LaGuardia Community College

I really like La Guardia Community College. I
Think they’re are some
Ghetto students but they’re young and stupid and kids that age usually are young and stupid. I for one and paying for my college myself and don’t have the luxury to screw around and not care. I need to pass all my classes and it’s important to me. All of the staff are super helpful and accommodating and I recommend anyone to go
there. I’ve had a good experience so far. My only complaint are some of the idiotic students. It’s time to grow up. You’re in college now; this isn’t high school so actually act like a college student and not get sucked into stupid stuff like kiddy bs.
This is a great school and I’m very happy to be attending. All my teachers are great and actually care.

The advising team is very helpful if you ever need to use Ask An Advisor on the myLaGuardia page to switch around courses or need help with cunyfirst related issues.

As a former LAGCC STUDENT I have met numerous people from all walks of life few who have made a huge impact in my life. It is not possible to find everything that you want and nothing can be perfect. Even though in the beginning of my school years I felt it was chaos and there weren’t many friendly, nice & helpful people with time I realized that not everyone in La Guardia is the same.
The last year in LaGuardia I met amazing, kind, helpful & dedicated professors who takes the initiative to help students and are there for you. I would love to name them but the list is long… I have evolved being a LaGuardia student. Made some new friends. No matter where I will be I will always cherish those wonderful times spent in LAGCC.

The staff for the admission front desk is below par and even for myself, it was quite frustrating and quite a horrible first impression. I can only imagine how many students decide not to follow through and go to another school just based on their first experience with the front desk admission staff.
It’s universal, «first impression is last impression».
It would be nice if LGCC could replace the front desk staff and also have them dress more appropriately. They hardly seem to look like they belong there. And yes, they do give you the run around but then again, they are most likely students, at least by the looks and behavior of them. They definitely do not dress like corporate peeps. That is why most of the time, I surpassed them and did not waste my time and got in touch with the «real staff» in charge, behind the wall.
As for Unilocaler peeps, they bitch cuz they judge the school by their financial aid not kicking in, in time (ahem, nothing to do with the school I may mention) or they are missing funds to make shit happen for them. Totally irrelevant but whatever. Also, staff are not there to hand hold you. Most people do not even bother to read all the info provided on the LGCC website. Hello y’all, you’re in college, time to grow up and to do things for yourself. Prep yourself and learn as much info as you can before you approach staff. You will make everything much easier for the both of you.
As for my review from my own experience with interacting with staff and professors, I can only say amazing things! Btw, I only speak of fine arts and photography program… and they are 100% above average!!! You’re only allowed two EXCUSED absences (says a lot about how serious they are), otherwise, you fail. And most important of all, these professors have been classically trained at top fine art schools; Pratt, Parsons, Columbia just to name a few, so a student like me and you can learn for a fraction of what they paid when they went to school.
Just look up those schools’ tuition and compare it to the $ 2,600 per semester at LGCC. You do the math! Oh and here’ a little secret which CUNY senior colleges (Hunter, Queens, Brooklyn, City Tech, etc) do no offer. Laguardia allows you to take a maximum of six classes during Fall I or Spring 1 semester and during the second session (summer or winter), you can take up to 3 classes for free (sort of say), as those classes are considered included in either your Fall or Spring 1 semester tuition.
Case in point.
From 12 to 18 credits (full time)=$ 2,600 for one semester (Fall session 1 or Spring session 1)
Fall session II (winter) 3 to 6 credits (9 if you ask for permission)= $ 0.00
Spring session II (summer) «» =$ 0.00
(read where it says, *Note* in red letters, look at the bottom of the chart where it reads, «more than 12: each additional credit = $ 0.00» Even current matriculated students at LGCC don’t know this and makes me question how is it that they are even in college?! Lol
So LGCC reallys wants you to graduate on time or even early. You must be a fool not to take advantage of the summer and winter «free» sessions. Even if you do not have to, you can take other classes for fun or your own knowledge like guitar, singing, piano, theatre, dancing, web design, etc. They allow you so why not? It’s a learning institution so why not learn as much as you can while you can??? Other schools do not allow you if you do not major in it.
I will be forever grateful to LGCC for this amazing opportunity. Their professors and staff rock and could not be more proud of having attended their school!
Oh and before I forget, they have MACs galore and are new and working in the computer labs and throughout the building, unlike other schools. And their cafeterias rock. You can order a hot entrée and two sides for $ 6.00 and it’s real food, not the boxed synthetic American shat! This totally makes a difference if you are in school all day and cannot pack all your food for the entire day to save on $$. It’s quite cheap and reasonable. I feel it’s the first school where they actually do consider students’ budgets. Books are another story but having nothing to do with LGCC.
Oh and there is a free gym, court and sports too!!!

