount of time. On top of that I have been diagnosed and treated by a psychologist and clinical psychiatrists for autism and ocd with learning disabilities. I have had so much trouble for months just trying to get to an advisor. The school lost the electronic transcript I paid for. It took months to get that squared away. It was escalated so many times and no one could find it though I have proof that it was received by them. Every day is a new day of hurdles. No one I’ve spoken to seems to be on the same page with anyone else. Everyone has their way of doing it and it’s usually not working then the next person says that’s not the way to do it and it keeps going. Mind you, I was warned by others that it’s not a simple process getting started here. It’s hoops and hurdles and then they scramble the last week to fit you in places. I finally was given an advisors number. I left a message. They did not respond but sent a personal email and it felt rude, short, unhelpful, and basically a big fat I can’t help you. That was David Beckman. I desperately expressed the issues back and how hard it’s been and how I just need to get my classes together and I can’t go in person and everything for me is 4 steps behind compared to able bodied and intellectually abled students. I still haven’t heard from anyone in the disability office there. I explained I cannot do math online and have had to drop it in the past. I’m terrible at it and it has to be done in person so it HAS to wait but everything else should be no problem to get started and whatever obstacles can be overridden. I know because better universities agree. Freakin’ Columbia told me it could wait while working on my cybersecurity until I can get in person and be able to live in a math lab with on campus tutors and professor hours to get through it. My mind does not work that way. I can’t just do it. I have tried numerous times and can’t afford to fail out over and over but he was upset that I reached out to him wanting to know who sent me to him. It was one of the MANY people who you speak to over the phone at bctc. You can’t keep up. Even when you’re not calling them, they have someone calling you who has no idea the struggles you’ve been having wanting to know why you haven’t set up your classes yet. I’m sorry but I don’t have an hour to keep repeating this situation to each random caller. That’s how I keep ending up with a different answer to my issues every other day. I have no one to just go through this with me and help me get to where I need to be. I thought an advisor was that person. Another person I spoke to who works for the college personally apologized for that advisor and said they were going to get me scheduled with someone else. That was all it took to get an appointment with an advisor after months. It’s weeks out and pretty much, nothing can go wrong at that appointment as we won’t have time for that. Not quite sure how I’ll go about making sure everything is done in time. The page on disabilities is so confusing beyond anything I’ve read academically. I don’t have tests. I was diagnosed as an adult. I’ve been medicated. I can get letters, sure, but testing? I was treated in NYC and was told there is not proper adequate autism testing for adults but I was diagnosed without a doubt and given medications for symptoms. As well as OCD/ADHD which overlaps a bit. Either way, if you can go somewhere else, just do so. I’m seriously considering saying forget this and going elsewhere where I’m not...

Lets start with the teachers and work our way down. I take cources online, this semester I had two teachers that were absolutely amazing, quick to answer questions and make instructions very clear, they would allow students to work around their busy scedule, two other teachers were very entitled, somewhat rude in conversation and claimed no blame when an error was pointed out to them, literally their job consist of setting up a web page, and grading test, most of which are pre-made, so the fact that I put myself in debt to pay these people to be rude to me is mind boggling. Tuition, the prices arent to bad but not to great, $2500 a semester is a bit much for a community college though. Now the worst part, figuring out what classes you need for your chosen major, speaking with anyone that you think can help you and all the lost time you will spend writing emails and on hold for phone calls. First advising, I believe advising is a myth, it took me 6 months to get enrolled, 3 of which were me trying to figure out what classes I needed, I have currently been waiting on a return phone call or email from my so-called advisor for a week now, meanwhile classes are filling up, prolonging the wait list for me to graduate, so they get another $2500 out of me because my required classes are full, calling almost any number to will generally send you to a student specialist, who are payed to jerk you around and give you a number to call which is the number you called originally, and good luck making an appointment. Finacial aid office seems to be the only people that have their s**t together, quick easy info when you call them. Realizing that my advisor is useless I tried to enroll myself in classes I thought I needed, went thru and found them, to end up on a screen, telling me I cannot enroll myself. All and all, school work is easy, most class formats are easy to navigate, but god help you if you need any sort of help figuring out your future in...

I think like any other school, BCTC has many benefits and drawbacks. When I went there, I found the professors to be fantastic (both online and in person). Many were understanding and helpful, which was great as I worked full-time while in college and often times needed to either move ahead in the work or turn something in later than expected. Either way, they were more than fair and accommodating.

The tuition is not cheap. Sure, it's cheaper than your average University, but what they end up charging you when they try to keep some students behind another semester here and there to fulfill additional requirements is outright wrong. Many of my fellow students complained most about the lack of guidance they received, or inaccurate information they were given about their degree class requirements. We would be told one thing - this is what you need to take in order to get this degree. When the time came to collect on said degree, they would change the terms and insist you needed to take something else in order to fulfill the requirements. Then some other red-tape would come into play later on. I knew many students who fell into that trap and ended up attending a year longer than necessary.

I'd say for meeting your gen-eds or focusing on vocational-training specific programs (dental hygiene, nursing aide, etc.), than BCTC is more than suitable. I would be remiss if I didn't caution students on the guidance and financial aid. Know what you need coursework wise before you start - AND know what it is going to cost you. I can't speak to their current operation. I can only hope the aforementioned departments have improved in the...