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Higher Ed Recommendations


bsjkki

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Is the University of Utah a good place to send your kid to college?  We do not live in Utah and I've had some Utah family members say it doesn't offer a great freshman experience because it's a "commuter school."  Also, they say it is the "party school" in Utah.  BYU does not offer the degree she wants to seek so is not an option and our in state school that offers her degree is an extremely liberal party school and I don't think she would fit it.  

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2 hours ago, bsjkki said:

Is the University of Utah a good place to send your kid to college?  We do not live in Utah and I've had some Utah family members say it doesn't offer a great freshman experience because it's a "commuter school."  Also, they say it is the "party school" in Utah.  BYU does not offer the degree she wants to seek so is not an option and our in state school that offers her degree is an extremely liberal party school and I don't think she would fit it.  

The U is a fine place for an LDS student. Yes, it is a commuter school, but with some networking your daughter should be able to find some like minded roommates. The U has a fabulous institute program as well. However, I would also consider Utah State if they offer the program she is interested in. It has an awesome social scene (better than BYU and I say that as a BYU alum). USU is everything I wanted BYU to be in terms of social life.

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We live close to Weber state (and have been to a football game) and it looks like a great school. Of course I don't have any idea what degree she wants to do. 

And of course there's the one in Logan. 

The few times I've been to the U it doesn't seem like it has a cohesive campus so I could see how having any kind of an on-campus life could be really hard. 

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I second Utah State, if it has the right program for your daughter. My son and daughter in law graduated from there, so I was able to watch from afar the great activities they participated in. I attended U of U many years ago and remember it to be a big party school. Maybe it's gotten better. UVU is a pretty good school too, I hear.

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How about UVU?  Our son went to UVU and majored in Philosophy.  He loved it.  Some of his roommates were at BYU and others were just working.  Having BYU and UVU in such close proximity means there are about 65,000 college students in Provo/Orem, most of whom are LDS. 

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It all depends of course upon the major your daughter wants to pursue, and only you know whether she is strong enough to have an undergrad experience at a first rate university -- which Utah does not have.  Thus, I would recommend a campus of the University of California system, or a similar institution where ever she feels comfortable.  The LDS institutes near most campuses afford the opportunity to remain grounded in the LDS faith, while receiving a rigorous undergraduate education.

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1 hour ago, rpn said:

There is also LDS business college in SLC that has lots of practical degrees AND the dorms and stuff that help the social life.

And like BYU, they give major discounts to LDS students. But they do expect the student to have a testimony of the church and take an LDS church history or ? class along with their others.

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Thank you for all the suggestions!  The U is the only school in Utah with her major and she has so many AP credits, starting at a two year school and transfering doesn't work.  She is my third to go off to college and I've learned finding the right fit for school is more important than I had previously thought.   

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On 8/25/2016 at 1:49 PM, bsjkki said:

Is the University of Utah a good place to send your kid to college?  We do not live in Utah and I've had some Utah family members say it doesn't offer a great freshman experience because it's a "commuter school."  Also, they say it is the "party school" in Utah.  BYU does not offer the degree she wants to seek so is not an option and our in state school that offers her degree is an extremely liberal party school and I don't think she would fit it.  

Beware of out of state tuition for state colleges and universities. You didn't say what state you do live in. So check out smaller private universities in your state. Also college life is a time to cut the apron strings. If you've taught her well she won't stray far.

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17 hours ago, bsjkki said:

Thank you for all the suggestions!  The U is the only school in Utah with her major and she has so many AP credits, starting at a two year school and transfering doesn't work.  She is my third to go off to college and I've learned finding the right fit for school is more important than I had previously thought.   

What is her major?

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The University of Wyoming has a good architectural engineering program (i've heard) and they are extremely well known for their mechanical engineering.  It's known as a party school but because Wyoming has such a high number of mormons the college has a really good institute program and a couple of YSA wards (or they did a few years ago and i haven't heard that anything has changed).

However, U of Wyo. isn't for the faint of heart.  Laramie is located above 7,000 feet in elevation and it's not in the mountains.  It's on a flat high plateau.  It can be really cold there and temps in the summer can still be cool.  Plus, it's always windy and winter lasts for like 10 months.  I'm from Wyoming and even i wonder how they get so many kids to go live there for four years!

Edited by bluebell
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On 8/27/2016 at 8:58 PM, bsjkki said:

Architecture is what she is most interested in and her second choice is to become a structural engineer.  She loves art, math and physics.  Engineering opens up a lot of education choices.

I think you are on the right path - looking for a university that is a good fit for your student.  Any major university you attend will have an LDS Institute program near them.  You may want to consider picking out a few schools and then visiting them.  This type of visit is a rite of passage for many college students that does not seem to be practiced among LDS much.  

As an aside, my nephew went to University of Florida for his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Architecture and has done well; loved the experience being a Gator.  

USC is a great school, top 10, for architecture if she is interested in California.  However, I think it is better to find a school where the student is comfortable than attending the most highly rated program.  Please let us know how it goes.

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On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 1:49 PM, bsjkki said:

Is the University of Utah a good place to send your kid to college?  We do not live in Utah and I've had some Utah family members say it doesn't offer a great freshman experience because it's a "commuter school."  Also, they say it is the "party school" in Utah.  BYU does not offer the degree she wants to seek so is not an option and our in state school that offers her degree is an extremely liberal party school and I don't think she would fit it.  

I have to smile at the party school idea.  I have heard USU was a party school for decades,  especially from my BYU friends who all wanted me to get away from that atmosphere.  I graduated from USU and I never once saw a "party". 

