Great school for the right person

Introduction
The biggest piece of advice I would give to a high school student considering BYU is make sure you know what you are getting into. That may sound negative, but it isn't meant to be in any way. BYU is a wonderful place as long as it matches the qualities for which you are looking. If you want a school that is primarily an undergraduate institution where the professors are concerned first and foremost about the student and research comes second, BYU would be a good place for you. If you want an education with a big university focus on research, BYU is probably not the place. BYU is a very social place, but if you are not a member of the predominant LDS religion here, it may be uncomfortable and akward because of the great focus put on spirituality and marriage at a young age. Provo is a great place to live because it is so affordable and the quality of life is so high, but if you like a big city feel with multiple cultural events and venues, this is probably not the place for you. I chose this school because I am LDS and I wanted a school where I could really get to know my professors and one in which I could live a good quality of life without racking up a lot of debt.

Campus Life and Social Life
The best of the social life is that the people here are so friendly and there are always great events happening on campus and at various big apartment complexes right near campus. Also, there are people from all 50 states and so many countries so friendship with anyone is easy to obtain, especially if you share the same predominant LDS faith. The worst of social life is that there is not enough time in the week to fit in all of the social activities in which you want to participate! Partying here is great if you like good clean fun with no alcohol, drugs or sex. Otherwise, this is definitely not the school for you. Sports are also great here. The football team hasn't been so good the last few years but students still love to go to the games as well as the basketball games. The clubs aren't really a huge part of campus life here. Many types of clubs exist, but not many students attend. Weekends are a blast. There are activities on Friday and Saturday, such as International Cinema or Fun Runs and on Sunday, pretty much everything is closed and all of the students attend church. Finally, there is no greek life whatsoever! Advertisement
Academics
The academics here are challenging but not intimidating. Most people take the normal 13-15 semester credits and study outside of class several hours per week. BYU has a great nursing department, exercise science department and school of business. There are many other good departments but those three seem to get the most recognition around campus. The language departments are numerous and very strong as well. There are no departments that particularly suck, but the more obscure majors such as botany and sculpture don't receive a lot of recognition. Professors here are great, as they are very accessible. Graduate students rarely teach classes. There are not TA's for all classes, mostly just large auditorium style classes. The workload is generally more intense for general education classes that require a certain number of papers or projects and then becomes highly specialized during major classes.

Student Body
The typical student is an all American boy or girl that could be from any of the 50 states. Driving through the BYU parking lot on any given day, you have a good chance of seeing a license plate from every state. They are mostly members of the Mormon church and come from large families. They are into a variety of things but it seems like almost everyone here plays a musical instrument of some sort and music is a big part of campus life. Students here enjoy doing the normal activities like eating out and going to the movies. One-on-one and group dating are also more predominant here than at other universities. The typical student at this school will likely have conservative political views.

In Closing...
BYU is a great school and can provide you with a wonderful education. You really do get out of this university what you decide to put into it. Also, spring and summer terms here are pretty popular and laid back and can allow for a lighter load during fall and winter or an early graduation. The scenery here is beautiful...the school is sitting at the base of the Wasatch Front.