EDITED:  New questions about housing at the end of the thread


Im currently going to school with my GI Bill in California and I am looking to transfer and finish my bachelors in a free state, with Utah being at the top of the list.  Unfortunately, my major (Healthcare Management/Health Services Administration) isn't available at the U or the Y. It is available at UVU.  I know UVU just became a 4 year institution just a few years ago.  Would a degree from there be worth pursuing?  

UVU

Closest I can find up at the U

Master's in my field at the U which leads me to believe they know about the field and so the major in the link above might be ideal.  


Id rather live and attend school up in SLC since I have tons of family who could hook me up with a place to live between West Jordan all the way up to Ogden.  I have no connections down in Provo/Orem.  But if its better for me career wise, Id bite the bullet and go to UVU.  What do you guys think?

UVU is well respected within Utah for it's Financial and Nursing degrees. Not sure out of state. I attend currently and I like it well enough.

Awesome!  I had no idea that it is now the largest student body in a public school in the state but just saw that on wikipedia.  Interesting.  

How big is the church influence on campus?  Noticed that the president of the university is a Holland.

It's still in Utah valley. The church doesn't have to have a direct influence. The local culture is enough to take care of that for them.

Maybe outdated info, but I bet it still holds true: when I was living in some of the cheap student housing in the summers there 20 years ago (it was UVSC at the time), there were two types of students.

1) the ones that couldn't quite get into BYU, but wanted everyone to think they went there.

2) those who went out of their way to make sure everyone knew they weren't BYU students.

Interesting.  I don't think Im BYU material.  I'm not an anti, but I also don't find baking cookies to be a fulfilling way to spend an evening.  Don't think I have or will develop anything against BYU though.

Are you LDS? If not (and if you don't have an athletic scholarship), I don't know why you'd want to go to BYU anyway. I say this as an active LDS guy who went to the U of U for 8 years. 

My brother's post (right above you), is still pretty accurate. Utah Valley is a different sort of place. But UVU's program would probably do well for you. And a fair number of people live in the south Salt Lake valley and commute down each day. Check out UTA's Frontrunner routes. The Orem intramodal station is right across the highway from UVU. Bit of a walk to get there, but certainly do-able. 

Ya Im LDS.  I went to the LDSBC back in like 08-09 and just found it to be kinda over the top.  Guess Im just too used to California school systems and then the Army.  (Don't get me wrong, I love being the token libertarian/conservative who gets to burst a libtards bubble in CA).  

I want to be around other LDS which is the whole reason for moving/transferring to a school up in UT.  I don't know a single other Mormon at my university, and the YSA wards where Im at are just pitiful.  So back to the mothership for me

I am LDS... And don't have anything to add, other than that my brother graduated from UVU a few years back. He had a good time. His degree was "elementary education." He was a vet and paid for it with GI Bill money.

I graduated from SUU... And would not have it any other way, with how my career has gone. Honestly.

If UVU is anything like SUU, then you will be a right fit. I love the LDS Church, and am proud of my membership, but I don't think I would have had a good time at BYU.

I graduated from Institute, always took religion classes, but I still don't think I would have enjoyed BYU. And... I was offered an athletic scholarship there. It would have been free. I don't regret it a minute.

I dated a lot of LDS girls. Went to a lot of Institute activities. Followed Church rules on dating. Found a great farm girl after my mission. Boom. It was the right decision.

Our "singles" scene here in Indiana is interesting. Our Ward is attached to a University, so we have a lot of young single adults... But they come and go. I have heard how miserable some singles are in Wards here in Indiana. Many kids --interestingly-- will join The Church, stay here a few more semesters, then transfer to BYU-I, or BYU.

I know you are thinking of UVU... But I really had a good time at SUU. Hiked on Sunday afternoons in the National Parks... Zion, Cedar Breaks, Red Cliffs. And Leavitt School of Management was a good academic experience.

If you are thinking Business Management, BYU's Marriott School of Management is always consistently ranked in the top-ten *nationally.* I just wasn't going to fit in at BYU.

Good luck.

I hear ya man, I'd love to end up down around Hurricane.  I love Utah but Im not a fan of snow so southern UT is right up my alley.  Unfortunately though, my major isn't offered down there.    

BYU would be cool but I need some wiggle room.  After my time at LDSBC, I don't think I would enjoy going to another CES operated school.  I'm the type that is there every sunday but I just ain't spiritual enough to sit through a 6 minute prayer without getting annoyed.  Maybe its a personal failing but I just have no interest in the holier-than-thou kind of games that I saw everywhere when I was at LDSBC.  

Plus I have some opinions that I know will rub a lot of Mormons the wrong way, like we need to start deporting illegals or people on an expired visas ASAP, or I know its not PC but we need to change ROE and allow way more collateral deaths in any war we fight (cuz thats the only way to win).  I think Romney IS a RINO and I jokingly (but lovingly) call Trump the God Emperor.  I imagine ideas like this would not jive well with BYU.  

