Rio Salado Community College

This school is a joke. First time taking a online class and I regret it. I am so stressed out for a not even too hard class. It is a jokkkee how hard they make online classes. 15 minutes for a lab practical? You are kidding me??!!!!!! I am so pissed for not dropping this class since the beginning. It is impossible to do good in this class with how much time we get for the quizzes and exams. I know its okay to have timed quizzes but really only 15 min for a lab practical, only 13 minutes for a 25 question quiz, only 40 minutes for a 50 question exam? This is insane. There in no way you can do good in these online classes. I regret and I am never taking a class again in this school. Waste of my time and waste of my money. I have taken online classes in other schools with timed quizzes/exams but no other school gives a 15 minute lab practical quiz. Mind blowing!!!! I try, I study and the timing just kills me. There is no way you can pass with an A or B there is no way. I am so mad for ever spending my money with this school. My hands shake while I start to take the quiz because there is not enough time to read through and think and make sure u did them correctly. I am never again taking a class with rio salado. Stressing us out and giving as not enough time you think you teach us something?!! This is mind blowing. I paid my money for nothing I learned

If there was a level below community colleges this would be it. Registration is a total joke. A few days into my class they wanted to see my drivers licence and I was dropped from my class until it could get "processed". Processing takes a week and I was dropped until it could be done. I won't even get into the payment fiasco, but more inept bumbling there to be sure. READ THE REVIEWS, THEY SPELL IT OUT NICELY, THIS PLACE IS A JOKE.

This is the worst school I have ever attended. They are so unorganized. The financial aide and enrollment office are not helpful at all. If you have to deal with Victor in enrollment, it is impossible. He is incapable of doing anything that is required of his job. My advise, find another school.

Okay, I have had some real trouble with this school's financial aid office since I began going there. I went to a University in town and compared to them, Rio has some very different, strange and sometimes shady ways of paying for your classes. Its sad that their financial aid office staff seem as if they aren't quite sure what is going on, either. I have enjoyed the course work and my teachers so far. But one thing that I noticed is that they were charging me in state tuition. They know I live in Utah, so I called them and they changed it to out of state tuition. If they come after me for the rest of the costs that they messed upon,I will be so irate. Along with that, I have had to push back my classes for their supposed financial aid regulations. One time they were stating that they wouldnt let me start classes if I didnt show them a color copy i.d. even though I had done this a couple years prior. I was already two weeks into classes by this time and they were going to lock me out of my classes and put me on a payment plan! They were demanding six hundred dollars up front. They said it had to be done because I moved and one guy there in the FA department was saying things on my account weren't adding up and that I was being shady! I can't believe he thinks I am the shady one! All because I moved? Anyways I would really exercise caution when dealing with their Financial Aid department. The cours ework is not bad at all and most of my teachers have been great. I am glad I am working on my last semester there so I never have to deal with the financial aid department again.

My daughter attends Rio, but this is the last semester. I am a financial aid officer at a different university, and even with financial aid knowledge, I could not help these morons do their job because they are all clueless. If we are lucky enough to resolve one issue, another one immediately pops up. [The person] who stands at the front desk in financial aid, told me that as a parent, I would have to be a student at their school in order to apply for the Parent Plus loan for my daughter. Say what? I share that story with coworkers just to watch them laugh historically. They put a block on thousands of accounts arbitrarily, so people are being told to push back their classes over and over again. Rio knows about the block, but clearly have not run a system-wide fix because people are still in line at Rio talking to the airhead at the front desk, who continues to tell students to push classes back instead of fixing the problem. If you call Rio, it's just as bad. They will tell you your account is fixed just to get you off the phone. They will tell you to submit paperwork, but never resolve the issue. They will try explaining stuff to you that you already know, and trust me, if you go through Rio, you probably know more about financial aid by the end of your semester (if you ever get to START your semester) than the idiots that work for this school. Expect to be pissed off when you take your midterms and finals because there will be questions on the test that never appeared anywhere in your text. Expect to be ignored by your teachers if you have a question. It doesn't matter if you have done everything you are supposed to do, you will get screwed over by Rio.

