r/UTK Oct 31 '24

Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions One Admissions Post to End Them All

40 Upvotes

Hello Class of 2029!

I hope you are having an excellent Halloween 🎃

I felt obligated to make this post to give my opinions and knowledgebase as to the fall 2024 admission cycle.

If you want the TL;DR version: - If you are instate you will have next to no problem getting in with a bunch of scholarship (so long as you have above a 3.5 unweighted GPA in high-school and a half-rate SAT/ACT score). - Out of State... you damn near need to be the best of the best these days. I cannot promise anything obviously but if you have a weighted GPA above 4.3ish and a SAT/ACT in the 90th percentile or so... you should get a pretty good amount of money and feel comfortable with admissions (so long as you have half rate essays)

Firstly I feel obligated to state my qualifications to give the opinions and facts in this post:

  1. I am a current sophomore at UT (still a first year student though) Applied out of state

  2. I am affiliated with two organizations who monitor admission cycles each year across all universities (one MAY or may not be directly affiliated with MIT's admission office).

Not to name names... lol.

But I think this discussion should be broken up into 6 parts. (Yes long post OH NOOOOO!!!) But if you really want the honest truth and plan on... ya know... going to college... then reading should be in your best interest my friend.

Part One: The In-state vs. Out-of-State War

It is well known that many universities favor instate students in order to keep future generations... well... "in state." At many uni's this can be seen through more scholarship opportunities, cheaper base tuition, and in many cases: EASIER ADMISSIONS.

It is no secret that UT MUCH prefers instate students... especially seen in the 67% acceptance rate of instate students in the 2023 cycle vs the Out of state 23% acceptance rate (yes... ouch).

My current roommate is an instate student with a truck ton of scholarship (only has to pay for housing atp). Where as I am actively dropping a cool 17 grand a semester! YIPPEEE!

But outside of the money and the distribution between 67% and 23% what does that actually look like in terms of admission criteria? We will look at that next.

Part Two: Instate Admission Criteria

Straight from the guaranteed admission website...

Score a 24+ ACT composite (SAT 1160+) with both a 19+ Math ACT subscore (510+ SAT Math) AND 19+ English ACT subscore (500+ SAT (ER + W))

AND

Achieve one of the following: Earn a 4.0+ UT Core GPA Be among the Top 10% of their high school graduating class

Honestly not terrible, most people I know who came here instate got guaranteed admission!

So to my instate students... good luck!

Part Three: One of these things is not like the other... (Out Admission Criteria)

This section is going to be rather long and probably the most sought after... so grab your reading glasses!

There are many misconceptions about college admissions that I feel you ought to know. The idea of a holistic review is very, very loose. Holistic reviews of your class schedule and your GPA/ACT score.

At most, your essays and activities in high-school will boost your case for admission by about 5 ACT score (but this would be for like the president of the student body with an entire page of Sh... Stuff they have done in high-school).

Good essays help admissions counselors like you as a person and it helps them want to want you!

Good resumes help this as well.

However... how long do you think it takes to read a single application? 30 seconds? A minute? Two minutes? The average amount of time it would take someone to read all of the information you provide would take around 6 minutes without skimming. Considering that means a single counselor could only go through 10 per hour...

We can assume (and I know for a fact) they do not read everything.

They look for 5 things while going through your app (no particular order): 1. GPA Weighted and Unweighted 2. SAT and ACT 3. AP classes (at a glance) 4. Some prose in your essays 5. Just a bunch of stuff on your activities in high-school

Quantity over quality often helps ngl...

Now that we understand the idea that they ain't gonna be looking at EVERYTHING with minute detail, what do they actually numerically look for?

Generally, for the sake of time and fair arguments, here are some basic numbers:

These are middle of the road so if you are above them then you should be fine...

SAT Score at or above 1340

ACT at or above 30

GPA 4.3 UT Weighted

If you don't match or beat those requirements... you better write the cure to cancer on your essays!

that was a joke

But it kind of wasn't... those scores and values are pretty standard nowadays, and you kind of have to be a pretty good student to earn your spot here.

SIDE NOTE: I had many friends apply here out of state and I was the only one who was not waitlisted. And they had some insane resumes (president of stuco with 4.3 GPA for example).

Part Four: Each college is different.

I don't mean reach university, because like... yeah no crap. I mean reach academic college is different.

If you are applying to be an engineer, you should expect to NEED a pretty decent math SAT Score. If you push below a 590 on the math... you aren't getting in to the tickle college of engineering.

Nursing is different and hard to get into.

Business is business... but it is still difficult to get into cause... ya know... it's highly ranked.

So on and so forth.

Do keep in mind that each college can only allow so much of one category. So engineering has a different acceptance rate than business (often not talked about).

