Seminole State College - Sanford/Lake Mary Campus — Local services in Sanford

I decided to try Seminole state because my family and I had moved closer to their campus and farther from Valencia Colleges campus (where I was attending the semester prior). So I applied, enrolled, got awarded aid, given the ability to use my aid for my books and computer, and began attending classes. Per the financial aid office, my financial aid documents were not "evaluated" and I was not actually eligible. Mind you, this was 6 WEEKS into the 8 week semester. I was preparing for finals for goodness sakes. When I called for the 5th because my financial aid wasn't being reflected on my account like it should after the first four weeks of classes, I am told that I was never actually qualified for financial in the first place. When I was awarded for the year, it was a "mistake". My aid was taken and an outstanding balance was posted to my account. Thankfully I was able to complete the semester, but now I'm being forced to pay for the semester that was already awarded because they made a mistake. I would never take another class here but even if I wanted to, i couldnt. I can't even enroll and pay out of pocket. They won't allow me to do anything until I cough up the money in its entirety. Which I now see how money hungry this school really is. Dont get me wrong, i understand that holding transcripts and denying enrollment is standard when students acquire balances. Understandable. However, when the school was the one at fault for the balance in the first place, I cant help but feel like I got scammed. When trying to find ways for me to over this hump and be proactive, I come to find out they offer absolutely no payment plans, and they won't even try to help. This was my first and most certainly my last semester at seminole state. I can't even transfer and go back to Valencia (where questions can actually be answered, documents are processed prior to enrollment, student services actually finds solutions, and where you don't feel like you're a nuisance because you're utilizing the services offered). So here I am, my transcripts being held until the balance Is paid, no room in the budget (with a family of 5) to dedicate to a surprise $1.8k bill, and getting turned away from the institution because "there's nothing else that they can do". (Again, no payment plans, no answers, no sympathy, remember?). In short, I owe THEM for THEIR mistakes. And this "simple mistake" (as I was told) has cost me my education. I was so close to my degree and Seminole State robbed me of that. Because of Seminole States lack of knowledge, efficiency, and magnitude of negligence, I will not graduate any time soon. I wont allow them to take credit for my failure. I will be done, but now in years rather than Months. Seminole state froze my education and quite frankly, my career. My employer had been patiently waiting for me to graduate so I could move up in the company and that too wont happen. The way this institution is run, is not how it's suppose to be. I highly reccomend Valencia College. They actually push you for success... not stop you from it. The Florida Deptartment of Education has been greatly helpful with confirming and recognizing their negligence. I am not the only student that has been wronged by Seminole state. I just hope someone can utilize my experience to be sure they're not being scammed too. Tread cautiously with this...

Worst 'educational' experience ive ever had. Went for Automotive, the 'professor' was COMPLETELY NEW, had never taught a class before, new to teaching all together. He had experience as a car salesman, and the school was desperate to hire after the last professor had to leave in a hurry. Im sure he had plenty of automotive knowledge, but his lack of educating experience made this class UNBEARABLE! He would literally go on & on & ON for hours on end, till we were all days or even weeks behind on our assignments, and had to hurry to catch up ourselves after classes on our own, cause he spent so much class time just talking circles around the simplest questions or concepts. He wouldne cover all the topics he was intended to, because he would spend so many hours on the simplest thing. We were his 1st class, so basically the experimental class. It was rough, some quit, including me, i couldnt tolerate the unprofessionalism anymore. He even went so far as to pick favorite, i got good grades the 1st few cources, but then when i started hetting as tired of him, as everyone else in the class already was, he gave me a C on my last course, for no reason. I did just as well as i had for my prior courses. This guy was such a complete joke to Everyone in the class, i tolerated him only to get through the program, but he was being completely unreasonable, and i would not jeopardize my gpa for him. And when i complained to the staff, they justified his nonsense because they needed someone there to lead the class. They even lied and said that they notified the entire class before this 1st time teacher picked up the class. I was in that class and never recieved that warning, if i had, i may have reconsidered. And even of it was true, his lack of experience still does not justify him picking favories, giving poor grades inaccurately, and ranting for so long that we get set back several werks at a time. We were always behind on assignments due to his overly long Rants, it was exhausting, always having to rush, especially towards the end of the semester, just to catch up to where we were supposed to be. That Automotive proffessor, and this school is such a...

I am not sure about academically because I have not attended this "school" since 2007. What I can say is that trying to get anything taken care of like account balances and transcripts is a complete nightmare. These people have now wasted two of my hour lunch breaks, and 25 minutes during work to try and take care of a past due "fee" that is 8 years old, just so I can have my ONE CLASS CREDIT transferred to my new college in Missouri. They will not release the transcripts until it's paid. I tried to do so today and was told that I could not pay by phone. Well, I am not making a 30 hour round trip to make a payment, and I have limited time to get these transcripts before spring semester starts. I was then transferred to admissions, the help desk, and the cashier, (back and forth) because I was told that I could login to my account to pay the bill. After going through the depths of hell to try and get my login and password reset, I was able to get in. OH, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, I CAN'T PAY IT ONLINE due to the age of the bill. I called back for the 4th time today and was told that I had to call and pay the collection agency (who I never received a bill from regarding this) to pay. I work two jobs and I am a single parent, I do not have time to waste and they have done nothing but that. WASTE MY TIME. I had to call the collection agency to pay the bill, call them back after 3:30pm to get a confirmation number, THEN call the SCC back to give the confirmation # to them. THEN....FINALLY, I can pay ONCE AGAIN to have the transcripts sent to my new school. I could have just done that in the first place and been done with it.

Oh yah....also.....When I originally called, I stated that I never received a bill for this amount due, and that I would like to see the bill before I pay it. The lady on the phone said that she can only send it to the address on file, and had no access to update the address to my current one. Haven't lived in Florida since 2008. The most unhelpful, poorly trained, ignorant folks I've dealt with in a long time. Thank God I never have to deal with them again...