Brigham Young University-Hawaii Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Chelsi Kanani

Well, a lot of students would say this, they hate eating at the cafeteria. I really didn't think about it at first, I actually thought the food was good considering that I was from a different country. But when time went by, I saw what everybody meant by it being horrible. It wasn't how it tasted by the way, it was just the food itself. They would serve the same kinds of food over and over again that you would get tired of it and won't like eating the same kind of cooking and same dish anymore.

Ema

One of the negative aspects of Brigham Young University- Hawaii is the lack of majors it provides. The academics here are great, but there aren't as many options or majors to choose from. I think that more majors would boost the schools potential a hundred fold, because every other aspect of the school is phenomenal.

Katelyn

Brigham Young University of Hawaii offers a very unique experiance. It is very diverse and mulitcultural. There is a sense of love for every student. The teachers are caring and want you to succeed. There is an expectation that holds all the students to the next level. I do not have any problems with it.

Sala

Probably the beach. While the beach's nearness is the best thing about my school, it's also the worst. It's the number one reason students from the mainland U.S. come to the school. See the problem? Students come to the school for the beach, not to go to school. As a result? The average GPA of the freshmen class is 2.0. Sad, right?

Megan

I think that the worst thing about BYU Hawaii is the fact that the beach and ocean is so close, and you have class. It really stinks sometimes when the surf is good, and you are in class. But it still works out, just go after class!

Jamie

The worst thing about Brigham Young University-Hawaii is its proximity to the beach. The beach is less than a 10 minute walk from on-campus housing; so on days that I don't want to study, it's easy to walk away from my pile of books.

Cecilia

The worst thing about this school is probably all of the rules. It is a very private and conservitive church school, which means plenty of things are not allowed. Men can't even have beards at this school, that is an example of how strict it is.

Ali

It's really hard to get ahold of employees/administration when you need them!

Hannah

The worst thing about my school would be the flexible hours. Most of the employees here are students. The school provides flexible work hours for the students; so as an employee, it's nice. Unfortunately, as a student trying to get things done on the weekend, it's not so nice because most things are closed early at night or on the weekends.

Shane

I've always felt that this university was ideal. I feel that the university culture is incredible as it facilitates one of the most diverse campuses in the United States with students from over 70 countries. However, with a phase out of NCAA athletics in progress ending in year 2017, I feel the absence of collegiate athletics will be the worst thing about the school. I feel athletics has a way of unifiying students from all nations in a way no other activity can.

Julianne

A diverse population means that there are a variety of cultural norms on our campus - and some countries believe that speaking up, voicing an opinion, or standing out in a classroom setting is negative. Though our school maintains a great cultural diversity with future world leaders, it is quiet. I believe that if the students voiced their opinions more openly, our campus would be an even greater educational facility.

Annette

The worst thing about this school would only have to be the fact that you have a several majors to choose from but they don't include engineering or medical majors (such as a nurse or doctor). You only have a select few majors to pick from if you have a goal in mind for your future.

Justin

Founded in 1955 the school has faced several staged revitalization and improvement phases but due to its remote location and the cost of construction and materials the facilities and infrastructure leave much to be desired. There is also some aspects to the culture that limit the access students have to campus resources that are readily available to students on other campuses. While the small class sizes and accessibility of professors is amazing the small size of the University as a whole brings limits of scale and cross department innovation due to the limited number of programs and funding.

anissa

The worst thing about my school is the expense, including flights. This is the worst because as a student it is hard to come up with the funds to attend and I do not have a high income or much help financially from family.

Michelle

I would say that the worst thing about my school is that there is a lack of off-campus housing that is affordable. Also, there is a lack of any off-campus jobs. On-campus jobs only pay minimum wage and there are not many opportunities for advancing to higher pay levels.

Courtney

The distance from the mainland. It is difficult to stay connected with your family from across seas. For other students, it is much easier because they are on the mainland. The expense of flights are rising each day, so seing my family is nearly impossble.

Van

BYU Hawaii is a great school for LDS students. So if you are non-LDS, you will have to pay double tuition compare to LDS students. Also, this all the dress and grooming code is desire for students who serious on study, not play around.

jude

I don't really like the schedule for the cafeteria. i think they open too late and close too early.

Ioane

Our caferteria schedule is probaly the worst beacause on sundays theirs only dinner served and on week days they close early for people who work and people who study cant eat dinner at the cafeteria because their close.

Daniel

The worst thing about our school is that they are enforcing us to graduate within 9 semesters. I find it difficult to have that done. I extended my semesters by filing an appeal. It is tough for those who does not have an idea what they want to major in. That being said, students will just fill up their schedule to be a full-time student with no direction, taking classes they don't really need.

otgonbayar

The worst thing about the school is that they have lots of strict rules and polycies some of them does not seem fair. Such as I bought flex dollar card last semester and I did not use them all and I did not know that I was supposed to use all before the semester ends. I ended up losing almost 200$ for useless candies and gums to use the money which was left in my account.

Carter

The school is very small so if a student is used to larger campuses, this may not be the place for you. On the other hand, students get more one on one time with professors which helps facilitate learning.

Trenton

Outdated facilities (but they are currently renovating, under construction!)

Spencer

I would say the off campus housing for married couples. There is definitely not much married housing here.

Allyne

I have very little to complain about. The only thing that ever bothers me about it is that it is so far from everything. I'm not the kind of person who likes going out on the town or anything, but it's an hour to the closest Walmart, so if I need to buy anything that I can't get at the grocery store, I'm pretty much out of luck.

