North Shore Community College

Community colleges are the workhorses of the post-secondary, higher education system. In my opinion they are sadly underrated and underappreciated for the service they provide to those of us who are not wealthy but want to educate ourselves.

I started taking courses at NSCC when I was 16 and the college was one small campus -- one building, actually - in Beverly. I took speech and biology during their summer semester, and when I graduated high school and went to a 4-year state university, they accepted my transfer credits from the NSCC courses I'd taken while in high school. The people in my classes at NSCC were all adults trying to further their careers. I remember that the speech course was populated almost entirely by men already working in criminal justice and police fields -- there were corrections officers, court officers/bailiffs, probation officers and police officers -- who wanted to get associate degrees in Criminal Justice at NSCC so they could advance their careers. There also was a middle-aged deaf woman who took the class to learn to speak and lip-read better. I got a real education just taking a NSCC course with these people.

The instructors at community colleges, including NSCC, are people who have worked in the trenches. They are not snooty "Ivory Tower" academic people, they are real-life folks who want to help others. They are professionals in a wide variety of fields, who share their real-life experience and training with people who want to pursue those fields. After college I actually taught at NSCC in their continuing-ed non-credit program. It was a blast seeing the college from a totally different perspective and to be able to give back a little of what I had learned in "the world" myself.

Fast forward to just a few years ago. I lost my job in 2006 and even though I have a master's degree and 25 years in my field of work, I couldn't find another job. I signed up for several NSCC-Danvers courses in their Floriculture program (now defunct, sadly) and learned some great new skills from a truly excellent instructor. We had our classes at the Essex Aggie, and it was a lot of fun as well as very illuminating. Now I am working in a new field and couldn't be happier.

Sure, NSCC isn't Ivy League, but it is solid. It will give you a foundation and then you use your own drive and initiative to build the rest of your education and your career and success from there.

Admin is terrible. Info desk for 15 minutes to find the location of my class. While she answers the phone and talked to other people, maybe she was too distracted by that. She was not able to find my class while she was searching on the computer. Was about to tell me where I could go for help, but stopped mid sentence to say, "No, they won't help u."


Wondering if she treats everyone like this or just disabled people or just women extremely unprofessional I will not ask any one for any help at this school after the way she made me feel. Thank u.

After graduating high school in Lynn I promised myself I would never go to NSCC because it seemed like a total joke of a college. Despite my negative thoughts I decided to go anyway because of how ridiculously cheap it is.

After getting my own place in Beverly I signed up for Danvers campus classes. The Danvers and Lynn campuses are complete opposite, and though the Danvers campus is much nicer you will have to deal with snobby small town kids. The professors at both campuses are amazing. I think I've only gotten 2 bad ones out of the many classes I've taken so far. I have even enrolled in online classes recently because I work full time. I must say I was really worried it was either going to be a complete sham or extremely difficult. I would say most online classes are a good balance of both though with a few exceptions. I think the education you can get here is just as good as any university but much cheaper. I've looked at four year schools to transfer to and the money you pay for tuition is heart stopping. I think I'll stick with North Shore for now.

Oh yea I've taken off one star because of the shitty staff. It really doesn't matter which campus, Lynn are ghetto bitches and Danvers are snobby assholes. So if you're planning on going here just prepare your self to deal with blatantly rude and lazy staff.

CLASSES: This school has good and bad teachers. I would advise most students to be careful about online classes because teachers will not help you. If you are simply taking a class for your own personal enjoyment and not for a degree, I'd say don't bother. Most of these online courses are just like listening to glorified tape recorders. Teachers will just repeat back to you what is in your book with no insight. Many will avoid meeting up with you in person, no matter how miniscule the question.

In class teachers are about the same. I've had some awesome teachers who really appear to love what they do and have garnered a lot of information over the years. Those who are insightful I've enjoyed growing with them.

FINANCIAL AID: Be ready to put in a lot of hard work coming in to NSCC and I'm not talking about preparing for book studies; I'm talking about financial aid. The entire process has taken me over 3 months of grueling back and forths. First they automatically charge you a MASSIRPG fee ($9) and Health insurance $1100 (even if you have free health insurance) + a $40 "Setup fee". What are you charging me for setting up....my own financial aid?

Even if you have free health insurance with full coverage under Mass Health you are forced to buy a $1100 health insurance plan for the semester. Hmm, maybe I have free health insurance because I CAN'T afford regular health insurance. You are making me choose between my education and health insurance? How are those two things even related to my education? Sounds like someone has made dirty deals with health insurance companies.

We are in year 2012, students should be able to send their tax information directly from the IRS (not have to wait 2 weeks to get paper transcripts). They should be able to fill out forms for the school online. Why all the paper? Signatures really don't mean much nowadays, please tidy up your unorganized system North Shore.

