Now this dude is PISSED (by anon)

The University is trying to screw me out of credits I should be receiving and giving me a big middle finger as their excuse. At the end of the spring semester last year, I applied for and received a graphic design internship through a design company in Madison. Before I was officially part of their team, I emailed the internship coordinator to request academic credit for completing this internship. Two weeks later, still no word from him. I figured hey, he probably is just taking some time off being as the semester just ended, no big deal, I'll just work things out when he finally gets back to me and continue on my internship in the mean time. I sent him a filled out form for my internship as well as had my boss for the internship call and leave a voicemail for my adviser; I figured this was enough to have myself covered. So I began working on my internship. I designed their website as well their iPad application to go along with it. Over the course of the two months, I put in around 120 hours into the internship. Finally, about 3 weeks later (that's 5 weeks total since I emailed the coordinator the internship form), I receive an email from  him redirecting me to a different internship coordinator. He emails me back saying that internships must be preapproved by the department; otherwise they would not be applicable. Thanks a lot jackass.

While the experience I earned was enough to keep me going to finish the internship, it was an unpaid gig; I was doing this for the credit I should have received. Fast forward a little bit to before the start of this semester. I email my adviser asking that I be allowed a chance to test out of MAGD 270 - Web Development. He told me he would look into it, that it had not been done before. Eventually he tells me since it is a core class, I would not be able to test out if it. Fine, whatever. After the first class period was over and I see that this course was designed for absolute beginners in web development and that I would be wasting my time here, I appeal to my professor to let me test out of this course. Eventually after showing him that I have quite a good deal of knowledge and experience in this subject as well as showing him examples of websites I have created both for my job as well as personal projects, he finds me a way out of the class. Great right? Well, not quite. He tells me that I can get a waiver for the class, but I would receive ZERO credits for the class and would have to take another class (in this major) to replace it. This doesn't make sense in the slightest to me. I know the material, give me a waiver for the class and I have enough credits in other subjects that it shouldn't be an issue. But the University instead says fuck you, we want your money and you need to take even more classes so we can have it.

So I decide to suck it up and I will get my job on campus (in which I am doing EXACTLY what my major is, at a pretty professional level) to apply for internship credits to replace the ones I should have received for MAGD 270; no big deal. Wrong again. I go to my internship coordinator again and request that I be allowed to use my job for internship credit. He then tells me that I have to do my internship at a job off-campus for god knows what reason. I explain to him that I ALREADY FUCKING HAVE done an internship off-campus but I wasn't allowed to get credit for that either. Still no go.

Honestly at this point, I feel as if I am being punished for trying to get ahead of my peers and I can't get credit for anything I try to do, even though everything has been directly related to my major. And this is all forgetting the fact that myself and numerous others in my program have learned absolutely nothing in the classes that are supposed to be training us for our future careers. We learn the most basic concepts that could be learned in a few hours on the internet. I honestly feel as if though I would be more prepared for my career if I would have not gone to college at all and taught myself. I would have saved myself from spending $28,000 on tuition and from the headache that these people are causing me.

My argument is this: The university's main function is to educate its students and to prepare them for their careers; and they are failing. One of their core missions is as stated: "The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is committed to the development of the individual, the growth of personal and professional integrity and respect for diversity and global perspectives. These are met by providing academic and co-curricular programs that emphasize the pursuit of knowledge and understanding and a commitment to service within a safe and secure environment." How am I supposed to be furthering my education when the university, who is supposed to be helping and encouraging me, doesn't give me worthwhile classes, doesn't give me any recognition for my attempts to gain experience outside the classroom, and doesn't seem to care? And they have the stones to mention integrity.  In conclusion, fuck this place. I wish I would have known in advance that I would learn absolutely nothing here and that all they care about is keeping me enrolled as long as possible to give them every dime they can grab.