College Application time...

[old_gregg]

i know it sounds obvious, but it's best for him to get the best grades in the hardest classes possible. if he has to choose between gpa and ap classes, focus on gpa. also, keep the act score high, maybe even take the sat a couple of times. applying before the priority deadline is also helpful. i'm not sure what the average incoming extracurriculars look like, but when i got in (two years ago) mine were:

captain of the lacrosse team, captain of the debate team, junior state of america official, golf team, state champion in debate, 3rd place at the usc tournament, sixth at the stanford tournament, first and top speaker at every in state tournament my senior year, stanford policy research fellow, university of kentucky research fellow, editor of the school paper, eagle scout (no duty to god...our ward was never too into pushing that), and a few other things.

[myboynoah]

Tick (and others), give me some tips on what it takes to get in. I know the average ACT and GPA, but what about the rest? I've heard conflicting information on how valuable advanced classes are.

We just attended a guidance counselor session for my oldest son as he registered for 9th grade classes next year. He has a long way to go, and I am not set at all on him attending BYU, but I'd like to make sure he's got every option still on the table when it comes time to make a decision.

I think camleish has some good advice, but I doubt your son needs to be captain of the lacrosse team.

I would chose GPA over AP or IB courses, but the best is doing well in AP or IB courses. Take the ACT early and often; he only needs to send in one score. Attend and participate in seminary and church. Volunteer for service outside of church. Do extracurricular activities. Grow to 6' 9" and hit 60 percent from the three point line.

That should do it.

[wuapinmon]

Does BYU receive a percentage of that income? Their tuition is relatively low when compared to other major universities. I wonder if the housing ripoff is what leads students to believe it's okay to go around defrauding others, for example scamming the elect into donating towards a Max Hall jersey.

No, they do not.

[wuapinmon]

I found this thread while looking for something else. If anyone ever needs help navigating the process, just ask.

[All-American]

Does BYU receive a percentage of that income? Their tuition is relatively low when compared to other major universities. I wonder if the housing ripoff is what leads students to believe it's okay to go around defrauding others, for example scamming the elect into donating towards a Max Hall jersey.

Bwahaha.

[statman]

I found this thread while looking for something else. If anyone ever needs help navigating the process, just ask.

How's this for navigating the process - my son wants to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a pharmacist. When applying to pharmacy school they really couldn't care less where you took your prereq classes - just that you have taken them all and what grades you received. He decided early on that he wanted to take as many of those courses as possible at SLCC instead of BYU, BYUI or UofU. He took the ACT, did well (30), had a HS GPA of 3.5 taking college prep stuff all through his junior year, including a three 'concurrent enrollment' courses. He officially had ACT scores released to BYU, UofU, UVU, SLCC and BYUI, but never actually applied anywhere - he was already 'enrolled' at UVU because of his concurrent enrollment courses - although I think it basically has community college entrance requirements, where everyone gets in. He got letters of acceptance from schools that he never applied to and didn't have ACT scores sent to.

He started taking prereqs at SLCC before HS graduation. While registering for courses there, it became clear that the hurdle at SLCC wasn't going to be getting good grades at SLCC - it was going to be simply getting into the courses he needed. Yes, small class size is nice at SLCC, but when everybody and their brother wants to take the same prereq courses, the class sizes of 35 is a HUGE issue. When you're at a real university, where the prereq courses are given in lecture halls that seat 400, it's a lot easier to get in to the courses you need - even when there are only 10 sections taught instead of 30.

So, armed with this knowledge, he actually applied to the UofU about two and a half months after their application deadline. He applied online one weekend, had his HS send transcripts on Monday, got an online confirmation that they'd received his transcripts and had his full application & ACT scores on Tuesday morning, and got an acceptance email on Tuesday afternoon. I guess his ACT score - and self-reported GPA during that process - may have gotten the whole thing started, awaiting only his HS GPA for the final decision. But it was a remarkably quick process.

And I still am 100% convinced that he did the right thing in not trying to go to BYU. A bunch of his best HS friends will be going to the Y in the fall. All in all, I think he probably would have gotten in, but at BYU you can never be sure - ACT, GPA, seminary grad, seminary counsel, student counsel, varsity sports, eagle scout, etc. It's just not worth the grief and stress of worrying about getting in, only to follow it up with the hyper-competitive undergraduate student body at BYU - not to mention a lack of drunks who never attend class that pad the bottom of the curve at most other schools...

So now he's taking summer classes at SLCC and will be a Ewet in the Fall. It's probably not the optimal way to apply for school, but it involved a helluva lot less stress than other ways of doing it...

[EuropeanFootballMale]

BYU Summer and Fall 2012 decisions going out today.
Good luck to anybody applying!

[il Padrino Ute]

statman -

I honestly thought this was SeattleUte until the last paragraph. Kudos to your son and best of luck to him.

[wuapinmon]

HOLY SHIT!

Effective for loans made for periods of enrollment (loan periods) beginning on or after July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans. Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans received for loan periods beginning before July 1, 2012 are not affected by this change.

This includes med school students.

[The_Tick]

HOLY SHIT!

This includes med school students.

Oh well...my kid hasn't been getting interest free loans for the 2 years she has been in school already.

Another way for the government to make even more money.

[Uncle Ted]

HOLY SHIT!

This includes med school students.

Let's see... the federal government kicks the banks out of the student loan business and takes it over. Then they f* up the student loan program. It seems on par with everything else the government has f*'ed up. Were you expecting something different this time?

This might be the first crack in the education bubble.

[il Padrino Ute]

Let's see... the federal government kicks the banks out of the student loan business and takes it over. Then they f* up the student loan program. It seems on par with everything else the government has f*'ed up. Were you expecting something different this time?

This might be the first crack in the education bubble.

Hooray socialism!

[Northwestcoug]

Let's see... the federal government kicks the banks out of the student loan business and takes it over. Then they f* up the student loan program. It seems on par with everything else the government has f*'ed up. Were you expecting something different this time?

This might be the first crack in the education bubble.

As long as undergraduate places like Boston University charges 40,000 for tuition (not including fees), the bubble may stay intact.