School Can Suck It.

Today is the first day of the fall 2010 semester at Macomb Community College. I won't be going. Not because I couldn't get government aid, because I did. Not because I couldn't get into the classes I needed, because I did. Not because I didn't jump through all of the pointless hoops the college requires, because I did. But apparently, I turned in my financial aid papers 8 days too late.

I had originally filled out my FAFSA during the second week of January so I would be ahead of the game. Unfortunately, I put in the wrong school code and Rochester College received my paperwork. I didn't realize it until April but I fixed it immediately at that time. Not having been to school for six years, I didn't realize the deadline was four months before classes start. I also didn't realize the people in the financial aid office were so useless.

During the second week of July I made a few trips to the college. Both of them were after work, so I didn't have time to finish everything at once. The first day I talked to an academic adviser and did an online orientation. The second day I lined up some classes with an academic counselor and waited in a hallway for three hours to talk to someone in the financial aid office. I asked the woman if there was anything else I needed to do and she told me to go ahead and register for classes and my aid would cover it.

The following day I registered for classes (after making another trip to the college to update my address so I could do so) and everything worked out fine. I watched my statement online and waited for my grants to be applied. There was a note toward the bottom of the statement that states that the Financial Aid Paid entry reflects aid paid on classes that start within ten days of the statement. I was a little worried that the payment was due 3 days before that time, but the lady in the financial aid office assured me it would be fine.

On the thirteenth (10 days before class started) my tuition still hadn't been paid and I still had a balance so I called the financial aid office but couldn't get through. I made another trip to the college the next day and waited in the hall for another three hours. The lady then told me that my FAFSA was late and hadn't been processed despite having been sent three months prior. Her solution: "pay cash and we'll reimburse you IF your aid goes through before the next semester." Okay, just let me hop in my Mercedes and draw $2200 from my bank.

Needless to say I'm very annoyed with Macomb Community College.