This is an amazing college for all ages. My husband and I attend this college during the evenings together and we have for years taking various classes all of the classes and the instructors are excellent. We have never had a bad one yet and they hold you accountable to be in responsible, and your work being turned in and good attendance. We also swim and take PE classes here that are excellent with very good coaches. read more

This place is an absolute joke and anyone considering might as well just take his or her money and burn it. Morons teach there, and I seriously doubt the place is accredited. If you're stupid, they will accept you because they know they can squeeze cash out of dumb people pretty easily. They have a program for becoming a deaf interpreter. Go there and take it and you might as well be dumb and blind too. read more

American River College - Do you want to be like this? - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

I went to help a friend with her car she broke down. I was looking for her and didn't notice the little parking sign to pay2$ I found her 3 minutes later and she asked if I paid for parking I said no. I returned to my car 3 minutes later I got there at 5:56 pm at 6:03 there is a printed ticket on my windshield with a 33$ ticket on my window with threats of a lien on my vehicle. Found Los Rios police office says it closed at 4 I call the number on the door he tells me to follow the steps on the back so I fill it all waste 40 minutes doing all this find a pay station and pay for my parking. Submit a picture proof and appeal it and they still say claim is valid. I hope they're not paying these people anything more then minimum wage. Oh and I have to pay the fee to get a hearing. Good luck that's not my plate anyways have a good day. Don't visit these low budget college with rent a cops. They are desperate for funds it seems like. read more

American River College - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

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I am on the Presidential Honors Society for SCC and was going to take a semester of BIOL430 at ARC. Reason for attending ARC was because a professor, Heather Fajardo, who I had my eyes on had great reviews from ratemyprofessor.com. 4.9 out of 5 rating, difficultly level 2.5, and 30-points extra credit provided throughout the semester. Two weeks before the fall semester started, I get an email from an Indian professor about BIOL430. I'm like in my Connor McGregor's voice, "Who tf is this??" I immediately log into eServices to find out who this guy is. There was a last-minute change on the professor I had picked ahead of time WITHOUT any notification(s) to myself or the students. So, I immediately go online and CANNOT find anything about this "new" professor. I searched online and there were no leads. First day of class, I go in as hopeful as any other student to find out what this professor is all about. The Dean for the Natomas Center walks in, introduced herself, welcomed us, and wished us a happy Fall Semester. That was great on her part!! After she left, our professor immediately jumps into the lecture. Did not give his name or an intro. One student asked the professor why he didn't go over the syllabus or tell us his name and the expectations of the class. His response, "You guys received an email before the class started." He received immediate backlash. The same student then asked the professor if this was his first time teaching. His reply, "Yes." A few students got up and left, one-by-one.... His lecture was all over the place and students sat frustrated, as there was a language barrier, and he wasn't clear on the anatomy parts when describing them. He flashed through each PowerPoint he created super-fast. Students were telling him to slow down. A few more students get up and leave... I did not speak nor say anything the whole class and was second guessing my decision. I sat there and gave this guy an opportunity to prove himself. I pride myself on the accomplishments I have made and how dedicated I am to connect with professors who care and will take the time to really put a lot of effort into me for me to get an A at the end of every semester. I felt as though, this professor, being that it was his first time teaching, would not be the professor for me. The way he started scared me, and other students, to let a semester go by to once again, join the process of searching for another professor for the Spring of 2025. And in case you're asking why I didn't just search another professor on eServices, it's because they're all filled. No professor was available. SHAME!!! Shame on the school for allowing professors to do this at the last minute. There should be a process before the semester starts, where professors need to apply for the next semester. They SHOULD NOT be able to drop the class after students do their research on the professor and have them locked in. When students start to enroll, professors cannot backout of a class. Now I have to go through a whole semester of waiting to find another great professor. Thanks ARC!!! You have failed. 1/3 of the class walked out and I'm pretty sure more dropped the class. The professor's name is in the screenshot. Do better!! I'm also posting this under the Natomas Center. read more

American River College - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

The campus is beautiful!! I went recently to see a band performance and I loved it. They sounded beautiful! Everyone I spoke to was very nice. I would recommend going here to see a performance in the future. read more

American River College - Theatre area, band performence - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

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Don't waste your time enrolling here, god forbid you need help they won't be able to assist you, every number you try to call no one will pick up. Front desk is worthless and honestly I'm surprised the school is still running Go to sierra or Folsom if you can! read more

