The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Megan

I just do not care for our chancellor. He is in a hunt to be in the to 25 universities as reported by U.S. News and World Report, and I feel like every decision is made for that reason. It seems that the school cares more about its reputation than its students sometimes, which seems oxymoronic. I think that a university that spends more time enabling its students to be more successful and independent will have a better turn out that would lead to reaching the university goals of being in the top 25 schools in America.

Bailey

I think the worst thing on campus would have to be the negative attitude that much of the male population has towards the female population. You don't encounter it physically, but on annonymous social media like Yik Yak, you see it way too often. Females are constantly put down for not having sex with someone, or not pressing charges for accused rape or assult, and the such. UT is also focused on getting on to the Top 25 Public Universisities list, so they're tearing down many buildings and replacing them with new ones, so tuition is rising.

Jeffrey

Tuition increases every year. For the Fall 2015 semester, current students saw a 3{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} increase while incoming students suffer a 6{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} increase.

Mason

The worst thing about my school is that many of the activities and social events are centered around Greek life. More often than not, if one is not a member of a fraternity or a sorority, they feel out of place at campus events. This can make students feel disconnected from the world around them.

Samantha

That the sience classes are too big. I am a chemistry major and it is harder to engage in my science classes with 300 ids in them.

Anthony

The worst thing abiut my school would have to be how long it takes to walk to certain classes. A couple of my classes were a 20 minute walk away whch made it a hassle to walk there especially when there was bad weather. It made going to class that much harder.

Jordan

The University of Tennessee is a large campus and functions much like a small city. For this reason, you may or may not get to know people.

Julia

The worst thing about my school is the rate of tuition. It's a financial burden on me and my family and for every other student I know.

Dillon

Campus housing is extremely expensive. I would love the convenience of living on campus (even if it meant tight living conditions) but I cannot bring myself to pay for it if the price isn't even close to competitive.

Elise

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Kelsey

My campus is not very safe and I think more could be done to make walking back to your dorm at night less of a hazard.

jackie

The worst thing about my school is t

Bethany

At the University of Tennessee, I consider myself to have adusted to college life better than I thought I would have. The campus is large, and so, sometimes, when you are leaving a little bit late for your classes, the worst part about the school is how far you sometimes have to walk just to get to class. The campus bus transportation is very reliable, but you have to catch them just at the perfect time.

Erin

Bullies--They are mean.

Hannah

The lack of clear directions they have for incoming freshmen. We don't know where on campus to go for help, so we end up in the wrong office for help and end up waiting in so many lines that we don't even need to be in. If we were provided with a short summary of what the different campus offices helped students with it would be way easier to start at UT.

Curtis

the campus is large, with a lot of walking. and there always seems to be construction happening on the campus

Kaleb

The on-campus housing is expensive and comes with many additional expenses, most noteably a required meal plan in most housing, and the meal plans are limited, over-priced and most on-campus foods that is part of the meal plans are lousy.

Derek

The worst thing about the University of Tennessee is preferential treatment the athletes receive.

Andrew

The worst thing about the university is the lack of drive and motivation for post-graduate success that at least half of the student body has. Being a state school, there are many who attend to get an education and have as much fun as possible, when they don't realize the amount of amazing opportunities the university provides. It's hard to relate to a lot of students because of their different priorities. This does affect the school's reputation as a party school and a classic state school, and it's something that frustrates me about the school.

Savannah

The worst thing at my school is the availability of parking. The school sells more parking passes than they have parking spots. Therefore, commuters are forced to drive around a long time and are ultimately late for class or sometimes miss class. When forced to park illegally or in a wrong lot in order to make class, students are ticketed.

Christina

There is really nothing wrong at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The only thing that many up-coming freshman and transfer students have a problem with is fitting in and finding that group of people to be with. Since UT is such a large University it is very possible to feel like a number, but by getting involved you can make the campus enviorment feel small. There are over 400 different organiztions on campus to get involed in including intermurals and Student Government Association.

Emily

Definitely the size of the classes is what I consider the worst things about my school. Most of my classes have 100-200 students in them and we miss out on the one on one with the teachers like we had in high school. I know college is supposed to be harder but if they want us to be successful in life then they need to help us succeed.

LaTonya

At UTK, it feels like the administration is way more concerned with money than education. We get tickets for everything here and it feels like everything costs ten times more than it should. A parking ticket will be address before a grade issue. Your car will be towed before you can meet with an advisor. The thing about it is we rarely see what the money goes towards. Sure, new buildings are being built but only several months (even years) after the original scheduled date.

