<p>D just returned from event at Baylor Saturday. Very impressed with all she learned. One concern she has is getting to/from DFW. How do out of staters handle getting home.</p>
<p>Thanks- gymmom2007</p>
<p>OK, out of stater here.</p>
<p>There are several options to go to and from DFW, which is where I usually fly home out of. The one I use most often is to take the short flight from the Waco regional airport to DFW. However, on some trips, that is too expensive (ie Spring Break and Thanksgiving), as everyone is going home at the same time. </p>
<p>During Thanksgiving, I ended up taking the Waco</a> Streak, a shuttle service with a fairly reasonable price. They will pick you up right from your dorm, and drop you right off at your terminal. Though it may take you awhile to get back to Baylor after your flight back, as you have to wait for other people's flights to get there as well. (They aren't going to take you back by yourself). </p>
<p>Another option is to find a ride with another Baylor student. This is usually pretty easy to do if you're going home on one of the regular breaks. The time I had to take the shuttle, I had originally planned to go back with another student, but then discovered the night before that my flight was leaving earlier than I thought. Also, on the [url=<a href="http://bin.baylor.edu/%5DBIN%5B/url">http://bin.baylor.edu/]BIN[/url</a>] (Baylor Information Network), you can post on the message board asking if you can get a ride. Other students may also advertise that they are willing to give rides, if they don't want to drive alone. So basically, there are a ton of options.</p>
<p>Any other questions, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>BookAddict, thanks for the info. I told my D that if that was her biggest concern it was an easy thing to overcome. Baylor right now is #1 on her list. She is thinking of applying for Brooks College. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Brooks College will be new next year, so I don't know for sure what it's going to be like. The new facilities should be amazing, and that's why I'm actually going to be living in Brooks Flats (the new apartments right next to Brooks College) next year.</p>
<p>Brooks College looks neat, because they're really going to try to make it into a community. You'll have Sunday dinners, and as a freshman, you'll be required to live there for two years. Also, the suites look really nice. On the other hand, some people have complained that it sounds too exclusive.</p>
<p>I'm currently living in Memorial, with is part of the Honors College Living and Learning Center, which is a community somewhat like Brooks College (though not as structured). I really enjoy it, and I think the community feel makes it easier to get to know people. And if you want to get to know people outside where you live, that is always still an option.</p>
<p>This is something I've been thinking a lot about recently as well (admitted student, full-ride SS, just applied to the Honors Program). My impression is that the HCLLC (Honors College Learning and Living Center) would be better for me because I'd be more around committed students and it's already an established program. I spoke to the director of Brooks and it sounded like they're just seeing what happens. Not necessarily a bad thing (Brooks is my 2nd choice if I don't get in to Honors), but IMO the HCLLC is better.</p>
<p>I love the HC-LLC, especially as a Baylor Inderdisciplinary Core (BIC) student! It's still a fairly new program, but it's off to a great start. You are around people who are as motivated as you, and people know when to have fun and when to study. Sure, there will be people who come in loud and drunk at 3 in the morning, but I've heard far less complaints from people in Alexander/Memorial about things like that than from people in other dorms. As a BIC student, it's nice because all BIC students take the same BIC classes with the same homework. So it's really easy to talk to others about assignments, etc. Plus, you get to know all the honors kids really well, since you live together and take the same classes. They also have fun events planned for the dorms, and its fun because its more co-ed than other residence hall events (since Memorial and Alexander are almost like one dorm, despite the fact that they are in two different buildings.)</p>
<p>Some people complain that in the HC-LLC, you're sort of in an honors bubble, and don't get to know other people. It is true that you do tend to become more isolated, but if you make an effort, you can still meet other people who aren't in the honor's college. I've met plenty of other people through the various exra-curricular activities I've been in, as well as my non-BIC classes.</p>
<p>What can you tell me about Honors College? How much more works is it going to be? My D will be pre-med and we are worried about the extra course load honors requires?</p>
<p>There are three different programs within the Honors College (well, four if you count Great Texts, but I'm not exactly sure about that one). You can be a part of as many of them as you'd like. There are tons of pre-med majors in all three programs, so while it's more work, it's definitely doable.</p>
<p>The Honors Program (which really needs a new name, because it gets mixed up with the other two honors programs) is just a regular honors program. You take a certain number of honors classes, and write a thesis your junior/senior years. My pre-med friends who are in it say that it is not that much work the first two years. Then it gets harder, because not only are you working on your honors thesis, but you're also getting ready for the MCAT.</p>
<p>The University Scholars honors program is a major. The point of the program is to allow you to make your own major and choose whatever classes you'd like. There are few required classes. There is a heavy reading list, though, and you have to write a thesis.</p>
<p>I'm just in the Baylor Inderdisciplinary Core (BIC). I love it so far! And I admit I'm biased against the other two programs. (I will say, though, that my friend in all three programs says that BIC is the only one worth anything.) If you haven't heard of the BIC, the courses you take with it replace your regular core requirements. So instead of taking english, religion, history, etc., you'll take the BIC classes. (If you're a BA major, it'll also cover your science. It doesn't cover math or foreign language at all). These courses are interdisciplinary, and are based more on primary texts instead of text books. It's thus a lot of reading, but it's pretty interesting reading! For example, you'll read Confessions by Augustine instead of simply reading about the church fathers. BIC is also neat, because you have both large and small group classes for each course. In large group (with all the BIC students in your class - about 200 freshmen), one of the 10 or so professors for the course will lecture on his or her specialty, so you learn a lot of neat information. In small group (20 or fewer students), you have one of those professors, who will lead you in a group discussion about whatever you are reading. BIC mostly just affects your freshman and sophomore classes, and you don't have to write a thesis. On the downside, in the BIC, your AP credits don't count for as much. You still get credit, but you don't get out of any of the BIC classes (you can't just take the history component out of an interdisciplinary course). Also, you don't register as early as the Honors or University Scholars students (which I completely don't understand), though you do register with the Dean's list students, which is earlier than other students in your class.</p>
<p>If you want to know more about the BIC, I can give you a ton of details (If I didn't bore you with a ton of details already!). If you want to know more about the other two programs, I can try to answer, or refer you to the website [url=<a href="http://www.baylor.edu/honors_college/splash.php%5Dhere%5B/url">http://www.baylor.edu/honors_college/splash.php]here[/url</a>] or to a friend in one of the programs. </p>
<p>To sum it up, all three programs within the Honors College definitely require work. But I they aren't that bad, and I think the BIC is definitely worth it (I can't tell you about the other programs, but considering the fact that not everyone drops out, I'd say people would say they're worth it as well.) Oh, and you can always try one or more honors programs, then drop them if they are too much work. There's no consequence for that (except that you can't live in the HC-LLC anymore, so If you're living in Alexander/Memorial, I'd say don't drop till the end of a year.)</p>