Sweet Moments Photography

Review of ACOI and UT Dallas

While I enjoyed some of my classes and professors ...

While I enjoyed some of my classes and professors at UT Dallas and made a few life-long friends during my time as a student, I was highly disappointed by several aspects of the University.

First, I came to UTD as a transfer student. I knew nothing in regards to the campus or the way in which I was supposed to go about being registered. I spent numerous hours trying to get answers from advisors and administration to no avail. If I went to one advisor, they told me I was in the wrong place and that I really needed to go elsewhere. It was exhausting and frustrating.

Second, once I was accepted to UT Dallas, I had to send in vaccination records. I called to ask how they'd like them to be sent and they told me via USPS. A week went by and I hadn't heard back nor had my enrollment status been updated; I let this go because I just assumed that they were busy with all the incoming students and had an overload of paperwork. Two weeks went by, so I called them again. They claimed to have never gotten the paperwork and told me that the best way to get my paperwork to them was by faxing it over. By the time they sorted this out, I was not able to attend transfer student orientation. I felt completely lost and like I was drowning...and it wasn't even the first day of classes.

Third, because of the fiasco above, I was unable to register for classes until the Friday before classes started. I was panicking and left with a slim number of options for classes. I was less than thrilled about this, but I had to do what I had to do. My advisor seemed to be knowledgeable; however, I would soon find out that she messed up my classes and I would waste an entire semester in a class that I had already taken the equivalent to through DCCCD. This incident never received an apology, and I should have gotten the money back for that class. This little mishap went on to complicate things even further when I had to take an overload of classes my last semester on campus before completing student teaching during my final semester before graduation.

Fourth, do not go to administration for any comments or complaints you have. You will be humiliated and degraded by those in charge. I have never received such a hateful email from someone who is supposed to represent the university as a safe institution for learning and growth, and a university that has taken pride in the fact that they supposedly listen to their students to illicit change. My words were thrown back at me with pure hatred intertwined in the message. Believe me, I got the message loud and clear: don't question my authority, I'll have you obliterated. I'd hate to know what untrue and spiteful remarks this individual has made about me to his colleagues and staff.

Lastly, I would like to mention some other unpleasant occurrences during my years at UTD:
1. Parking is outrageously expensive and it is incredibly difficult to find parking despite having built new garages recently. The parking lots are also in desperate need of repair. If it rains, be prepared to walk through what seems like a lake--literally, I have had to trudge through water mid-calf before. Also, be prepared to ruin any decent pairs of shoes you own because of the water and the mud and the otherwise uneven lots and sidewalks.
2. There is not sufficient lighting in the walkways/sidewalks and parking lots for students who attend classes until 9:45 at night. Sure, they have some students on "patrol," but these students do nothing more than stand with a little orange light talking to one another. If I were seriously in danger, they'd have no idea. Be sure to have pepper spray and take some self-defense classes. I never felt adequately safe when walking to my car at night.
3. This school's focus is business and STEM. If you are in education or literary studies, you have the worst buildings, classrooms, and resources available to you. Classes had to be cancelled on more than one occasion because an animal crawled under the portable buildings, got stuck, and died.