Beware all students who are moving here from another state looking for in-state rates. There are other ways to get it besides having a Louisiana drivers license or Louisiana taxes. We were only told of these two options by admissions and financial aid and never directed to a form that says there are other ways. We have paid double the tuition with out of state rates for Fall 2019 and then found out late November we could have received in-state rates. The school told us it's our fault for not searching their website and they claim they directed us to the information. That's a complete lie because they do not want to refund the money. Why would we ask what we need to do and then not do it? They have denied a refund and refuse to discuss further as their decision is final. I'm posting this for any parents or students out there who have inquired and been told incomplete information! Don't believe the school officials as they do not have your best interest at heart and only their pockets.

The peril of getting married early is you will probably end up at a community college. Before I attended here, I mercilessly ridiculed the idea--community college was for drop-outs and reformed drug addicts that wasted their youth, right? Apparently, not so much.

I trepidaciously signed up for classes one year ago, expecting nothing more than high-school level schoolwork, inane classmates and lackluster professors. While that really does characterize a few of the courses I took, I've also met some great professors that would have been right at home at any college, as well as a few people that I at least formed a quasi-friendship with.

The campus itself is very nice; there is an obvious security presence, there are always custodians about cleaning (no skeevy bathrooms!), and they even have a (closed to the night student) cafeteria. They have a very decent library, with periodicals, classic fiction, and all those 1970s books that kids still reference in their papers; the library staff consists of two older men who perform their jobs well and with courtesy--some of the student staff look annoyed when you ask to check books out. There is a mix of technology-enabled and non-tech classrooms, though I do believe every classroom at least has a laptop plug-in for presentations, and they have more than 2 computer labs for classes or for personal use. My favorite feature though, is that in most major intersections across the campus they place 2 or so computers--WITH PRINTERS--for handy web/printing access. My reputation and grades were saved more than once due to those printers.

I personally love the online classes that they have; it's a simple Blackboard, (message board, online paper drop-box, grade book) set-up that works more than well for their classes. Like all other schools, it's a crapshoot if you're going to get a good prof or not, though I've only had one I hated. Some will grade with a microscope (10%), others will give you an A if you use relatively big words (90%). I've enjoyed almost all of my campus classes, and though a few were totally useless (i.e.a repetition of read materials that apparently they assume no one reads) I've had a couple where I actually learned something. And hey, I even got invited into the 2-year Colleges National Honor Society. Not that prestigious, but at least there are some perks!

I attended NSCC and obtained an AA in Liberal Arts. NSCC was a great start for a guy that had been out of school for 12 years. I am now in graduate school working on an MBA. Looking back I really have to thank NSCC for helping me get the confidence to make it this far. The professors real care and really wanted to see me succeed.

The only reason there are any stars because of the professors I've had who were great. There were a few in particular that made their classes great, interactive, and I really learned a lot. The administrative staff is another issue, specifically in the financial aid department.

I thought I would at least qualify for some sort of loan seeing as I am a single, working mother who is NOT on any government assistance, but I was wrong. I was shocked to find out that if I had not been working, and was on welfare, I could get FREE school, assistance with purchasing books and other necessary items for classes on top of free money to help offset living expenses while attending school. I guess I'm the idiot for working and paying my own way.

I completed the FAFSA back in November and had it sent to the NSCC Financial Aid department. I sent subsequent emails asking them for assistance in seeing what scholarships, loans, grants and anything else I could apply for to help ease the burden of paying for the classes. No one ever responded to my emails or voice mails. The only financial aid emails I got were the automated ones on a weekly basis (no exaggeration) telling me I do not qualify for ANY financial aid due to my income. Great, thanks for helping me out! I did a few hours of scholarship applying on my own by doing online searches. Why even have a financial aid department if they don't do a thing to help you?

One of the classes I signed up for you HAD to buy the book from NSCC which is a complete scam. They claim it's to save you money, yeah right! Then, their book store hours are a complete joke if you work - good luck getting there. Between the lack of classes available either online or later in the day to accommodate people who WORK, this place fails MAJORLY!

I was fortunate enough to receive a generous year end bonus at my job which allowed me to pay for my two classes I was taking here and I paid in full for the classes in December. My mother has since fallen very ill and has been in the hospital for over two weeks now and is not improving. I will not now be able to complete the courses I signed up for because of this and because I need to financially help her. I dropped my classes yesterday and requested a refund explaining why. I was told I would have a refund in two weeks. I just called and flat out begged for the refund to be processed sooner due to the family issue I have at hand right now and was told they would 'try to expedite it' and it may happen by the end of the week but may not. Are you serious? I've already spent thousands here and was just finishing my degree, but you're telling me it takes you two weeks to refund a debit card? They've had my money since December 19 - it's most certainly cleared my account and sitting in theirs. I asked if I could pick up a check which I was then told takes even longer. Mind you, no where in any of their policies does it list a 2-week refund time.

When I am able to finish the few remaining classes I have for my degree, it will be done elsewhere for sure. I would rather pay double than to give another dollar to this place.

I love North Shore Community College! I took classes there when I was in high school, and I think it's super cool that they offer their courses to anyone. It helped me to save money, and graduate early from my Bachelor's program, which was awesome! Also, the teachers there were great- I don't think I ever took a bad course. In particular, the Spanish classes (taught by Marilyn Glazer Weisner) and Marine Biology classes were outstanding.