Brigham Young University-Provo Top Questions

What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

Dallin

Given how difficult and selective the admissions process was, I would like have known beforehand how easy the classes were. The general education cirriculum at BYU was not as challenging as it should have been.

Megan

I wish that I had known that school credit was needed to apply for financial aid if you are a transfer student. And that the financial aid deadline is only once a year- during the middle of a semester.

Janessa

I wish I would haveknown the academic excellence that is expected at this school. Students go from being the very top of their class, to suddenly being very average students. I didn't have to work very hard in high school to acheive good grades, but at this school, to get a C requires hours upon hours of study. I wish that I would have developed better study habits that could have transfered over to my college experience.

Seren

I wish I would have known that making friends is something you have to try to do. It isn't the same as jr. high or high school. If you want friends, you have to seek them out. It isn't as natural as high school. You are in big classes with a lot of people you don't know. Make friends when you can, find allies in your classes to study with, and make sure you are well-rounded and not just focused on school.

Brett

How to study. I did fairly well in high school without needing to study a lot, so when I started college, I struggled to learn the material and how to study the material at the same time.

Carl

I wish I knew how much harder you need to work to succeed here. Be prepared to set aside plenty of time for study and homework if you want good grades.

Thomas

How to manage my money.

Alan

I wish I would have looked for more funding opportunities before entering college. I assumed there weren't many outside funds available but I was wrong. I also wish I would have become more dedicated earlier in my schooling.

Judd

Before starting at BYU, I wish I had known about the resources available to help students succeed. The administration at BYU works hard to help students, specifically freshmen, succeed in and out of class. You can schedule a campus tour and ask any questions you want. There's a counseling center where you can get help organizing class schedules, choosing majors, and learning study skills. There are dozens of student clubs and organizations to meet new friends. Best of all, there's a single website with all this information and more. Just look up "One Stop" on the BYU website.

Heather

How hard it would be.

Aaron

I wish I'd known more about how people are. It's a different feeling, socially, than high school. My brothers and sisters all went to BYU, so I knew a lot about it in many ways, but I didn't interact with students there. It's different than normal people in Provo. Maybe because people come there from all over the country and all over the world and they have to have really good grades to be there.

Kasey

You will definitely want to bring warm clothes with you because it snows about every morning during winter. Also learn how to use all of the resources here because there are tons of academic, financial, and student centers here only to help you succeed. Be willing to ask for help because you will be more successful. Manage time. There are so many clubs and activities to participate in and you need to be able to get your work done so that you can have some fun. It's great.

Joshua

I wish I would have known how much extra college really costs. I would have worked harder before to get scholarships. I'm not facing the high prices of college and without the help of scholarships it's getting more difficult for me to pay for everything I need to. I'm down to the basics; food, rent, tuition and textbooks. Even just paying these has become a struggle for me lately, especially with jobs cutting hours down because of Obamacare. I definitely would have focused on scholarships before coming to college.

Alyssa

I wish I had applied for more scholarships.

Daniel

Work hard from day one, don't ever slack off.

matt

I wish I had understood better study habits. I tried to study and be prepared for tests, but I really did not know how to study well and actually learn a lot and retain a lot from my studies. If I had better understood how to study I feel that I would have performed much better in the exams. I would have understood and retained more information from classes. I would have made better connections between my classes and my studies.

Heather

I wish I had come to BYU with a better idea of what I would like to major in. I strongly recommend job shadowing in high school because once you get to college there is so little time. Even if you have a pretty good idea about your major, make SURE that you job shadow, job shadow, job shadow. I believe the average college student would agree with this. Be sure that the college you apply for requires internships and shadow different career pathways, not just those you are familiar with. Trust me :)

Melissa

I wish I had known that this school has such an amazing research library. I think it would have made me want to come here more.

Laura

I wish I had known what a rare and wonderful blessing it was to be there. I wish I had enjoyed it more- the classes, the teachers, the students, and the unique opportunities for growth. I wish I had known how it would change me as a person and help me become the person I want to be. Had I known all these things before I arrived at BYU I would be learned more and become a better person.

Jessica

I wish I had known more about the Honors program -- what it is, how it works, and what the extra courseload is. It's a good program, but it definitely consumes your time.

Emily

How cold it would get in the winter, just kidding, but seriously. I wish I had known how to better manage my time. Between class and a part time job that I started my freshman year with I had to quickly find study habits that worked for me and I wasn't always successful. I would also recommend to those students who, at some point, plan on having a job, to either get one right away or to be especially careful in cultivating good study habits because a lot can change when you suddenly lose 20 hours of your week.

Cassandra

It is a little bit difficult at times being a minority at this school that is so predominantly white. There are not issues of racism, just an inevitable lack of diversity.

Jocilyn

It would be nice to realize that BYU is full of the best of the best. You may come from a small town and you outshined your whole high school, but when you get to BYU, there are 30,000 other shining stars and most of them seem to be shining brighter. It is not a bad thing, but something to keep in mind and just be grateful for the high standard instead of feeling lost and worthless.

Ashley

The scholarship opportunities that they were offering. I could have taken advantage of all the scholarships they offered.

Hans

No matter what anyone says, living in the dorms is the way to go, at least until your sophomore year. A dining card and a bike will go a long way towards improving your time at BYU. Get REALLY good walking shoes. You'll spend a lot of time walking up hills.

Cody

Well, I guess the only things I wish that I had known was how to live on my own and better time managment skills really.

