The BYU Program offered at Providence Catholic is a program ran through the Bringham Young University to supply students at Providence Catholic with extra courses. Here are some pros and cons of the program, specifically at Providence, that a student should know before signing up any of the classes.
Pros:
- Students have access to a variety of high school level courses. Since Providence is a private school, it does not offer all of the classes and electives that public schools offer. BYU makes these types of classes accessible to private school students such as those at Providence.
- The course can be completed on your own time, at your own pace.
- The courses offer retakes (for a small fee) on finals if a student fails.
- The courses allow Providence students to collaborate with other students from all over the United States.
- Students can complete the required courses for specific colleges, especially if Providence does not offer the course.
- Every teacher at BYU is qualified to teach and is willing to help the students.
Cons:
- Providence does not tell students all of the classes that a student is able to take. The school does not even tell the students that they have the option to take more than the eight or nine classes Providence claims to offer. In reality, BYU offers hundreds of programs that students can take, long as a student gets the approval of Mr. Austrums, the moderator of the program. He will usually approve of most courses.
- Courses must be done in the time Providence gives you, even if BYU has a certain start and end date.
- Not all programs are the same. Some have lots and quizzes and tests. Some are more assignment based. One of the biggest differences is with retakes. Some programs let you take a certain number of retakes, some make you pay for retakes, and others do not allow retakes. It is important to keep this in mind.
- It is an online class, so when trying to communicate with a teacher, you have to send them an email. It may take them a while to respond. You cannot ask Mr. Austrums course-specific questions because he is the moderator, not the teacher of the courses.
- BYU is on Mountain Time in Utah. This means that f a student has to contact BYU for any help, BYU is one hour behind Providence. Students must keep this in mind when contacting BYU or when waiting for a response.
- These courses are expensive and can cost between $100-$300, possibly even more.
Personally, I have taken two BYU courses through Providence Catholic. I took BYU Photography and am currently taking BYU Creative Writing. I believe my experience with BYU Photography was great. The assignments were not very difficult, but I learned a lot. I was able to express my creative side in the way I wanted to express it. I learned about the history and techniques of photography.
However, my experience with BYU Creative Writing is not as great. The course itself seems messy and unorganized. I feel there is an unbalanced relationship between analyzing creative writing and actually writing. The course also makes you pay to retake any quizzes, where BYU Photography offered three free attempts.
Overall, I do recommend taking BYU courses if you find a course that truly interests you. It is great to take courses that Providence does not offer.
