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BYU has high academic standardS!? Just ask the athletic department for all the athletes they have signed for sports with LOW grades and LOW ACT/SAT scores. Double standard. If you are an athlete you get a break. If you don't believe just investigate it. Most the other schools in this article DON'T bend. You don't have to reply just investigate it. You will see.


just because BYU is "more popular" than Hale, still does not make BYU an "ivy league school" (contrary to Cougar belief).

to byu alumni

Cougars LOVE to think that everyone that is not one of them should be pumping their gas. Get over it, Cougs, you are not ivy-league. You are barely noticed outside of Utah and Mormondom.

Great Undergrad Experience

In support of an earlier statement that BYU is a feeder school (from BYU.edu's fact page):

#1 - Producer of dental school-bound students (AADSAS)

#6 - Producer of law school-bound students (LSAC)

#10 - Number of graduates who go on to earn PhDs from 1997-2006 (NORC/NSF)

Top 10 - Producer of medical school-bound students (AAMC)

Sure, BYU has a huge undergrad population that rivals large state schools (30,000+), but these stats are still noteworthy.


"I'd come here," he said. "Extracurricular (activities) are good here. I haven't seen Harvard on ESPN."

And I haven't seen BYU on ESPN either, stupid MWC tv package. ;-)

RE: The Full Truth

You are mostly correct. BYU is, by design, mainly an undergraduate institution.

However there are some exceptions, most notably BYU's Masters of Accounting (MAcc) program, which is consistently ranked in the top 10 in almost any rankings system I have seen. In many it is continually battling UT-Austin for the #1 spot. I know this because I am applying for BYU's MAcc program this year, and am currently in the school's Accounting Junior core.

During the process the faculty tells us that, because getting into the junior core is already so competitive, they would love to admit everyone from it into the MAcc program. However, because BYU intends to remain mainly an Undergraduate institution, they limit the amount that each Graduate program can admit. Therefore only 60%-70% of applicants from the Junior core are admited. I hope I am able to get into BYU's MAcc program, but if not, I am well prepared to go to any other school to finish my master's degree. BYU is, after all, an excellent feeder for professional programs.

RE: Stanford

Way to catch an obvious inadvertent typo. I am sure you have never made one in your life.

To: Perturbed by Decisions

Please explain how a nice mormon girl at BYU differs from a nice mormon girl anywhere else?

California Cougar

I loved my experience at BYU. My son's attending a local community college and having a great experience.
I guess if I had been accepted to either Harvard or BYU I would have been flattered to be accepted by the #1 school in the nation, but would have attended BYU for economic reasons alone. My perception is that BYU undergraduate students get a rigorous education and do very well in graduate shool admissions and the cost of tuition is substantially lower than Harvard.


"BYU will always be synonymous with polygmy"

Really? Living out East that NEVER came up when discussing my BYU degree. Then again, you've probably been a non-Mormon in Utah all your life and don't get out much.

Cougar Belief

RE: still

Have any Cougars claimed here that BYU is an "ivy league school". It always amazes me how people who hate a group of people like making stuff up about it.

Re: Jess

To clarify my comments, I'm referring to the quality of BYU's Undergaduate applicants to law school, not to the quality of BYU Law itself (which is ranked at the bottom of tier 1, but should be more around 25.)

Adcomms at top law, medical, dental, and MBA programs love pulling from the BYU Undergraduate pool. This is because they 1) Are very intellegent and many times deferred going to better undergraduate schools in order to go to BYU, 2) Have strong international experience, 3) Increase the conservative diversity at their school (which schools like NYU, Columbia, and Berkeley surprisingly have a problem doing) without increasing the number of crazies which tend to come from other uber-conservative institutions, and 4) Because LDS Academia at top institutions is HUGE. I was speaking with some Harvard Law Professors who said that they see tons of LDS faculty, but have never met an evangelical in academia.

The Truth is Now Told

I did one year at Utah, three years at BYU and four graduate years at the University of Washington. BYU students were the brightest and most motivated, and the training was indeed superior at BYU. BYU students were also the most uptight and dorky. So, go with what feels good to you.

I'd die happy if

my outstanding LDS son could get admitted to either BYU or BYU-I... I had a great life experience at BYU... he's hardworking, humble, dedicated and in line with all principles of the university - academics don't come easily... he'll get back from a mission in 5 months and hard-work his way through it, he'll make good (LDS and other) friends at a state school - meet some nice LDS girl, get married and have kids at some point. His perfect SAT sister was accepted to 9 of the top universities in the US, national merit finalist scholarships out the yazoo... and well, life hasn't been so good where she ended up. Good luck to all the college bound regardless where they end up, just hope they're doing all the right things in life, because life matters - school choice, not so much I guess.

Re: to byu alumni

Hardly noticed... except apparently to dental schools, law schools, medical schools, accounting firms, other businesses, etc.

What a joke

This ranking has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of education at BYU! But clearly that "quality" is expressed here by these comments from people who apparently cant even read the article correctly. BYU has a high enrollment percentage because of its relative ease to get in to as well as the lack of other LDS schools to lure them somewhere else, and dont compare it to the U because both schools are a joke compared to other Universities around the country. BYU is the only school little mormon children have to dream about attending some day.. Think about if Notre Dame was the only catholic school, Im sure their enrollment percentage would be a lot higher but schools like BC, Gonzaga, Saint Marys, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Marquette, USD, Villanova ect take away from Notre Dames enrollment rates. I guess you could make the arguement that BYU has to compete against BYU-Idaho, and BYU-Hawaii....

BYU,the Oral Roberts of the West

Interesting article.

Proud to be part of the 22%

I applied to BYU as a backup, got in, and elected to go elsewhere. I had a wonderful experience as an active LDS, met my wife in college, and would not trade my experience for anything. My exposure to people and views different from my own was one of the best parts of my education. I participated in the Institute, which gave me great interaction with other LDS as well.

I am shocked (well, not really) at the arrogance of many commenters that LDS people who go to other universities, including the U of U, only go there because they could not get in to BYU. Get out of the bubble. There are places to go and great things to be done by LDS people outside of Provo.

I would say, if someone is struggling with a testimony or is from outside of Utah and has never been around a lot of LDS kids, then maybe BYU is a good option. But think of all the good LDS kids could be doing for the Church on other campuses that ends up getting wasted because so many parents virtually insist that their child attend BYU.


All schools with notbale sports and great academics(including Michigan, Cal, and Stanford) give exceptions to athletes.

BTW your argument (which I don't fully understand, but seems to question the ethics of athletes given easier rides) is weak. Do you realize that because of BYU's athletics program and the huge pile of $$$ that it brings in, literally hundreds of academically excellent students are given FULL tuition scholarships yearly. Many academically excellent, median-raising students attend BYU partially because of BYU football and basketball.

Also, athletes are not the only ones given easier paths. Did you know that children of BYU faculty members, minorities, handicapped students, recent converts, international students, and others with unique talents or situations are placed in the same secondary applicant pool which allows them MUCH easier acceptance to BYU. Children of faculty can get in with a 3.0 GPA and a 22-24 ACT! This is a perk which is passed a long as a "thank you" to BYU professors.

Source: My BYU business ethics course which our professor revealed these policies in detail in order to evaluate if they are ethical


Although this is cool, I think a real indicator of how "popular" a school is would be how many people apply. That would make sense to me. Or maybe a combination of the two.

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