New Freshmen

Before registering, be sure you have first: paid your return airfare and housing deposits, sent a copy of your passport and your intent to enroll form, and submitted proof of immunization. Additional information can be found on the Admissions' FAQ page.

Most international students will be testing for EIL and WILL NOT register themselves for classes. Your letter of acceptance should indicate if you will be testing for placement in EIL. Please visit the International Students & EIL page for more information.

If you do NOT need to test for placement in EIL and are NOT a transfer student then continue reading below.

The Holokai Curriculum is unique to BYU—Hawaii and replaces the traditional general education requirements. It allows each student to carefully chart their own academic voyage, or holokai, through the exploration of our offered programs.

All majors, minors, and certificates are grouped into three areas reflecting different ways of knowing or epistemologies. All students must complete at least one major and two programs in one of each of these areas. (Programs offered by the same department in different categories may be taken, but the second program from the same department will not count toward completing Holokai requirements.)

The Holokai Curriculum helps a student develop breadth, flexibility, and experience working in different ways of knowing that characterize an educated person. To complete Holokai requirements there must be one program in different departments in each of the three areas: Arts & Humanities, Math & Sciences, Professional Studies.

The modular curriculum offers depth and breadth of experience. Students can:

• Practice thinking in different ways
• Pursue both their profession and their passion
• Build a curriculum package that is tailored to their own vision of their future
• Strengthen their resume - all minors and certificates will be on the transcript (unlike traditional GE programs)

In planning your first semester, select a combination of classes that you are interested in from different areas between 12-14 credits. Students are permitted to register for up to 18 credits in Fall and Winter or 12 credits in Spring, but it is not recommended for new Freshmen.

Classes to start with might include exploratory courses in areas that you might like to study in different breadth areas and also a Religion Core class or Rel 100 for those of other faiths.

All students will also need to complete seven Religious Education classes before graduation. If you are not LDS, then start with REL 100 Introduction to Mormonism. You may only take one Religion class during a semester. The Religion Core includes The Eternal Family, Foundations of the Restoration, Jesus Christ, and the Everlasting Gospel, and The Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon.

You don't need to formally declare your major until you reach 30 credit hours, but there are some majors that will take very careful planning to fit into your allotment of semesters (typically four years or three years for transfer students). These typically include the sciences. If you are seriously considering majoring in Biology or Biochemistry then you will want to declare this major as soon as possible and begin with Biology for Science Majors (BIOL 112) as soon as possible.

Our Holokai Explore Your Interests page provides some great information to help you choose your major and career.

Students who have completed Advanced Placement courses in high school and scored a composite grade of 3, 4, or 5 may receive up to eight semester hours of credit in each subject. Credits will be reviewed on a case by case basis. While AP credits will give you college credit they will not count as part of the calculation of your allotment of semesters in residence as would transfer credit.

See our AP Credit Matrix for more information.