<p>I currently live in NY, a very democratic and diverse area. My parents plan to move to Texas in a few months, after I finish HS.</p>
<p>My stats unfortunatley are probably not good enough for Rice, (3.71 gpa and 1920 SAT), and I hope to be a doctor, making me look hard at Baylor due to their outstanding pre-med program!</p>
<p>That being said, I am Indian, and Hindu. My friends here tell me that I will be made fun of due to being different, lucky for me I am a Republican in NY lol. But, in their honest advice, they tell me I am better off in NY.</p>
<p>Can’t believe I may actually be able to help someone out. Seems I always just ask questions.</p>
<p>My son is not at Baylor this year, but will be there next year. On one of our visits to Baylor last summer, we stayed at a hotel off campus. I chit chatted with the girl who was working the hotel front desk that night as I was checking in. She was Indian and a Baylor student. I asked her if she didn’t mind sharing her impressions of Baylor with me. She kindly did. She was a recently graduated pre-med accepted to UT Southwestern set to begin the next semester, was still awaiting a decision on Baylor Med. She said she had thoroughly enjoyed her time at Baylor. I asked her specifically about the Hindu thing. She said it was never an issue, never really felt pressure over it. Treated her mandatory Bible classes like a history class. She obviously did very well as she was already admitted to UT Southwestern. Talked with her probably 20 mins. She really emphasized she loved Baylor.
Sounds pretty parallel. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>In sum, I don’t think it’s a big issue, and I had non-Christian friends at Baylor. Be aware, however, that you will be attending a predominantly Christian university, and there are certain things like required Bible classes, visiting hours in the dorms, etc. You will also definitely be in the minority, which may be uncomfortable, and there are people at every university who may make fun of you for what you believe. However, in my experience, the people at Baylor were very friendly, and for the most part, accepting of differences.</p>
<p>I would think religion would be less of an issue than your being from New York/New Jersey. I think immediately of two cultural references:</p>
<ul>
<li>the Pace picante sauce add with the guy yelling NEW YORK CITY??!! in an obviously pejorative way</li>
<li>the movie (before your time, I’m afraid ) Terms of Endearment, where the John Lithgow character explains away some very rude behavior by a cashier with “must be from New York”.</li>
</ul>
<p>You will find that Texans and most southern and southwesterners are somewhat uncomfortable with the concept of “New York behavior”, which is stereotypically the polar opposite of “southern hospitality”. Though Texas is not actually “southern”, it is close enough for this to be a reality.</p>
<p>You will have no issues with being from New York so long as you avoid behaving in a rude, pushy, loud and abrasive manner. I am addressing a stereotype, not the actuality… I hope you see that.</p>
<p>I think you’ll be fine! I am currently a freshman at Baylor right now and I can tell you that I have not seen or heard of discriminating on campus so far. I mainly grew up in northern California and my family is traditionally Buddhist, and everything has gone well for me. I have also seen Hindus and Indian people walking around and in classes, and it doesn’t seem like anyone ever picks on them. Even in chapel when there’s people standing for worship, I would see a lot of Indian people stay seated, and no one ever bothers them or tells them to get up. Trust me, you’ll be okay.
And on another note, Baylor is going so great for me right now. I am sure that you’ll find your group of friends no matter where you’re from or what religion you decide to follow because Baylor is a lot more diverse than it appears on paper. I’ll admit that the first month or so was hard for me to adjust, but if you’re outgoing enough I think you’ll fit in anywhere you want. Choose Baylor!!!</p>
<p>I am currently a senior at Baylor as well as an atheist. The obvious things that may be annoying are the chapel and religion classes that are mandatory but everyone knows about that coming in so honestly you can’t complain.</p>
<p>There are certainly some people who won’t like you based on your faith (this is true no matter where you go) but in general it won’t come up (at least it hasn’t for me). My best friend at the school recently asked me what religion I was and when I told her she didn’t really seem to care. </p>
<p>One thing that has disappointed me this year is that two of my science professors have essentially given speeches or heavy references to the bible. An example was during a lesson on the history of our universe the professor started talking about how even if there are other species on other universes that we are the chosen ones. Another professor while talking about things such as cell evolution said that while this was amazing nothing was as amazing as god. These two professors were the first science professors that have openly talked about religion during class time (I have taken probably 12-15 science classes) so I would not say it is a common occurrence just that it can happen.</p>
<p>There also seems to be a fairly large Indian population within the biology and other science departments so if you want to have others with similar ethnic and religious backrounds to socialize with I am sure you can find some.</p>
<p>62% of all Baylor premed graduates get accepted to medical school, where as UT-Austin is only at 42%. Just in case any of your friends try to convince you to go to UT, just bring up that little statistic.</p>
<p>Seems like I’m a bit late in responding the OP, but I’ll give my $0.02.</p>
<p>I’m a student in the Honors College, and my impression has been that politics has been a much more controversial (or awkward, if like me you avoid confrontations) issue than religion. With that said, I can almost guarantee that you will be asked “So what church do you go to?” as an attempt to get you to introduce yourself - I myself am Christian, so it’s not particularly awkward, but I can see how it might be uncomfortable for a non-Christian.</p>
<p>Otherwise, it is what you make of it. I would dare say that you will find intolerant people at any college, and while they might be more numerous at Baylor, you will be able to make other friends and avoid those people who are less tolerant.</p>
<p>I’ve been accepted to Baylor and am really interested in the honors & BIC programs. Can give me a little insight/advice as to what the classes are really like? Is it worth it to take apply?</p>
<p>I loved the BIC program! Not everyone does, but it was one of the things that really defined my Baylor experience, in a good way. I had amazing professors, and really interesting discussions. Some classes weren’t as good as others, of course, but I would definitely recommend the program overall. If you have specific questions, do ask!</p>
<p>I didn’t do the honors program, but I know people who did do it, and liked it.</p>
<p>I’m Hindu and that’s the reason I didn’t apply to Baylor. I have a few Indian friends who went there, some were Hindu and some Christian. All the Hindu ones hated it and transferred while the Christians stayed but only one of them claims to actually like it, the others said it was simply tolerable. </p>
<p>If you want to go to a private school in TX, go to SMU. I have Hindu friends there and it’s not a big deal at all. Otherwise, UT all the way. Or just go somewhere outside of TX.</p>
<p>I read this post from start to finish and it seems to have a common thread. You can get along anywhere if you want to bad enough. But, why are you only looking at the “college” social life and not the community? Why aren’t you looking at the rank of academics and saying who cares what people think. For those of you that are younger, college is an opportunity to explore cultures and people different from you, as later in the job field, you will most definitely have to be culture acceptive. Just my opinion. I was looking hard at Baylor before I ever even heard of it being religious. I am looking at Baylor for their concurrent BBA/MaTxx. It is not even offered where I am. Good luck to everyone and keep an open mind.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider about Texas in general is that I’ve lived here my whole life and my schools have always been super-diverse. Although Baylor is mostly white/Christian, the area itself is still diverse.</p>
) Terms of Endearment, where the John Lithgow character explains away some very rude behavior by a cashier with “must be from New York”.</li>
you’ll be fine. Baylor is a Christian school, but not a monolithic group of Christian people. </p>