nm.
I am not an expert. But I have heard of this working at some other schools and since your daughter has nothing to lose, maybe should give this a try.
Your daughter or her school counselor (not you) should contact her regional dean. She should outline her religious commitment, her grades, scores, extra curriculars and state that BYU is her first choice and she was disappointed not to get in despite her achievements, and that she would definitely attend if accepted. Sometimes top students are rejected from schools if they seem âover qualifiedâ as schools want to have a great yield, and they donât want to have to reject other students who would be a good fit. See what happens. I know a few people this has worked for (not at BYU). I also know some people who were able to gain admission to off the waitlist who were in similar situations. This costs nothing, all she has to be is polite and be willing to take no for an answer if that is what ultimately happens. If it doesnât work out she will flower somewhere else â maybe she could do a gap year project and reapply to a wider variety of schools next year.
Wishing you and your daughter the best!
I suppose it could be. She went in as âundecidedâ on her major (which I called the school and they claimed that doesnât make a difference in the application) At this point, IDK, we just have to try to find a non-party school and get applied, quick! 
Thank you, always appreciate the suggestion!
I agree that I would try that. But I also agree 100% that this needs to come from her and/or her counselor, not you.
I know someone who did something like this at UNC which only admits a very small percent from OOS. He contacted admissions and was able to convince them to be put on a waitlist to start 2nd semester. Itâs risky, but it worked for him. Someone dropped out and he was able to take their place.
Thank you, I will give that a try and appreciate the advice. I have heard horror stories about non LDS culture colleges so I am worried about having her at any college that has drinking etc. If you know of any good schools with strict âno drinking, partying,â etc I would be happy to consider and we appreciate the advice. Thanks!
Thanks for providing that stats OP. With a 33 ACT, 3.95 UWGPA and her ECâs, your daughter should have gotten into BYU - so I can understand your frustration. As for why she didnât get in, no one here can say for sure, and anything we do say would be pure speculation. Honestly, I donât think turning this thing into a lawsuit is going to do you or your daughter any good, but thatâs up to you. As a final matter you say:
âYes, now we are going to have a lot of trouble just to find a subpar academic school that she doesnât want to go to, so I want BYU to be accountable.â
Again, I understand your frustration, and I say this respectfully, but it never would have come down to this if your daughter had applied to a range of safety, match, and reach schools (as is often advised on CC). With her stats, your daughter should have had plenty of options - some of which might have even been academically superior to BYU.
Here is an article about âdry campusesâ. There are probably other sources out there with similar information. Most that are truly alcohol free are connected to a religion of some sort. Some of these schools are definitely NOT alcohol free (Iowa State and Oklahoma jumped out at me) but instead have alcohol free housing options. I actually think a lot of schools have those types of options if thatâs something youâd consider.
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I know you are disappointed but i think you need to move on. Colleges have tens of thousands of applicants. They are building a freshman class, not just looking at stats.
The idea that colleges should communicate why a student isnât accepted is unrealistic.
SoâŠmove on. Look at the other options.
As a reference, my older kid was put on a waitlist and his stats were closer to the top 25% ile. He was subsequently rejected from that school. No one could figure it out but they was the decision. End of discussion.
Hoping your daughter has other options on her application pile.
Holistic admission is how many many colleges admit their class. Frustrating as it may be, thatâs why everyone needs safeties that they love. (And yes, students can love their safeties). I very much doubt that the process is going to change and threatening the university with getting lawyers involved isnât going to help your daughter if a mistake was truly made, or if she wants to transfer to BYU down the road.
I agree with the other posters who are suggesting the high school GC call admissions. Your Dâs grades and stats would seem to be above the BYU average and maybe something was inadvertently missing from her application. I would think an admissions person would be more open with the school guidance counselor.
Another thing to consider is that BYU has midyear admission. Might be worth asking the GC if she could be considered for Winter '21 start.
