<p>Because of a great scholarship and the good pre-med program, I will most likely be headed to Baylor! I applied and was accepted to the Honors Residential College (I’m doing either BIC or Honors), but there’s one big factor: I am not Christian, nor am I very religious at all. </p>
<p>I know, there are non-Christian students at Baylor, and I’ve lived in Texas for the past 15 years of my life so I’m used to being not only a racial but also a religious minority (My family’s from India). I’m not afraid or worried about being in Baylor itself, but the email I received from the HRC talked about praying together/breaking bread/etc. </p>
<p>I don’t mind spiritual people, but I don’t want to live somewhere and be forced to pray with my dorm mates. Taking the required chapel classes is perfectly alright with me, but I would feel uncomfortable with this. </p>
<p>So what I’d really like to know is this: How religiously based is the HRC at Baylor? I know Baylor emphasizes its’ Baptist culture, but I figured that an Honors Program at a university would focus more on academics then religion.</p>
<p>It’s been 5 years since I was in the HRC, but back then, there were no official events where we prayed together or broke bread or anything like that. I mean, you had the opportunity to do Bible studies and the like, but comparatively few people chose to do that through the HRC. I can say almost for certain that you would never be forced to pray yourself, though at times you will have to sit quietly while others pray (such as in Chapel).</p>
<p>In my experience (I did the BIC program, which I strongly recommend), the honors college was less religiously oriented than the rest of the school, and tended to have fewer Christians (it also tended to be more diverse overall). Also, if you do BIC, you don’t do the standard religion classes, though you do take classes such as Biblical Heritage. Though in one of my more religious BIC classes, I had professors who said things that most conservative Christians would definitely not agree with. That said, even in the honors college, you will still be in the minority if you are not at all spiritual.</p>
<p>Thanks, this helps a lot. I’m really interested in religion from a historical and more secular perspective then spiritually. I think I may accept the residence, because I’d like to live with people from the different honors programs. Anyway, I’m still trying to make a decision between Baylor and SMU (based on the fact that I got a good amount of financial aid to both).</p>
<p>Well, in my opinion, BIC was great for discussing religions in a open-minded and sensitive manner (much better than in my public high school, where the moral relativists and the ultra-conservative Christians would jump down each others’ throats all the time). We had class trips to a mosque and a synagogue, had required reading from both the Bible and the Qu’ran, etc. It was great, and I learned as much about several other religions as about Christianity.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck on your decision, and let me know if you have any other Baylor-related questions! I really enjoyed the university, but I know it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>My D is in the HRC this year and your concerns about religion would not be an issue. Her experience is that the students in the HRC are very accepting. She and many of her floormates are not Baptist. The opportunities are there for you to attend prayer services but there is no expectation for you to attend. There are many other opportunities to socialize with fellow HRC members, visiting lecturers and professors and do community service. Baylor has been an amazing choice for her. She loves it there. The HRC also has a great location on campus and I have heard the best food. HRC members have priority registration and a place to live on campus for two years. Good luck and congrats!</p>
<p>Note that Great Texts majors don’t get to register early at all, though, unless they’re also Dean’s List. And BIC Freshmen and Sophomores get to register with the Dean’s List group, but no earlier (it used to be that Juniors and Seniors didn’t get to register early at all, but now they get to register with the rest of the Honors College). We often called BIC the red-headed stepchild of the Honors College… :p</p>