Had I known then what I know now I would've never gotten myself involved with this school. When I went there to check out the school, they were so eager to get me in. The community college I was attending at the time did not offer Pharmacy Tech classes so I decided to give these guys a try (May). The representative who showed me around the school was very kind and helpful, but the others who were around to help answers additional questions I had were NOT.in fact... They were VERY unprofessional.
For example, I was in the middle of asking a question involving enrollment. As I was finishing my question, a gentleman walked by and gave me one of the most unprofessional, sarcastic answers I have ever received in my life. I butted heads with him yet again during the finalization of my enrollment. He put me on the spot in the hallway while students were walking by because I refused to take out a loan of any type without my parent's consent (which by the way was completely none of his business since he was not the individual who was handling my enrollment).
Another unprofessional individual would be the young lady in the financial aid department. She kept giving me an attitude like she had something against me, and she made no effort to try and maintain a professional attitude. She slammed folders and pens and threw a little fit when I refused to make any major decisions without a parent.
Why are they so eager to have someone take out a loan without checking with their parents first? These loans were not cheap either. We're talking anywhere from $500-$2000. I had financial aid (which doesn't cover much), a pell grant, and I STILL had to take out 2 more loans. I come from a low-income, single parent home, and my parent's income didn't seem to help lower the cost of what I had to pay. I was left with no other choice but to take out one loan from Sallie Mae (because that's all my parent was comfortable with taking out) and left with making a payment of about $625 a month for my classes WITH the understanding that upon completing the course I would be receiving both a certificate of completion AND be certified by the state.
My course was to run 8 months. They take in people every month which made no sense at all. Their classes are held in modules labeled from A-H, and my first month was module G... Nearly the last month. I was going backwards! They said they offer hands-on training, but they fail to tell you that you probably won't be practicing sanitation very well when working in the lab because they never have gloves or alcohol pads. They are also working with out-dated equipment and they never have the correct supplies when we do our lab practices. The instructors are also very unprofessional. There were 2 pharmacy technician instructors, and they were constantly bickering and feuding over lab time and bragging rights about who teaches more efficiently.
I was there for 4 hours of the day, and at $625 a month, my classes consisted of nothing but only one hour in the lab, "lecturing" (which was pretty much the instructor repeating everything from only 1 of the 6 books and nothing more), break after break, and computer lab time where we are supposed to be learning how to type. I was pretty much paying $625 a month to go have everything I read the night before repeated to me, stand still in a lab because there isn't enough supplies for everyone to practice with, spend about 45 minutes to an hour using a cheap $10 typing program that I can easy purchase at my local Best buy and use at home on my own time, and sit idle on the many breaks that I'm paying for while I listen to 2 "professionals" bicker at each other. Oh... And did I mention my instructor didn't comprehend English too well? Yea... She was never able to answer any of my questions.
After 4 months there, I realized this school was taking me nowhere. I purchased a practice book for the state certification exam (which in my opinion should have been included instead one of the many useless textbooks they provided) and tried to do a couple of questions... And I realized I didn't know any of the answers! The state test requires you to memorize 200 of the most commonly used drugs, generic name, classification, and use... I only knew 5 by heart after 4 months. I kept seeing former students after former students returning to the school... All of them were still unemployed. I didn't even realize they had a career center in the facility to help write a resume for internship and employment. They started firing people left and right... And these were people who were going out their way to help these unemployed graduates. A teacher got fired and was totally humiliated in front of all the students. She was changing out her scrubs in her office and the "Dean" used her set of keys to unlock the door and barged in on her to demand she get off the premises at once. The instructor was exposed in her underwear in front of all the students and faculty members passing by.
