The University of Utah

Date: Nov 26 2002
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
I'd have to disagree with most of the reviews I've read. Although the "U" has a reputation of being a commuter campus you can have a great experience there if you take the initiative to get involved. I was active in student government, my department, the greek system and I lived in the dorms for 2 years. I have lived in NY city, Washington DC, Northern California, and Orlando Florida…So I know what I am talking about when I say Salt Lake City offers a competitive array of activities Skiing, Hiking, theatre, Ballet, Nightlife (yes they have it, clubs, parties, you name it), Sporting events, and the world famous Sundance Film Festival. Whatever your intrests you can find a way to indulge it at the U. As for the student body being closeminded and "too Mormon" I think this is also an unfair catagorization. I found a diverse array of ideas and viewpoints inside and outside of the classrom. If anything there was a conscious effort to compensate for prevailing Utah conservatisim by leaning more to the left. Especially amongst faculty and staff who have been recruited from all walks of life and all regions of the country and world. Momon does not = closeminded, if you disagree with me on this point I think you need to open your mind and make friends with an LDS person so you can see they are as independant-minded and tolerant as any other religious group. One of the so called negatives mentioned in a previous review was that many of the students are "old" because they have served 2 year missions for the LDS church. These are students who have spent 2 years completely imersed in the culture of foreign nations. When they return to Utah they bring with them a wider view of the world, apreciation for different ways of life, and two years of priceless experience. I spent many a fascinating night sitting in the dorms talking to students who had lived in counties like Sweden, Russia, France, Japan, the Phillipines, and South Africa. My only regret about my time at the University of Utah is that I spent too much time partying and having fun and not enough time hitting the books.