For a 2 year community college. Pretty good. Good staff. Classes and registration can be a little difficult but if you get over that then the rest is pretty smooth. Focus on the academics here and the resources because they are not bad here. Make sure you take the classes you want because some are pretty technical and others are general. Only downside is you have to go back and stand in line for your diploma. I still haven’t picked mine’s up yet.

OMG. I am so upset after attending the ASAP orientation. The staff was so unprofessional and loud, in particular, Catherine, who raised her voice and addressed me like she was trying to start a fight on the street over a form that was not necessary for me to submit. I can only hope and pray that this is not a reflection of the rest of the staff at LaGuardia.

I registered late got advised and after completing my registration (late) I was later informed I would not be getting financial aid. I was working at the time and dealing with a death. Working full time i realized I can’t pay for these classes out of pocket.(the reason I’m using fafsa) I never attended any classes, just one and since I registered late I couldn’t withdraw with a refund. Now I’m dealing with a 1800 bill for classes I never took. What was the point for me to get advised during registration if their staff couldn’t point out I wouldn’t qualify for financial aid. Why would i be informed after signing up for classes. Do you think if i knew i wasn’t eligible for fafsa i would still sign up. No!!! i got other bills responsibilities to handle. I have mouths to feed lgcc, MOUTHS. IS this a game you play at your campus. I have so many questions for you laguardia cc. Like do you get off from situations like these? Seriously is that like your thing?. All I’m told is there is nothing I can do. It was my mistake, no wonder why you’re in community college «all i wonder is how many students fell into this money making $Cheme of yours.

Upside: I got my Human Services mental health degree in 2013 here. Alot of diversity in cultures which i love, some pretty good professors (in my program atleast). Cafeteria food is actually pretty tasty and theres home cooked food there too. I actually miss that.
Downside: Crazy odd schedule of classes designed to purposly keep you in the school trapped like a dog in a cage! Dont bother calling the school for assistance in anything because 98% of the staff are laguardia students. Too many mistakes and misplacements done by the school itself which keeps you going back and forth to the point where you even change your mind about wanting to attend the school. What i hated the most about the school is that it has a highschool inside the school itself so every now and then you will see crowds of highschoolers being annoying, loud and taking up space in halls, cafeterias and on the sidewalk while your trying to run to the next building to go to class. If your class ends at 2:30– 3:00pm then your crapped out because you will be running through crowds of kids in the highschool. Good luck if your waiting at the bus stop because these little monsters like to act stupid and do dumb things to annoy you (yes it’s happened to me i was about to yoke one of them up).
Student life: theres clubs and activities to do, cool stuff like transfer fairs, gay/​lesbian events blah blah blah. Alot of students like most colleges dont take their schooling seriously, some are just there to walk around and look cute in hopes of finding their future «soulmate». The young fresh out of highschool ratchets crowd around the E building hall by the window acting loud & annoying, you would think that they just come to school to sit there all day and i literally mean ALL DAY.