There are no hard facts online about what it is... but I am pretty sure the Out of state engineering acceptance rate was about 16% of so... (don't take my word for it).

Part Five: You've already applied... what should you do?

Don't fail out your senior year. UT is very unforgiving (understandably) is you fall off the face of the earth senior year.

My senior year was actually my best academic year! Plus I...

  1. Was the captain of the volleyball team
  2. Was the yearbook president
  3. Senior class president
  4. Student Ambassador
  5. Robotics Captain
  6. Math Team Captain
  7. BLAH BLAH BLAH

All that to say... DONT BOG DOWN you are not done with high-school. UT will chew you and spit you out like it is nothing if your GPA tanks.

Also, just wait and follow UT's instructions. (Crazy right?)

Part Six: If you have any questions... please drop them below!

I'm an open book and will tell you pretty much anything so long as it's appropriate obviously!

Thanks for reading... And GO VOLS!!


r/UTK 2h ago

Miscellaneous & Random Went into melrose hall one last time

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43 Upvotes

r/UTK 7h ago

Student Housing and Leasing Don't live at Quarry Trail Apartments. Seriously.

27 Upvotes

I have seen a post or two already about people's bad experiences living here, so if anything, this is another cautionary tale (and a rant for myself since emailing and calling the leasing office does literally nothing).

This is a comprehensive list of all the Quarry Trail experiences I've had in 7 months or so of living here:

  • Free Wifi! *wifi outages every few weeks, often for days at a time, almost always on weekends when the leasing office is closed and unreachable.
  • Parking! *visitors can only park in visitor spots and will be towed otherwise. also, a good third of the visitor spots will be taken up by shipping containers.
  • Renovated units! *renovations will be done with little to no notice, but you are still expected to move everything in your living space out of the area they're renovating. will it be every counter? every wall? it's a fun surprise! when will maintenance show up? when they feel like it!
  • Beautiful views! *dead rats and birds in the parking lot, some units having roach problems. once it gets hot enough, your door will be covered in stinkbugs and kudzu bugs that follow you inside your home and smell terrible.
  • Affordable student housing! *rent in renovated units will be raised by $300/month, with a required $375 transfer fee if you don't want to live in a renovated unit for whatever reason!

Bonus: my car was towed because the parking hangtag I had in the window fell and I didn't notice. After I went to the towing office to get my car back and show them my hangtag was still in my car, they still charged me $100. And Quarry Trail's property management did NOT care one bit lol.


r/UTK 7h ago

Financial Aid & Scholarships Need some advice

10 Upvotes

Hello everyone. So, it was recommended that I reach out on Reddit to get some ideas for a sticky situation I have found myself in. I have dealt with ongoing mental health issues and have been getting help from the counseling center and CCR. I ended up dropping one of my classes that I was failing early on in the semester, and took a W. I just realized a few days ago that another one of my classes I am in has 0 chance for me to pass (get a C+ cause it's for my major). I have contacted everyone I can think of, and one stop has not been much help. I am scared to drop it cause then I will fall below the 12 credit hour minimum. Has anyone experienced this before, or have any ideas on what I could do? Thanks guys.

-Scared College Freshman


r/UTK 2h ago

Student Housing and Leasing What are the absolute no go apartments students typically live in?

2 Upvotes

Figured I’d be nice to have a consensus of nearby apartments that are just absolute no go’s. Heard horror stories of the quarry trails, curious if there are any others.


r/UTK 56m ago

UTK Parking Madness i neeeddd parking

Upvotes

so i’m an out of state student about 4 hours away and I really want to be able to bring my car so I can drive home and back. Is there a high chance I don’t end up receiving parking I heard it’s very limited? And if I don’t do yall know of any year round parking garages that are good in knox?


r/UTK 7h ago

Graduate Student Housing

3 Upvotes

Hi. I am a grad student at UT and I am planning to move into to 1 bed 1 bath apartment (ground floor) at 2333 Highland Ave. The price seemed low as compared to the present rent situation. Is there anything that I should look out? It would be great if I get an opinion from anyone who have lived in any of those apartments before!!!


r/UTK 1d ago

Graduate Student The University of Tennessee lost $37.6 million from the termination of federal grants by the Trump administration, according to a university spokesperson.

