Morgan

I really like Baylor, it's big enough to where you always meet new people, but small enough to where you see people you know often around campus. You get great one on one attention from the staff if you look for it, they'll take good care of you if you need help. Teaching can be subpar in some areas, but mostly the teachers are pretty good. Class size is generally small, and many teachers will learn your name by the end of the semester. Baylor has a good name to it, and people generally respond by agreeing that it is a good school. Waco isn't necesarrily the best college town around, the people aren't all supportive of the school like they might be in College Station or Lubbock. Waco also isn't the best for having things to do, but it is very close to Dallas and Austin, making it easy to visit those places on the weekends. School pride isn't the highest, there are some Baylor-ed out people, but for the most part we're pretty relaxed, not intense like some UT people may be. When the biggest scandal on campus is that Dr. Pepper may be replaced by Coke, you know you're at a Christian university. It's nice that Baylor is going more green, and we've done a lot to try and help the environment, especially in the last year. The people are pretty nice and the staff is helpful, the education is good, I'd recommend Baylor to anyone looking for a college, but it is a very unique college that doesn't suit everyone, most people either love it or hate it.

For most people, Baylor is a pretty polarizing school. It's pretty unique, so most student either love it or hate it. I love almost everything about Baylor. The size is, in my opinion, perfect. It's a big private school, to where you can meet new people every day, but you'll also usually have someone you know in a lot of your classes.

Usually when I tell someone I'm from Baylor, they react with "That's a good school" or don't really know what Baylor is. It seems like there's not too much of an opinion about Baylor out in west Texas, which most people don't realize is in a different time zone.

Waco isn't the best of cities, but there are some nicer parts where you can get some food from chains like TGI Fridays or Pei Wei. Waco isn't ultra supportive of Baylor, either like College Station or Lubbock may be, probably because students fear straying too far outside of the "Baylor Bubble." It is nice that Waco is right in between Austin and Dallas, and it's pretty easy to visit either place on weekends, or even go shopping in Hillsboro or Round Rock on a free afternoon (They have great outlet stores).

Most of the time on campus I spend is at the Student Life Center, which has decent facilities for a small school. I used to be a swimmer so I'd have to say the pool is substandard, but it has a pretty cool slide and one of those pools that takes you in a circle, as well as a hot tub. I like to study at the Science Building (which is beautiful) or the library, which has a ton of places to study, but gets pretty full around finals. The campus is pretty green and always has pretty flowers (which I swear they spend most of our tuition money) and grassy areas you can lay out on if it's nice out.

Baylor's Administration is pretty good in my opinion. Every now and then Dub Oliver will make an appearance, but his wife has a lot more personality than he does, and there's a bit of a running joke on campus that he hasn't been seen since was hired. The staff that I've interacted with has been great. They really have a commitment to the students and want to guarantee that you'll succeed when you leave Baylor. They are generally always willing to help out students.

Baylor doesn't have oodles of school pride, maybe because our football team is one of the worst in the Big XII, but that could just be us being in the wrong conference. There are some of those students that are die-hard Baylor fans, though, and they're nice to watch at games and make you feel slightly guilty for not being as hardcore.

Something that Baylor's been doing recently that has been making students happy is becoming more green. Apparently, we were the best in the Big XII in that area, which I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I started recycling, so we're kind of getting into the environmentally friendly mode.

One of the interesting things about Baylor is our obsession with Dr. Pepper. Every Thursday (or maybe Tuesday, I'm not sure) we have Dr. Pepper hour, where free Dr. Pepper floats will be given out. Dr. Pepper is the only big soft drink sold on campus. At the end of last semester, there was a bunch of controversy because someone started a rumor that Dr. Pepper was being replaced with Coke on campus. I'm still not sure if it was true or not, the NoZe Brothers (secretive prankster organization) might have been behind it.

