I graduated from BYU and thought it was a very rigorous program. I never really did want to go there but ended up going there by default. It was much less rigid than Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) was so BYU was a bit of a breath of fresh air for me. The football games were very fun and the friends I made were great as well.
When I received this email from BYU alumni that BYU was the most popular school in the country ranked by US News, it was a bit surprising to me. BYU even out-ranked the likes of Harvard, Standford, and many others (for a complete list of the rankings click here).
What are your thoughts? Does this surprise you at all?
On a side note, as you look at the list of most popular schools, my home-state of Idaho has Idaho State University ranked in the top 10 most popular schools. This was even more shocking to me!
Grace for Grace 
12 comments
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February 2, 2011 at 3:14 am
Carla
I mentioned this to my husband and his response was that, while you might get accepted to Yale or Harvard, many can’t afford to go. Conversely, many who apply and get accepted at BYU are LDS (correct?), so tuition is only a fraction of what most would pay for a 4-year accredited school.
That’s not to dis the school – being affordable and still offering that level of education is a huge plus for many people.
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February 3, 2011 at 3:20 am
ama49
Great points Carla.
Where did you go to school?
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February 3, 2011 at 3:29 am
Carla
Loras – a small liberal arts college in Iowa (about 1700 undergrad students)
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February 3, 2011 at 3:37 am
ama49
Interesting. I’ve never heard of that school. I checked out your blog. You have some interesting stuff there. If you don’t mind, I’ll link up to your latest post to share with my readers. I thought it was interesting.
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February 3, 2011 at 3:44 am
Carla
No, you wouldn’t have heard of it. It is quite small, haha. 😀
I wouldn’t mind that at all, that’s very kind of you.
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February 3, 2011 at 3:52 am
ama49
Hi Carla,
I just linked up to it and wrote simliar thoughts I shared on your blog.
How did you come across Graceforgrace, by the way? Are you LDS or of a different faith? I noticed you’re reading a book about Emma Smith.
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February 3, 2011 at 4:01 am
Carla
I was born and raised Catholic, my husband was raised LDS but is no longer a member, his parents and brothers are all still members, though a few don’t intend to remain members once they turn 18. I listen to a podcast called Mormon Expression and on Feb 13 they’re doing a book club episode on Mormon Enigma and I thought I’d like to participate.
I have a BA in English Literature, but I also have a minor in religious studies, and the LDS religion is really fascinating to me. I admit I went through a period of anger and dislike for Mormonism (so if you ever encounter an angry comment or post from me, rest assured I’m over it), but I’m more of an interested religious scholar these days. Catholics aren’t very active in the blogosphere (at least ones that aren’t judgmental/preachy/fanatical), but the LDS community (both ExMo’s and active members) are a great bunch. I love comparing Catholicism and Mormonism (you can find several posts on my blog involving both).
I do still have a vested interest in studying Mormonism and participating in the community though, having people I love as members of the church. There are thing that bother me of course (or else I’d be a member, right? haha), and I like having the knowledge to dialogue with my active member family if the opportunity comes up.
Does that answer your question? 🙂
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February 2, 2011 at 5:24 pm
jks
I clicked to see how they are judging “popularity.” I guess it means the highest percentage of how many who were accepted actually go.
That is probably why Idaho is up there. Many other states have students who apply to more schools and so they are going to have to turn some schools down.
I applied only to BYU and I went to BYU. Why would I waste the money to apply to another school if I wasn’t going to go there? I knew I would be accepted to BYU (based on ACT and grades) so why bother?
BYU is affordable, a good education and offers the Mormon Community that other schools can’t. Students are very likely to already know if their decision is going to be BYU when they apply.
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February 3, 2011 at 3:19 am
ama49
Hi Jks,
Those are good points. How was your experience at BYU?
For me, I liked a lot of the people there and the professors and courses were very challenging. I felt I didn’t quite fit in though with a lot of the “Utah Mormon” crowd. Just the little cultural things got to me a bit. Other than that I feel I received a great education and enjoyed myself overall.
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February 3, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Naismith
“I applied only to BYU and I went to BYU. Why would I waste the money to apply to another school if I wasn’t going to go there? I knew I would be accepted to BYU (based on ACT and grades) so why bother?”
That may have worked in past eras, but it is increasingly competitive as the church grows and thus there are more folks who want to go. So you could have really been screwed by not having a back-up plan.
My daughter is a going through the waiting game right now, and it isn’t that simple for her, despite the high test scores and grades.
We don’t know how much seminary attendance matters. During the last presidential election, and some boys hassled my daughters about their parents being Democrats and supporting Obama and thus going to hell. The teacher thought it funny. Our daughters were in tears many days and hated going to seminary, so they didn’t go for the least reason. They got a new teacher in January, but overall her attendance was only 70% for that year.
She has been offered scholarships to other places, but is unlikely to get a scholarship to BYU. She takes pride in those offers, and likes the idea of putting herself through with no debts or much cost to us.
Also, BYU is in a cold climate, thousands of miles from home. We can afford to send her there, but not to bring her back for Thanksgiving. She will not know anyone; it takes a lot of bravery to make that plunge.
Also, my older kids who went for summer sessions had a mixed bag of experiences. For kids who have never had a Mormon friend before, it is a shock. They both felt it was an eye-opening experience overall, but they were glad to come back to their real school.
So it will not be such an easy decision for her. And the longer we wait to hear, the less likely that she will go, so I wish they would notify her. Sigh.
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February 8, 2011 at 8:08 pm
ama49
Naismith,
I appreciate your comments. You probably wouldn’t have liked my post last year entitled “How can a Christian Vote Democrat?” I learned a lot from fellow LDS and other Christian Democrats on that post and appreciate your contribution.
Although I am not a Democrat, I can definitely empathize with your daughter’s situation. While BYU was an excellent school, the culture there is very, very strange…especially for those who are not familiar with Mormon culture. 90% of people in “Happy Valley” are LDS and that means people act a certain way, dress a certain way and there is a definite lack of variety. Many times things that are not culturally acceptable mesh into being un-scriptural or heathen. I felt out of place at BYU and was happy to get out of there and moved to the Seattle area. Here there are many LDS (I think aobut 5% of the population or so) but many non-LDS so people are more “normal” so to speak.
Where do you live, by the way and how is your family viewed in the community?
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February 5, 2011 at 10:40 pm
Cal
Carla, your history/story was interesting.
Oral Roberts University had a respectable showing at about #14. Yea! I spent two semesters there.
I’m curious—what percentage of BYU students are non-Mormon, would you guess?
In light of what I learned at this post, if I had my life to live over again, I’d consider going to BYU.
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