Don't attempt to obtain either the Web Publishing or Web Developer certificates. None of the Los Rios colleges offer enough courses for students to complete the required coursework. CISW 370 hasn't been made available going back two years, but you need to take it to apply for these certificates. I'm also not seeing CISW 321on the schedule. The one professor who teaches it, that I know of, said she doesn't teach it anymore, because the Dreamweaver software has become too difficult to teach to her students. Okay then, replace it or remove it. Some employers actually want to see proof of college work, and they don't care if I "almost" earned a certificate. read more

American River College - A visual representation of my unimpressed sentiments. - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

So many online courses which has made it so much affordable to go to college instead of traveling miles and dealing with the incredible traffic on 80. Although, I will be eligible and receiving my degree in legal studies, I still plan on attending and pursuing another degree in political studies. Campus easy to navigate and everyone is so helpful and friendly. I only wish that ARC would pursue the ability to have a few 4 year degrees available like some of the community colleges in the central valley. Counseling staff are also very helpful, it would be nice to see a little expansion, since this is the one area that is difficult to get an appointment and is pretty much limited to only 30 minutes. read more

Most of the profs I've had are pretty cool but some r questionable. Last semester the cafeteria had no food except the oak cafe that closed at like 3 so after that there's nowhere to get food on campus which was rlly lame. The library is also closed on weekends read more

Counseling dept is horrible. Waited 3.5 hrs today, after 2 hrs, front desk said my son was 2nd in line, yet kept getting bumped. All of the sudden, they put 7 people ahead of us, without telling us. We left, wasted 3.5 hrs. They cant give you estimate of wait time. These r the people in charge of educating our youngs. So sad for the future. We'll see if Sierra College is better. read more

I only went here for a couple of semesters but I was happy with my experience. The staff were nice and the internet was very fast. It was fun hanging out in the cafeteria and the food was great. read more

A great college for anyone who is interested And who loves sports and wants to learn how the school works read more

I went to ARC and my daughter wanted to go here, too. I started her off with the orientation, and that went horribly. It was in the beautiful STEM building; however, the folks who conducted the meeting told us nothing about the steps needed to get a class program together or showed us how to make a counseling appointment online. While we were there they were more interested in telling us how privileged we are because we are while and live in the United States to get an education even though both of them were here on an educational visa getting their schooling paid for. Of course, at the end of the meeting, they discussed how much college costs; however were not updated on FASFA to understand that it wouldn't be an issue. Because most new students aren't aware of the procedures to get started, I as a parent helped my daughter. Be aware, ARC doesn't like when parents help. even after my daughter signed a piece of paper stating that I was allowed to help her and make any decisions for her. I contacted the counseling office and was on hold for 45 minutes. Once on the phone, I was met with a rude person who would not allow me to ask questions. After listening to his instruction I then attempted to ask a question again and was told, "If you would shut up and listen." Because I was on hold so long I did shut up and then had to ask if I could ask a question. I was then told, "You need to shut up." I then asked the man not to speak to me in that tone as it was very rude and he hung up on me. I did reach out and speak with a supervisor who was very aware of whom the man was but knew he couldn't do anything about it. I was granted a counseling appointment the same day because of my experience. The sad part is that these counselors are part-time or consultants and don't have a vested interest in connecting with you and staying with you along your path. I feel that if you were able to maintain a relationship with a counselor sless people would have to make appointments. There is no system! They have to go on everyone else's sites to find out what transfers with what and the process is so cumbersome. Honestly, who knew if the counselor was even telling us the right classes to take. You have to cross your fingers and hope you are not told to take a class you don't need or not told about a class you do need. We were in the office for an hour and got nothing done and when that hour was up she closed up the computer and said, "Well, that's our time". I made another appointment and showed up for it only to be told no appointment was made. I attempted to reach out to several people for assistance and was met with resistance, rudeness, and unhelpfulness. It is really too bad that they can't get their act together and stop frustrating people. This has been going on for over 20 years and I thought with time passing they would have improved. I see it is still the same and worse. read more

