University of Tennessee — Attraction in Knoxville

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...

My husband was taken to UT by ambulance because he was having trouble breathing, feverish and just feeling badly. There was a full house in the Emergency Room and the examination rooms were turning over as soon as the next was cleaned up it filled up. Thank goodness the staff is great at thinking straight during such a fast moving, crazy busy time as to reconized his condition was such that he would be admitted in hospital. They diagnosed and started treating him for severe pnumonia as well as getting an X-RAY done as they were setting up getting my husband a room. My husband was admitted in hospital and had a CT scan done as well as breathing treatments, IV fluids with antibiotics, steroids and medicine for pain from all the coughing. Ultimately when the CT scan report came back it showed that my husbands right lung had a lot of damage from the pnumonia but also lung cancer. After having a bronchial scope to do a biopsy on the mass, in which my husbands heart rate went crazy high while under anesthesia (which has never happened before with the 5 surgeries in the last 11 years he's had) put him in ICU for 2 days. He was then put in a different room where he was hooked up to like 5 different wires and tubes to make sure that the staff had every bit of information possible. He joked about feeling like an octopus lol. After 7 days in the hospital he was discharged with appointments for several doctors, COPD, Pulmonary, Cancer Specialist, Oncologist and Pallitive care. He has since had a PET scan which the Doctor interpreted as my husband has Stage 3b non-small cell lung cancer, specifically Squamous. My husband is currently waiting for the upcoming appointments to get a Port put in for the Chemo to be administered as well as Radiation treatments for the next 6 weeks. **EVERY Single person that we came in contact with at All the different locations to include the Doctors, Nurses, aides, technicians, admission, the people that brought his meals to the janitorial people treated both of us with the up most Respect, Listened to us about us, and as we were/are Human Beings. It is the best experience we've ever had at the local hospitals. IF my husband was Treated with a Fraction of the Respect 4 months earlier in October 2017 When he was taken by ambulance to LaConte, was admitted on Saturday the 14th about midnight Only to be told there was no "Medical" reason to keep him and discharged him without the Doctor even coming to the room to debrief my husband. My husband was throwing up in the garbage can and still on a liquid diet the same Doctor put him on, we were made to leave, under protest of course, and shuffled out a BACK door by a Nurse and a Security guard which was really uncalled for. We were homeless and didn't have any insurance, just an almost exact situation with 2 VERY different outcomes. We truly hope that each person that has the unfortunate event leading to a trip to UT Hospital has the same Awesome experience that we had and continue to have with outpatient appointments and treatments. God...

As usual my experience at UT hospital is as always was great, efficient, and eye opening. This time I was rushed to UT ER because my niece noticed my left side of my face was dropping, my speech was slurred and left side went numb. She called 911. The EMTs are firedepartment got me to UT ER in a matter of minutes. This was last Friday morning. They thought I had a stroke. Friday and Saturday they put me through a series of tests. CT scan, ultrasound of my heart and MRI. After all that they found out I didn't have a stroke, but a precursor to one. A mini stroke. They have changed my meds, my blood pressure meds, blood thinners, diabetes meds. The staff at UT ER can't be beat in my personal opinion. The floor staff of Drs, nurses and CNAs are all very well trained and compassionate than many other hospitals I've ever been admitted to, or any of my family members in my 64 years. I highly recommend UT hospital to anyone I know. Over the past 20 years I wouldn't go to any other hospital, especially when it's a emergency situation a person is going through. They have saved my bacon countless times over the years. The time before this incident, it was having my Ablation heart surgery, the last time was my two total knee replacement surgeries, then finding tomors in my bladder, thank God they wasn't cancerous. They took care of my late wife for over 11 years before her passing and 5 years with her Mom. UT hospital is the only one I've would recommend to anyone period. Thanks again one and all of the staff at UT hospital. Without out them I know I most likely wouldn't still be around today. They go above and beyond in every respect of medical care, and explaining the whole process of every aspect of my experience all these years. I wouldn't go anywhere else but to UT hospital when ever I need medical attention in all respects. I give them a...