Literally first time ever I had the best service in the registration office in the B building Eric was a delight helped me to the max !!! I was in and out in like 10 mins didn’t have to run in and out to every building ! Thanks a ton Eric ! ** thumbs up**

So just wanted to share my experience with this school. It’s a good school to meet your requirements and take advantage of the short sessions. I would also like to share my experience with Eric from Advising/​Registration, he has not only answered my emails/​phone calls and addressed them with concern and great attitude but really tried to listen understand and help the situation.
I am very grateful that he was able to explain the process to me and what I needed to do to reach my goals.
This is one of the very first times that someone has taken out the time to help me reach my goal towards graduation.

I wish I would have liked this school… But I didn’t! I recent just graduated in June & even that was a COMPLETE disaster. It was considered the «largest graduation by Laguardia». Oh please! It was the largest disaster by Laguardia. At the graduation, it was so over crowded that family members couldn’t get in. The school allowed more than the amount that were suppose to graduate to walk and that’s why. My family had tickets but they weren’t trying to let my daughter in so we definitely had problems. They eventually let her in. A friend of mine her mother had a ticket and they didn’t let her in. She came to graduation for her mom just for them to tell her she wasn’t getting in. So when she got on stage to announce her name, she went off! And serve them right.
People were frustrated as well as the students & so much so that family members were going off on the Laguardia staff. Did I feel bad? Hell no. Any who, let me tell you how this school really is! They accept everyone of different ethnicities into the campus which is great. The Staff here are WAY MORE HELPFUL then the professors. Most professors here are rude and they are very sarcastic to their students. I didn’t put up with it. I started in 2009 undecided with my major. I had to take some time off as well. I switched my major 3 times (CURRENTLY A CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJOR) and finally I’m done. You have some professors who are compassionate and helpful and others you would think we’re spawned by the devil himself. The cafeteria food is good. The school is almost all the time clean. You have the convenience of taking the 7 train to get here or take a long, never-​ending walk over the bridge to take the E, M, & R trains. All I will say is don’t let your guard down if you plan to attend this college. I disliked it & graduation was the icing on the cake. Good Riddance Laguardia.

Rude staff!
They dont help students at all
Iv had to come back
Several times during the week .
They make you go to different buildings and rooms
For any question
You keep goin around circles with no guidance at all
WORSE SCHOOL EVER!
It sucks is the only one that
Has my major

School is clean.
The people that work in the computer lab in the B building can be so annoying omg.
Library is pretty neat also.

Staff can be helpful but unclear on deadlines and info when signing up for things. School is clean and not very crowded.

DO NOT GO HERE.
For Ppl with outside activities, such as a Full Time 9 – 5, this is not the school for you.
1. Imperative Student Services are incompetent and extremely diffIcult to navigate. This is especially frustrating if your a student with a 9 – 5. Phone operators (FWS Program Students, I’m sure) will plainly tell you «You have to come in»… No argument there FERPA regulations in full effect… But… General Questions… Come on, «How can I prevent my classes from being dropped while my Loans are processing»… I have to come in for that?!
2. CUNYFIRST is Hell. Students AND Cuny Staff CAN BARELY navigate it. The processes are all over the place. Different offices can’t seem to communicate with each other. Why is it that the Bursars Office isn’t linked with Financial Aid. Why can’t one see what the other is doing? For Example:
«Jane Doe is in the Process of Having Classes Dropped, But hey look here, her Student Loans are pending… Let’s see when she Accepted Her Loans… Ok 20 days ago… it usually takes 30 days for this to „show up“ in the students account inquiry… so let’s give her 2 more weeks…» And after 2 weeks if the loans aren’t showing on her account, let’s give her AND financial aid a call and see what’s happening… After all this is her last semester and BIO classes are limited for evening students, and we don’t want her to loose her spot… And have to delay her graduation an extra semester and this further delay her progress in life!
—-Thats not so Hard, But I believe this is a hoax to get students to pay cash to the college or to just cause ppl to drop out and become unproductive citizens, what’s so hard about working with students… Classes are already stressful why make the process of paying and choosing them stressful… Nonetheless Staff will tell a student «you have to call Financial Aid, I don’t know» … And you call financial aid and they tell you «You have to wait until it „shows up“ on your account.» —- is there a magic man that mysteriously moves it from the Award Summary section of CUNYFIRST to the Pending Payments section… Are they not the same thing?!
3. I’ve had extensive excruciating PROBLEMS with CUNYFIRST… The system is extremely ineffectual and the staff at LAGCC don’t make it any better. Maybe another CUNY school will be more proactive at navigating it.
4. Transfer Services is another futile piece of LAGCC’s disastrous monstrosity. They don’t do anything but provide fliers. There was a transfer fair where the Transfer Services Staff were so un-​engaged. I made 3 visits to the office and each time I was given different information. Do your own research, don’t even go in there, you will be confused. Just visit the school you plan transferring to.
I will say this, the a Professors are phenomenal…
Paul and Ms. A. Hamilton in Financial Aid are the only ppl in this school who have a Clue about anything.
But STAY AWAY.