I would like to thank Alexus, who assisted me from the general questions phone line this afternoon. She understood how my Family and I were struggling with a general college admissions question, and she successfully helped us resolve the concern. Thank you very much for her. We need more representatives like her. Please give her a promotion. I also want to thank Keisha and Dan from the Financial Aid Office. They were both very pleasant to work with and prompt even while dealing with a long line. Lastly, I want to thank Counselor Dennis Tran from the General Counseling Office. He was able to see us the same day and answer all our curriculum based questions and he was very professional. Great staff at ARC. Today is September 26th, 2023, and the time is 3:32 PM. read more

hi-ya! I was here for a special event that lasted all day--so we got a chance to walk around the campus while we were waiting. The facilities are new/modern--enough looking for a community college campus. Location finders/maps readily available and the campus is cozy and secure. The gymnasium was where we ended up staying the bulk of the time, but its seating (comfortable) and entries/exits and restrooms were really clean and accessible. Considering we were here from 8:45 till 5ish...it was a good experience. read more

I'm taking a few of their online courses. The "professors" here re-upload lectures they recorded back in 2020. Much of the courswork doesn't match the lectures. They need to update their videos to make sure that they are current. Take online courses at this school if you want to Google every other lesson and have to teach yourself. read more

Too many rude Russians talking full voice in the library, even talking on the phone! Step outside please,you are not at Starbucks! Otherwise a decent place to get your GED and prepare you for your transfer. Lots of wonderful teachers! Cafeteria is terrible, they recently remodeled it but there is nothing tasty, most things are unhealthy. Subway is the only decent option if you like subway, personally I don't like it. Often we hear of crime in parking area typically robbery. Always be on the lookout for danger and Russians talking in the library. One tip: don't trust your counselors with your transfer units, always check with a university you are transferring to! read more

American River College - Davis Hall - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

Tatyana in Admissions by far is the worst person to talk. Has no knowledge on how to talk to people, doesn't have any answers. Also, if you are a dual enrollment student I would tell you to go somewhere else. This community college can't support you in anyway. No one ever responds and other departments give you a run around. The director even said their main concern is students that are already there after high school vs. in high school. This tells you how much education really matters to this school. read more

I'll make a review cause why not! Lol. Recently graduated 3 months from today. Received my first ever AS in Administration of Justice. I'll miss this school !! I attended fall of 2011 and I'm happy I went straight from high school. I'll be starting my first quarter/transferring at a university "Cal State University, East Bay " in September.. it'll be weird not going to this college next week (since first day of classes start next week) well for the regular classes, lol. I will miss this awesome school !! Proud to have gone to this community college :) saved my parents a lot of money! Yup! Don't take your education for granted. Work hard !! Hehe. And you'll get to where you want to be ! It may take longer for others or shorter for others but it's perfectly fine going on your own pace ! Everyone has their own journey ! Just keep moving forward !! :D read more

American River College - People left after they received their thing lol. I stayed until the end :) 5/18/16 - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

Why? I applied for FASFA in May. I also signed up for a class at CRC. Neither location told me what was going on until this morning. School starts on Saturday. Lack of communication. So much for helping the community. I had to drop my classes. read more

Came to the soccer stadium at ARC to watch Sac Republic vs. Stanford in an exhibition match. Sac Republic won 1-0 and dominated on pretty much every area of stat. Sac Republic dominating the game is pretty much expected especially since they're essentially the triple A of soccer and playing against a college team. It was a fun match to watch and especially cool to see some of the future major league soccer players coming out of Stanford. Tons of potential there. The soccer stadium at ARC is well kept and clean. The bathrooms were clean and the snack bar had plenty of options. The stadium announcer provided updates on the snack bar being open and when it was closing too. It was a packed house at the stadium and the announcer said total attendance was 429 people. read more