Emma

What I would consider as being the worst thing about school is part-time tuition and the cost of living on campus.

Dexton

The worst thing about my school is having to work around a rigid offer of classes. They don't offer the same ones every semester and in order for me to continue going there I have to work over the summer, which makes it quite difficult to have a schedule that works for me. It would be nice if they at least offered certain classes more than one semester in order to give people some leniency.

Michelle

While Suffolk University is a private school, it is smaller than some of its counterparts in that it has fewer resources. In terms of housing, there are officially only three dorm buildings. Securing on-campus housing is limited for sophomores and out of scope for juniors and seniors. Due to the school’s Downtown location, finding an apartment close enough to walk to campus can be costly.

Khaliun

Laie is a very nice place to live but it could be too small community to live in for some students. Sometimes it feels like there are no challenges to make students stronger than they are.

Savanna

My least favorite part of campus would be the bathrooms in the dorms. The dorms are old. They aren't as clean as I would like them to be. To make a room appear cleaner than it is, one should start with the corners and edges of the walls. I don't think they have been washed well in years! On the weekends, the bathrooms don't get cleaned, so by Monday they are a disaster area. We need cleaner, updated facilities (where the pipes don't make scary noises) and different colored tiling on the walls. Please.

Kirtland

I would have to say tha dress code and many other components of the Honor Code bother me the most. I see no reason as to why sports clothing cannot be worn to class and the cafe , along with why facial hair is not permitted. Worst of all, women are not allowed in the dorms, and parties are non existant. The school basically clamps down on you and restricts freedoms that really are quite reasonable and widel y accepted.

Kristin

The worst thing about my school is the laid-back "island attitude" that a lot of the students, faculty and staff seem to have. Because our campus is quite small, it seems that people have become comfortable with one another. Although in most situations this would be nice, it can lead to unprofessional work settings and many times I have found myself feeling frustrated with the lack of proficiency in the financial aid, registry, and student occupation system. However, this is only problem I have encountered while attending BYU-H.

Diego

The run-abouts the university gives you.

Tracy

The top-bottom approach to things. We are a very small school in a small community, yet sometimes the university administration tries to run as if we were Harvard.

Lina

The worst thing about my school is that it is so far from home. Besides the fact that the school is located somewhere where I have to fly home to see my family, there is nothing wrong with the school. Even the location cannot really be seen as a bad thing because it is in Hawaii. Even though I have to travel a far distance to see my relatives, the location is not something to complain about. Since when is warm weather, ocean, sand, and tropical plants a bad thing?

Scott

I haven't attended the school yet so this information is N/A yet.

JaRee

The thing that I wish I could change is the classes offered here at the university. I wish that they provided more options, but our school isn't very old so it hasn't had much time to expand.

Hailey

The worst thing about this school is not really part of the school system. In my opinion, the worst part is the area in which it is located. It is in a very remote part of the island and most students do not own vehicles, making it difficult to get to stores or really anywhere without taking the bus. Being out in the middle of nowhere makes being a new student a little bit more uncomfortable experience when first moving away from home.

Prince

The cost of living is very high and as international student from a third world country, i found it difficult to pay my tuition, and other expenses of the school and the assistance alloted unto me is not enough to support myself throughout the four year degree program.If you will assist me with Aid or Grant i would be please to honor such a privilege and use it to further my education.The knowledge that i will acquire to serve the community and the people. It is my honor to be part of this organization.Thank you

Daniela

The housing is pretty expensive for a student, it is a high pay rent in all the town, is a kind of hard to find a good deal for housing.

Ann

It's ssssooooo hot!

Jerrica

The worst thing about my school is the strictness of the Honor Code. I don't mind it except that they do not allow basketball shorts or board shorts in the classrooms, or other facilities. I feel they should put forth more of their effort properly punishing those who are breaking the honor code in more drastic ways, such as having sex off-campus or going down-town to drink at the clubs. Those do not happen very often, but they are part of a contract that they agreed to follow. I feel their efforts/worries should be placed elsewhere.

Hannah

Possibly the only downside to being a student at BYU Hawaii is the desire to be participating in activities during class. However if you simply must be out and about, there are always exciting extracurricular options provided, and hiking, surfing, or swimming can be done on the weekends.

Erica

The small size of the university can make it feel somewhat like highschool.

Michael

I think the school has many ways to improve. Because it is a church based school, there are a lot of policies and procedures that have to be followed. The Honor Code is also a set of standards which all students must promise to live by in order to apply to the school. This might turn off the “Party Animal”.

Shae

I really don't think this school has anything really bad about it. It provides cultural experiences, spiritual experiences, educational experiences, tropical experiences. It really has a lot to offer that can be used in fabulous ways. Maybe something that could be considered the worst thing about it is it's capacity. It's very small. Therefore it isn't as widely open and available to a lot of people to have these experiences.

Michael Angelo

the worst thing about the school that i will be attending is that it's located along with volcanoes. We all know that Hawaii was formed as an island due to volcanic eruptions. So, we are prone to danger.

Jenna

The worst thing about our school owuld have to be lack of aquatic classes.

Hayley

I would consider that the worst thing about my school is that there is a limited option of majors. I feel that if there were more majors available more kids would be willing and interested in staying and it would stop students from coming for only a year and then having to leave because the school doesn't offer their major or requirements. It is frustrating when the major you want is not offered because you have to leave a school you love attending, or you have to change your major and settle for something you don't particularly want.

Justin

The worst thing about Brigham Young University of Hawaii is the location in respect to shoppping centers. The closest Shopping Center is two hours away using public transportation. For a student without a car it can feel very confining.