In terms of fears about partying, your daughter will be able to find her people at any decently sized school. My D spends her weekends with her theater group at rehearsals, at honors council events, and playing board games (in addition to studying of course ; )). Sheâs at a big public flagship with lots of partying. That just isnât her scene, nor that of her friends. Iâm sure your D will find community.
IMO, itâs time to let go of your anger. BYU doesnât have a 100% acceptance rate. They donât auto admit by grades/test scores. They are like most every other school in the US - trying to balance their class with respect to different majors, diversity, ECs, etcâŠ
For others reading this thread who havenât started the process yet - spend the bulk of your time finding affordable safety schools that your student will be excited to attend. Even match/target schools arenât guarantees. Look at the acceptance rates, not just where your student falls in terms of grades/scores.
The inherent contradiction in what you wrote is also inherent at BYU and the heart of the âproblem.â
Why would you think that attending early morning seminary would, or should matter if the focus should be on academics?
Expecting that BYU should somehow operate in the same manner as independent, non-denominational institutes of higher education is naive at best.
BYU is not a âpureâ institute of higher education. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and virtually all the students are members. The goals of the University are to further the goals of the church.
Clearly, they thought that admitting those other, perhaps academically less qualified students, rather than your child, was the superior choice for the church, and the school.
If you are unhappy with the way the institutions of your church treats your child, you have two options: work to change the church, or leave the church. Expecting the church and itâs institutions not to act in a manner that they feel is in the churchâs interests is about as effective as spitting in to the wind.
I appreciate that but she did apply to a safety school. A top tier one that gave her a great scholarship. We also applied to Utah state as a backup and she got in (but their acceptance rate is high so thatâs not a challenge)
So, yes we have safety schools. NONE of them we want to go to. Nor should she have to. We pay tithing in our church to fund these schools so I give (gave) 10% of my yearly income so my child could go to a church school at a reduced cost (BYU is $5K a year for members) then they donât let her in? What a scam.
There are other good (and expensive) schools out there but they donât have the LDS culture so I have concerns about sending her into a bad drinking / partying scene, which I find is at every college.
It doesnât sounds like I can do much to change the process without getting a lawyer. It is just mind blowing to me that this is the ânormâ (or so I am being told) for colleges.
I just want a level playing field and the purpose of this post was to find out if anyone has had any success or knows the process to do that.
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I think your frustration based on stats is founded, BYU is just not that selective or even that popular.
Again, what state are you from? What about talking to your bishop and having him call to discuss that side of things?
Did you see the whole application? No chance of a kid sabotage? BYU is my idea of hell so I suspect many an 18 yr old could feel the same. As you have such a negative view on all other colleges, your kid could be fighting free of the constraints of such a religion and might not want to go to a religious school. The LDS is losing itâs youth, period. 4.45 am seminary is forced by parents, whatever else you might think. Some kids are smart enough to play a long game.
I take it you are not a member. Early morning seminary is REQUIRED to attend the church. That is why new guy (6 months in) who did not attend seminary for four years screwed the system.
Everyone else had to get a 70% attendance rate for four years to apply.
Again, if it is an academic institution (as they claim it is) letting in students with worse grades is not âfurthering the church.â
In case my previous post wasnât clear - all I want is an answer out of these people as to what they found lacking in her application.
The reality is that I have heard for years that this is a lottery system right now. They get thousands of applications and I have been told by multiple higher ups that it is a lottery system.
Thatâs fine - but then say that. Donât lie and claim it is a holistic approach.
If you cannot help change this process then you bring nothing useful to the conversation. We all know the problem - I want to change it so it is a level playing field.
You arenât going to have success changing the system by hiring a lawyer. No one has damaged here.
Isnât tithing required?
I think you need to let go of this. Does the LDS encourage vindictive or the like behaviors?
Last years stats;
FRESHMAN APPLICANTS 11,356 ACCEPTED 7,775 AVERAGE GPA 3.87 AVERAGE ACT 28.6 ACCEPTANCE RATE 68.5%
As you can see it is far from a lottery, that is a pretty high acceptance rate for a school that paints itself as selective. If you are looking for a reason, it is outside the academic issue. Try talking to your kid.
