Brigham Young University-Idaho — Attraction in Rexburg

My personal experience at BYU-I has been exceptional. The Health Psychology program has been highly satisfying and challenging; I have grown a close professor-student relationship with a few of my teachers and I still have a year of my undergraduate program to go-I consider this possibility a great strength at this school. Several of my professors already know my name by the second day of class this semester, making me feel more comfortable in those awkward transitions into new classes. The learning model is applied by many teachers-again, be proactive and look on ratemyprofessor, ask other students in your major, and plan to join classes with the teacher whoa re spoken well about. That is a piece of advice you will hear at any University.

Spiritually, there are many opportunities at this school to find religious inspiration and to better oneself-that being said nobody has ever forced me to go to devotional, but it has often been a great experience when I have attended. Being judged my students based on religious attendance is highly relative. I did not have that experience. I enjoyed being in a ward which acted as a social network for me during school-there were numerous activities and bonding moments for me through church. My bishop tried very hard to understand individual situations and help those people with their struggles, never judging them. The temple is literally right next to my apartment building and even a non-religious person can appreciate the peace on the temple grounds and what that offers to a stressed out student.

My favorite part of this school was that I was able to explore my talents and do things that I REALLY love doing, giving me more of a diverse growth experience here. For example, I participated in swimming nearly every semester, largely improved my vocal training through choir and vocal classes I would take every now and then, and was able to pursue a Health Psychology emphasis where I could explore health science, nutrition, and personal fitness classes. I was able to join Psych Society, French club, and Volunteer Representatives; all organizations on campus that piqued my interest. I was able to enjoy the extensive outdoor activities program where I did hiking, caving, canoeing, ropes course, and countless other activities.

Location-wise, people complain all the time that there is not much to do in Rexburg-this is more a result of absolute laziness than being the truth. There are cool eating joints and shops on Main St. (You just have to ask around for which ones are best), there is a farmers market, there are city-run marathons, parades, and other activities. There are traditions like having bonfires at the Sand Dunes every weekend. There are endless possibilities in the surrounding nature-I visited Yellowstone, Star Valley, Jackson Hole, and several small trails, lakes, ponds, and pretty places-just in the last year alone. The school offers foreign film nights, a huge diversity of theatrical pieces, concerts and performances(like magic shows, even) with renowned guests, often from other countries. Honestly, there is a TON to do, and it is all the better if you're doing it with friends that you love.

I know that this is long-winded, but I could speak for hours about this place. I absolutely believe that you can make of your experience what you want here; Is this not the job a University- to give many opportunities but to leave students to customize their experience? From a research standpoint, the learning model is based upon optimized learning for our modern world, and yes, I do believe it has given me much of the tools I need to go on to the next part of my life. That goes beyond simply the intellectual, but also improved social skills, emotional intelligence, critical thinking skills, personal spiritual growth, and a standard to live by the rest of my life-to serve and love those in my community as the mighty oak that I will hopefully...

First of all. The credits are absolutely worthless. About two years into my mechanical engineering degree and the curriculum was changed around and all the M.E. classes I took are now elective. This is because I had to change catalog year because they no longer offered some of the classes I needed for my original catalog year. Foundation courses are not even accredited and will not transfer to even the other BYU schools. When I transferred out of BYU-ID to the College of Southern Idaho my transcript had 57 elective credits at CSI. Many employers are reluctant to hire BYU-ID students as the school tends to teach that appearances are most important.

Depending on which bishop you have, FHE is mandatory among single students and they're assigned to a number of other single students to make a "FHE group".

The honor code has absolutely nothing to do with honor. It has to do with how much control the school can have over the students. It's against the honor code to access MySpace, wear shorts, be out after midnight, and expose your bare feet. People have been kicked out of school for wearing shorts on campus because "if they're not going to obey the little rules, they won't obey the big rules." Again, the honor code exists to give school administration control.

The Honor office thrives on false accusation. One famous saying in Rexburg is "Why would someone lie about accusing someone else?"

Parking is absolutely ridiculous. Student parking does not accommodate any vehicle larger than a compact. Parking spaces are scarce as they tend to sell more permits than they have parking spaces. When the school decides to plow the parking lots, it is very disorganized, and they fail to notify the students to move their cars.

Like I said before, the honor code and many of the other rules exist so administration can have more control. All internet use is heavily monitored and restricted.

The school hires students for EVERYTHING! No one is trained in their job very well, and dishonesty among staff is horrendous. One experience I had in particular happened when a student hired to monitor internet activity stole my banking information and drained my bank account. He then reported to the honor office that I had been "attacking" the school servers in "hacking" attempts.

Besides me, there have been about three other people of the same name. It was not uncommon that I would get faulty parking tickets, charged for rent where I was not living, and having my mail lost.

The luxury of not sharing a bedroom with someone is considered to be very bad at this school. This is because of the many prostitution rings that have sprung up in Rexburg. The school tries very hard to keep this information hushed up.

So even though this school was mostly bad, there was a little good. I'm thankful for the good friends I made. And I'm glad that I was made aware to many of the mistakes that the church makes.

I regret choosing to further my education at this "university" and I warn others that plan to do the same. If you want to become married quickly this is probably the place to do it as strangers tend to agree to marriage...

Avoid this collage at all cost! You get what you pay for with this cheap collage: terrible quality classes and support. The LDS church should be ashamed of what this "university" is turning into. This should not be considered a university, it is a continuation of high school with how fake and useless the classes that are available as well as most of the students. The BYU-Idaho educational system is broken and unfair to the students; especially those who have a medical condition with a physical or mental disability.

This university is a religion university more than an educational university, with their mindset of making religion a requirement in order to graduate, rather than a personal choice.

There are very few courses available that actually are transferable to other colleges and the courses that are available, forcing students to only graduate from this university or drop out due to having to start over somewhere else.

This university completely ignores my medical needs and provide basically no accommodations.The BYU-IDAHO approved housing doesn't care about any disability or providing any accommodations for my health. Because of the lack of support and resources, my health declined very rapidly ever since living here. There is no communication with BYU and my living situational needs. I had to get a handicap parking pass just to park closer to my apartment and classes on campus. Even with a handicap parking pass, it was impossible to even find an open parking spot.

The atmosphere here is also toxic. If you aren't perfect, or rich, or an overachiever with multiple jobs, you don't belong here. If you have any disability, your needs are ignored, and are ashamed for not regularly attending church and FHE. Religion should be a personal choice, not a requirement.

The administration and councilors are teenagers with no clue with how to resolve issues or help through situations. There are also no mental health councilors available and even require a minimum of 6 credits to even be seen or pay out of pocket to be seen...pathetic.

The BYU Independent Study is even more of a joke with very few courses available and very poor tutoring... I'm disappointed with the lack of support for medical conditions and needs. Im also very disappointed in the on campus housing and the fact that BYU-I accepted too many students and now its basically impossible to graduate from here or even transfer out... No wonder people are dropping out of this college.

Thanks for screwing my life up BYU... I know I'm not the only one. From talking to at least a handful of other students that went here, most are regretting coming here and not...