I have had the hardest time getting anything done correctly the first time around with this school. Registering for classes is very difficult because the online format does not always recognize the classes that you've taken as prerequisites. You will likely find yourself talking to someone who has little to no actual information about what they should be doing or how they can help you. The most frustrating experience of late has been trying to get the school to certify my loan. I've called about 5 times, and each time, I have gotten excuse after excuse over why it wasn't done properly the first time. I was suppposed to start classes a month ago. If you must take classes from this school for whatever reason, be aware that you will probably have to call this school several times to verify that people are, in fact, doing their jobs. The one positive thing I can say about the institution is that I have had two teachers that were helpful and knowledgeable about the subject matter I was studying. Rio Salado has a very long way to go in the way that they deal with their students.

Rio Salado is so unorganized. The study guide that my teacher gave us for the final exam what about 30 pages long. How on earth can a person learn that much information in such a short amount of time?! They require you to write too much. And no matter how hard you try to write a good essay it's never good enough. A person cannot go through that if they they work full time or if they are disabled. I took a Biology class with them last year and it felt like I was taking a premed class. It's insane how much they make you do. And how much they make you do on the midterm and final exams. It is also a rip off that if you don't pass their exams by 60% even though you are passing the class that they fail you anyway. I had a B, but I didn't do good on the final and she failed me. Luckily I did good on the midterm. I've gone to other maricopa community colleges where I was passing the class, but failed the final and still passed the class. They do that in order for you to retake the class. I will never take science classes at their school again. I'm not sure how hard their math classes are, but I'm scared to try them. And the teacher doesn't teach you anything. If I asked her a question, she would just send you a website. She would never in her own words answer a question. I thought this school was all about writing in your own words...

I took some classes to help supplement those I am taking at another college. In comparison to online classes there, these have all been awful. NOT for transfer students or those who really want to learn - great for those just looking for an easy degree. I could've gotten a similar education going to the library and just reading textbooks, as that's about all this "school" does to teach, anyway. Lazy, useless instructors that are extremely textbook dependant, which is unfortunate since the books are so cheap that they fall apart (and I'm neurotically careful with my textbooks!). None of my classes ever had discussion boards, either, so no chance to communicate with other students in the class, which can often really help. RioLounge is a joke. I've gotten all A's somehow (mostly by memorizing textbook info), but haven't learned a thing. I am so disappointed and scared I'll be ill prepared when I transfer to university.

No joke, Rio Salado is the worst school I have ever been enrolled to. The Online material is unorganised, and the books provided miss out on valuable information to do your studies independantly. I took 4 classes Math 092-122, English 101, and Psych 101 after being told that Rio Salado would be a good start for completing my prereqs in nursing. turns out I was given bad advise..... I couldn't grasp the mathmatical consepts in the course load because of the missing steps in the book. Everytime I was on a math question I couldn't complete, I would have to attend the tutoring sessions which eat up a good chunk in my wallet for gas. I found the english and psych courses to be easily understood however, the instructions given to me by the instructor was obscure, and I was constantly being downgraded on assignments that I put alot of effort into. After talking with my instructor and student dean about the course outline and it's obscured context, which the student dean agreed with me on, I was given only the option to either drop out of the classes or take an F and be put on academic probation. Rio Salado doesn't care about your education. If you have to drop out, they still get there money. Now come on I obviously don't have a problem with my english. English 101 and Psych 101 are some of the easiest classes in all the prereq requirements for nursing. If you do attend this school, you will soon find out just how sloppy it is truley ran. In the end I own about $4,000, was treated like crap by the school especially my instructor, and past only 2 math classes that I wasn't able to understand all that well. The instructors don't have time for you, and if an important issue comes up in your course work, you will be past from one person to the next with no real solutions. BEWARE OF THIS SCHOOL.

I needed one 3 credit math class to complete my BA. this class was last because of a terrible fear of failure in math that began back in high school. Math 102 was selected and proved to be the perfect choice. Professor Strom stayed in continuous contact and provided constant encouragement. The end result was a successful grade and a good level of learning. I would encourage anyone with a fear of math to look at this option.

I took just one science course with this college (that is all I wanted to take) and it was a good experience overall.