What a shame that the few professors I had here during a single semester don't deserve this rating to reflect, so let make this very clear. DISCLAIMER: This 1-star review is not a reflection of any of the professors at American River College. On the last week of the semester, I received a parking ticket about 20 minutes prior to my class ending. It was a failure to have parking pass displayed, how could this be, I thought. Immediately I went right into the Los Rios ARC Policd and told the individual at the counter that this wasn't right, I had purchased my parking pass before the semester even started as I have done every single semester. For those who aren't aware, you can see proof of payment on your eservices. Anyways, this being said and mentioned as politely as could possibly be, I was simply given a "well that can't be changed" followed by a glare that really just represents how they look at students on campus. I asked where I could find the officer who issued this ticket, as my car was always in the parking garage every single day in the same spot, and I've seen that same individual giving tickets daily. So why then, would this individual give me a parking ticket knowing for all those consecutive weeks (6 to be exact), my parking ticket has been displayed. What, because this one time, my parking ticket fell off my dashboard? You've got to do an appeal process and it's third party individuals you need to speak to, so of course after calling them and asking about the status of my first written appeal, they didn't care and had a horrible attitude towards any questions I had regarding the process. After weeks it got DECLINED, I'm saying this because how on earth does it take weeks to read a simple few sentences explaining my reason with proof of a screenshot that shows purpose. I went on to do a 2nd appeal which took MONTHS to get at in an person meeting all the way in ARC, which was a 40 minute drive. So thanks for that again, as I was afraid my time would be wasted because these people don't care about students and they're already spending so much on tuition and books. The man I meant was condescending as could be, and recorded our entire conversation which if he could retain a few sentences and write notes, wouldn't even be necessary to begin with. I knew from that tone of his voice he wouldn't remove the appeal, and that's what is truly disappointing. He also makes it clear he can't process a decision in his head at that moment, which is probably for his own safety as I can't imagine any other student would be calm based on his biased choice of denying these appeals. The whole time he didn't seem to care not even a bit, and made it a point to say "is that all? I've got other people to hear after, I've been here since this morning." He didn't shake my hand, so I reached out to him and he made it evident that it was really unnecessary for me to do that. And here we are today, weeks later receiving this notice in the mail: In all honesty it just goes to show how the campus wants to treat their students, like a dollar in their pocket which is just shameful. I get that people don't purchase parking passes, so yes, by all means. . Do the paying students a favor and do your job, but do so in a correct manner. Why is it that a student who drove 40+ minutes mon-Thursday during a summer semester is being penalized for his parking pass falling from the dashboard on one unfortunate day? There is no reason, my parking pass was purchased before the semester started, and if you can't simply find the wrong in that. . Honestly, at least pretend to care about your students. Shameful. This is all a funny read until it's you dealing with this situation, this was my last semester at Los Rios after finishing all my transfer required units, and this entire time my appeal and in person meeting with the hearing examiner made that point very clear - that I would be going to university which would cost a wholesome, debt filled amount and that lifting this parking fine would be considerate of that. Congratulations, you took a fair amount of money who's already spent thousands attending the Los Rios District. I'm going to appeal this for the third time, just to update this review with the results. - - - Also, do a better job at managing the security in this campus. I was changing in the locker rooms and an older man who didn't even look like a student made some strange pick-up line about vitamin D and then flashed his front towards me. After that, I never want back the locker rooms - point blank. - - This is one of many faults with ARC, another time there was a man tweaking in the bathroom in broad daylight who I couldn't quite get around until I ran out the door. . In all honesty i had never felt so unsafe, even at CRC or SCC during/following the shooting incident on campus. - - read more

American River College - To be fair, it seemed like he hated his life. . So hopefully, he gets a portion of the parking ticket that he decided to uphold? - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Sacramento, California

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While there is often construction going on at the campus, the counselors and staff at ARC are very helpful. When trying to apply for graduation, one of the counselors took the time to go step by step on what to do and even sent an email to the admissions office for me! The campus is also very biodiverse, and has lots of seating for passing students. I had a great time here, and would be willing to return in the future. read more

The Financial Aid department is a joke! Received a generic voice mail regarding the FASFA verification form needing to be completed and to call them back. Mind you, I had already submitted this form 2 weeks ago, and to my knowledge was done correctly.. Gave them a call right back, and waited on hold for 40 minutes! A women finally answered (gave no name)... I let her know that I was returning there phone call as instructed and gave my name. The Financial Aid office worker had no idea how to help me and didn't seem to give a shit. She simply said that I would need to come in the financial aid lab during there in convenient hours.. Why would the financial aid office call me, leave a message to call them back to get info/help over the phone, when they can't discuss anything over the phone in the first place...? What a waste of my time.. I got no answers, and am now concerned that maybe something is wrong with the form that I submitted. The only way I will know for sure is to take another day off work and go up there... read more

If I could give this school zero stars I would. The teachers here are uneducated. The counselors are not helpful what so ever. The last counselor I had that was actually caring and helpful left. They pretty much set you up to fail. There is absolutely no support. The people in the office are all student workers and they are so rude over the phone and in person. Please don't waste your time going here. Your not going to learn what it takes to get out. It's a never ending hole. read more