I know it was there and I know it is at UofU, but I also know it was at BYU unfortunately. I think there are schools that have a big party atmosphere,  but there are schools when compared to BYU just seem like they party a lot and people get a mistaken impression when hearing from those people.  

Keep in mind that I graduated in 93 so things may have changed...

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Ignore the "party school" nonsense.  EVERYTHING is a "party school" compared to BYU.  Moreover, even at BYU, students can get into party trouble if they go looking for it; it's not that hard.  I did my undergrad degree (in accounting) at Arizona State University, which has/had a big-time party school reputation.  Guess how many parties I went to?  One.  When I was a freshman and I didn't stay long because I quickly got bored of watching people drink when I was getting ready for a mission.

If you are placing a priority on the school having a solid LDS presence, research the Institute of Religion program at each school.  In ASU's case, the Institute is actually located on ASU's campus, so (especially after my mission) that was where I hung out between classes and they had three university wards at the time.

IMO, the priority for decision making is: 1) strength of academic program of the student's interest area; 2) the strength of the LDS Institute (if that is important to her and you); and 3) cost.  Notice I didn't put the social reputation of the school on the list at all. 

Edited by ttribe
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1 hour ago, ttribe said:

Ignore the "party school" nonsense.  EVERYTHING is a "party school" compared to BYU.  Moreover, even at BYU, students can get into party trouble if they go looking for it; it's not that hard.  I did my undergrad degree (in accounting) at Arizona State University, which has/had a big-time party school reputation.  Guess how many parties I went to?  One.  When I was a freshman and I didn't stay long because I quickly got bored of watching people drink when I was getting ready for a mission.

If you are placing a priority on the school having a solid LDS presence, research the Institute of Religion program at each school.  In ASU's case, the Institute is actually located on ASU's campus, so (especially after my mission) that was where I hung out between classes and they had three university wards at the time.

IMO, the priority for decision making is: 1) strength of academic program of the student's interest area; 2) the strength of the LDS Institute (if that is important to her and you); and 3) cost.  Notice I didn't put the social reputation of the school on the list at all. 

Thanks for the input!  I just spent a week on a college campus in my home state and the atmosphere was quite obnoxious. (I was staying next door to frat house.) I have a student attending and she doesn't much care for the culture since it is so pervasive but the institute is very small and she hates all things lds so church schools were out.  I heard Arizona has required dorm living their first year which is a real turn off for me.  My experiences with dorm living for freshmen have been filled with horror stories from my daughter, niece and other friends and family.  Having visited and witnessed the overall atmosphere, this is why I am very hesitant to send my very faithful, rather naive daughter into that mess.  I do realize, she could be just fine and with such a strong institute program, it could be a great place for her.  ASU has an excellent Architecture program too.  

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8 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

Thanks for the input!  I just spent a week on a college campus in my home state and the atmosphere was quite obnoxious. (I was staying next door to frat house.) I have a student attending and she doesn't much care for the culture since it is so pervasive but the institute is very small and she hates all things lds so church schools were out.  I heard Arizona has required dorm living their first year which is a real turn off for me.  My experiences with dorm living for freshmen have been filled with horror stories from my daughter, niece and other friends and family.  Having visited and witnessed the overall atmosphere, this is why I am very hesitant to send my very faithful, rather naive daughter into that mess.  I do realize, she could be just fine and with such a strong institute program, it could be a great place for her.  ASU has an excellent Architecture program too.  

Well, any school with a greek system is going to have places you don't want to live next to.  Fortunately, there tends to be many options.  As to the freshman living in dorms thing, they didn't do that when I was at ASU, but I know there's some kind of policy about it now and I have no idea what exceptions there might be (if any).  I do know that, when I was at ASU, the Institute had a board for people to try to get roommates.  You may want to check with the Institute to see if they have anything where you are looking.  Also, depending on your student's academic history, she may be eligible to live at the Honors College dorm (in ASU's case), which is likely to place her among more study-focused students.

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6 hours ago, bsjkki said:

Thanks for the input!  I just spent a week on a college campus in my home state and the atmosphere was quite obnoxious. (I was staying next door to frat house.) I have a student attending and she doesn't much care for the culture since it is so pervasive but the institute is very small and she hates all things lds so church schools were out.  I heard Arizona has required dorm living their first year which is a real turn off for me.  My experiences with dorm living for freshmen have been filled with horror stories from my daughter, niece and other friends and family.  Having visited and witnessed the overall atmosphere, this is why I am very hesitant to send my very faithful, rather naive daughter into that mess.  I do realize, she could be just fine and with such a strong institute program, it could be a great place for her.  ASU has an excellent Architecture program too.  

ASU changed that requirement this year,  but even last year you could exceptions. (My daughter is going there now). Where you could run into problems is with specific colleges/programs . I believe a parent told me at a freshmen parent social a couole of weeks ago that his daughter was in business and was required to live on campus for 2 years.

The dorms do have some problems.  Some of my friend's kids come home to study because it was bad in the dorms. There have been a number of problems. The apartments have a better reputation, but I don't know anyone with kids living in them.  Most stay at home (Mesa). 

Also, find out what campus your daughter's major is located.  We just assumed mine could pick a campus, but most of her classes will only be taught in Phoenix, not Tempe. Right now she is doing both while she can so she doesn't have to travel to Phoenix every day, but that will change at some point.  The atmosphere at the two campuses are different and have a different layout with Phoenix being here and there between businesses.

Edited by Rain
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