There was a protest in front of the school by the students of that teacher. They started denying anyone who spoke to those students access back in the school. We weren't allowed to go out on our break (which we paid for anyway) to go grab a bite to eat because they couldn't keep their student body in control. I decided to just drop out of the course. First off, when I was enrolling, I was told state certification was included. They lied. I found out 3 months into the program that I had to pay for my own test and cover the fee for my own update of my immunization record. They claimed they were preparing us for certification. I was there for half of the course and I couldn't answer a single question from the state certification practice exam. I was paying $625 a month and I wasn't even working. I wasn't learning a single thing from those textbooks. They gave us about 6 books total and we only used 2. Students were cheating off each other like crazy. More than half of them didn't even know basic math (which was needed to do ALL of the measuring exercises). Is this the type of people you want filling your prescription? A person who cant multiply 6 by 3 and can't tell the difference between 60mg from 60 mL? A person who can't even comprehend and memorize simple abbreviations to fill your prescriptions correctly? It's no wonder why they have such a hard time finding employment... The professionals are probably aware these students don't know what they're doing.
Leaving the school behind was no problem (End of August). But here is where my real problem came in. I cancelled the other half of my loan and asked what I owed. The answer? Nothing. I was told by Sallie Mae that I owed nothing because the school would be responsible for paying the half that was dispersed (which was a little over $800). The school's collectors contacted me to collect the same amount claiming they had paid Sallie Mae off for the dispersed loan and now I owed them. Like a dummy, I paid. After that, I figured everything was settled. Sallie Mae was paid off and so was my debt to the school. I heard no more from anyone other than the constant junk mail from the school begging me to come back and Sallie Mae advertising to me to take out another loan. I took my name off the mailing list and all communication from both ends stopped. Here I am in and Sallie Mae contacted me again. I thought this was gonna be another attempt at making me take out a loan. Nope. This was a collector of theirs telling me I still have an $800 balance! What?! SO what was that $800 check I made out to the school for? Wasn't it to pay them back for paying you guys? NOPE! There was no payment made from the school at ALL. After dealing with the more than rude supervisor of the collection office of Sallie Mae (who refused to except my explanation or even hear me out) I contacted the financial department of Corinthian Colleges demanding an answer. What was I told?"Oh that payment you made was not for that. I don't know who told you that." After giving my statement to Sallie Mae, what was I told?"Oh I don't know who told you that. That's not how it works here."
Ok... So what I was told was either A) a lie on Sallie Mae's part and whoever these people are... Are trying to double whammy me with false charges and trying to scam me. Or B) a lie on Corinthian College's part and the school stole my $800 and are currently sending me a newly made up, fake ledger explaining what BS I was paying for instead of what I was told I was paying for. Or C) a lie from both of them and they are both ripping me off. My credit is on the line. I'm not working. I have nothing but a few cents in my name. All I know is I paid someone $800 with the understanding that it was ALL I owed. I'm questioning why I am NOW just getting news of this... 2 years later, instead of the very year I dropped out.
I'm questioning why I was never contacted about my "outstanding balance" that I owed within those 2 years. Like I said, the only mail I got from them was junk mail. I'm questioning Why my loan application first said I was attending "Byron College" instead of Olympia College (and now the file says Everest College instead of Olympia). I'm questioning why they said I was dropped in April when I dropped in the end of August. I'm questioning how many times this school will continue to change their name to stay open when it is quite obvious their whole corporation should be closed down for false advertisement and inability to properly teach, train, and certify as they advertise. You see their commercials every 10 minutes. They have about 10-30 ads in every employment guide and newspaper. Their scrubs sport their school name making the students nothing more but walking billboards for the school. I have so many questions but I can never get a straight answer that makes any sense from anyone. If anything, they should give me back my $2500 PLUS the cost of bus fare I spent on them so that I may attend classes at a normal college to make up for the wasted time I spent there. I would be up about 12 TRANSFERABLE credit hours at a normal college AND I would've had a U-Pass on the house just for being a full-time student (meaning no bus fare... It's all paid for for the semester).
I will continue to be miserable as long as that corporation continues to stand and operate. They can change their lousy school's name to whatever they want but it's still a lousy school. A pile of poop covered in glitters of gold is still a pile of poop. I just want to know why I still owe the same $800 when I already paid it. I don't want my credit to be screwed over this. And seriously... Anyone considering attending any of the Corinthian Colleges should reconsider going to a normal college. They are just going to waste your time and money. It doesn't matter how many hours you spend reading those books and studying (I spent 3-8 hours a day studying and I am an honor roll student with a substantially high GPA)... You're still not even going to know half of what you SHOULD be knowing to enter that field...
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