Skip to main content
School of Communications
DONATE

How to Apply - Public Relations

If you are accepted into the public relations program, you will also be admitted to the School of Communications. The mission of the School of Communications is to become “a consecrated community of disciples, scholars, and mentors who strive to walk in the meekness of Christ’s spirit, as we inspire learning through love, faith, and service that prepares each Child of God to share light and hope with the world.”

Being part of a consecrated community means there are expectations that apply to everyone: faculty, staff, and students (see Elder Paul Pieper’s recent devotional titled BYU: Building a Community of Trust and Respect). Please note, that if you accept an invitation to join the School of Communications you are indicating your willingness to abide by the expectations and standards of our School of Communications community. Your standing in the program will be contingent on your willingness to comply with these policies. You will be expected to be in compliance with all three policies throughout your time in the program.

The School of Communications is governed by certain resource realities, such as number of instructors, classroom space, computer laboratories, and class size requirements. Additionally, these professional emphases require hands-on learning and smaller class sizes. Students in these emphases produce media content in the form of newspapers, broadcasts, advertising, and public relations campaigns. To ensure the quality of learning and to sustain the quality of content in our public outlets, the university has allowed the faculty to limit the number of majors admitted into the program. Because the demand on the school’s programs exceeds the available resources, the school has implemented an admission process that limits enrollment on those programs.

Students may apply to more than one emphasis at the same time; however a separate application must be submitted for each emphasis. Students must rank the applications to indicate their first, second, or third choice. Students may apply to the Communications major a total of two times. This means that you can apply to more than one emphasis during one application period but may only apply to the major twice.

The emphases allow some flexibility in your course schedule. However, where prerequisite courses are involved, accreditation rules preclude us from waiving prerequisites or allowing courses to be taken out of sequence. These courses represent what we consider to be important preparation for more-advanced classes.

How to Apply to the Public Relations Program

Each student must complete the steps listed below in order to apply to the Public Relations program in the School of Communications. When you are ready to apply, click the “Click Here to Apply Online” button at the bottom of the page and you will be directed to the online application site.

  • Students MUST be declared Pre-Communications to apply to the major. To change your major, go to MyMAP, click “Change Major Request”, and submit an online request.

    You MUST also be an admitted BYU continuing day student in order to apply to the program. Please be advised that according to University policy, students must select and declare a major by the time they have 60 earned BYU credit hours (excluding language exam credits). Once a student has 75 earned BYU credit hours (excluding language exam credits), they will not be allowed to change their major unless special permission is granted.

  • Students must take the following courses and receive a B or higher in each (a B- will not meet this standard). Typically, there are no exceptions to this rule. Under normal circumstances, students may repeat each course only once to earn a higher grade. However, students who took one of the prerequisite courses during the Winter 2020 semester that was disrupted by the novel coronavirus pandemic had the option of taking a pass/fail grade instead of a letter grade at the end of the semester. Because of these unique circumstances, students who opted to take a passing grade for any prerequisite class in which they were enrolled during Winter 2020 will be allowed to apply. Meeting the minimum standard requirements does not guarantee admission to any school emphasis.

    • WRTG 150 or Advanced Writing Requirement**
    • Communications 101:  Mass Communication and Society
    • Communications 235: Introduction to Public Relations

    ** Our WRTG 150 requirement must be fulfilled by WRTG 150, ELANG 150, M COM 320, an Advanced Written and Oral Communication GE course (ENG 311, ENG 312, ENG 313, ENG 315 or ENG 316) or an equivalent transfer course (Transfer classes from other universities must be cleared by the advisement center prior to applying to the program). We do not accept AP English credits or English 115.

    These courses are typically offered each semester and term. Some courses are also offered through BYU Independent Study and at the Salt Lake Center. Prerequisite courses from other universities or colleges, other than Comms 101 or an advanced writing course, are not transferable.

  • Students MUST upload a PDF of their Full Progress Report as part of the application process. The Academic Summary by itself, or an official transcript, will not be accepted and will cause your application to be invalidated. For information on how to find this report, please click here.

    Credit Information

    Preference for admission will be given to all students with fewer than 75 BYU earned credit hours (excluding language exam credits.) Pre-Comms students with more than 75 BYU earned credit hours (excluding language exam credits) may apply to the major but may not be admitted.

    Please direct any inquiries regarding your credits to the advisement center.

    What materials do I need to prepare for the application?

    Students no longer need to write a cover letter or complete a case exercise to apply to the PR Program. Instead, the new PR Program Application Process heavily emphasizes the student’s performance in Comms 235 since that course is designed to offer a preview of public relations. The criteria that are evaluated on the application include:

    • Comms 235 grade: weighted at 80 percent of the decision
    • Comms 101 grade: weighted at 10 percent of the decision
    • Writing 150 or Advanced Writing Requirement: weighted at 10 percent of the decision

  • The Public Relations program application is now open all year! However, you may not apply until you have completed your intro classes (Advanced Writing, Comms 101 and Comms 235) and receive a "B" grade or better. Your grade must show up on your progress report in order to apply to the program.

    The application will have three review periods when the faculty will look at submissions and admit students to the sequence. 

    For 2024 the application deadlines will be:

    1. January 4 - Application closes for students who wish to start Winter or Spring/Summer semester. Students will be notified of decisions January 5.
    2. February 15 - Application closes for students who wish to start Spring/Summer or Fall semester. Students will be notified of decisions February 16.
    3. August 15 - Application closes for students who wish to start Fall or Winter semester. Students will be notified of decisions August 16.

    Students whose applications miss the these periods, will have their applications assessed at the next review period.

    This new application process will eliminate the Bridge semester for all students.

    The School of Communications will email each student who has applied at the end of the review period, letting the student know if the application was accepted or denied. If the application is denied, the student may apply again in the next application period.

    Students will receive orientation materials via email when accepted into the program. This will include information about courses they must take, PRSSA, and the PR Intelligence Lab. After the semester has begun, the students will be invited to a PR Program Welcome meeting, where they can meet professors, peers, and other mentors in the program

    Please contact the School of Communications at (801) 422-6997 or at comms_secretary@byu.edu if you have any questions.

  • The first two courses you take when you are accepted into the PR Program are Comms 318: PR Research and Measurement and Comms 333: Social and Digital Media.
    This new fast-track process to enter the PR Program eliminates the Bridge semester when students could take Comms 300 and Comms 304 while waiting to hear if their application was accepted.
    As a result, you can now take these courses at any point in time during the program. The PR Faculty recommend taking Comms 300 and Comms 304 at some point after completing the first semester in the program so students can get settled into the program before loading up on Communications courses.


If you have technical issues while submitting your online application, please email support@slideroom.com or call them at (617) 729-2758 between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm CST. You may also consult the FAQ page on their website. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION EARLY IN ORDER TO AVOID ANY POSSIBLE WEBSITE DIFFICULTIES.
Click Here to Apply Online