Open Colleges
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Endeavour from hell
I believe a lot of people are attracted to Open Colleges as they offer payment plans. They're incredibly attentive when selling the course, however rest assured that this contact will cease as soon as you've signed the bottom line. I study at university full time, and work part time. This certificate III in individual support was just to gain industry experience for my Masters program and unfortunately, it turned out to be the endeavour from hell. There are major issues with course content, assessments, student support, teaching support, and placements. Student support via a "live chat" do not help with assignment-related queries (rendering them mostly useless). Instead, you must message a "tutor" and wait any number of days for a response. Learning materials offer surface-level learning with masses of written content. Sometimes, they'll have taken a youtube video from somewhere and added it to their content, but more often than not, these external sources are 'broken'. In response to such and other content issues relating directly to assignments, I was told to "google it". The assessment items are incredibly dull and repetitive, and they do not promote an effective learning style. Once you have submitted an assignment, you're meant to have your marks within 10 business days. This is NOT the case. Marking can take up to 6 weeks. You'll get your grade back and, in some cases, the result was unsatisfactory because I had mistyped my student number or name. So, I'd fix the error, re-submit it, and then have to wait another 2-6 weeks for it to be approved. These abhorrent delays, combined with the pathetic content, have you wondering from the very start where the thousands of dollars each student is paying is going. Furthermore, the delays mean that you are then very unlikely to be able to complete your assessment items within the mandated time period to complete the course. Therefore, many students find themselves having to pay anywhere up to $600AUd for an extension of up to 6 months. If that still isn't enough (for many, it's not), your course will be closed, your money will not be refunded, and you will be left with nothing and thousands out of pocket. I particularly warn anyone who is going to be doing a course that requires industry placement. Many places (and, you can't blame them), do not take students from Open Colleges. I found this out the hard way after spending 3 months applying for placements. The colleges says that it helps with finding placement. It doesn't. They'll send you a form with hints and tips about how to make phone calls and write a resume. They do not have preferred providers in many or any areas-- so you're completely on your own. I found my placement through distant nepotism. Due to the nature of the course, I began my placement completely under-prepared but was lucky enough to have a wonderful supervisor who showed me the ropes. I could go on, with pages of documented issues I've had during my course-- but, I don't want to waste any more energy on this pathetic organisation. What I do want to do is to warn absolutely everyone and anyone I can not to study here under any circumstance.