Mark

The worst thing about UT is also one of the best- the size of the school. While it is extremely nice to have a more diverse and expansive university, the size is something that sometimes reduces you to just a number.

Rachel

I believe the worst thing about my school is they do not offer much financial aid. The Tennessee Hope Scholarship is wonderful but there are still many other expenses. I only recieve 1500 a year where as I got full rides from other schools.

Melissa

I cannot necessarily say that there is anything bad about my school. Yes, there are those who enjoy drinking and partying, but doesn't just about every college do that? In all honesty, I don't see anything that could be pin pointed out all on its own to be "the worst thing" about my school.

Annie

The current affairs that have taken place at the University of Tennessee have created some negative press for the school. The arrests of the athletes from both the basketball and football teams have created a bad reputation for UT. Also, our football coach, Lane Kiffin, left the school very recently and has created more negative publicity for the university. The situation is very embarrassing as a student because I do the best I can to represent my school in a positive light .

Brittany

Sometimes, the general education classes are so big that you feel like the professor doesn't care about you individually. This can usually be alleviated by visiting office hours.

Tyler

The worst thing about my school is the work load for some of the classes. There are teachers here who take it too far as to giving out work. They assign work as if that class is the only one we have to worry about. If you have more than one of these type of teachers then your work for the night can be quite high.

Alexandra

The worst thing about UT is their lack of finalcial help to out-of-state students and they are bad about getting back to students about whether or not they have recieved money. Most money goes to in-state students who are already attending at a lower cost. I think the school needs to be better about providing finacial assistance to all students.

Whitney

The worst thing is that alcohol and drinking is a huge issue. Also there have been some budget cuts, so classes have become bigger, as well as some programs being completed removed. Also, prices of parking are ridiculous and sometimes students have a hard time finding parking.

Courtney

I hate the location and the fact there is little green area on campus. Frankly, it's not a pretty campus.

Breanne

I think the worst thing about the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is the fact that we have tons of concrete everywhere and nowhere for students to park hardly. Even if you do find a parking spot, it is very likely that their will be a parking ticket lying on your car when you return. I also do not appreciate the new grading system with the added plus and minus on top of grades.

Ricky

There is some racism here that I don't approve of.

Eva

The worst thing about the school is the impersonality of it. There are far more people than the facilities will allow for. For example, the number of parking permits the university sells far outnumbers the amount of available spaces. UT could be a far more enjoyable place to be if it admitted half of the students that it does. Of course, money is the most important thing--the college is a business, after all.

Tara

I'd say some bad things would be how crazy it gets on campus when it is football time. Since it is a football school, the other sports seem to not matter, especially the non-popular sports. When it hits game day - better leave or get here before the rush or you'll be stuck in traffic for hours! If you aren't a football fan, you may feel left out, but there are plenty of other people who dislike football. You won't be the only one.

Kayla

What I like least about The University of Tennessee is the cost of out-of-state tuition. The tuition is very high and my family can only afford to pay for so much which leaves me to come up with the rest of the payment. I have absolutely no regrets about being a student at UT but it does become difficult to pay for tuition.

Emily

parking

Amberly

How expensive it is for people who don't recieve financial aid that covers everything.

John

The hills walking to and from class.

Brett

out of state tuition

Victoria

I'd say the size of UT is the worst thing about it. Because there are so many students, at times it seems very impersonal.

Analise

costs. for out-of- state student it hard to affort to go to school here

Demetric

The lack of explanation at times for spending in unnecessary areas vs. cuts in fundings in crucial areas.

Alexander

The worst thing about school is being away from my family. We are a close family and I enjoy spending time doing activities with them, but only sometimes of course.

Rae

I guess the worst thing would be that some of the buildings are a bit old and do not have air conditioning. They are fixing this problem gradually though so in a few years it will no longer be an issue.

Russell

With so many people there are bound to be some people you are not going to like. Because there is so many differences between everyone there are bound to be some people who do not get along.

Elise

Although I like my school a lot and have little to complain about, I think that getting the classes you want at the time you want is difficult. I think parking is a mess and that usually at least one time per semester there is one week of hell that all your classes happen to have tests in.

Sandra

It's too big and spread out, sometimes it was impossible to get from class to class on time, but I made it alright.

Nathan

Too far from home. Lots of traffic to maneuvre thru.