Absolutely livid, college keeps misspelling my name!

Applying to College
1

I applied to a community college in April. They misspelled my name and I went through a tedious 2-month process to correct it. Now the college has transferred websites and they’ve misspelled my name again! This time they are requesting a court order, marriage or divorce papers, or something from the military. I have never been married and I am not in the military. I have no idea how to get a court order for a name correction.

It is now August and I will be ineligible to get my classes or financial aid if they’re unable to correct this. I have already paid my application fee and completed the FAFSA. I am BEYOND livid!

Please, what would you do in this situation? My name is spelled Corinne, with ONE R and TWO Ns; yet they continue to spell it Corrine. Normally I wouldn’t mind but this is literally preventing me from moving forward in my future.

2

I would try goin there in person, and speaking to someone. Bring ID–your license, birth certificate, whatever you have.

3

I would bring a birth certificate. They have to accept that.

4

When you visit with your birth certificate, you will need to be prepared to encounter lower level employees who may not be helpful.

Their knowledge of how to handle exceptions like your situation may be limited. Remain calm, and ask to speak with their supervisor. If the supervisor is not helpful, ask who that person’s boss is.

If someone tells you their office is not able to help you, ask them to direct you to someone who can assist you.

You may have to try several different approaches if you don’t have success walking in and asking for help from administration. Talk to your academic advisor, or a professor in your major.

Look online and find a contact name of a really high up leader. Dean of Students may be a good person to speak with if there is such a position at your college.

Before you attempt this in person, write a short, two paragraph summary of who you are, your student ID number, and the basic facts. Do not be negative or angry in your letter or in person. You are simply stating facts, pointing out their error, and asking for their error to be corrected. Be sure your contact name, email address, and phone number are listed on the letter in bold type.

Make several copies of your letter, since you may have to visit multiple offices before you connect with a person who is willing to listen and assist you. You may encounter folks who say their boss is not in, and you will want to write down name, email address and phone number for each supervisor type person you leave a letter for.

Plan to follow up with emails to each supervisor you speak with or leave a letter for. I would follow up within 24 hours of initial contact.

Do not give your original birth certificate with them, but you may have to give them a copy. Again, make several copies before you arrive. Bring your drivers license as additional proof, along with any official mail you receive that has your name listed correctly.

Another possible ally is someone from your high school, a guidance counselor or trusted teacher. Just tell them your story and ask for their help.

I am sorry you have to deal with this. My husband had an older relative with your name, and I spent years misspelling it.

5

Update. Went to the college and filled out the name change form and gave them my ID. They misspelled it AGAIN despite giving them my ID and the form. Its now Corine. They will have to process another correction.

I am completely ineligible to attend A session because they will have to reenter my transcripts so I’m “in line”.

I’m extremely upset and honestly my view on college has been completely soured by this ordeal.

6

Your overall view “on college” should not change – only your view of the Registrar’s office at your particular school should. I understand your frustration, but keep moving forward.

7

This isn’t a name change, it’s a clerical error. Where are your parents? I’d show up on campus and keep speaking to people until you find someone who can resolve the issue. I agree that the Dean of Students may be a good option. You’re not looking for the registrar, you want someone in the administration.

8

They aren’t spelling it wrong AGAIN, they are just not changing it in a way that the system accepts to make it stick across the board. It shouldn’t matter since it is your first name, as your SSN, h.s. transcript, etc., all match. Some people really do change their names while they are in college (married, divorced, just want a change) and it doesn’t prevent them from going to college. People use different first names or variations of their names (Catherine/Kate, James/Jim) all the time, and sometimes those variations end up on an official document.

My daughter had these problems. She has a double first name, and her coach filled out an application with just the ‘first first’ name on it, and the school opened up a file with a student number assigned to that name. Begin the troubles!! Daughter then filled out a real application with her full name on it, and the school opened another file with another student number. We didn’t realize this, so when things like ACT scores and high school transcripts were sent in, it was 50/50 on which file they were put into. Honestly, it took until the end of fall semester before I figured it out (they weren’t going to let her register for spring). I found someone to merge the files and the issues stopped. She still got to attend school, whether she was labeled ‘Mary Ann’ or just ‘Mary’. We also have the problem with her initials being mixed up because the form will take the ‘A’ from Ann as a middle name and not the ‘B’ from her real middle name. My advice - NEVER give a kid a double first name!

9

Did you go in today? Is it taken care of?

10

You are done dealing with the registrars office. You need to find the contact name of Dean of Students. Ask your parents or another adult to go with you.

Use the power of social media. Go to the college website and create a post about this. Again, stick to facts, and make your post no more than two sentences.

An example post “I am accepted at X college, but the Registrars Office tells me I can not attend because THEY have entered my name incorrectly in their computer system. No one will help me.”

If you have a small hometown newspaper, contact them. Negative press gets an organization motivated quickly.

The Registrars office needs some outside motivation from a Higher up at the College.

Do not accept what the Registrars office is telling you. They are lazy and don’t want to deal with you. Keep pushing. There has to be a way to fix this.

11

I agree with @powercropper . My blood is boiling just reading your posts, @coRiNNe98th . Clerical errors like this are the result of carelessness and intractable stupidity, and I’m sorry you are the victim. But yes, this is the time to use social media not to shame the school, although that will happen, but to get the problem solved. Contact the ombudsman of your local newspaper (you will be one of the youngest people ever to know what an ombudsman does!) Tweet, post, do whatever it takes to make your problem known. Keep a clear and concise list of every form you have filed and every attempt you have made to get this corrected.

12

@Massmomm I like your term “intractable stupidity”. I’m going to keep that for future use.

13

Where is this school? In Mayberry where everyone is named Andy or Barney? Geez, these days names have moved well beyond Smith so I would think registration would have to be more accurate. Feel your frustration…hang on, finish up, then get out of there.

14

I have had this problem but never to that degree. I have a fairly common name but I use an uncommon spelling.

Good luck with sorting this out. I would contact the president’s office and maybe you can get in the A session.