The University of Memphis

Please avoid this school at all costs to save yourself time, money, and stress.
The campus and surrounding city are very dangerous. I'm always getting texts about robberies. A few years ago, I remember a female student being raped in front of her boyfriend and they shot him in broad daylight in a parking lot near Carpenter Complex. Campus safety is a joke, I never see patrols and the couple times I contacted police, they acted like I bothered them.

For a university that prides itself on being a commuter school, they treat commuters badly. There is literally not enough parking for everyone and they know this. Poor campus planning has resulted in less parking spaces than there are students. Most lots cost extra for a special permit. The few general lots are far from the center of campus. One is next to train tracks. Expect to be delayed by a train often. They thought it'd be a great idea to build a university next to a train. It's also extremely dangerous, especially as a lone female, to walk to your car alone after a night class. Like I said, no patrols. Parking services is very ticket happy to go out and ticket as much as they can. They can afford to hire ticketers but not invest in safety measures.

The dorms are very overpriced for what you get. If you enjoy having to compete for a washer and dryer, 1 stove per floor, and sharing a tiny room built of cinderblocks for the price of decent sized apartment (with its own bathroom, kitchen, etc.) + roommate off-campus, then go ahead. They're building new ones, but I guarantee they will be a premium price.

SGA is a joke. All they've done in the time I was there is raise student fees by a couple $100 each person to pay for a new rec center we didn't need. I won't even be around to use it! I've been paying for it for 2 or 3 semesters, and they haven't even begun to build it.

Food is a joke, especially if you live on campus. Everything closes very early. Fridays most places close at 6PM or 7PM. Saturdays/Sundays things don't open until 11PM or 12PM, so good luck getting breakfast. There is nothing to do Fri-Sun, it literally shuts down. The library opens for only a couple hours on the weekends. You will be bored if you live on campus, don't do it.

If you are academically a good student, don't expect to be treated well. You get 1 scholarship that has a lot of stipulations in order to keep it.

Career Services doesn't do much. Their extent of connecting you with jobs and networking opportunities is very limited. They have the internship fair, but all the employers do is tell you to keep an eye out online for postings. Not much networking to be had.

There's a reason the graduation rate is so low. You spend almost the first 2 years fulfilling your gen eds, that many people are here longer than 4 years. The college does not work with you when trying to graduate. Emails go ignored often, be prepared to send a lot.The only redeeming quality is that if you're an athlete, the university will bend over backwards for you. There are ample sporting events to attend as a student at free or reduced cost, but all the other negatives really outweigh this.

4th Year Female -- Class 2016

Extracurricular Activities: C, Education Quality: F

Let's start with this : Graduation rate for the University of Memphis -
80%? --No, 68%?-- Nope, At least 50% right? as in at least half of the school graduates right? Not even close.

The graduation rate for the University of Memphis is a mere SIXTEEN percent - 16%.
The Vast majority of U of M students very accurately portray the local inhabitants of the surrounding area of Memphis, TN. Students come for financial aid, get their check, and then drop out of all their classes - just for the money.

Students on campus are loud, obnoxious, and rude. If you go to U of M, you'll have to keep yourself calm at the beginning of the semesters. This is when the financial aid abusers are still enrolled (and must be for a certain amount of weeks) before the check comes. It never fails, they will drop out. But until that time, you have to endure their loud and horrible behavior.

I will say exactly what two of my previous fellow students, who were African-American, posted - The school is downright ghetto. Again, this is reflective of Memphis, TN. When WMCTV news, AKA Channel 5, is reporting 6 shootings in 1 week, and the school is made up of 90% locals well.....you do the math.

Aside from the horrendous student body, this school is an absolute JOKE. The same type of people who go here and abuse the financial aid (loud and ghetto) are the same people pushing paperwork in the joke known as the BURSAR's office. Guess I'd be rude too, minimum wage.

Every time I had to file a form, I'd get to the window and have to wait 5 minutes before they stopped talking to their coworkers about some stupid stories that just make black people look bad.

Advisors are a joke and have every idea about how classes they select will help you in your future, and no idea how to help you graduate.

I could write an entire book on the school, but let's just end with this:

BAD students, BAD faculty, BAD academics, BAD surrounding area (dangerous)Avoid at all costs. (Unless you want to abuse financial aid and be ghetto while disrupting people. )

3rd Year Male -- Class 2013

Campus Maintenance: A, Education Quality: F

The accounting advisor at this school should be fired. She is rude, hateful, and very unprofessional. She talked to me like I was an idiot.

1st Year Female -- Class 2017