Impressions of Baylor?

<p>I’m seriously thinking about Baylor, and need to decide soon. However they don’t have an overnight program so I feel like I don’t have all the information that I have for other schools. Thus, I have a couple questions that I’d be interested in Baylor students answers to.</p>

<p>Major/Grad Year:
Honors?:</p>

<p>What was the deciding factor in choosing Baylor?</p>

<p>Difficulty of course-load?</p>

<p>What percent of students (would you say) drink on a weekly-ish basis?</p>

<p>How important is Greek life on campus?</p>

<p>Have you ever felt putdown because of a particular characteristic about yourself? (class, race, religion, denomination, how you dress…)</p>

<p>What’s the best thing about Baylor?</p>

<p>What’s something you wish you could change about Baylor? (and not just Waco, I’ve heard that one before)</p>

<p>Anything else you’d like to tell me?</p>

<p>While Baylor doesn't have an overnight program (except for National Merit Finalists), it does have various recruitment events, where you can talk to current students. Have you been to one of those? And if you really want to stay overnight, the school (and especially the honors program coordinators) can arrange it. I've hosted a couple of students, one through an official Baylor function, and one because the student contacted the school and asked to spend the night, and I volunteered to be host (I'm part of the BIC recruitment committee). It's getting to be crunch time for making a decision, but there's still time to come visit.</p>

<p>Anyway, on to your questions...</p>

<p>Major/Grad Year: Computer Science/History double major, math minor. Graduating May 2010.
Honors?: I'm in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC).</p>

<p>What was the deciding factor in choosing Baylor? Well, the scholarship I got honestly played a large role. But I also really liked the school when I visited. It's a nice size, a beautiful campus, and the students are friendly. Plus, I kind of wanted to go far from home.</p>

<p>Difficulty of course-load? I've found my math and science courses (and my current computer science course, though not the ones before it) quite challenging. I was a straight A student through high school, and got my first B's here. My humanities classes are easier for me, though I know honors students who struggle with the BIC courses. Basically, I'm challenged (and sometimes quite stressed out) more than I was in high school, but it's not impossible. </p>

<p>What percent of students (would you say) drink on a weekly-ish basis? I'm not going to guess. Enough that if that's what you're looking for, you'll have absolutely NO problem finding it. Few enough that if if you're like me and don't do that sort of thing, you can avoid that scene completely and don't feel too left out. Know that if you are into that scene, that Baylor has stricter rules than most universities regarding drinking. It's not allowed at school events, and you aren't supposed to come onto campus drunk. And it's not good if they catch you drinking and you're underaged, though of course, tons of people do it anyway.</p>

<p>How important is Greek life on campus? It's very prominent. Greeks run/sponsor all the major events, and you always see tons of people wearing Greek wear around campus. But less than half of the students are in a sorority or fraternity, I believe. I'm not in a sorority, and many of my friends aren't, either, though both of my roommates are in sororities. Oh, that's another thing: we don't have sorority/fraternity houses at Baylor. So yeah, going Greek is an option, but you're not in the minority if you don't.</p>

<p>Have you ever felt putdown because of a particular characteristic about yourself? (class, race, religion, denomination, how you dress...) No, not really. Not overtly, anyway, and frankly, I lack too much self-confidence to say accurately whether I've been put down in more subtle ways. But really, the students at Baylor are pretty accepting. Honors students, especially, are more diverse than the stereotypical Baylor student.</p>

<p>What's the best thing about Baylor? I don't know. I really like it here, though. I've had amazing professors and classes (and a couple I haven't liked, but I've had way more I've loved), the campus is beautiful, and the people are pretty friendly. And they make studying abroad with approved programs easy.</p>

<p>What's something you wish you could change about Baylor? (and not just Waco, I've heard that one before) Hm... It's definitely not the most accepting/diverse campus in the country. As I've said before, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. But it IS a private Baptist university in Texas. More class offerings in History/literature would be nice. ...I can't think of anything else at the moment, though I know there's more.</p>

<p>Anything else you'd like to tell me? Let me know if you have any more questions! If I can't answer them, I can probably find someone who can. </p>

<p>I'm only one student, and others may have differing opinions than I do, but I hope that helped!</p>

<p>Thanks so much Book Addict, your answers were quite helpful. Maybe I'll see you around next year!</p>