I love and need the church in my life, but I don't do well with groupthink.  So no BYU for me.  Totally down to make friends with anybody from the Y or date girls from there though

I'm currently in the Information Technology major at UVU. The IT, IS, CS, and CE courses are all ABET accredited. I know this doesn't directly affect you but it goes to show that the school is actively seeking accreditation from organizations that will make their degrees and them as a University more desirable. I don't know if your major is considered a business degree but UVU's School of Business is AACSB accredited (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).

If you decide to go to UVU feel free to contact me. I try not to be the stereotypical "Utah Mormon" and your views are welcome with me. I have never cared for singles wards much because I like the age diversity in a family ward but the one I used to be in was full of good people. My wife and I go to a family ward near UVU now though so if you can't stand your single's ward you can go with us.

Also, BYU tries to restrict you from carrying on campus. Yet another reason not to go there. UVU, like all other public schools in Utah, is required by law to allow concealed carry.

Thanks Zulu!  I'll definitely look you up when I make the move.  And  WOW, I can't believe BYU doesn't allow carry on campus.  Actually, I can.  Had a bishop in Texas share a message one time that we shouldn't be carrying, but he was rolling his eyes as he read it lol.  It was a military ward and I bet half the guys and a fair number of the ladies in there were packin

I'm actually visiting SLC this weekend so I will definitely be making a little time to drive down and check out the UVU campus.  If any of their offices are still open next week, it will be interesting to see what I can find out.  

And ya I was never a fan of singles wards but thats just the nature of the beast in order to meet good girls.  My ex wasn't LDS and I don't want to repeat that mistake so I will bite the bullet and try to find a ward where I fit in.  Problem is I have nothing in common with most 18-20 year olds.  I might try a midsingles ward since I have kids (even though they wont be living with me most of the year) just because I wont feel like a total outcast.

I graduated from UVU with a BS and I really enjoyed it. Some liberal professors in the "arts" departments but other than that not bad. The VA department there knows their stuff and will get you sorted out.

I met with them and with my academic advisor on Monday.   Very helpful.  Told me about all of the holds I have to get lifted as a new student and gave me a lot of suggestions.  My field is done almost entirely out of the west campus location so I checked that out and WOW it was nice!  

Then I looked at some housing options near there and now I'm heading back to CA to get all my stuff submitted.  Can't wait to be a student/resident here

I went to UVSC for a couple years and transfered to the U.  My bro went to the Y.  In the end it doesn't matter where you go.  At least not in government. I work with people who went to top schools and I ended up doing grad work at George Mason.  A good school but not ivy league.

I have a number of LDS friends that have been telling me this same thing for quite some time, and I never questioned it.  But I just looked at the US News and World Reports rankings, and BYU Marriott school is ranked #31 for graduate and #32 for undergraduate.  Not bad, but not top 10.

Glad to hear it! Hit me up if you need anything, I live close to campus.

Ok. Yeah, pretty good, but not top ten...

I had not questioned it, either... And I did not go to BYU.

I am a Leavitt School of Business man. SUU.

Good luck in Utah, OP.

Is SUU the old Dixie College?

I didn't realize this place was called UVU. I went for one semester in the 90s when it was called UVSC. When my dad first came to Utah, he got a two year degree from there when the place was called Utah Technical College. My time there came right after they changed the name from Utah Valley Community College. I wonder why they keep changing the name of the place.

No. SUU is Southern Utah University, in Cedar City. When I was in high school (88-91), it was SUSC (Southern Utah State College).

Dixie College is now Dixie University and is in St. George. 

One could debate if either of these truly qualify as universities.

Thanks for the info.

Already answered.

Dixie is in St George. It's Preaident moved from my Stake here in Indiana a couple years ago. He was Dean of the ISU school of business prior.

SUU --Gods holy University-- is in Cedar City.

I absolutely loved SUU. Had a great time there. At the time students could go to the Shakespear Festival plays for $5.00. I would sit --in the 90s-- next to people who were paying $60...

Made a lot of friends. Business program was rigorous.

At the time Dixie was considered a "party school" and was not considered academically rigorous...

Easy now.

SUU was a great place to go to school.

Dixie had a bad reputation back in the day. But SUU was academically rigorous in the Business School...

I competed against BYU Business in PBL Business Decision Making competitions when I was at SUU and mopped the floor with their best. Went head to head in DEX against BYU, and beat them... The rest of the Utah schools lost hard to SUU and BYU when I was there in the 90s...

I loved SUU. Wouldn't change anything about my decision to go there...

I will probably be sending my kids to BYU or BYUI, though... :-(

I'm in my mid-20's and all the kids my age from my home ward who went to Dixie state were very jack and they chose Dixie instead of anything CES related because of the party rep that it had.  

Not saying it can't be a great academic institution, but everybody I know who has gone in the last decade (from SoCal) went for one reason.

I was confused when I first read your post, but then I realized you were speaking Mormon.

I'm only so/so fluent

Not an RM/peter priesthood type but Im still happy to be a member.  I don't quite think of myself as jack since I follow most church rules happily but I also don't think blind obedience is acceptable.  I have no qualms about calling Utah's/Mormonism's ridiculous policies on immigration and refugees to be idiotic and suicidal and we all know its because the church is trying to virtue signal to disprove the "only white people" image.  

