Hello guys,
If a young adult was not accepted or not considering BYU, but was still interested in an academic environment that was high quality and in Utah with lots of other Latter-day Saints available to date and marry, what are the genuine reasons one may steer them away from the U of U? We're talking about a faithful young adult with a testimony and striving to make and keep covenants. (Please no petty sports reasons, cultural reasons are fine).
Can we assume a few things:
1.) U of U may be the best academic option for many of the students (depending on the program).
2.) Church data has shown that a student who attends Institute has basically the same rate of activity in the Church 10 years later as a student who attended a church school (it is actually a little higher if they attended an institute but is within the margin of error).
3.) A sports rivalry may not be a major factor for many students.
4.) Most academic programs at the U. (especially outside of the humanities) are not faith-shaking environments, for example, no one in the engineering school cares what religion someone is, and it never gets brought up.
BYU (and all Church schools) have a lot of unique features you cannot get elsewhere but a vast majority of students won't have a place there.
Thank you in advance for your thoughts, Cougarboard is a powerful community tool!