I went there and worked there for many years. It is by far the best community college institution you will get in the 5 boroughs for several reasons:
1. Affordability– whatever you may think of with respect to its tuition, numbers don’t lie. Good luck finding anywhere that gives you accredited courses for less money.
2. You have many scholarship opportunities if you are willing to seek them out.
3. While it does have a «commuter school» feel where people just come and go, if you are looking to get involved in campus life there is no reason why you cant. There are a number of clubs to join and on campus activates are an ongoing occurrence.
4. The library is open on SUNDAYS (this is a rare thing, take advantage of it).
5. For a community college its facilities are impeccable.
Now to address some of the poor reviews about staff…
Believe me I understand your frustrations. When I was a student I hated the amount of red tape I had to go through just for the simplest things. Once I had to go to financial aid and wait on the C107 line 13 TIMES! It sucks I know, but after working in the system for a while I understand why this happens. Again there are several reasons:
1. Every CUNY college is compartmentalized. Meaning individual departments handle individual problems. That said, there are certain issues that require departmental overlap (this is where things get tricky). You see there are various federal, state, and local laws that the institution and its workers MUST follow, because of this it makes it difficult for us to get the information we need to rapidly solve all problems. As a result some matters take both time and patients for both you and the person helping you. Believe me the employees love nothing more than to give you exactly what you need it makes both of our lives easier and the last thing we want to do is make you feel like we are obstructing your educational enrichment.
2. Believe it or not many of the workers you encounter are federal work study STUDENTS. In many cases this is their first job. LaGuardia always tries to give its students a leg up and hires many of its current students and graduates. As such not everyone has the best customer service skills, because they are just like you and its strange being on the other side of the fence. If someone is not giving you what you need just remain calm and polite and ask to speak with a supervisor.
3. With respect to that phone tag issue. Understand that LaGuardia does have a call center but it only has around 10 – 20 people manning that call center. These people have to be able to answer a myriad of questions and are on the phone for 8 hours a day calling and being called from numerous countries around the world. Not to mention (like I said before) there are laws that prohibit some information being discussed over the phone because we cannot be certain who is on the other end. So when you need something its just a lot easier to come in person to the appropriate office to solve your problems. I understand that a lot of you work and have kids so its hard to come down, but life is about sacrifice sometimes and I think we can all agree that phone tag can been rather annoying.
4. Everyone should know that CUNY FIRST is a brand NEW enrollment and registration system. So you have to figure there are going to be bugs to work out; Moreover, you have workers who have been using that same system for YEARS all of a sudden trying to acclimate themselves to the new system while at the same time trying to teach you how to use it. Give them a break, its not easy and they had little choice in the matter. That was a decision made by CUNY. When it doubt stay patient. The employees want to help you as much as you want to be helped.

