Students
Options

NWR: Why are universities so unorganized? (long)

I'm sure most of you have had similar dealings, but seriously, why are universities plagued with incompetency? Everyone I talk to says the same thing. My graduate school is making me a nervous wreck about once a week and I'm not even there yet!

After filing my financial aid paperwork back in Feb when I got accepted, I kept waiting for an award letter that never came. Finally in June (when they due out) I called and they told me they had me under two different SSNs. Like, how does that even happen? And the one they'd be referencing the past few months was the one that didn't show my paperwork. So, by this point I was pretty much guaranteed not to get any grants since they'd all been given out months ago. But whatever.

Then today, I get my first tuition bill that showed a balance of $2000 something due August 1, after some of my loans were credited. Still, I have other loans not shown on the bill that should cover this cost. So a little panicked because I'm on my own and do not have $2000, I called the school to ask about my loan status. Long story short, one of my loans is still being processed and when it goes through, I should be able to just ignore the bill (although a woman from the registrar's office told me financial aid shouldn't be telling me that... um, what?) Oh, and also my bill is wrong? I only owe $1000.

So... now I'm waiting until my loan goes through and hopefully everything turns out ok. But seriously, everytime I ask a question, I get a different answer and they're constantly messing stuff up - like when they had me in the system as part-time even though I'm registered full-time.

Is anyone else just baffled by the idiocy of our institutions of higher learning sometimes?

Re: NWR: Why are universities so unorganized? (long)

  • Options
    I, quite honestly, have had a fairly seamless experience at my university. BUT, I do not get financial aid. I find that is what many people have problems with. BF's sister is playing ring-around-the-rosey with her college right now, and it all boils down to her financial aid. I hope everything gets sorted out for you! 
    He pretty much had me at "hello".
    -- PS I agree with whatever Jeana said --
  • Options
    Our university just switched to a direct lending system, meaning EVERYONE, no matter how long you've been at the university, had to redo their loan information.  That's been...fun.  I'm also amazed that different departments can't "talk" to each other.  For example, as a commuter student, I was eligible to use part of my "refund" to purchase a meal plan.  To do so, I had to go to the Dining Hall to get the form, go the other side of campus to have Financial Aid verify I had enough in my account to cover the plan, and then back over to the Dining Hall to have it activated.  Wouldn't it have been simpler for the Dining Hall to enter my ID and see that I had enough in my account? OR...just make it an option on my account when I register for the semester online? I know that is not nearly as big as having a loan coming in later than is comfortable...just irritating.  Hope everything works out! 
  • Options
    I know how you feel to a degree.  I was put on academic probation because my school counted some of my dropped classes as failed.  If it weren't bad enough when I went in to meet with the dean every page she looked at listed my grades differently.  My grade card listed two failed one dropped, the first website showed a different two dropped and a different one failed, then the second website showed them all failed.  Thankfully, after a lot of emails and phone calls, she was able to figure it out for me.
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards