Sam

One thing that I love about Babson is the community and people that go here. First, the campus is really diverse, because there are students coming from England, Germany, Ireland, India, and other places around the world. Since there is so much diversity, there will always be a culture show that you can go see or a culture dinner that you can enjoy on campus. Second, Babson is a relatively small school with around 1700 undergraduate students, so there is a very close-knit community on campus. I love the fact that walking around I recognize everyone from students to Deans and that they recognize me too. I am able to walk into our main dining facility, go to the sandwich station and the person behind it will already be making my sandwich, because they know who I am and what I order. Also, a group of my friends and I have had dinner with the Dean of the Undergraduate program. If even allowed the rugby team to stay at his house in Amherst, so they wouldn't have to pay for a hotel before a game. I think Babson's close-knit community is something that is unique to Babson and it makes school-work more personal.

Babson is a competitive school to get into, so naturally the students that go here are extremely intelligent and competitive themselves. However, there is so much group work involved in classes at Babson that you learn to get along with your classmates and do not compete with them for grades, but instead with yourself to do better for everyone.

Babson prides itself on taking the learning experience to the next level by making it unique and hands-on. I have found that that statement is completely accruate. Babson really tries to incorporate what you learn in class and apply it to the real-world. This is done your first year by starting a business as part of a class with 30 other students, called FME. Then it is continued sophomore year, when you take intermediate business classes. Your sophomore year, you take a company and basically consult for them. What you do is work with your peers and go on a tour of the company that you choose. On the tour you learn about their operations by physically seeing it and by hearing from the companies CEO and department vps. After that, you are given a month and you research a problem the business is having in their operations and present the solution to the CEOs and deparment vps. That class was one of the most valuable educational experiences I have ever had, and it is one that every Babson student most take.

If I walked into trim dining hall I would see a wide variety of people eating. The first table that I looked at would be a group of kids sitting at one of our long cafeteria style tables that fit about 20 students. The students sitting there have just come from sports practice and our enjoying a meal together as a team. Everyone is wearing sweat pants or shorts with an extremely sweaty t-shirt They are all girls, but you can tell each one comes from a different background and none of them look the same. The next table I would see would be a similar style table, but instead it is filled with kids from one of the frats on campus. Frats/Soriorities typically have manadatory dinners together on Mondays night. The table would be decorated with table clothes and all of them are dressed up for the dinner. The third table would actually be one of the booths by the windows that fits four/five students. At this table, you would see a completely random mix of four students. There are two juniors sitting there with a freshmen and sophomore. One student comes from Mass, another from India, another from Cali, and the last is from China. They are all talking about what happened during the day and any lastest gossip. The last table that you would see would be a group of professors, staff, and students all enjoying lunch together. The Dean might be eating there, the office of campus life staff, your finance teacher, you and your friends. You are all talking about different events in your life and joking around. It isn't very formal and no one looks nervous. The last thing that you would see is everyone walking around going up to the different tables to say hello, because everyone knows each other. You might see girls from the sports team get up to say hi to the professors, or the kids in the frat going over and sitting with the kids in the booths. Typically, students don't stay at the same table for long and will move around, or they will try to sit at the longer tables where everyone can sit together.

The most popular groups on campus are Babson players, sports team, and Babson dance ensemble. Alot of students at Babson decide to either play varisty, club, or intramural sports on campus. Typically students are really active and enjoy playing club rugby or varisty ice hockey. One group that I am really involved in is Women's Rugby. I have been involved with it for two years and it's how a met my closest friends at Babson. The culture that is associated with rugby is very similar to the bond that is experienced in a soriority, which is why its my favorite aspect of Babson. Since Babson is located outside of Wellesley, there is almost no crime on campus. Most students will leave their room doors open, unless they have one that automatically locks behind them.

The most common stereotype about Babson students are that the are rich white snobby kids. I have also heard that Babson has a very high work-load, so students do not go out on the weekend.

For the most part, these stereotypes are not accurate. Babson is a very diverse campus with students coming from all over the country and globe. Since Babson is so diverse, there is not a typical Babson student on campus. Every student at Babson is unique and brings a different culture to the campus.

Babson is a highly competitive school, so naturally we have a pretty heavy work-load. However, Babson balances the high workload by only having classes Monday-Thursday. This allows students to go out on the weekend, because they have an extra day to do classwork. Typically, Thursday and Saturday nights at Babson, students go out to either the pub on campus or socialize at a frat or suite.

I LOVE BABSON!