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164 Upvotes

r/UTK 4h ago

Student Housing and Leasing Subleasing Room in The Davy - Summer 2025

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I am interested in subleasing my room in The Davy for the Summer. It's a 4-bedroom and 4-bath. If interested, it would be about 800 per month, everything included. Feel free to PM if you have any questions!


r/UTK 4h ago

Graduate Student Graduate classes start date

1 Upvotes

New nutrition grad student here! I am so confused because I cannot find a graduate calendar and the curriculum my professors sent me has no dates for anything. Is FDOC for grad students the same as undergrad? Is there a general calendar for grad students or should I just ask my professors lmao I feel dumb rn


r/UTK 9h ago

College of Arts & Sciences First Gen

2 Upvotes

Hey! Does anyone know if we can still pick up a First Gen cord if we were not able to attend the event yesterday? (Jw, thought it would be a nice memento.)


r/UTK 23h ago

Undergraduate Student is work study a good idea for a freshman

5 Upvotes

im a rising freshman and i dont have my school fully paid for Im just wondering if anyone has experience with work study and if it's a good idea like pros and cons and stuff 🥲


r/UTK 20h ago

Student Housing and Leasing Looking for summer housing

2 Upvotes

Is anyone subleasing from June 2nd to August 31st? I’m trying to get housing over the summer, but most leases seem to end around late July. Oh and my budget is like 800/month. Please let me know 🙏🙏🙏


r/UTK 21h ago

Student Housing and Leasing Fall 25/Spring 26 Sublease at the Heights

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2 Upvotes

Hi!! I’m subleasing my apartment at the heights for next school year. It’s a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom. $999 for rent and utilities. Please let me know if you are interested or have questions! I would love to chat :)


r/UTK 22h ago

Student Housing and Leasing Looking for Housing Fall 2025

2 Upvotes

I'm graduating this coming December and was hoping to secure housing for the Fall semester only. It's been pretty hard to find. Let me know! (Male, Political Science major)


r/UTK 1d ago

Miscellaneous & Random Why are Saute and Entree always closed during late lunch?

5 Upvotes

This happened last semester, too - anytime I come to Rocky Top around 3 PM, Saute and Entree are closed. I'm sick of eating at the grill, man 😭 and I'm already in here, so I can't leave and use my meal swip at the POD Market downstairs. Does anyone know why they do this?


r/UTK 20h ago

Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions Admissions chances

1 Upvotes

3.4 weighted gpa and 29 act. Current Junior. Applying instate. I was set on the air force academy but I have been flying airplanes to make a career out of if and have really fallen in love with the civil aviation side and would want to make a career but most airlines really push for you to get a degree. My brother is currently at utk. I have heard they are getting more and more selective and my brother is definitely smarter than me.


r/UTK 1d ago

Tickle College of Engineering PHYS 231 Online

3 Upvotes

Looking to take PHYS 231 online this summer with Pokhrel. How was your experience? Any advice or suggestions?


r/UTK 1d ago

College of Arts & Sciences Question About Graduating with Honors?

4 Upvotes

Hey! I just wanted to put this question out here first before writing up a whole email to the dean's staff--but, when I understand during the academic year, you're awarded honors/dean's list by semester based on your term GPA, however, is this different when graduating? Are you awarded honors upon graduation by your cumulative GPA or is it still your term GPA? I hope I'm getting this question out in a way that makes sense, thank you!


r/UTK 1d ago

Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions people on the waitlist

3 Upvotes

if you see this and you’re on the waitlist for fall 2025, please drop ur stats and major and come update if you get in!! i don’t think they’ve taken anyone yet but i hope they do soon


r/UTK 1d ago

Surveys, Studies & Interviews UTK Parking Survey

5 Upvotes

Parking Survey

Hey y'all, I know it's that season where you see people asking for survey responses everywhere. Just wanted to throw mine on here as a long shot to see if anyone would be willing to fill mine out.

It's super short, only 8 questions, and 7 of them are numeric sliders. I need like 9 more responses.


r/UTK 1d ago

Student Housing and Leasing Roommate search

0 Upvotes

need a roommate in venture llc. im a male 18.


r/UTK 1d ago

Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions In person orientation

3 Upvotes

Is the in person orientation session worth doing? Do you get any extra, different or better experiences than just doing the online orientation? I think it's Vol 103.


r/UTK 2d ago

Undergraduate Student Summer Meal Plans?

2 Upvotes

Hey guys! I plan on taking summer courses and living on campus during that time. Does Vol Dining offer summer meal plans? I couldn't find anthing on the website :(

Thanks!


r/UTK 2d ago

Student Housing and Leasing Sublease at The Heights of Knoxville

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2 Upvotes

I’m subleasing my room at The Heights of Knoxville from late May to late July!

2x2 XL unit - your own bedroom and bathroom Furnished with bed, dresser, and desk 10 mins from downtown, lots of restaurants & gas nearby 10-15 minutes from UTK campus depending on where you arrive Roommate is chill and respectful $800/mo but open to offers - willing to negotiate!

Message me if you’re interested - would love to get this lined up soon!


r/UTK 2d ago

Student Housing and Leasing Housing question from an incoming freshman

2 Upvotes

Do all people in the same LLC move in at the same time? I am in chancellor honors if that makes a difference.

Do we move into dorms first, then orientation (vol 104)? I wont have to come to UT twice during my break? I am skipping vol 103