Empire State College, State University of New York

I have absolutely no use for this college; in my opinion the college is flawed, the ANGEL system DOES NOT WORK, and the advisors do not give a crap. The treatment I have received from the student services and academic advisors was deplorable. I switched mentors my first semester; as my mentor (Macmillan) seemed to forget what I needed and misinformed me on how to apply and what was needed for the prior learning assessment credits. She failed to explain what was needed for graduation; and counseled me to take all classes that would not help me toward an esc graduation requirement. She also "telecommutes" to work; she had a "real" job in NY City that she actually cares about. As she was useless and uninformed, I received a new mentor, and of course it took two weeks to process my request, which was processed THE FIRST DAY OF classes. As you may expect, that semester was a complete bust. The mental/psychological psyche-out was horrible. I beat myself up a second time for registering for classes with this BS institution. Again, the problems erupted immediately after classes begin in a different form. I informed [my Spanish teacher] that I commute to and from work 160 miles round trip and would not be able to make her timed 6 pm daily (mon-thurs) real-time classes, she simply ignored my requests. I then sent [someone in student services] multiple messages and called; she failed to do a damn thing and didn’t even bother taking any action. Angel kicked out my attachments the second week, and also the real time sessions that I did make were always a bitch to log into. I bought a second laptop as I had so much trouble to get into angel, again a costly fix.

My mentor had me take courses which she said met general education requirements. The director of the review board also said they met gen. ed. Now in my senior year, I find out that I cannot graduate because my degree plan cannot be concurred! They also took away my life credits because they will not allow you to be over 128 credits. I requested a refund of the $300, and they have refused! I am now out $300 for the life credits, and I have to pay (out of pocket) for 3 additional courses because of their mistakes! Worse yet, no one is now responding to my calls or emails.... Don't Waist Your Money!!!

The SUNY system should be ashamed to have Empire State College under their umbrella of schools. This "institution" is a joke! I am an older student and I have been around the block when it comes to transitional and SUNY schools. I can only beg you for yourself, your career and your education to find another institution. ESC falsely markets themselves as a students school. They are not there for the student. I have never come across a more non traditional, non flexible school. I have attended and graduated another SUNY school who made it their business to make sure that they were able to get me my degree. The administration here is God awful! I think this is their biggest downfall. The mentors are bound by these people and have little to no say in anything. Their biggest concern should be to have their students graduate, but sadly it is not. This is why their graduation rate is at 7% overall. Very sad. I wish I could say more but I may have to take my case further. I am here because I do not want what happened to me happen to others. No one knows what they are doing at this school. You can ask 100 people the same question and get 100 different answers. That is when you can actually get them to answer you. So please if you read this, rethink your decision. There are amazing schools out there that you will be proud to attend. Don't make the same mistake I have.