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BYU and Harvard and MIT do not have to justify their holistic admissions to you. And they wonât. If they want to take Pottery girl, they can. It may be that sheâs a legacy, that she has a lot of pottery awards, that she wrote an interesting essay. A few years ago a girl wrote an essay about shopping at Costco that everyone thought was fantastic (I didnât, but Iâm not a college admissions officer) and she was admitted to 5-6 Ivies and other top schools. Just because someone is an MIT professor doesnât mean he knows anything about writing essays or college admissions. He couldnât have gotten her into MIT because thatâs not how MIT does admissions. There are schools with holistic admissions (and they really donât take every student with perfect stats) and there are schools that DO admit mainly on stats and donât care all that much about essays and extra curricular activities. BYU is holistic, and BYU sets the rules for admission. Donât like it? Donât apply.
You need to stop the talk about inferior schools. If you call them that, they will be (to your daughter). Utah State is NOT inferior to BYU just because you donât like it as much. Donât go there if you think it is inferior and it isnât what you want.
If you want to fight this, go to your Ward. A lot of Catholic kids donât get in to BC or Georgetown and bishops and those higher up get more traction than public school GC. They may not get the student in, but they get answers, including that there are spots for 3000 freshman and there were 25000 applicants or that they accepted 200 students from that state or church or high school, or that every acceptance to the major had perfect 4.0 gpa or were National Merit Finalists or could tap dance while singing or that they needed a quarterback.
You donât need a lawyer, you need a church elder. Your daughter wonât get in, but you may find another path to what she wants (different school, transfer, peace with the âinferiorâ school, connections with the LDS population at another school).
Where is the discrimination? Yes, BYU discriminates on the basis of religion - if you arenât LDS! They are allowed to do that. They are allowed to pick the art major, the student who just completed a mission, the student from Alabama, even if their grades are as high as your daughterâs. Thatâs holistic admissions. Being smart is not a protected class and they are allowed to pick other applicants. Thatâs not discrimination.
The system isnât going to change. Many students applied to colleges in September and wonât find out if they are accepted until late March. BYU Provo canât accept every applicant, so there is BYU Idaho and Hawaii. Not every Catholic student can go to Notre Dame, even if it is a dream school.
@Connecticut814 - I get it. We hurt when our child hurts. We are disappointed when our child is disappointed. Been there many times. As a person of faith I believe that God has a plan and if it was âHis Planâ for her to get admitted no lottery or anything else could stop it. Perhaps he is planting her somewhere else to bloom. Please know that she is observing how this situation is evolving and is learning many lessons. The main lessons she will be from her watching how this ends up and it could be that she accepts that this may have been where she wanted it to be but it may not have been the ultimate plan for her. Iâm having that same conversation with my daughter also. We do not always get what we want and sometimes we have to learn to be ok with that and understand that where she ends up can be part of a bigger plan. I hope that she finds a school where she can be happy. I also heard a saying when she was applying to high schools, âLove the school that loves you the mostâ. The other school has shown her how much she is worth to them. I would jump on it in a heartbeat.
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Itâs not a safety school if you and your child donât want to attend. No student should apply to schools that they wouldnât be happy to attend.
Iâm sorry that you are so disappointed but hopefully your D will have a fabulous experience at one of these other schools that have accepted her.
One of my Dâs close friends ended up a safety that the GC made him apply to at the last minute because his list was too reachy. He started the semester telling everyone that would listen that he was definitely going to transfer. Heâs 2 years in now and LOVES it. Would never transfer in a million years. Heâs a rockstar there and getting all kinds of amazing opportunities.
Bloom where you are planted is sound advice.
You seem to be hung up on sending your daughter to a school that is not party free. Do you not trust your daughter enough to go to a school where some, not all kids drink and for her to abstain? Every school will have kids who do not party and you need to trust your daughter in respect to the values you raised her with.