For all you Exmo's that graduated from BYU... are you in some ways embarrassed or ashamed to have a degree from BYU? Being where you are now, do you wish you'd have picked a different university to study at?

Probably the same feeling I have with a degree from DeVry. The key is to get a couple of jobs under your belt, then stop talking about your degree and start talking about your work accomplishments.

Eh. Kind of.

If someone asks now (30 years after graduating from YBU), I tell them, but then almost inevitably they say -- you're not mormom, are you? I say -- no, not any more.

...in 1996. It's largely irrelevant now that I've been in the work force this long. Never-Mos don't care nearly as much as we think they care, at least in my experience.

It's a slow process - one class at a time - but it 7 short years I'll have another degree. I'm getting for the sole purpose of hiding BYU.

Well, that isn't entirely true. I'm taking classes because I want to and I love it. Hiding BYU on my resume is like the cherry on top of a fabulous sundae.

I'm w/ "i hate it." I mean who wouldn't love a degree from a cult, whose founder was a pedophille. Someone on this board awhile back was criticizing those of us who hate our YBU degree, saying those that hate it are probably sociology, psych, history, etc. majors. Those elite who are engineering, accounting, etc, proly don't care. To that poster, I say hearty cougar roar - #$%^ you.

It's literally the only indication on my FB page that I am, or ever was LDS. But if I take it off, I worry that I'll look like the typical Molly Mo who went to BYU and never graduated with anything other than an MRS. degree.

That being said, the only thing I hate about it is that it makes me look like a Mormon. I thought I got a very good education in the journalism department and I enjoyed my time at BYU. Of course, I was a Molly Mo at the time and I'd never go back to BYU now. But at the time I enjoyed it so I don't think it's worth regretting. I wish I'd gone to U.C. Davis but it's water under the bridge. There are a lot of things I regret much more about my years as a Mormon.

And, although BYU is 99% Mormon, it is not a given that you are, although it is obviously a safe assumption. I was actually surprised how many non-Mormons I crossed paths with during my 4-year tenure there.

Yes. And yes.

Yes, and my graduate degree doesn't mask it enough. I get the long, befuddled stare when people find out. Kinda funny, and sad.. . .

Exactly..it's the befuddled stare...spot on

If you have a degree from byu and you officially leave TSCC or are EX'd are you stripped of your degree also?

No. Once a degree is officially awarded (which might take up to a couple of weeks after graduation,) there is nothing BYU can do.

I would wait until you have a copy of your transcript in hand that says you have been awarded your degree.

It annoys me, but I will also say that it was the best available education path for me at the time. I don't sweat it one bit and say nothing but good things about it to others (while biting my tongue about its culture). More people than not that I have rubbed shoulders with, over more than two decades in business, respect the school. Yes, I've been pigeon-holed a few times, but nothing beyond little barbs to my ego, psyche, whatever.

Mine is hanging in my office. It was an accomplishment. I really wish I had a BYU Class of 2002 coffee mug for irony.

ikandee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mine is hanging in my office. It was an
> accomplishment. I really wish I had a BYU Class
> of 2002 coffee mug for irony.

BYU coffee mugs & steins are all over the web... dunno about ones with a year designator.

Part of me is grateful to have gotten a solid education inexpensively. And I did have a good time and make a lot of friends.

However, it is embarrassing with colleagues, except for the fact that now when it comes up I get to discuss my apostasy.

If I knew then what I know now, I definitely would not have gone to BYU. That is what makes me the most frustrated is knowing that I would have made a different decision.

Yeah I sometimes do not even mention having a degree because of the question that always follows. "Where from?" Sometimes I make a bigger deal out of the one semester I spent elsewhere, I was thinking of taking a bartending course just to have it counterbalance that on my resume LOL. But it is probably overreacting because most people when they find out just want to talk about the football team.

I'm fine with my BYU degree. It's part of my history, part of the journey if you will. Plus, if you're an older woman, you've got to admit they have a good mascot!