To be honest, I feel like I dodged a bullet. For those who have had positive experiences with this school, I applaud you, and wish you all the best. For those who have many complaints, I understand the reasoning behind your frustration. I came to this school as a transfer. I decided not to register after seeing some serious incompetence. One of the classes I was advised to take was not even available. I asked a woman why I was not able to apply for that class. She said, «Oh, there’s something wrong with it, I dunno, just ignore it.»
Just ignore it? This is my education we’re talking about lady. I asked for help and assistance from several staff working the registration and the people either had no idea what to do, had attitudes or didn’t care to help. I changed my mind and decided not to continue with this school. Luckily, I have a backup plan and includes leaving New York City so to be honest, I wasn’t too bummed, but, had this school been decent, it would’ve been a nice ride. I would suggest you go to BMCC or maybe even Kingsborough. Not this school.

It seems that a lot of the complaints here have to do with administrative things, rather than the faculty or the education provided. Welcome to the reality that bureaucracy stinks everywhere, even in private colleges that cost 20x as much. LaGuardia’s full time faculty in most departments hold PhDs, which is not typical elsewhere outside of CUNY. The classrooms and buildings are well maintained, there is an Olympic sized pool, a gym, theater, and recreation area. It is located in an industrial looking part of Long Island City, but easily accessible by public transportation. Lots of day and evening class options and support services. Overall great value for the money.

I’m currently a student here. I may update this review in the future.
Okay, so I’ll start off with the positive aspects of LagCC:
You can take free 6 week session classes here. It’s like taking a 12 week class, but half as long and double the work. They’re available from Jan-​Mar and May-​Jul. You can take up to three classes during the 6 week sessions. You can’t say that’s not awesome.
There is a cafeteria in every LagCC building. Most of them are small, unless you go to the one in the M building. The M building café has a decent selection of food, serving different food everyday. They have a stand for fast food and the other stand consisting of other stuff. They serve both breakfast and lunch here. Lunch is just a little over $ 5.00.
The train is not far away from LagCC at all. The 7 train stop (33^rd street Rawson street) is only a block and a half away from this school. Two blocks away from the school is the Q60 (which I don’t suggest you take to school unless you really have to. The bus makes a lot of stops and is pretty slow).
LagCC has great security. There’s a security guard by every entrance of every building. They will check IDs of whoever walks into LagCC.
LagCC has a lot of different places where you can lounge around. Some people hang out in the atrium, some in the cafes, and some in random hallways. If you want to study and you find where you want to study too noisy, there’s always an area in school that is extremely quiet.
And the negative aspects of LagCC…:
The professors I’ve had in LagCC were either mediocre or left me unsatisfied. A lot of the professors I’ve had/​have don’t care about the students. They don’t put in the effort to help you do better in school. All they want is their paycheck then go home. If not, they don’t know how to teach. It’s pretty sad. Of course, with every school there’s always great professors, but I haven’t had one yet.
Staff isn’t much help at all. If you are lost, most likely you would have to go on a wild goose chase and get nothing done. C107 (the office that almost everyone goes to regarding money or other issues) is terrible. There’s always a long line to go in and once you are in the waiting room, you must wait more to finally see someone. And once you see someone, don’t be surprised when they send you on a wild goose chase and realize you wasted over an hour waiting to see someone. Same goes for most of the staff in the school.
The school is unorganized. They changed the time and room of my Sociology class without saying a WORD to me. How could they do that you may ask? They just don’t care. Enough said.
The neighborhood isn’t a good neighborhood. It definitely lacks a good reputation.
It doesn’t matter what major you are in, everyone who is planning on graduating LagCC is required to take a Sociology class. Even if you are taking a major that isn’t relating to Sociology at all, you must take it.
Like what the previous reviewer, Ryan, said, students don’t care whether there’s a crossing sign or not. If a car is about to make a turn on the street they’re about to cross, THEY WILL CROSS ANYWAY. It doesn’t matter if they see the car or not. They don’t care. If you’re the driver, you would have to stop and accelerate over and over again till you finally get out of the school area. I guess a lot of LagCC students don’t care if they were to die from a car accident.
You may expect to be here for only two years, but it will most likely take you more than two years, depending on how long it takes for you to complete the pre requisites of your major as well as if you need to take remedial courses or not (like basic math and english). Remedial courses, just like most colleges, are worth zero credits, but they have credits that ONLY go towards financial aid and nothing else. To my surprise, most students in LagCC start off their first semester taking remedial courses.
If you are interested in joining the medical field after graduating, be aware that the medical programs here are challenging (especially nursing). They only take a certain amount of students per year. For example, nursing only takes 60 and Physical Therapy takes 20. Almost everyone who is trying to get through candidacy for a medical profession wants to be a nurse, so here’s a warning to you if you want to major in nursing. Whether or not one passes candidacy or not depends on how well they do on their pre requisites. Human Anatomy and Physiology classes (SCB203 and SCB204) are probably the most challenging courses you would ever take in this school. If you take any of those classes during the 6 week session, be prepared to have a no life.
And last but not the least, don’t go to this school unless you believe you can’t get accepted into any better college. If convenience is important to you, I recommend you this school. If quality of education is important to you, I recommend you don’t go to this school. In my opinion, I can’t imagine ANYONE liking this schoo

