Samford: The Big Picture
The best thing about Samford is that it has a student body full of quality people. I have never been surrounded by a better group of people than in my four years at Samford. Because of my time at Samford I don't have just one but many people I consider my closest friends - people who have proven their character and loyalty over and over again.
Within the SouthEast Samford has a very good reputation. It is known as an excellent school that provides a great education and solid employees within the graduating classes. Employers in Birmingham often seek out Samford students and many people in need of a babysitter only choose to hire Samford students.
School pride is virtually non-existent at Samford when it comes to athletics. I think that is because most of our teams aren't very good. The basketball teams did well and they had a good crowd, but the majority of people just don't care that much.
Samford Academic Life
One of the best parts of Samford is that every professor I had knew my name and remembered it even after I took their class. The professors schedule individual meetings to go over a paper or final project and are always available for questions. I often went to my professors just to talk to them about what i was doing with my life as graduation moved closer and closer. The older people get the more intellectual and class related conversation they have. For me, I was a history major with spanish minor and some political science thrown in - so a lot of the things discussed in class were things actually happening in society - this led to a lot more class-related discussions than perhaps a physics major would have. I won't lie, academically Samford is a tough school. You have to work really hard to do well. I sometimes got frustrated because friends of mine at really big schools would take classes and put forth very little effort - while I was working really hard for all of mine. Also, going abroad to London is wonderful because you live with your professors. It was strange because all of a sudden my professor was also someone I considered my friend.
Samford's Student Body
Most students at Samford are from the Southeast, but with a lot of other locations mixed in. Most of them are conservative, Republicans but you will notice with the juniors and seniors many tend to be more moderate/liberal and very much Democrats.
People wear everything from pajamas to work out clothes to stilettos and pearls to class. It just depends on the person, but literally every class will have at least one girl who always dresses up and one person who always just rolled out of bed. Most people fall somewhere in between.
Samford Student Activities + Social Life
Sororities and Fraternities are very popular. I was in a sorority but had very close friends who were independent and they never regretted their decision not to be greek. Its fun to be greek and it offers a lot of activities, but it is also completely untrue that if you aren't greek you won't have fun or have friends. Lots of students live on campus - I did all four years and it was nice because I just had to walk to class instead of leaving 30 minutes before to drive to campus. I met my closest friends through my hall freshman year (i'm still very good friends with about half the people from my hall). Samford does a really good job of make your freshman year amazing. All the freshmen live together and the RA's in the freshman dorm really make everyone on the hall seem like family. Through my sorority I also made great friends. Both groups of friends are the kind of friends who will be in my wedding.