Academics at Baylor are pretty good. We have several great programs. I just changed my major (for the second time) to the Baylor Business Fellows major, which is a pretty cool opportunity where you can blend courses within and without the business school and not have to take a lot of the basic requirements like political science, English, human performance, etc. So now I'll be double-majoring in Finance and Economics with a minor in Statistics. The cool thing about Baylor is that there are a lot of programs to meet individual needs. If you're a motivated student and want more scope in your education than one major, Business Fellows or University Scholars can allow for a more specialized education.

Classes are pretty small so professors usually know a lot of names, especially as you get into more specialized classes. I really enjoyed several of my classes, like Great Texts, which has small class size and in-depth discussion that really broadens your mind. I also enjoyed my math classes, and even a computer science course that I thought I would hate.

This is a private Baptist University, so are required to take two semesters of chapel and two semesters of religion. Chapel could be pretty interesting, but it could also be deathly boring. As far as religion goes, if you get a good teacher, it'll be interesting. I liked my scriptures class, but usually wanted to gouge my eyes out during my heritage class.

In every class, there would always be the students that were super parcipitative and those that would sit in the back and avoid ever speaking. Unfortunately, intellectual conversations outside of class are generally rare. Students are usually pretty bright, although there are some that obviously got in because of connections and money, but there isn't much competition between students, even in the Honors classes.

Teachers usually seem very knowledgeable and are helpful most of the time, though there are a few teachers that leave students with a bad taste in their mouths.

Overall, I'd say a Baylor education is a great one, especially if you put in hard work. It's a great school to go to for a successful professional career.

Academics at Baylor are pretty good, I've gotten a good deal of learning in my classes. There are some required classes that aren't exactly the most relevant things, such as Chapel and the Religion courses, but they can be pretty interesting so it isn't too bad. Baylor students are, for the most part, pretty driven students and students can be competitive, especially within honors. There are usually several students in a class that are pretty participative. The libraries are usually pretty full, students take their studies seriously. Education at Baylor is good for preparing students for what lies ahead after college, getting jobs, and also they make sure that their students will be ethical members of the business world.

Baylor has a pretty homogenous crowd, but where there is diversity there is usually segregation as well. If you're a minority, you'll usually join a sorority/fraternity for that minority. If you're liberal, you'll usually hang out with the more liberal crowd. I wouldn't say that the students have anything against each other, but that's just how it usually works out. Most students would probably find their niche on campus, though if you're not Christian, you might find it difficult to put up with chapel and the religion classes.

Students usually are pretty casually dressed for class. Many girls wear Nike running shorts and t-shirts or jeans and casual shirts. Sometimes girls will wear dresses and skirts, but it's never a big deal--there are a lot of different styles in one classroom.

Most Baylor students are from east/central Texas and there's a good chance their parents went to Baylor as well. A lot of girls even stayed in the same room their mothers stayed in when they were at Baylor (which I always though was kinda creepy). Most students are also middle/upper class, but there's diversity in that and most (but not all) students are okay with students from different backgrounds financially.

Students aren't too politically active--we don't ever have protests or rallies. We're pretty conservative though as a whole, though maybe not as conservative as some would like to believe.

For some reason, a lot of people from my city thought that I'd be coming to a school with a lot of gay guys, but I really haven't seen to much of it--I may just be naive about that, though.

Most students plan on living a charmed life of wealth and importance... and their kids coming to Baylor, too.

Baylor has a pretty homogenous crowd. Mostly white, middle-upper class, conservative, and from central/east Texas. Anyone who doesn't fit that description usually sticks to a group other people that are like them. A non-Christian student would definitely feel out of place at Baylor because of the requirements for Chapel and Religion. Most Baylor students are from Dallas, Austin, Houston, etc. There are some out-of-staters though, and they fit in just fine, it's not a huge deal where you're from. Most students are also from wealthier families, since it is a private school. Students generally wear t-shirts and shorts to class. Sperry's are huge. There are a lot of students that dress regularly to class as well, jeans, and sometimes dresses. Students aren't necessarily the most politically active, maybe because we're not very liberal and outspoken.

