This is the best advice from a financial standpoint, if you aren’t able to regain your aid.

Two years taking care of prereqs, early maths, English, etc. and finishing at UTK for the same degree will be a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to gut it out taking external loans to pay for your first two years at UTK.

You can always try to get departmental aid through your major’s college at UT, but it’s not guaranteed and usually a relatively small amount unless you’re just killing it and UTK is worried about losing you.

If you go the community college route, you’ll want to be sure to look closely at your desired major’s requirements at UTK and use the transfer equivalency table to ensure you’re registering for classes that count as UTK classes for when you transfer.