I won’t be going to college this semester because of incompetence
Not because my application was turned down, but because it has yet to be approved.
Some backstory. Though various circumstances, I made only $7,000 in reportable earnings in 2010. Which led to the notion I could get a lot of financial aid. Given the economy and declining freelance work, going back to school isn’t a bad idea and I enjoy learning. And if most of the bill is footed by the government, right on.
Indeed, after applying, I qualified for essentially a full ride. There are student loans, of course. But as long as I kept my taxable earnings under a certain amount each year, I could expect to be able to concentrate on earning a degree. Go to college, study and live for learning, and graduate.
So I apply to Indiana’s Ball State; it’s the only college nearby. I applied on December 4th, one day after the “expedited” deadline. Something I learned the same day. They began processing my application the next day, so I wasn’t worried.
The next week, I login into the website to check the application’s status. I’m told my application is “currently being reviewed or requires additional information.” It also says in the same paragraph, “If additional information is required, we will contact you requesting the missing material.” I’d not been contacted, so I assume things are kosher.
The next day I get paranoid; I call in. I’m told: “we don’t have any of your older college transcripts.” I’ve been to college three times to date. After the first, each college asked for the transcripts of the last attended college and they did all the work. So I was unaware that this was either not the norm, or that Ball State wasn’t going to do this. Isn’t that something they should have contacted me about? No big deal. I contact my previously colleges (and high school) and have the transcripts sent off. I’d hate to be the cause of any more delays.
So time goes by. Maybe twice a week, once on Monday and again on Friday, I’d call in. Most Fridays the office would be closed early, so rarely did I speak with someone on Fridays. The responses varied between: “In review” and “we’ve never got a transfer from X college, so we’re waiting on something from them.”
Until today. I call in and I’m told: “Oh, we never received transcripts from college Y.” What. The semester starts on the 9th. Six days from now. And you’re telling me this now?! I’ve spoken with them at least five times since December 4th. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. To date, I have never been contacted in any form for any of my applications shortcomings. If I hadn’t been so adamant in calling in, I’d have found out they had none of my transcripts.
Needless to say, I got angry. I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t. I restrained myself enough not to lob obscenities at the woman or do any direct name-calling. But in the end, I did say, “I’m not going to Ball State. Why would I give money to incompetence?” So there was some name-calling, in the end, but I like to think I was generally polite and well-mannered giving the situation.
After an hour of fuming into my coffee, I call college Y. They inform me transcripts were sent on the 8th of December, the day after I requested them. Okay, wtf.
I call Ball State; ask for a supervisor. I’ve called enough times they know who I am, it’s not a large office, so who knows if I actually got one. I posit the question: “Why was I lied to about college Y?” The response: “You weren’t lied to, you shouldn’t have been told that. The transcripts are here, but since we’ve never received transcripts from college X—” not college Y, mind you, “—so those go to a separate office for processing.” So I was lied to. After some back and forth, I reiterate my disapproval and my intent to not attend their college and thanked the lady for her time before hanging up. Again, I felt I was very polite to the woman.
But anyway, I’m left with another question: Can so many people who transfer to Ball State transfer in from previously unknown colleges that this “separate office” is so backlogged one man’s grades from a single semester of college X takes a month or more to process?
It’s not like I have awesome transcripts. In fact, they all suck. Until now, I hadn’t specifically ever wanted to go to college. The first two times were forced on me, and the third ended through personal matters. I’d made it through life as a freelance developer. And even after I graduated, I would continue doing so. I specifically wanted to go to college to learn, to grow, and become a more knowledgable person. The best goddamn reason to go to college.
I’m not angry I can’t go to college this semester. Even if they approved me today, it takes at least a week to complete the FAFSA paperwork to receive the actual funds. That puts me behind my theoretical classmates. And that’s if there are no other delays. Which I would expect given the above. In short, I could expect to be several weeks behind.
I’m just as capable of learning without going to college. That’s how I’ve gotten through the first decade of my adult life and it’s suited me just fine. I’m angry because of incompetence. Just plain vanilla incompetence. That my life and goals has been negatively affected by the accumulated failures of other people.
I just don’t know what to do with this anger. I was looking forward to going to college.
