Jake

Baylor's got about 14,000 undergrad students. It's a good size, especially given the small size of the campus. It's not overcrowded, but it's always busy. I guess, even though it's a small campus, it feels like a larger school. It's pretty well-respected, though, especially in the south. Most people will recognize your academic achievements if you tell them you're a Baylor student or graduate. The administration isn't a hassle- they're pretty ambivalent towards students. The main administrative controversy is a tenure issue that has staff members upset. The only real complaint that's pretty widespread is that of the mandatory religion classes. Every student is required to take two semesters of Christian Scriptures and Heritage, as well as two semesters of Chapel. However, most students get those out of the way during freshman year and continue their college career without complaint.

Classes are generally difficult. It's an academically rigorous school, and if you graduate, you've definitely earned it. Students spend a lot of time studying, for the most part, but there's also a lot of free time. Classes vary on interaction- there's 3,000 students in one class of Chapel, but you may have an upper-level class with seven other people. Education at Baylor is really what you make of it. If you just follow a degree plan and do the minimum amount of effort to pass, you'll graduate and most likely get a job out of school. If you really devote yourself to it, though, you can learn simply for purposes of self-edification. Most Baylor students learn to find a comfortable middle ground between those two options.

Baylor's pretty one-sided in regards to the student body. The vast majority of students are wealthy white kids, and about three-quarters of the student body is seeking either a business or medical degree. Of course, there are always exceptions, and whatever niche it is you fit into, you'll be able to find an accomodating group of like-minded students.

Baylor has a less-than-stellar record in Big XII sports, football being a particularly painful example. However, football and basketball games are always popular and well-attended, even given the somewhat dismal athletic facilities. Other sports, such as tennis, golf, and track, Baylor regularly excels at. Baylor offers a failry wide range of campus-sponsored activities to keep students involved, and the Greek organizations almost always have something going on. Greek life is huge at Baylor, and participation is strongly encouraged. If you don't want to join a particular club, be sure you have friends in a few, so you can be invited to their activities. The different social groups are widely varied at Baylor. If you want to party every weekend (weekend starts on Thursday), then plenty of people will be willing to party. If you want to join a Bible study, you'll find people to study with (there will probably be some people from your weekend's festivities in the Bible study with you). Baylor's pretty varied.

The general stereotype is that the university is ultra-conservative. The school itself is, as it has a right to be- it's a private institution. The kids are rich, and the Greek organizations are hyper-exclusive.

For the most part, yes. There's always exceptions to any rule, however, and Baylor has all kinds of people to meet and experiences to offer.

All in all, Baylor's a great school. It's founded on Christian values, yet large enough and varied enough to allow you to escape those values, if you wish.