Saddleback College — Local services in Mission Viejo

As a former student attending this community college for 2 years, I can say that Saddleback College was an average experience for me. I graduated my high school in 2021 and I had the privilege of taking a course called C100 which was a pre introductory course of community college and taking it and passing with a C or above would guarantee a 2 year free tuition for Saddleback.

My concerns with the college are mainly the guidance counselors and campus police. There is a major lack of communication when it comes to transferring and the counselors fail to provide consistent answers for any questions you may have. When I went to speak with one of the counselors of the Promise Program, I was told Saddleback would be 2 years only if you have taken AP classes in high school and received a well score in the AP exams that will then transfer as college credit for Saddleback. The promise program has never once mentioned any of this up until now and I believe it’s ridiculous that we are wasting our time for another year here.

Now for campus police, they can be brutal and rude especially if you’re not white. I have had friends and including myself, that lost items that were reported as missing so we went to collect our items over at the police station located at the back of the school. The men are rude and disrespectful. If you don’t have a valid student ID they will not be lenient with you.

If you are thinking of attending this school for the acceptance rate, I advise to look into other schools before...

This school has a real problem with Christian supremacy; I was denied career counseling services on the basis of religion, was referred to disciplinary action for not being Christian, with additional incidents of staff using inappropriate/unprofessional religious language ("I'll pray for you," etc.). At best the staff is unhelpful, often outright hostile, Dean of Student Affairs does not care if this offensive staff conduct restricts services or makes students uncomfortable, threatened with retaliation for filing the complaint. Understaffed departments are the norm, with timely counseling appointments impossible and hold times upwards of three hours to reach financial aid staff. Presumably this is to pay the school president's outrageous salary, but why does a community college president need to make $800k/year, especially when so many of their students are homeless? Other issues too numerous to list, I'm transferring out after just...

This school has turned into a dump-truck. I returned back after a few years hiatus in my education. Both classes used the McGraw Hill Connect book and online learning system. Such a huge failure for teachers and the education system as a whole. The algorithms are off and the system rarely addresses test/quiz materials. The teachers at the school are disengaged and offer little to enhance the cheap program they forced us to purchase. I can’t believe this is even a college accredited program anymore. This program not only risks students also becoming disenchanted with their education, it takes away from true educators’ value in the community...