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[quote=Anonymous]I was a student at a local community college and had several issues with their administrative staff. I must say that they drastically changed the course of my life with their mess and I'm fed up.
DH told me to let it go when I started getting mad but now he's also mad. I need help figuring out who I should write to and what expectations I should have regarding the outcome.

If you don't want to read the entire story go down the page to the last paragraph.

Let me begin by saying that I'm an international student so I was paying almost 3x per credit. I was advised to enroll in their English as a Second Language program, took all the tests and when I was ready to begin they told me I was not allowed to start because my English was just too good for their classes and if I wanted to study there I should pick a major and go straight to college level classes.

Well, I had to write my sponsor a letter and explain that the amount of money I'd need was almost double of what we agreed on. My wonderful sponsor said it was OK and agreed to pay for it.

When I checked on my options I saw they had a major in Special Ed (my field back home) so I went for it. During my second semester there they opened the nursing program for international students and I ran to enroll since the waiting list is always so long. Let me tell you that the order for enrollment is first for American Citizens, then Green Card holders, then non-immigrant Visa (my case) by GPA so the chances of me getting in were almost nonexistent even with my 4.0 GPA. I went to the international students office to ask a few questions and the counselor laughed on my face saying it was impossible and they never heard of an international student getting in. Well, I took all the required tests and surprise! I got in! I then requested my transfer to the medical campus and started my nursing degree. I was on the dean's list and kept my 4.0 GPA. I had every professor tell me they'd be pleased to write recommendation letters if I ever needed any.

In the end of the first semester the secretary from the nursing program sends me a voice mail saying there was a mistake and that I was never supposed to be enrolled in the program mentioning that the nursing board in the state doesn't allow immigrants to take the nursing certification test. I was baffled! It took them several days to clarify the issue and I was only allowed to continue because I explained I was getting married and getting the Green Card through my husband.

The next issue was a problem with one professor who was always late and never taught anything pertinent to the subject he was supposed to teach. He only gave us assignments, papers to write and readings. He never gave a lecture. We tried talking to the dean several times and she dragged the issue until the semester was over. She never really took any action. The following semester came and I had to make an emergency trip to my home country. I went to the International Students office to make sure I had all the necessary paperwork they asked me to look for the ISO in the medical campus. First of all I was told there was no "ISO" in the medical campus since I was the only international student there so they assigned one person (without any experience) to do the job. Every time I went there with a question it would take her 3-4 days to get me an answer and most of the time it was not complete. I went to her office 5 times to make sure my paperwork for my trip was done and I finally got it all 2 days before my trip.

Well, I went home, did what I have to do and headed to the airport to return to the US. Well, what was my surprise when I tried to check in I learned I would not be allowed to board the place because one of my papers was expired!!! This was Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I had a final on Monday morning. I called every single office in that school desperately and obviously nobody picked up the phones and they would not return my calls until Monday morning. I tried reaching the American Embassy in my country and well, you guessed, nobody picked up the phones until Monday morning.

I left several voicemails to everybody involved (professor which was giving the finals, international student's office, the person assigned to do that in the medical campus, dean of nursing, etc). I spent the entire "weekend" (Thursday through Sunday) researching my options. I spent so much money paying for internet access and bus trips to the next town!!! Not to mention the fortune it cost me to change my flight. On Monday evening nobody had returned my calls so I went ahead and tried to get a new student visa all over again. I applied in the Embassy's website and had to cry on the phone requesting an emergency interview. They wanted me to wait 35 days!!! I explained my situation they asked for a letter from the school (I felt like laughing inside) and I said they were having a hard time returning my calls, etc. so I got an interview for 7 days after the call. I obviously was not ready to go through the process again so I had to ask a friend to break into my house and get all my personal papers, had to ask her to scan everything and send it to me. FF to the day I finally got my visa and hopped in a plane to return to the US. I missed the enrollment dates for the following semester so besides failing one subject I fell behind one semester compared to my class. I was pissed! I cannot go a semester without enrollment or I fall out of status and I must hold a full time load so I had to take random classes that have nothing to do with nursing (yup 12 credits of random classes and a lot of money).

OK, the following semester went by and I finally could enroll to the class I failed and the other ones. The professor in this class had absolutely no tolerance with immigrants. It was the first time in my entire life in the US that I met someone who dislikes immigrants. It was so humiliating! The entire semester was hell in my life. She would mock my accent in front of the entire class. She'd give me instructions and then later on say I misunderstood her. It got to a point I was throwing up before entering her class because I was so nervous. Because of a power outage one of our labs had to be re-scheduled and she gave me a date she knew I could not attend. I asked to have it changed she said no. I could not show up.  Our last assignment in her class was a seminar. She spent the entire presentation pretending she could not understand me and making faces. (I get people all the time saying I barely have an accent!). She stopped me in the middle of my presentation to ask random questions about my uniform!!! I was so upset! She interrupted a girl who was actually asking a question regarding the presentation and I asked her if I should address the girl's question or hers first and she got all offended, stopped my presentation in the middle and asked me to sit down.

I later on went to her office with flowers to apologize for the misunderstanding. She accepted the flowers and as I was walking out she said "Oh, by the way you failed". I could not believe what I heard! She failed me! I tried talking to the dean but obviously they always stand on the side of the professor. I was expelled from the nursing program and my GPA went down to 3.2 after all this mess. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown!

Since I needed the school to keep my visa status I just changed majors to General Studies and took the classes that I had left to graduate and get OUT. So I did this last semester and finally graduated. Well, after all the pain and money I spent I never attended any graduation party or celebration. I just wanted out. DH got a job offer elsewhere and we moved. Now, I'm trying to transfer my credits to my new school (I'm getting an MBA) and the whole process has been a ridiculous bad taste joke. During my admission interview I had to explain how I went from the dean's list to 2 Fs in my transcript and I didn't want to bash the old school during the interview but I was honest and said there were a lot of misunderstandings along the way and some people with no experience dealing with important paperwork. Well, now my new school is seeing it first hand. They've been trying to reach the IOS since July with papers they need to be signed to get immigration to transfer my papers and the old school will not return calls, emails, will lose paperwork, ask us to sign stuff and send it again because they misplaced it. I'm about to fall out of status, the classes in my new school are about to start and they will not transfer my papers! I'm so so so very mad! My new school keeps calling me to try to reach them and they just had to ask their own dean to call my old school to see if this will get them to finish this.

Not to mention that this might interfere with my husband's GC application. If I'm out of status it can be used against him. He has been waiting for almost 10 years!!!!

Bottom line is, they gave me wrong information and I got stuck in my home country, as a result of being away trying to fix the paperwork they failed me and messed up my records.

I need to write a letter to let the school know what is going on. What's your suggestion? Who do I write to and what do I say?

Thanks for bearing with me, I hope it makes sense. This was long...[/quote]

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