Rejected to BYU and need advice

I was denied as a freshman a couple days ago. I am applying for the Winter 2021 semester as a transfer. I will have a 3.7 by the time I apply in the summer and over 24 units, so my high school grades and ACT won’t count. My parents are very angry that I didn’t get in and are mad at the school.

As a transfer student with 24 or more units, BYU only looks at your

  1. College GPA
  2. Seminary
  3. 1 Recommendation
    4)Essays and Activities
    5)Other factors outside of your control (race/geography/gender)
    I currently live in California with a 3.5 gpa for transferring purposes (It will be about a 3.7 after this last semester)

I haven’t gotten a clear response from anybody and I would like advice from anybody that views this post. I have three questions

  1. The average at BYU is a 3.65. Do you think that a 3.7 is good enough or should I bring it higher (I will have 40 units)
  2. My counselor told me that one reason I could have gotten rejected could have been because I applied for accounting, one of the, if not the most popular majors. Would you recommend I change that major to a really unpopular major, write about it in my essays, and then change it when I get there, or should I just put undeclared
  3. If you know anyone that transferred successfully from a community college, other than UVU/BYUI/BYUH, what was their gpa

I can’t answer any of your questions because none of us knows what formula a school comes up with and why people who have lower stats get in ahead of those who have higher stats. No one on CC can tell you what’s good enough, only the admissions officers know. I would recommend that you research other schools that have some of the same attributes that made this school attractive to you and your parents. Though you are applying again there is still no guarantee that you will be accepted in the Winter of 2021 and you want to have other options. Your parents being angry is not helping you or the situation. As I’m sure you know, no one is guaranteed or entitled to admission at any school. Good luck to you.

@jamiegolden Hi! My daughter was just rejected from BYU as well! I have another thread if you want to check that out… Anyhow, my daughter had a 3.9 (all APs) so I cant say conclusively that the GPA is the issue.

I (as a parent) am also very angry and mad at the school.

What I can tell you is this. From my experience (and the hundreds of posts on FB and Insta) I have heard that the admissions process is a lottery.

We had a girl in our ward with a 3.0 get in. There was a kid who just “joined the church six months ago” and he got in.

I hate to say it but I don’t think admissions has anything to do with personal effort.

From what I have seen they take everyones name, put it in a hat and give it a shake.

I called Admissions and got the run around - they wouldn’t give me any reason as to why my over qualified daughter was denied.

My personal thought is that it doesn’t matter how much effort you put in. It is lucky of the draw.

Also my daughter put undeclared in as her major and didn’t get in.

Very very hard to get into Prov, but BYU Idaho and BYU Hawaii have a high acceptance rate for those who don’t get into main. Utah Valley University next door has a high Mormon population, as well.

the acceptance rate is 55% and the average is a 3.65. your saying that he is below average which is simply not true