Okay... truth be told time! I've been going here FOREVER! (I hate when I get "called on it"... lol) Not by choice, like some people, but because it took me forever to get into their nursing program. No joke... I know a little of EVERYTHING about this whole campus. All my friends and family call me when they need ARC advice and I can recite it like a play. I also worked on campus, so that's a big plus lemme tell ya. ;) Yes, this is a community college. Community college's get a bad name sometimes on just that; a name. Trust an "old" pro now... ARC has some truly amazing, notable professors. Some serious top-notch teachers. The first one that comes to mind is Soheir Sukkary-Stolba. She teaches Anthropology at ARC (a required transfer course). She has been around the world and back working with the WHO, writing books and fighting for women's rights. She's amazing. She's just one example of some of the outstanding professors at ARC. I've taken a little bit of everything here over my 6 years. Nursing is a very high unit major (70 units before the actual program!). I've had my share of amazing, life changing, crazy awesome learning and my share of meh. The majority has been awesome. This school has some great student services/ programs. Financial aid, career center, disabled student services, book rental from the campus bookstore, very active campus clubs, an awesome school newspaper, a HIGHLY rated (please look up "The ARC Review"... just awesome) literary "magazine" that comes out every year (with 90% student attributed works), a 5 star culinary program (with a 5 star restaurant on campus), a highly rated funeral services program AND nursing program... just to name a few. Now every school has it's not so good. Parking here is atrocious. But they recently built a 4-story parking garage which has helped alleviate this huge issue. Some "students" on campus are not there to learn... but this happens anywhere. They can be a distraction. The financial aide staff are notoriously unfriendly, the bookstore has outrageous prices (not their fault), many classes are hard to get into and unit fees keep rising. But... Overall, this is the BEST community college in the area by far!! The good outweighs the bad. If you are dedicated and apply yourself, you WILL learn here. You will leave ARC with lifelong experiences you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. You will be prepared to transfer to Sac State or wherever your little heart desires. :) You get out what you put in friends. True story. The prices are soooo much cheaper than state schools or private schools. Start here and go on to bigger and better things! We all have a greater purpose, a dream in life. Maybe a higher education is the start to your purpose/dream? Community college's are for EVERYONE, even you. :) read more

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Holy crap fanatic fundamentalist Christians. They pretty much set up some sort of display in front of the library every week. Halloween is evil, they say. First trimester abortions look oddly exactly like thirty trimester abortions, they say. Muslims are pedophiles, they say. If for some reason you tour this campus before signing up, and these crazy ass morons are doing another display (it would be pretty likely), ignore them. No matter how they act and what they say, they are the minority. Sane Christians do exist on this campus. Sane people of other religions and ways of thinking also exist on this campus. And even though you'll spend about three years trying to find the damn thing, the campus does have a Gay Straight Alliance. Maybe we can group up and do a search party? read more

Maybe it's not as good as it gets. However., I spent two years at ARC. They have been good to me. Yes, the buildings are older, the parking sucks. You'll find students who go to school and go on about their business. if you looking for a college, party, rallies, events everyday....then ARC isn't for you. If you want solid, smart, effective, patient, experienced professors many whom have taught at the University level.......then ARC is the campus for you. Professors at ARC that can teach their butts off are: Matt Michel ( Stats)........ Ron Morris ( Marketing) Wei-Jen ( Algebra) Heidi Fuller ( Communications) Don Nelson ( professional selling) Megan (Accounting) The thing about ARC that all the negative reviews fail to mention is that ..........Regardless of the old campus, lack of new tile/carpet or conscious recyclers. ARC has an Award winning student published magazine the American River Review ( ARR) A four star Cafe all students ( Culinary arts program)..Think I'm lying check out link below http://www.arc.losrios.edu/Community/Foundation/Invest_in_Student_Success/Capital_Campaign_for_Culinary_Arts.htm I've"ve also attended Sac City. The crowd is a lot younger, more events and cheerleaders ( weird). Brian Bedford is a great professor there. read more

The worst campus ever. Been to all Los Rios schools and Sierra. All have better systems and updated computers for their staff to work. The staff seems uneducated and robotic to answer "no" very inefficient. And if you're considering doing a Science Major I advise you choose Scc for your home school as ARC staff do not care about the students or efficiency when it comes to most matters. Get prepared for long hours of waiting, you can probably do a whole chemistry experiment and your PHD research in the time you'll finally speak to someone with some type of knowledge. Ps. Counselors will get you staying in this school for more than you have to. I advise you to get your classes taken care of and run away as fast as you can. read more

