I believe the reservation spots are randomized amongst everyone who submits their application by the deadline. Obviously LLC applicants get earlier slots and are done first. I think most of the LLC housing tends to be a bit nicer, though not as good as the Honors housing (specifically Kahlert which was was brand new last fall). Lassonde is another very modern and convenient option on lower campus (it seems you have to apply specifically for that LLC) but all of the lower campus housing is a lot more expensive than upper campus.
All freshmen now need a meal plan (unfortunately because the food is poor), because the apartments in MHC, Lassonde etc are only available to sophomores, juniors and seniors. A lot of people move off campus after freshman year, either into university owned apartments or private rentals. Note that taking a car is common (because people want to go skiing etc) and there is plenty of parking (though pre-COVID you needed to get there by around 8am if you wanted to drive to class).
Thank you both for your answers to my housing questions!
I would love to get your feedback on your daughters’ experiences in dance. My daughter is modern concentration, not ballet, but Utah was her first choice and she was so excited to be admitted. We don’t know anyone in either the ballet or modern programs, so any info you can give would be helpful.
I did hear that they are dancing in person, which is great. Almost all of the CA universities have their students dancing remotely this year.
D loves Utah. She’s very outdoorsy so has a great time skiing, climbing, hiking, etc. It has been good to be there in person, though most of the academic classes have been online this year. Utah is pretty open and more concerned about the economy than most states. That has felt somewhat risky (though there weren’t too many cases in the dorms) but OTOH it is still easy to get a job.
The ballet program is strong and well taught, very much geared to a professional career although of course most students won’t be successful in getting a company position. Much more so than UCs like UCSB and UCI that she also got into. It is pretty competitive to get cast in performances.
Harder to know how it compares for modern, but I don’t think it is as commercially oriented as somewhere like Chapman where students get jobs at Disneyland down the road. Perhaps more like say Oklahoma or Fordham/Ailey (though probably looking for a different type of dancer than the latter).
You brought up a great point, especially about ballet major in general. My DD is in a pre-pro program, and we have had several attend the more “popular” ballet programs, including Utah. Only 1 of our college graduates (not a ballet program) went on to a professional career (and that is a assistant to an artistic director of a major city ballet company). Several went into trainee programs, which is essentially pay to attend for a couple years and either went back for a second degree or settled into careers with their second majors. Our most successful graduates went straight into trainee programs out of HS. Ballet dancing is not an easy career, our professional work 2nd and 3rd jobs, and just dance for a few years before going to college. The Utah graduates I know, were very happy with their experience here. Utah is one of the few main state schools that give significant merit, and it is a state easy to become a resident of, for instate tuition purposes. What I also like about Utah, is if you are OOS, all summer classes are in state rates. My DD has targeted a couple of ballet programs, but she is looking to double major, and actually her first choice schools do not offer dance, but there are other ways to stay involved in the school communities.
Agreed. Most ballet majors stayed the first summer to get instate tuition. Utah is relatively accommodating of double majors compared to many BFA programs, even though it requires significant overload, because there are flexible online class options and plenty of courses offered in the summer.
I don’t think I have much more to add that Twoin18 hasn’t addressed. DD is very happy at Utah and has been glad to be dancing in person (although it comes with risks). DD’s second major has been done just about all online to fit it in around ballet classes, by choice (even without COVID moving things online). She’s fine with that.
Thank you all for the info. I did not realize that Utah has had online course offerings even before Covid. Definitely would make a double major with the BFA easier. At most schools it is very difficult to double major because it is hard to find classes that fit with the tight dance schedules.
We are waiting to hear about WUE, but good to know that becoming a Utah resident is a possibility as well.
Basically you need 2 classes in each of four areas (fine arts, humanities, science and social science) plus American Institutions, Diversity and International. This is not necessarily 11 courses as some classes cover more than one area. And generally your major will cover at least one and potentially two of these four areas.
In addition you need lower and upper level writing and some quantitative courses (more for a BSc, or a language for a BA).
So what you see on the IB and AP sheets is which IE requirement they correspond to. That is more relevant than the credit hours, since you’ll potentially end up with lots of extra credits unless you want to just do one major and graduate as quickly as possible. Typically you will get out of lower level writing with an English AP, the lower level math with a Math AP, the American Institutions with a History AP and perhaps a few other scattered IE courses (although whether it matters at all depends on your major). I still don’t fully understand how languages exemptions work, I think you have to take a test. In addition you can’t waive any Honors general eds, and these courses can cover both regular and Honors general Ed requirements at the same time.
So we found that even with 9 APs and a supposed 50+ credits it only allowed about 3-4 classes to be skipped completely, once you included everything that was being done anyway as part of the required classes for the major.
The full IB diploma offers great credit at Utah - my daughter was looking at it as made a BFA in dance with other major almost possible. If your daughter does receive the full diploma she’s awarded 30 hours and waives all the Intellectual Exploration parts of the General Ed requirements and additional waivers are possible if she scores high enough on the corresponding Math and other specific classes. It was by far the most generous school we looked at for IB specifically.
I think my D needs to set up a meeting with an advisor and talk about how she can use the credits and the possibility of a second major. Utah is so generous with the merit aid so getting out in 3 years isn’t a big deal. I guess I’ll do that after we hear back about honors.
@amsunshine - I didn’t see anything on the website either but think the protocol might be to have her email her admission counselor and decline. Congrats to your D - I’m guessing that means she has accepted and her first choice school - good luck! Also, thanks for encouraging her to decline - hopefully that helps direct the merit aid to others.
Thanks, I was thinking an email to the AO was the only option as well. My D hasn’t made a final decision yet, but has narrowed her choices down to 3 other schools so it seems silly for her to keep any of the remaining schools hanging at this point. Best wishes to all at U of U!
My D17 has been admitted to Univ of Utah and has been admitted to the Business Scholars Program with a one year scholarship. There is an email from the Business Scholars Program asking her to accept since there are only 500 spots available and if we don’t accept now, she may be in a waitlist. Has anyone accepted the Business Scholars Program? If we do accept, will it prohibit her from being considered for other 4 year OOS scholarships (full tuition or partial tuition) offered by Utah including First Ascent Scholars, Opportunity Scholars, Non Resident Excellence etc?
I think you’ll need to ask them about other application based scholarships, but it shouldn’t affect auto-merit (eg non-resident excellence). The idea behind the one year scholarships is that you’ll stay for the summer after freshman year to get residency so you’ll only pay instate rates in subsequent years. Unless you get the full OOS tuition scholarship (which has generally required 4.0UW and in past years 33-34 ACT) then getting residency may be the cheapest option overall (and although not relevant to you is a better deal than options like WUE, which can cause problems if you want to stay more than 8 semesters).
It would be good to know what “accept” actually means. Does it require you to actually enroll and pay the deposit, or just email saying you intend to come? Requiring you to deposit now before all admissions are known seems unfair.
We have not, but I think the date is Feb 5th. The website for the Eccles scholarship says students will hear about admission to Honors college on Feb 5th and Mar 1.