I graduated from the Y for undergrad. I then the U for med school. There were great kids at both places.

My 2 cents. Let’s say your kid wants to go to med or dental school (or any graduate school experience that requires a high GPA for admittance). If your kid has a 28 ACT and a 3.8 GPA, they will struggle at the Y to keep a competitive GPA for grad school. Pre Med/dental classes are intensely competitive. Can your kid do it? Sure, but it will take everything they have, and that still may not be enough...

This does NOT mean that they would not hack it in Med school. In fact, the opposite is true. Had your child completed undergrad at UVU, their science GPA could easily be a 3.9 compared to a 3.0 at the Y. A 3.9 is above average for almost any Med school in the country, whereas a 3.0 will get them screened from even getting an interview.

Graduate schools like BYU students, but not enough to overcome a crappy GPA. BYU is intensely competitive without the Ivy League reputation.

I love BYU, but I will not encourage my kids to go there above state schools (UVU or USU) unless they want to do the accounting program at the Y.


Another thought. AP classes are worthless. They do not really make a huge dent at the Y for generals. They are a huge stress and are only used as crappy admission benchmarks. In place of AP classes, we are contemplating pursuing as many concurrent enrollment courses as possible. The goal is to get an associates at the time of high school graduation. These credits transfer and would make huge dents in progressing toward a bachelors, no?