I thought my forgettable general ed alma mater, Yuba College, was a dump. Then I descended upon the barren wasteland that is ARC, an educational outpost in a tore-back suburb neighbored by North Highlands. Nice. I had to take a Notary test here Saturday, and locating the classroom required the combined efforts of a group of frustrated young men & women I spotted wandering aimlessly with their registration paperwork. There is no logic to the campus layout, nor is there any semblance of recycling or even waste management; the "adult" students opt to toss their Cheeto bags and Coke bottles on the asphalt "quad". God forbid I have to come back here. read more

I like this school. I think it's better than CRC. The campus is pretty big and is always clean. There's a Starbucks located in the student center but sometimes they make your drinks taste weird. LIKES: -Doesn't feel like high school all over again -Nice and chill teachers- I would go to ratemyprofessor.com to see others reviews. -Free Wifi! -It's a very diverse school -Most people are friendly but it's more of the old people who are -Has a Starbucks and Subway -Variety of cheap snacks in the Bookstore -Bathrooms are usually clean -Lots of classes but they fill fast -ARC isn't even that ghetto compared to CRC. At least we don't have immature high/middle schoolers walking around, girl fights happening everyday or people asking you for swishers lol DISLIKES: -Parking is a bitch!!! It's seriously just like the hunger games! It's funny how drivers would stalk and stare at people for so long. I'm taking summer classes right now and parking isn't that bad but once Fall semester comes around, I'll be at the school while the sun is still rising. -I'm tired of dealing with these second language employees who have no clue on what they're doing. -Some students aren't even here to learn. They're here for the money or here to check out girls/guys. -BEWARE of those annoying petitioners who wants your signature on their clipboards. They won't leave you alone and when you turn them down they get hella mad lol. And also those Cal Fit workers are irritating. They'll try and bribe you with a bunch of BS. -A few of the counselors are helpless and have no idea what they talk about. Overall, I would recommend this community college. I'll be here for the next 2 years so hopefully my rating for ARC doesn't go down. read more

I've been at ARC for one semester now, and I'll be stuck there another year and a half. I honestly can't say that there's a whole lot of good at this school. The cost of books is really ridiculous ( I guess its like that everywhere, but that doesn't make it any better). I never buy anything here though (Amazon.com FTW!) I know most college campuses have this problem, but the parking at ARC is literally crazy. The first month or two of school, you better get there hours before your class actually starts, otherwise there is no way you will get a parking spot. Parking doesn't get much better after the first month either. Getting into classes: forget it. Even if you have an "early" register time, classes fill up before you can even contemplate taking them. With 40,000+ students, ARC is bigger than most (real) colleges and it is just ridiculous. I CANNOT wait to be able to finally leave this "school" and go to one where people actually care about being there! Most the students are compromised of ages 40+ and just plain weird people. People smoke literally EVERYWHERE, even right outside the classrooms! The signs say "no smoking within 30 feet of buildings", but there is no one to actually enforce that "rule" so that the rest of us can actually breathe at some point in the day. Suffice it to say i'm looking forward to getting out of here and going to real university. read more

The college is great, the counseling office gets one star. They will put holds on your transcript, send links required to remove the holds to your student email address which is locked because of the hold, then do the same thing again. 40+ minutes on the phone with no answer is not unusual. And the Campus is closed until further notice. Honestly the other los rios campuses such as sac city college, FLC, even CRC are managed better than ARC. read more

I can't believe there aren't any reviews for ARC on here yet! What, no Beavers on Yelp? American River is a great place to get lower division university coursework done, or even just take classes for fun. There are fitness classes, auto repair, creative writing, and all kinds of great classes. And it's only $20 a unit! You know I'm all about the bargains. I transferred from ARC to UC Davis in January of 2007. I had a Transfer Agreement, so I was guaranteed admission to UCD. Because of the small class sizes at ARC, and all the faculty attention that's available, I feel way more prepared for upper division coursework than my peers who were stuck in classrooms with hundreds of other students. And it is SO much less expensive. I mean, $360 for 4 classes vs. $2900+ at Davis. Ouch. I have heard that they have the best culinary program in the area. I'm going back there to take pastry classes once I'm done at UCD! read more

