Babson: The Big Picture
There are several great things about Babson. You get a fantastic education and you have a really large workload, but so does everyone else you're going to school with. It is not like a big state school where some students are out partying all the time and not doing any work and other students are killing themselves with work. Everyone has a ton of work to do and everyone is always willing to help each other. If you have to pull an all nighter, there is always someone else that will have to with you. Almost all of the students are super friendly and helpful. The professors are always trying to help you. All you have to do is ask and your professors will be accomodating. You get to know your professors very well and they even attend a lot of social events sponsored by the school.
The school is very small, only about 1700 undergraduate students, making it feel like home. You generally get to know just about everyone's name, especially in your year, and you get to work closely with several students among your different classes.
It is great for business students because you get into business classes your freshman year. In fact, in one of your freshman classes, Foundation of Management and Entrepreneurship (a required class), you and a group of about thirty students are given up to $3,000 to start your own business with your own ideas and products. It's a great experience and you learn so much while starting, running, and closing down the business.
Our student government sponsors all kinds of great events like fall weekend, winter weekend and spring weekend. There are concerts, formals, comedians, free food, and sports games. Free items are constantly being handed out at all events, such as tshirts, water bottles, and all kinds of different fun things.
Babson is a great school and I am really enjoying my experience here. I am very involved around campus and I have made some great friendships that will last a lifetime.
Babson Academic Life
All of my professors know me by first and last name. The classes are small, usually under 25 people. You get a lot of attention from your professors as long as you make it clear that you want it. Class participation is graded in every class, but the professors make it very easy for you to participate. Sometimes professors will eat lunch with you and they all have office hours scheduled that you can attend for help with work or even just to go talk about class.
The classes are very demanding but if you are admitted, you can handle it. Though the atmosphere is competitive for grades, almost all of your fellow students are willing to help with anything. I was up at 1am trying to figure out a calculus problem this year and a friend who was finished with his work stayed up for an extra hour and helped me figure it out.
Outside of class, you walk around campus and hear people talking business everywhere. Don't get me wrong; business is not the only thing we talk about, but it is always possible to have an intellectual conversation with your fellow students.
Babson's Student Body
The Babson student body is extremely diverse. There are people here from all over the United States as well as hundreds of foreign countries. Students here tend to be somewhat wealthy and preppy, but not everyone. You will see the sports teams hanging out with their teammates, sororities with their sisters, frats with their brothes, different clubs hanging out with members, but you will also see everyone interacting. I am on the cheerleading team and in the sorority Chi Omega, but I have made friends with every sports team and people in all of the different sororities and fraternities. Also, you see students from every year hanging out together. As a freshman, I have several friends who are seniors which is something you do not see at a lot of big schools. The sense of community is unreal here. Everyone knows everyone and generally acts very friendly.
Babson Student Activities + Social Life
Babson has all of the usual varsity sports teams, aside from football. There are tons of different clubs and intramural sports that you could get involved in. It is entirely possible to balance the work load with a varsity sport and still join other organizations, such as Greek life or a club sport. Babson has never been really big on sports and school spirit, but this year it has been promoted more than ever. People have been attending sporting events more than ever and the cheerleaders are everywhere for campus events.
I met my closest friends in the very first week of school through orientation and different organized activities. I have also met unbelievable people through different organizations such as cheerleading and my sorority, Chi Omega. There is always someone to do something with if you want to.
On the weekends, there is ALWAYS something going on. The Campus Activities Board organizes events all the time. Each month there is a themed "Knight Party" in our Knight Auditorium and I like to compare it to a middle school dance, college style. The last from 10pm until 2am, so you can imagine everyone's state of mind at that point on a Saturday night. Also, there is a really nice quad being put in this summer right in front of Frat row so there will be all kinds of events there. In the fall and spring, people are always outside grilling and just having a good time with friends. Even doing work outside on our beautiful campus is fun.
There is a shuttle bus into Boston on weekends, but there is also a T station right down the street that you could easily walk to. It's really easy to visit friends right in boston or have them come visit you.
