<p>Hey, I'm an atheist, my name's Andrew, and I've been accepted to SMU with a Distinguished Achievement Scholarship and am awaiting the rest of the scholarship announcements. Anyway...</p>
<p>I just checked my replies on my similar thread in the Baylor forum, and I have so far been slightly disappointed in Baylor, my former second-choice school (behind Austin College). I figured I'd better ask anyone I could: how religious is SMU? Are the teachers or students evangelistic? Is there preaching?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I'm not a student at SMU, but I've been there quite a few times and know tons of people there. Yeah, SMU was founded by the Methodist church, but religion stops at the Perkins School of Theology. As far as I know, religion isn't a huge thing on campus. It's definitely not like Baylor where you're forced to attend church every week. At SMU there are no religion requirements whatsoever. I'm not religious as well, and that was an initial concern for me, too. But after talking with my admissions counselor (who I know very well), he told me there wasn't a religious emphasis, so that eased my mind.</p>
<p>I was accepted back in December and am in the Business Scholars and University Honors programs and just received the same merit scholarship as you. I think I'm actually going to Dallas this weekend to check things out for a final time.</p>
<p>SMU is definitely high on my list, and religion and its presence on a campus is a concern with me, but I really have no worries about SMU - it's a fantastic school.</p>
<p>I hope I helped ease your mind! Feel free to message me anytime with anything else.</p>
<p>Through the Perspectives section of the general curriculum, 1 course in "religious & historical traditions" could be required (that's one of the 6 perspectives sections, you have to take one class from 5 of the 6 perspectives sections). Those classes aren't preaching...they are things such as "Ways of Being Religious" and classes that are more like surveys of religion rather than doctrine. </p>
<p>SMU is high on my list...I'm still looking at other schools and considering other offers but I have liked all of my experiences with SMU so far. </p>
<p>By the way, even though it's Southern Methodist University, that religious affiliation does not necessarily dominate even the student body. According to their web site (<a href="http://smu.edu/facts/demographic.asp%5B/url%5D):">http://smu.edu/facts/demographic.asp):</a>
Religious Preference – 66.6 percent of undergraduates and 42 percent of graduate students report a religious affiliation; 23.1 percent are Methodist, 22.9 percent are Catholic. Also represented are other Protestant affiliations and religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam.</p>
<p>uhhh....SMU? religious? no....</p>
<p>hahaha</p>
<p>how does scholarships work, i just got in but they didnt send me any info on that stuff???</p>
<p>If you get a scholarship, the information on the scholarship will come in a separate letter, so don't despair at this point.</p>