Do not go here if you have dreams and aspirations. The counseling service you receive is awful. They are great and saying how you won't succeed and how hard it is to get there. It's never positive. Don't go here if you hope to get somewhere in life. read more

This school is just ok. This is my second semester at ARC and from what I've experienced, this place has kind of ruined the whole college experience for me. Pros: Lots of classes, Starbucks on campus, not too much walking in between my classes. Cons: WEIRDO OLD MEN WHO LIKE TO STARE YOU DOWN, people smoke everrryyyywhere, parking can be kind of a joke even with the parking structure, can't ever find a quiet place to study or do homework. Not even the library because people like to blast their music and talk really loud. I only go 2 days a week and taking 14 units. This place is ghetto too, like bad. I feel so out of place when about 80% of the students here are older than 30 and the other 20% are foreign and don't speak English. I don't feel comfortable walking by myself if it's past 4 PM (hello pepper spray) Can't wait to be done with this place. read more

This place has one of the worst customer service especially in their counselor office. I call in the morning to set up an appointment at 730 in the morning and was told to come in and waited 3 hours plus and still haven't seen a counselor. I don't understand why they are so slow when the staff is just standing around and talking on the phone. I would not recommend people to this college since the staff here are so disrespectful and don't know what they are doing. One person checking people in while the rest is just chilling. I don't understand where my college fund I am spending too being use for. Do not attend this college!!!!! read more

I'll give it a 4, based on a visitor's point of view. My boyfriend goes to ARC, enrolled for sports and to finish the general ed, I accompanied him a couple days to see how this JC is. I do like the campus, it's fairly neat and easy to get around. The parking is atrocious due to the horrible drivers (and an idiot who hit my boyfriend's car) but I digress. The parking garage is bad, but the campus itself is nice. Plus the library is well laid out and the student center is the same. Professors are nice, in my opinion, my boyfriend has nice ones I guess. It's very different from high school, and I know teachers can be hit and miss but he got people who teach well and care about their students. Overall, pretty nice place, horrid parking but nice teachers! This is the only JC I've been to, but this place has set the bar for junior colleges. It's no UCB or Stanford or CSUS, but it's genuinely nice, it's a solid option for those considering a JC. Hopefully ARC gives good hopes for summer classes for high schoolers for transferrable credits, I'll be looking forward to that and a change in my review! read more

Excellent community college. Watching "Community" on tv fills me with nostalgia :) I liked meeting people of all different ages and walks of life here. Sr. Bradshaw of the Spanish department was wonderful. He was the one of best teachers I had there! Ms. English, the swimming instructor, is a great teacher and gets you into shape! I suggest taking swimming in the spring semester - you will get tan, relaxed, and toned. They do a wonderful job of preparing you to transfer to a UC, CSU or private school. Their counselors help keep you on track, and encourage you to visit other schools. The art department is sturdy and encouraging. Magri is flashy, Mick is entertaining, Pam is steady, and Betty is by the book. They made for good teachers. Explore! read more

I've been at ARC for two years now, and I'll be stuck there another full year. I honestly can't say that there's a whole lot of good at this school. The cost of books is really ridiculous ( I guess its like that everywhere, but that doesn't make it any better). The cost of food there is outrageous so go off campus or bring your own food. I know most college campuses have this problem, but the parking at ARC is literally crazy. The first month or two of school, you better get there hours before your class actually starts, otherwise there is no way you will get a parking spot. Parking doesn't get much better after the first month either. Getting into classes: forget it. Even if you have an "early" register time, classes fill up before you can even contemplate taking them. With 40,000+ students, ARC is bigger than most (real) colleges and it is just ridiculous. I CANNOT wait to be able to finally leave this "school" and go to one where people actually care about being there! Most the students are compromised of ages 40+, radical Christians, and people who sleep through their classes. I would recommend bringing a mask to wear because people smoke literally EVERYWHERE, even right outside the classrooms! The signs say "no smoking within 30 feet of buildings", but there is no one to actually enforce that "rule" so that the rest of us can actually breathe at some point in the day. The somewhat good: my counselor has been amazing and so helpful with everything. And (most) the teachers actually care about being there and what they're teaching about, unlike if you go to a four-year university where they only care about the pay. read more