If you are thinking about coming to this school, I highly think you should reconsider. The way the classes are structured, you will not graduate in 2 years. It’s impossible. The average time it takes a student to graduate from LaGuardia is 6 years and it has nothing to do with failing classes. Classes have many perquisites and not all the classes are available every semester (Spring only, for example) and they will do whatever they can to make sure you don’t leave. This school is a death trap.
Let’s discuss the campus: What campus? LaGuardia is located in the very scenic Long Island City, Queens. Across the street is a lovely paint warehouse and around the corner is a cement factory. To get into each building, you’ll need to go though a wall of cigarette smoke even though there are signs that say smoking isn’t allowed within 50 feet (those signs go ignored). As far as places to eat, forget about it. The Seattle Café is famous for making people sick and the pizza place across the street from the M building has been closed down by the board of health numerous times. Your only hope of getting something to eat is in 7 – 11, which always has a long line. Forget about the school cafeteria unless you like spending a lot of money on below standard food.
Dorms? Try the cheap bang-​and-​go Motel across the street. Just make sure to close the blinds. Don’t want the people riding the 7 train to see you.
The classes are average since I really have nothing to compare them too. Professors show up, sometimes, and the students show up even less. The coursework tends to be very simple. Show up, put in the minimum effort and you’ll get an A. Professors seem to just hand out grades. Don’t get me wrong, some of the professors do care but you’ll probably only have one inspiring class per semester.
The majority of the students in LaGuardia tend to behave like they are still in high school, though I can understand why. LaGuardia is very much a high school in terms of what is expected of you. If you want to escape these teenagers, try to stay away from the hallway around the E building atrium. They tend to flock by the windows and cause all sorts of problems. I’ve seen 2 physical fights break out in 3 years.
As other reviewers have said, the staff is COMPLETELY useless. This is especially true for the financial aid office. I actually was delayed in starting class here because they lost my financial aid. Every single document was lost. They waited until I registered for class to give me a bill, in which I spent the entire day trying to fix, only to be informed that they had no knowledge of my FASFA application. If you ever have any problems in LaGuardia, expect to spend the entire day getting different answers from each person you talk to, running from building to building to building to office to office to office to fix it. No one in LaGuardia communicates with each other and they usually have no clue what the hell they are doing.
For certain majors, you might have no choice coming here. For example, LaGuardia is the only 2 year CUNY with Photography (I was a Photo major and the Photo facilities are rather awesome) and the nursing program seems to be pretty good and very exclusive. If you do attend class here, raise your GPA and transfer as fast as you can. This place is like a cancer. Once it gets it’s hooks in you, good luck trying to escape it.