<p>What can anyone tell me about Southwestern? What about Baylor? I've been accepted to Baylor but I am waiting to hear back from Southwestern and am torn between the two schools.</p>
<p>What are you interested in studying? Baylor is a mid-size university in a mid-size town. Southwestern is a small liberal arts college in a small town/suburb.</p>
<p>Well if you aren't a fan of fun, then pick Baylor. Baylor is a very Baptist school, so if you have those values you'll probably like it. Otherwise, you'll find Baylor and Waco to be quite dull and lifeless. It's also incredibly conservative (dancing was banned on campus until 2000), so if you aren't a GOP good ole boy, you might encounter some problems. It does offer more academic programs, a much larger student body, and Division I sports, as well as better alumni connections. It's also well located, about halfway between DFW and Austin (though a little closer to DFW). So every once and a while you could get away. However, if you choose Baylor, then likely you won't be in to most of the attractions that Dallas and Austin offer anyways.</p>
<p>Southwestern is in a much different environment. Ten years ago I would have described it as being in a small country town. Now this is not the case--it is in an outlying suburb (basically it's like The Woodlands in relation to Austin). It's booming now, and the Georgetown-Round Rock-Pflugerville area has a lot to offer now--they even have an IKEA. It's about a 30 minute drive from downtown Austin and all it has to offer. It's a much smaller school, and the academic options aren't as broad. But those programs they do offer are all top-notch. The student body is fairly small (around 2000 I think), and sports aren't emphasized. The campus environment is incredibly liberal, as well as the surrounding area--the Austin area is the speck of blue in the midst of the red sea of Texas.</p>
<p>Basically it's the type of environment you're looking for. Southwestern is a loosely-Methodist Liberal Arts College, and Baylor is a strictly-Southern Baptist University with all the resources a university has to offer. Both are quite generous with merit aid and are fairly close to Cypress (assuming you're talking about the Cy Fair area in Houston).</p>
<p>I personally would pick Southwestern because everyone I know who has gone there loved it. It's in a great location, a place where you aren't directly in the midst of the Austin scene like UT, but are close enough to enjoy the benefits. Their merit aid program is absolutely fabulous--over half of the students receive some merit aid--and almost 90% get merit and/or need based aid. Waco is, to be frank, incredibly boring, and Baylor's values don't exactly match my own.</p>
<p>Can't comment much on Baylor since D went to and graduated from Southwestern. Her experience was wonderful! It is a small school in a small town but so close to Austin and everything going on there. Most of the programs at SU seem very good and it was the one on one contact with her professor's that made the difference. The campus environment seems pretty liberal altho there are many conservative minded groups as well. Everyone seems to get along. I highly recommend Southwestern University.</p>
<p>I went to SU! I loved every minute of it. I'm from Austin, so to me, the political climate seemed more moderate than liberal, but the bottom line was that everyone's opinions were valued and explored. The campus is beautiful. There's a wonderful sense of community. It really is like a little paradise.</p>
<p>Not entirely sure that theloneranger ever went to Baylor. Doesn't sound like it.</p>