Was visiting family in Draper less than a month ago.  A cousin of mine brought her boyfriend over while we were there.  Guy is from Venezuela.  Told us that he had been in Florida, Michigan and Ontario (Canada) in the last year trying to get his papers.  He heard about Utah and bam. it was almost instant when he applied there.  

So I got all my holds lifted, got my DD-214 and VA crap sent over and everything went smoothly.  Just registered for Summer classes.  Taking 19 credits!  

So I was originally looking at Wolverine Crossing but I'm reading a lot of reviews scaring me away from that place now.  Anybody have any suggestions for where to live?  I really want to live close enough to walk to main campus.  Don't care if I'm north, south, east, west...etc but walking distance is a requirement.  (My commute to my current school is an hour without traffic and I refuse to do that crap again til I graduate).  


Already know about KSL, and when I move next month that is already the first thing I will be using to shop around but anything else you guys can offer would also be appreciated.  


I dont mind having roommates.  I need good parking since I have an F150 and I'd like to keep my rent below $500/month.

I lived at Village on the Parkway for a semester which is just on the other side of University Parkway from Wolverine Crossing. It wasn't anything fancy but rent was around 350 if you shared a room. Each apartment has two single rooms and two shared rooms meaning six people share two bathrooms and one kitchen. Parking is available and, although you are within walking distance of UVU, they have a free shuttle service that runs back and forth from the university every hour or so. Every now and again it runs to Walmart as well.

I have a friend at Wolverine Crossing and he likes it well enough. I was always under the impression that Wolverine Crossing was a nicer complex and therefore more expensive but I recently found out my friend there pays $300/month. Still a shared room. They do seem to have nicer facilities but even at my apartment I could hear the music from their complex parties when they had them.

This will take a small bit of research, but will pay off...

1) Find a few areas you like.
2) Look up the areas on LDS.org to see what Ward they are.
3) Find the ward facebook pages for that congregation and join them.
4) Post how great their area seems and ask for leads on housing.

No idea how to Identify areas I like with googlemaps, or street viewer.  I think that will have to wait until I am physically present and can explore in person.  

As far as wards go, ideally Id prefer a ward that isn't all 18-20 year olds and is a little older but I have no idea how to do that through LDS.org.  However I imagine if I just ask a few kids on campus I'll get some solid advice on that front so I'm not too worried.

There are some wards that are designated as "magnet" wards for mid single adults (intended for people in their 30s). I served in a couple of them while I was on my mission. They were family wards that drew mid singles from the stake as opposed to being completely dedicated to singles like YSA wards are.

I realize you say you are mid 20s but if you're interested let me know and I'll find out where the mid singles wards are around Orem.

Quick update:  I signed my lease and am moving into my apartment this weekend.  Super close to campus and I got my landlord to allow me to have weapons.  

I've got like 2 months to kill before summer semester starts so if anybody wants to join me, I'll be shooting at every range I can find nearby, a lot.  


And thanks for the offer ZK!  Are Midsingles the 30+ wards?  I think I'd rather find a YSA ward that is just unofficially 25+

Fun fact, Utah protects renters' rights to keep and bear arms; landlords cannot restrict renters from keeping firearms in their apartment. Utah Code 76-10-5(530)(5). Just in case your landlord ever decides to change their mind or if you move elsewhere in Utah now you know you don't have to worry about whether you can take them with you.

I tend to shoot at West Mountain or Lake Mountain because they are close to the UVU area and are BLM land so you don't have to worry about range hours or fees. The Provo Shooting Sports Park is inexpensive and I have a friend who likes it, though I've never been there. The Utah County Sheriff's Office Firing Range in Thistle is close as well and free to the public, although it's only open June-October which falls just outside your two month window.

As to the mid-singles thing, in Washington it was 30's so it's likely the same here. From looking around a bit it seems like that's the case. Not all of the YSA wards are super young though so you might find that's where you like best.

Dude you are awesome!  Thanks for the legal info.  I kept the CA Department of Justice's page on legally transporting firearms open on my phone 24/7/365 in case I got pulled over by a LEO who didn't know gun laws properly and started giving me crap.  Probably won't need to do that but will def print out that law and keep a copy on my little safe, probably held up with a magnet lol.  

And thanks for the suggestions on where to shoot! I thought the provo shooting park was gonna be cool since it was so cheap but free BLM land sounds even better  

I'll try to get a BLM map hosted somewhere so you can download it. I was going to post a link for you so you could go to the Utah BLM website and see what areas are open to target shooting but it doesn't have the map anymore.

The site now states that it doesn't have current information and redirected to a new BLM website that is fancier and a while lot less shooter friendly. I found it hard to find mention of shooting on BLM land and once I did it was only that, a mention. No more map.

Fortunately I have the previous one saved somewhere but it may not be completely up to date. At the least it will give you a good idea of where you can go.

Just make sure you don't leave any trash behind and maybe pick up some you find when your out there. In the past some places have been closed to shooting because people left all sorts of trash around.