Baylor: The Big Picture
For me, the biggest noticable thing was how the neighborhood and town of Waco has so many "projects." One would think that thriving and living around Baylor would allow the town to grow financially and be pretty well off. But in fact, Waco has one of the largest populations of homeless people in the state of Texas.
Baylor does have its events, like Steppin' Out, in order to try and reach the community, but not enough of the students care enough to participate or even keep it up throughout each semester. There are plenty of opportunities to help though, you just gotta do it.
Baylor Academic Life
Academcs, personally, revolve around the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, a set of classes that give a well-rounded and liberal arts education. All of these courses have a large group setting along with a small group setting. So, while we have some lecture classes, there are many times when we have class discussions with our individual professors.
As for my major classes, I've yet to take one, but my minor classes for Sign Interp, are fairly small and generally don't have many students. The Sign Language dept at Baylor isn't large by any means, but they are well-equipped and personable. From friends I've heard the science courses are fairly large, and while some professors are willing to work with you, others are not, but that's at any college. Language classes in general are not large, which is good in order to keep the student's engaged.
Baylor's Student Body
If you want diversity in student body, I'd suggest elsewhere. Baylor has a somewhat diverse population, but most of it is white. Black students are found surrounded by other Black students, and most of which are there on athletic scholarship. Hispanic students have some stand in the school, but not much. As for Asians, they have a good foothold, but not bigger percentage wise than most other schools.
Baylor Student Activities + Social Life
I'm quite active on the campus. Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, requires 35 hours of community service a semester, but offer may opportunities, on and off campus. Gamma Beta Phi, a service-based honor society, require 8 hours a semester, which is practically nothing. Magellan Society, a multicultural service organization, doesn't require any set number of hours, but has many social and service activities that focus on the world as a whole. The Canterbury House, the right-off campus Episcopal Student Center, has Eucharist every Wednesday, and bible study on Sundays.
Off campus, my friends and I find ourselves at different restaurants or the Suspension Bridge, where we hang around and throw tortillas on to one of the old columns. We may also make a day at Lake Waco or Lake Victoria, or take road trips to Austin or Dallas.
Baylor Naked Truth
If you can get past all the paperwork and rules and really try to have a good time, then Baylor will be awesome.
