Austin Community College – Rio Grande Campus

The PARKING NEEDS TO BE FIXED YESTERDAY! There needs to be a second parking garage, this is absolutely ridiculous it takes me a minimum of 20 minutes (that’s if I’m very lucky) to get parking.

I miss ACC. It was some of the best times of my life. I love the smaller classroom setting. I was involved in Student Government for the ACC-​Rio Grande Campus and enjoyed my times here. Great professors and class size, and not super hard. Just have to apply yourself. Great way to knock out some pre-​requisites before transferring. GET INVOLVED!

The Good:
* They have some really great teachers. I’m taking 4 classes this summer and they’re all really good instructors.
* They have a learning lab on the 2^nd floor which has long hours and good tutors to help with almost all subjects.
* The computer labs are well equipped.
* Lots of vending machines.
The Bad:
* I feel it’s pricey for a community college; I’m paying out of state tuition but the in-​state is way too much also in my opinion (although everyone here keeps telling this is cheap).
* The campus is an old high school building and confusing to navigate around. There are absolutely no maps to help either and the signs on the walls might as well not be there at all.
* They have a really small admissions office that does everything so the lines can be frustrating.
* The financial aid office takes forever to process documents and the payment plan at the cashier isn’t much help.
* The advising center is clearly under staffed and the advisors don’t know what their talking about. My advise, go to the UT councilor even if you’re not a student there, they help.

I think this campus is awesome reminds me of high school, mixed with the crazy hospital off Terminator 2 lol. Lots and lots of hot woman everywhere.

Soooo many cute ladies… :)

Great, old fashioned campus and buildings. Fantastic downtown location, but related to that is it is tough to park here. Lots of great classes and professors.

This review is simply to say that ACC needs to make REGISTERING FOR CLASSES EASIER
Sheesh!!!
Do I need a meningitis shot? Yes? No? Would you please make up your mind?
Do I need to fill out a residency form? yes? OK, where? Here? there? Anywhere? Under a box? With a fox? No? yes? I don’t need it now? Are you sure because last time you said I did. Oh, I don’t need my meningitis shot now that I got it? really? I just spent $ 100 for nothing? That’s not your fault? Are you sure because you told me I needed it? Oh, you’re going to drop my classes because I haven’t paid yet? Oh, and I’m not able to sign up for classes online because something is wrong with my computer? Are you sure it’s my computer? You know, I don’t think it’s my computer, I think IT’S YOUR CRAZY REGISTRATION PROCESS THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED!
Let me just say that people really need to know what they tell potential students, because hearing two different things is VERY FRUSTRATING! And hearing 15 different things is even more frustrating.
However, I will say that Anthony, working at pinnacle, is an angel. Why? because he put up with my 129 824 081 428 342 phone calls and registered me for classes and listened to my many sighs of complete frustration. He was very, very helpful. And more people need to be like him. Go Anthony, you’re great
Also, I learned an interesting fact today. High school just got out. Today! And ACC classes started three days ago. So that means that if you’re a high school student and you’d like college credit, you’re gonna miss you first two classes! Great thinking ACC!
If there is a reason behind this, I would love to hear it and I’d shut my mouth and apologize.

Lets forget about the parking, which at this campus you really cant because even with the addition of a parking garage, the parking is abominable (on a good day) – but anyway for purposes of this review, lets forget about it.
I can get over a horrible parking situation if I know that once I walk through the classroom door I will be greeted by an amazing teacher and an awesome schooling situation… fortunately for ACC, I have had the pleasure of two absolutely fabulous professors who have finally allowed me to get true inspiration out of school.
First I would recommend that any and everyone take David Lydic’s english comp 1 and 2 classes (as well as American Lit if your major requires such.) He is very smart in his subject and extremely fair, which is one of the most respectable things to find in a professor in my opinion. His classes are a lot of work, but he lays it out from the very beginning and all you have to do is try and you will undoubtedly succeed. Bottom line, I never enjoyed english more.
But the real gem of this campus is David Kramer’s history 1 and 2 classes. Now I am NOT history buff by any means, in fact I dreaded taking this class but was required to for my major (at the time.) However, Kramer is one of the smartest… no. brilliant men I have ever met in my life. Give the man any date of any year, and he could probably tell you what happened, not joking. He is dry and witty and sarcastic and so interesting that I have had my whole opinion of history turned upside down. His lectures are more like stories, and you can tell that he truly loves what he does and is excited to pass the fascinating history of our country on to his students. Since taking his history 1 class I have changed my major and no longer require history credits to complete it, but this semester I am taking his history 2 class just for fun… FUN? HISTORY? some say nay… but I say yay.
Now with that all said, ACC has a leech in its system which is responsible for it losing not one but TWO stars from my rating, and his name is Gregory Garlow. I took professor Garlow’s Texas Government class last semester and have never felt so cheated out of a class in my life. Garlow’s «lectures» are peppered with his personal opinions on the flaws of his students and underhanded insults. He spent more time asking our class if we wanted a college level class or not and complaining that we weren’t adults. Questions were blatantly ignored or skirted around, tests were given on material not covered (which was mostly everything as we were expected to teach ourselves all of the material from the book.) I have read other reviews of professor Garlow and have seen similar statements from students across different semesters. I would advise you to stay as far away from his class in order to save a lot of time and frustration.

