What you should know about Rexburg: BYUI

Per request (I am getting requests!  yay!) I'm going to write a series of posts about Rexburg and things in this area ie: the town, the school, the social atmosphere.  I'm really excited to write this.  Last night when I read the tweet from Diana, I could hardly stop thinking about it and thus had trouble falling asleep.  Literally, I was laying in bed with my eyes closed, mouth guard in, repeating to myself, "You can think about the blog in the morning, just go to sleep!"

For this segment, I'd like to focus on BYUI, including housing and how I generally create my schedule, as well as events and such.  Sooo here we go!

Foundations (and other classes): This might date me a little bit, but I started school here right before the foundations program started, so I dodged that bullet.  However, there are tons of GE classes that were discontinued and I had to take the foundations equivalent.  I don't think the foundations program is as bad as everyone says it is, but it's not spectacular.  I've finally finished all my GE credits, so I don't have to sit through any more of those lower level classes.  Hallelujah!

Do I have any tips as far as foundations are concerned?

• GET THEM DONE ASAP.  Definitely make sure you have a couple credits worth of other classes each semester, but try and get your foundations classes done as soon as you can.  Doing those first allows you to explore different areas of study while still getting credits towards something you need anyway.  
• Always always always use rate my professor when you're planning your schedule.  Before I used this website, picking a professor was a gamble.  Now I can read what others have said and feel better about picking a section of a class to take.  Sometimes the only section available for your schedule has a poorly rated professor, but it's okay.  Sometimes professors get bad ratings from bitter students, but they aren't all that bad.  All the same, it helps a lot.
• Scheduling.  This is how I do it, which has worked out pretty well for me.  You don't have to do it this way, but I find I like this method.  Under your my.byui.edu tab, there's a place where you can add/drop classes.  About a week prior to your registration date (depends on the semester you're registering for and how many credits you already have) you should go through the process of registration without actually registering.  I open the calendar on my phone, have an open tab on my browser with my intended major, another with my minor, and another with my general (foundation) requirements (all of those are found in your catalog year.  If your first semester was Fall 2011, your catalog year is 2011-2012 and so forth.)  I pick a couple classes I want to take that semester, search through registration to see what times they're offered and what professors are teaching them (using rate my professor) and then I create a tentative schedule on my phone, imputing all the details I need to easily find that specific class on registration day.  Having this prepped, I get up at 6am MST on the day I'm eligible to register, then I register.  If a class I want is full, I go to my backups.  
• Guitar classes sound like fun, but lugging a guitar around all day isn't.  Just sayin'.  
• Professors I've loved:  For Family Foundations, try as hard as you can to take from Brother Wahlquist.  He is a spiritual giant, presents the material in a very real way, and requires very little busy work.  Brother Baron is a great religion teacher, Brother Bruggar is a great English teacher.  Hermana Peck has low ratings on the website, but I really liked her as a Spanish teacher.  I took two classes from her.  

Housing:  As an incoming freshman at BYUI, you aren't required to live in the dorms.  Personally, I lived in the dorms my first semester, then moved out for my second and haven't ever considered moving back.  It's all a matter of personal preference, though.  Aiden's girlfriend is living in the dorms for her third semester right now.

• The dorms are nice because they're cheaper, there's only four girls per dorm, and getting to class takes so much less time.  For incoming freshman, I'd say it's worth it to at least give them a shot for a semester.  It's nice having all the other girls in that same stage of school and the social opportunities are great.  There are cons to living in the dorms, though.  BYUI is notorious for having strict rules (did you hear about the skinny jeans fiasco?) and those rules are more enforced on campus than off campus.  If you're not home by midnight, you get locked out and have to sign in with your RA.  If you have boys over, a roommate has to be there, the blinds have to be open, and your feet have to be on the floor.  If not, you could get in trouble.
• Living off campus, there's more freedom as far as the honor code goes.  I'm not saying it's a free-for-all and you can do whatever you want, but there's no one babysitting you, making you accountable for being home by curfew or not having boys in your bedroom.  I try not to abuse the privilege of being off campus to break the honor code (after all, I did sign a paper saying I was willing to follow the rules) but I'm sometimes a little free with what time I come home and whether or not I'll let guys use my bathroom rather than send them to the lounge.  Living off campus is a blessing and a curse.  I hate having to live with five other girls.  I hate laundry rooms that are always occupied.  I hate how it's a housing monopoly, so all the housing raises their prices and we poor students have to scrape and scrimp to afford it.  
• Off campus housing: The Scoop on complexes.  Popular places for girls to live: Royal Crest, Carriage House, Nauvoo House, The Ridge, Tuscany, Northgate, Colonial House, American Manor, Birch, The Ivy, Brookside.  There are more complexes, but I feel like most of the girls I've talked to want to live in one of these places.  The Ivy, Northgate, Tuscany, and the Ridge are the newest of complexes for girls, with the Ivy as the very newest having just opened in Fall 2011.  Since these places are newer, they're  more expensive.  I think Brookside is still the most expensive, but Autumn Winds might beat it by $50 or something like that.  The Ivy looks like a hotel, they have elevators and a trash guy so you never have to take your trash out.  Northgate is forever far away from everything, but it's townhouse style, big bedrooms, and free laundry inside each apartment.  Tuscany used to be the it place, but has since gone down hill due to a crazy manager (sorry Tami, but it's totally true: You're crazy.) However, Tuskanky  Tuscany is at a nice location and has individual rooms.  Personally, I feel like the Ridge is in a weird location, since it's all by it's lonesome up by the temple with Aspen Village, but the apartments are nicely laid out.  I love individual rooms, two fridges, and the huge pantry.    I feel like this section is just going on and on...

Basically, if you're going to live off campus, try and get your contract signed earlier rather than later.  For me, I've already signed a contract for the Fall.  I plan on not moving from this apartment until I either graduate or get married, which ever comes first.  

Activities:  On campus and around town.

• iNight: to go or not to go, that is the question.  I've been twice and it's been fun both times.  Some people in Rexburg think on campus activities are lame and don't even give them a second thought, but that's not always true.  I don't go to every on campus activity or dance, but I do think there's some value in being active with the school, especially for incoming freshman.  So yeah, why not spend the $2 and go to iNight?  Don't knock it till you try it.
• Flight museum dance parties:  I've been to a few of these, I've done my fair share of grinding on the dance floor, but I'm pretty sure those days are behind me.  These dance parties get crazy.  There are high schoolers sneaking in all the time, sometimes the cops shut them down.  Sometimes you get denied entry for over an hour and have to stand in the rain.  Sometimes nasty creepers dance up on you, or you dance right up against the speakers and can't hear for a week.  I'm not a fan. I don't recommend these parties.
• Sammy's:  They have free shows.  They have dance parties.  They have bomb pie shakes.  I like going to their shows, especially when someone I know is playing.  I like eating their pie shakes (banana cream FTW!), but I've never gone to their dance parties.  Just haven't.  

So there you have it, readers.  Rexburg: BYUI from Leslie's point of view.