Does anyone honestly take a BYU degree seriously!?! It's a religious school, not an actual university. Honest question; do those that graduate BYU really count it as a legitimate degree?

It's accredited.

Yes.

In fact, in areas like Law, Accounting, and Animation, a BYU degree is actually quite respectable.

Its not a "religious school" in that it doesn't just teach religion. Its a full-blown university, that offers real, accredited degrees in real-world subjects. The only thing religious about it is its ridiculous rules ...and the fact that you might have to sit through a prayer to start your calculus class... and you do have to take several religion classes.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2013 02:59AM by nickname.

It's a religious school in the same sense that Georgetown, Notre Dame, and SMU are religious schools. They are accredited and so is BYU.

A few years ago I was a returning student, business major. My (California State University) adviser recommended taking some online courses from BYU if the timing or scheduling didn't work out for local classes. And, my accounting text was authored by a guy from BYU.

Yes, it has to be on your resume. You can tell people that it is hard to get into, and that it was the only university your parents would give you financial help for, and it's a good university to get your degree from--expeshully in english.

I think in the working world, these days, no one cares what religion you are. Thank goodness most of us have been able to prove ourselves on the job, and/or add advanced degrees and more training, and/or put more years between BYU and now.

I make up for it by being an ardent Ute fan!

At the time I really enjoyed BYU. I dated a non-Mormon foreign student and we had a blast. I enjoyed a lot of my classes and teachers. But it's a bit embarrassing now because I don't want to be seen as Mormon, which I'm not.

So, I can hide the fact because I got a second bachelor's degree at another school and went on to do a master's. But if it comes up I just tell people my conversion story and let them know what a good job LDS, Inc. did at lying about themselves and I eventually put two and two together and left. Most people shake their heads and say they totally understand. It's fully accredited so I can accept it. I kind of like the chance it gives me to warn people about Mormonism. I kind of wish I'd done the opposite of Mitt Romney. Instead leaving Stanford to go to BYU, I wish I'd left BYU and gone to Stanford because I had the grades and SAT scores to do it.

My degree from BYU is simultaneously a source of pride and a source of shame. On the one hand, so much hard work and effort went into getting my BA degree. On the other hand, I'm so embarrassed to have attended a mormon school. Sometimes I would rather have people think I don't have a college degree than to know where I went to school. It used to be at the very bottom of my resume, almost like a footnote. Just within the past few months I deleted it completely from my resume, as I have enough work experience now, and I ended up in a field of work that has absolutely nothing to do with my major anyway.

Actually, take away the religion department and some of the facist Mo-Nazi's that inhabit it and its not such a bad place.

My feelings are uncertain where BYU is concerned.

Yes, always embarrassed, and always explaining why to coworkers. (Yes, they do ask.)

But it's in engineering, and YBU, at least in the 80s, had one of the higher ranked engineering colleges, so that helps - somewhat.

But still. No beer. No strange. No fun. If I could go back in time, I would definitely have picked a different school. U of U perhaps.

When it was a bigger component of my overall experience, I was more embarrassed. It was hard to be proud of myself, because my whole adult life was largely composed of Mormon life events (mission, BYU).

Now that it's been over 6 years since I resigned those things are a smaller portion of my life experience.

They are part of it, but do not loom as large in my self-image. So it's less a source of embarrassment. Mormonism was my youthful indiscretion.

Yes.

I have a degree from BYU with no intention of further education, so my education history will forever be defined by BYU. It comes up at work quite frequently, whenever I make a new business contact, or in casual conversation, I'm the BYU guy. I'll never escape it.

The quality of education doesn't bother me. BYU has a pretty good engineering program. Only two things bother me. First - not being able to convey why I don't like my university. "Philophical differences" and "it's programs are a front for an abusive organization" aren't topics I like to bring up in business settings. Second - I hate that this important recurring aspect of my life is associated with the name of one of the most despicable figures in american history.