Although the location is very good in the city of ...

Although the location is very good in the city of Knoxville, my time at this University has been marred by a list of negative things.

The professors are not very helpful and many rarely give out A's despite the most studious students' best efforts. Most of the professors I had at UT had extremely large egos that prevented them from helping students complete the class. They may also be unwilling to have more than one office hour per week or provide extra help. Although I have nothing against professors of other cultures, a large complaint is that many professors also have such thick accents that confuse students. And the advisors couldn't care less about you finishing in 4 years. And don't dare even utter the word "exception" because of you need compassion or understanding, this school isn't for you.

A common phrase at this University is the "Big Orange Screw ". The classes that you need are scarcely offered, so many students are unable to graduate in 4 years, and the increasing tuition and numerous fees makes it hard for students relying on financial aid or paying out of pocket.

The parking is very strict. They have relatively expensive parking passes. However, they sell almost 2 passes per spot, so parking is extremely difficult. The parking authority tickets an absurd amount. It was reported that they make $2 million a year on parking tickets, 5 times the entire city of Knoxville. If you have unknowingly parked in a non-student spot you will likely have a ticket within 5 minutes. I parked in a loading zone to drop something off and had a ticket in 5 minutes. I also got a summer parking pass, which apparently needs to be mailed to you now. I've gotten two parking tickets in the two days I've been waiting on the pass.

The construction on campus is constant. They have roads and sidewalks blocked off and loud construction sounds throughout the day.

The dorms are also very old. They've finally been replacing some, but when I lived in the on-campus dorms it wasn't uncommon to find a rat in my incredibly old dorm room.

The university also has constant alerts of rape and theft crimes. The neighborhood adjacent to the University, Fort Sanders has a very high crime rate. It has a reputation for break-ins, rape and general loud, drunken disorder (as does the campus, despite being a dry campus. If you report anything to the UT Police or Knoxville Police Department, many cases will not be responded to. There are also a lot of homeless people in that area, as well as the Strip where many of the restaurants and stores like Walgreens and Walmart.

Finally, the University is not very tolerant of minorities.

The sororities and fraternities run the school and there is a heavy party atmosphere centered around them. This is a party school, so if you aren't looking for that, do not choose this school. There's also a large number of rapes associated with them too. I was not involved in Greek life and felt uncomfortable or isolated because of it, despite most fraternity guys being rude to non-Greeks.

The University as well as Greek groups are also rather intolerant of other races, religions, exchange students and LGBTQ+ people to name a few (having gotten rid of their Outreach center, as well restricting the Sex Week on sexual education in a sweeping wave of discrimination based on upheld religious beliefs at the University and state legislative levels). Plus people with large signs and Bibles will constantly remind you how you are going to hell for being different.

Don't make the mistake I did of going here.