People who are working, have families or have other obligations, can participate in BYU evening classes to further their education.
According to the BYU website, if a student meets various requirements, they can be considered eligible for night classes at the university. These requirements include that a student be at least 21 years old, have at least a 2.0 GPA or hold a baccalaureate degree, and submit an ecclesiastical endorsement.
Kyle Mammen, the university academic adviser and program coordinator for evening classes, said no one can complete a degree taking only evening classes, but those classes and credits can count towards a degree.
He also said that in spite of popular belief, taking evening classes doesn’t help a student get admitted over other applicants into the university as a full-time student.
“It won’t give them any preference to have taken evening classes,” Mammen said.
According to Mammen, the admissions department wants to make sure the student is going to meet the admissions criteria; it doesn’t matter whether or not the student takes evening classes.
Night classes help students
Students who have taken both night classes and then pursued full-time education at BYU have found that their night class experience helped them succeed as daytime students.
Kayla Tuso, 22, an elementary education major, was a night school student during Fall 2010 but is now a full-time student. She said that taking night classes was convenient for her because she was able to work all day and take classes at night.
“I got a feel for campus life and everything that goes along with BYU,” Tuso said.
Tuso was a transfer student and felt that taking evening classes was somewhat of a tryout so the admissions department could see that she could handle the curriculum. Tuso was ultimately admitted into BYU as a full-time student.
By maintaining a good GPA combined with her high GPA from her previous school, Tuso said, it might help her chances of getting admitted into BYU full-time. Now that Tuso is a full-time student, she is grateful for her night school experience.
“It was a nice transition,” Tuso said.
Tuso said her night school experience helped her prepare for what to expect when she was admitted into BYU.
Mitch Winters, 23, is a current night school student who was recently admitted into BYU and has enjoyed his experience.
“I wanted to take night classes in hopes of getting good grades and getting accepted as a full-time student,” Winters said.
Winters also said he felt like taking evening classes helped him get accepted to the school because on his application, the admissions department could already see that he had taken classes and earned good grades.
“It was a positive experience and helped me familiarize myself with the campus,” Winters said.
