BYU is known for being a tough school with a lot of high achievers. This has led to a perfectionism culture here on campus that can be hard to navigate and understand.
The average BYU student received a score of 28-32 on the ACT and had a 3.8-4.0 GPA in high school.
“BYU is pretty academically demanding,” Klint Hobbs, the executive director of student development services, said. “We've got a highly motivated, by and large, a high achieving population here.”
Hobbs said because so many BYU students were known for being so high achieving in high school, it can be disorienting to come to BYU where everyone tends to be that way.
“They're like, 'so who am I then if I'm not the smart person in the room?'” Hobbs said.
BYU student Maya Kendall always had good grades in high school, but started to see them slip just a little bit during her freshman year of college.
“It just absolutely destroyed me because I was just so used to having to get a really good grade that it kind of just sat with me,” Kendall said. “I feel like I have to be like this perfect version of myself when really that's not achievable.”
Many have blamed the perfectionism culture at BYU on the Church, but Hobbs said the culture on BYU campus is similar to other high achieving universities.
Though, it is true that religious culture combined with high anxiety may be a piece of the puzzle in causing toxic perfectionism in students.
“The idea that perfectionism means that we need to be without flaw and we need to be that way right now. That's the toxic piece,” Hobbs said. “I don't think that that's an expectation of BYU. I don't think that's an expectation of the Lord, but I think we believe it sometimes.”
Kendall has found it is helpful for her to remember that everyone is just figuring it all out.
“We all got into this university for a reason,” Kendall said. “Maybe it's competitive, but you also have a place here.”
“And seeing perfectionism as that is, as you know, if and when I ever attain this state of perfection, it's going to be with a long history of scars, mistakes, stumbles and accidents that happened along the way,” Hobbs said. “I can own those as super valuable learning experiences, things that I'm not ashamed of anymore I'm kind of proud of because that meant I was human.”
If you struggle with perfectionism, anxiety, depression or anything else that may be making life difficult, don't hesitate to reach out to friends and family, Counseling and Psychological Services here on campus or other mental health resources.