Baylor is pretty big into Greek life. Even if your not in one of the typical fraternaties/sororities, you have a pretty good chance of ending up in a service fraternity or minority sorority/fraternity. It's just the way most students get involved. That said, we have a pretty big Honors College, and there are a lot of organizations for your area of study.

Dorm life - for girls at least - isn't huge. Most of the time, the girls are out elsewhere being social. I honestly didn't know probably 3/4 of the girls on my floor, and if someone's door is open, it's barely cracked in case one of their friends really needs to see them.

Athletic events can be pretty big, especially if we happen to be doing well at the moment. Football starts off big and then sort of flags off as we realize that this isn't our year, again.

We'll have some things that come through Baylor like speakers and plays and the like, but most of the time it's not a huge deal. Probably our biggest events are the Pigskin Review and All-University Sing (a huge singing, dancing, theatrical production put on by our Greeks--it's one of the biggest deals of the year). Something worth checking out is the Guerilla Troupe comedy shows. It's an improv show and it's actually really funny.

Dating is a huge deal at Baylor. When you first get there, it's like a mad dash to find the person you'll be engaged to by the spring of your Junior year (or your tuition money back!) There are a lot of great people there, though, and chanced are good that if you're female, you'll find your life partner if that's what you're looking for. Not everyone is super into dating, though.

If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you're probably studying for a huge test you have on Wednesday or hanging out with a significant other, though not in your dorm room since the visiting hours end at ten on weekdays.

Every year, we have two pretty big events--Homecoming and Diadeloso. Homecoming include the Pigskin Review, which is the best 8 acts from Sing, the Bonfire, and the tradition of the "Eternal Flame," which actually may be discontinued due to injuries. The premise is that freshman guard a flame and the upperclassmen try to put it out. People can get pretty into it, and this year some people ended up hospitalized. The other big event is Diadeloso, which is a day off from classes in the spring a little bit before finals. Students set up booths by the Science Building or just hang out together. It's a pretty big day for partying, too.

Partying at Baylor isn't too big. Unlike a lot of universities, you have the find the parties, the parties don't find you. Thursday is usually a night where students go to a club or have a small get together or just stay in. Fridays and Saturdays usually have the bigger parties, mostly thrown by fraternities, who don't have official frat houses, but use a house where some of their guys live. They can be pretty fun, and it's not a huge deal if you don't drink. There are some that do and some that don't. If you don't want to be around drinking at all, that's fine, too. There are plenty of groups that get together on weekends and have movie nights, go bowling, etc.

Off campus, there are plenty of places to eat, there's a lake nearby you can visit, a zoo, a beautiful park, and attractions in Dallas and Austin. It's nice that Waco is close to those big places if you need a little more night life.

Greek is pretty big on campus. There are also a lot of non-Panhellenic fraternities and sororities so that it seems almost everyone gets involved in at least one. Girls dorms, at least, aren't the most happening places. People stick to themselves for the most part and don't interact much with their hall. Athletic events are pretty popular, but they aren't packed that often unless our team is doing well at the moment. Dating is also a pretty big deal at Baylor, there are a lot of couples and there's a joke that if you don't get married before you leave college, you get your money back. Partying isn't a huge scene at Baylor. It's unlike other colleges in that you have to find the parties, the partying doesn't find you. Most of the parties are within Greek circles. If you're not partying on the weekend, you can be going on a road trip to Austin or Dallas, which have good concerts often, you can hear a live band at Common Grounds, the popular coffee place right off-campus, or go to one of the few clubs in town, which usually are most happening on Thursdays unless they've been rented out by a fraternity on a weekend night.

Baylor is full of white, rich, uber-Christian snobs who drink Dr. Pepper like it's water.

stuck-up, rich, white