Kaitlin

I wish I would have done more research on other schools before determing that this one was the best choice for me. My parents wanted me to attend here because they both did, so I made this school my top priority.

Abigail

I wish I had known how hard it was to study and get good grades in college compared to high school. I wish I had known how to study better so I could've gotten better grades my first semester in school.

Amanda

I wish that I would have known that students who on-campus or closer to campus tend to do better in school. I chose to live in an apartment complex about ten minutes away from school. I had a car so I was able to drive to school, but parking there is terrible. You can never find a parking spot and when you do it takes you about a half hour to walk to your class. This made me not want to go to class because of all the trouble I would face.

Kelsey

This is a good school at an excellent price. But you have to dig really deep to find quality people and interesting things to do. I got a good education, but feel I lost out on some of the typical college experiences I was supposed to have and really struggled to find my place. It is what is it. You have to just go into knowing what lies ahead and being ready to forge your own path.

Rose

I wish I had better understood about general education classes and when I should take them. My reccomendations is when you first get to school go and talk to an academic advisor!

Kayla

Don't be fixated on getting straight A's. Also, don't stress about picking the "right" major; choose an area of study that you have an interest in or are passionate about.

Brian

The demand for personal discipline is high. I wish I would have known how to better manage my time and developed a greater discipline to study independently. The resources at the university are essential to a successful experience, so take advantage of them.

Robert

You can do it. Don't be scared that classes are hard. Get in there and work hard and you will do just great. My first semester I decided that I would try a full schedule, but many of my classes were easy. Go to lectures and seminars to see what you are interested in. Don't be afraid of people, I have yet to be bitten by anyone for saying "Hi, I'm Robert, who are you?" Chill out in the library. Poke your nose around campus for spots to hand out. Go out work hard, and have fun.

BreeAnn

That college is NOT the same as high school! Everything is much more difficult, and learning a different studying style was complicated. I wish I had learned how to better study in high school.

Andrew

There is a strong emphasis on religion, and marriage. It is easily the most socially conservative school in the nation, and heavily reliant on the mormon religion. I would not recommend this school to anyone who is not a mormon.

Cameron

Between the hustle and bustle of the busy day and trying to manage what little time you have, learning how to budget valuable time is an ongoing battle in the life of a college youth. With friends constantly riding you to go out on the town for a good time and your girlfriend pressuring you into passing the remaining hours and minutes with her, finding time for work and studies are absolutely vital in order to measure your success as a student. Time management is a very important skill that all people attending college should try to develop.

Matthew

I wish I would have known more about the time commitment that is required to do your best. During my first semester I didn't realize how much time I needed to spend on my schoolwork and I didn't achieve the grades that I knew I was capable of achieving. It would have been helpful for someone to talk to me about the expectations of a college student.

Arianna

I wish I had known that many of the General Ed. classes were very large, sometimes having hundreds of students in number. I also wish I knew that the environment was much different from the one I grew up in, being that it has a dry climate and very cold winters.

Alyssa

Before I came to this school, I wish that I would have known about more extracurricular activies and how I could be more involved.

Joshua

I wish that I would have know how to study better, I find that in high school classes were easy and I nvere really needed to study. But now I really have to know how to apply myself.

Talia

I wish I would have known how hard college was going to be. In high school I breezed through my classes and got good grades, but I never knew how to sit down and actually study. When I was a freshman at BYU I had a hard time adjusting to really learning how to study hard. I am in my junior year now and it has become easier to study and get good grades as I keep attending this school.

Kendra

I wish I would have known how to write a good paper. How to study and skim chapters as to be able to get all my reading done that I had to in the short amount of time that is allotted. I wish that I would have been prepared to not be that "perfect student" anymore, and realize that I was going to be stretched and taught way beyond the capacity I ever had before. I wish I knew how much I was going to grow while attending college.

Danielle

Before I came to BYU, I wish I would have known what to prepare for, not just academically, but emotionally and mentally as well. The atmosphere of college is extremely different than high school and you have to learn to be independent and responsible for your own education. Going to college is a big step in a person?s life and moving out of your house to a completely new place, having to now live on your own, as well as be a full-time student is challenging; especially because it happens all at once for most.

Kristin

I wish I had gotten a better grasp of what I wanted to do. I wasted almost a full year taking general electives. I wish I had looked into the programs before coming and gone to some of the orientations for the different majors. During the first few weeks/month there are a lot of opportunities to learn about the different programs BYU offers, but I was too distracted by living on my own for the first time in my life. I didn't take advantage of that, and if I had, I could gotten a jump start.

Doris

I wish I had known how far away my on-campus housing was.

john

I wish I knew how many opportunities there were here for me. I had no idea the extent of classes BYU offered. This semester I have finally taken advantage of some of those classes but learning how to scuba dive and country dance - not at the same time.. I also wish I knew more about their study abroad programs. I just got accepted into the New Zealand study abroad and will be spending winter 2010 in Invercargill. More than anything, I wish I knew how to cook when I fist got out here.

Allison

I wish I had known about the various activities and intramural sporting events that I've discovered since I've been here. It would have been fun to be more aware of more of these and how I could get involved in more of them.

Elizabeth

I wish I had known my study habits a little better, so that I could have adjusted easier to the harder course load.

Anna

Prepare yourself emotionally and mentally for an environment that is very different if you did not grow up in Utah. People are a little more harsh and picky/judgemental. The educational, however is amazing! And for what you pay per semester it's a steal. You have to work hard, but there are a lot of fun activities offered to help you release your stress. It's a great school! Study hard!