Overall I have been part of the ACC machine (random student) for almost 10 years off and on. I’ve taken classes for xfer credit to big-​boy universities and classes simply for the joy of being part of a class and learning something new. I’ve stayed on three campuses, and Rio is probably my favorite.
For Rio, the things I love most about this place are the professors I’ve had. Particularly in their History and English departments. In the past, I would skip closer universities to take these classes here I feel that strongly about what these faculty bring compared to the guys at other campuses.
What Rio struggles with are things like study areas, computer availability. The library is super cramped and if you need to jump onto a computer for something… good luck. It’s a total free-​for-​all.
I’ve also had wretched times trying to get any solid advice or information catered to my needs from the counselors or financial aid advisers. HIGHLY recommend skipping Rio and go to another campus like Pinnacle or South Austin to discuss anything related to administration… Rio just does not have the space, and their people always give cookie cutter answers to your questions. In contrast, Pinnacle saved me a lot of money when I went to discuss my financial aid status with them, sat me down in an office and listened to my issues.
if your class is on the bottom floor, no matter the weather, have a sweater.
Oh, and (i hate to say this) but don’t bother with the theatre plays unless you get some sort of extra credit. I love the arts, and even did some theatre back in highschool, but the department’s shows are a never-​ending face-​palm every time I roll the dice and try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Good place to get your undergraduate credentials out of the way. It’s much cheaper than taking them at a university. Lots of UT students take their prereqs here like history, gov, and English.
The professors do care more about their students and about teaching compared to professors at big universities who usually only care about their research.
Make sure to list a local based address so you don’t pay out of district tuition.

If you plan on taking classes here definitely strive to get classes before 9 AM if you want a parking spot! When the garage says «Lot full» they are being serious!
They do have the best professors and amount of classes here, but it can definitely get crowded.
Aside from the amount of people, I have come to like this campus.

I’m a fan mostly because of the outstanding instructors I have had over the years here. Plus after a zillion years of trying I finally got a college degree. And with my age that’s a BIG DEAL! I love all the instructors I’ve have at ACC in general but the art people at the RIO GRANDE site are totally the best! They make do on very little — need bigger and better facilities but manage to come out with the best additude and the strongest desire to teach me art! I love the diversity, the people who teach and the people who are administrative staff and who are over worked and underpaid. Gretchen Harries, my speech instructor totally rocked! And I love the art department (I cannot say that enough!)
The buildings are old, which is part charming and part frustrating — the parking sucks but the site has good links to public transport. The students are diverse and that adds to the enjoyment of the classes!
Thank you for being a great Community College!

I enjoyed this acc. I took all my basics at acc at a variety of campuses. This campus had a soul and a flavor where others (pinnacle) felt like a hospital. Parking sucks… Get over it parking sucks at all schools. Oh and I’m not sure if Its still around but the food from the cart up front is nothing to scoff at.

The main reason that I feel like ACC deserves 2 stars is just because they have decent offering schedule-​wise, and the price is pretty good. Other than that, they leave a lot to be desired. Oh, the labs are pretty well stocked — it’s nice to finally have a lab where I’m not fighting over equipment and/​or materials. Now, other than that, ACC is one seriously painful place to apply. Here’s why:
1. It is a major pain just to apply, and the instructions on the website are less than helpful.
2. Once you have applied and been accepted, actually getting enrolled in a class is equally painful.
3. My account was put on hold… because they hadn’t received my transcripts. When I called, the lady went off to check the pile of unaccounted for transcripts. There I was. And why did I have to call to make that happen? Good question.
4. Because I already have a bachelor’s degree, I should not have had to do the new student orientation — but they made me do it anyway due to the hold that they put on my account. Totally and completely ridiculous. This is not a small thing… it took me over an hour to do it. LAME.
5. Because there was a hold on my account I could not DROP a class. Now that just makes no sense whatsoever.
6. They are just not clear about the process you need to take to get things done. This before that, that before this, etc… it’s so unclear. I just want to take a couple classes to keep my brain working — this should not be such a hard thing to do. Seriously, I’m just trying to give them money! Why the hell are they making that so difficult to do? I feel the same way about the DMV — every single time I go to the DMV to get my car registered, I am missing some piece of crap paperwork that makes me come back over and over again. All I want to do is pay the State… why make this do difficult? Bureaucracy blows, and ACC is definitely NOT lacking in bureaucracy.
While it is cheap to go here… it definitely is one of the worst schools that I have ever applied to. And I’ve applied to quite a few… get it together ACC — make it easy and fun to apply to school. We need educated people, and you are making it hard to achieve this.
Additionally, the classes are too easy. I have recently been to Portland Community College, and Portland State University. These two places are much more difficult — in fact PCC was more difficult to PSU… and PSU blows ACC out of the water. It’s kinda disappointing.

Met with an advisor at Rio Grande Campus whom might arguably be the least helpful human being alive… Did not even know my selected degree plan existed, much less anything else about it, entered wrong major in system, tried to tell me I would need TSI when I am clearly exempt, couldn’t tell me which of my previous courses from another college would transfer, and did not change me from applicant to student in the system so was still unable to register after meeting him, and meeting took well over an hour. Um, seriously?! Spent 2 hours over next 4 days on the phone with various people to get everything corrected, and finally went to see an advisor at Pinnacle whom was just lovely– infinitely more helpful, knowledgable, and informative. If this is the campus of your choice, I highly recommend going elsewhere for at least the advisement portion.