Baylor University

Date: Nov 22 2009
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I graduated from Baylor in 2007. I have to begin by saying that my time at Baylor was not the best time of my life. I had personal problems going on, as well as issues happening with the school. In summation, the four years I spent at Baylor were difficult for me, but I think they were made easier by being at Baylor and I am extremely thankful that I attended the university.

One of the most important things for applicants or prospective students to realize is that the campus is NOT ultra-conservative, and not everyone that attends is a Bible beating Christian. I will confess, I am Christian, but I am Presbyterian, not Baptist, and we tend to be far more relaxed about "doctrine, rules, etc." The majority of the student body is not Baptist, and the professors are largely not Baptist. So, I think that one of Baylor's criticisms - "being too Baptist" - is misplaced. That is not to say that there are not hardcore Christians at Baylor, because there are. But they have their groups of friends, just like partygoers have theirs. Honestly, its less fundamentalist than where I go to grad school (UC Berkeley), where there are hardcore, no compromise, extremist liberals, but there are also your normal students who make up most of the population. So if you are worried about the religion, don't be. The religious classes that are required are not a big deal, and some of them are extremely educating about other world religions.

The student body is without question some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered in my life. I am not from Texas originally, and I don;t live there now, but I can honestly say that the people at Baylor make Texas seem very appealing. Greek life is huge, so if you don't want to be a part of that, maybe Baylor is not your place.

The campus is gorgeous. Enough said.

Finally, the thing I love most about Baylor is the sense of purpose people have there. I don't mean in the Christian sense, but that does exist as well, instead I mean the people at Baylor (I know I am generalizing, but this whole exercise is generalizing) really and truly act as though they have a purpose, that there is something that drives them. It is intoxicating, though the Baptists would never use that word. I turned my life around at Baylor because of that cultural purpose and I cannot downplay how important it is to a lot of people that feel lost (Again, I was not converted and I am not Baptist, in fact I disagree with a large portion of Baptist beliefs such as being saved. It was the spirit of purpose, not the motivation of that purpose that was so enthralling, By and large the students at Baylor want to do good worldwide everyday and I am not sure I can say that about many other communities.

Ok, so I have discussed the things I love about Baylor, now I would like to tell you some of the things that I really disliked, and I mean REALLY disliked.

First, the mandatory attendance policy is bullshit. Realistically, it probably helps numerous people, but for certain classes it is ridiculous. Some of the classes would be better served by simply assigning some good books to the students and then having an exam at the end of the year. This brings me to my next point…

Second, some of the professors have no business teaching. There is no in between at Baylor, I had either incredible professors who I will remember for the rest of my life, or professors that made me feel like I would get a better education in some social work GED program. It is a problem that needs to be addressed by the school. If Baylor truly has a goal of being Tier 1, which they claim they do, then they need to have the guts to fire some of the shitty professors and spend some money bringing in people that know what they are doing. I don't mean to say that you won't get a good education, but if you are really seeking to learn something and going to college isn't just about getting drunk and looking for late night fun all the time (which happens in Waco believe it or not) then you need to be very selective about your classes and who is teaching them.

Third, there is an overconfidence at Baylor which is unsupported. I am thankful for the time I spent at Baylor and I know that I received a great education. With that being said, I pursued it. And after graduation, I pursued an excellent graduate education. Without my drive, I would have fallen into what I call the "Baylor trap." As good of a school as it is, it is not Rice, it is not Tulane, it is not Vanderbilt. You will not have the type of diploma, like I think you would at those schools, that will probably get you a job just by having that on your resume. Yet, the faculty at Baylor an the current students seem to think that the school is providing that. It isn't, and it never will unless the aforementioned shitty professors are dealt with, as well as increasing the endowment, and…

Fourth, one of the problems at Baylor is the reluctance to become a private school that does not cater to people who cannot afford expensive private educations. Baylor is consistently ranked as one of the best value educations that one can get, which is great except when they profess to be aiming at Tier 1. There is not a Tier 1 private school that isn't expensive. Earlier I mentioned Rice, Tulane and Vanderbilt. They are all more expensive private southern schools for a reason (others are Emory, Duke, and William and Mary but they are farther geographically so they aren't really in direct competition), it costs an arm and a leg to go there, but you get a Tier 1 diploma. It is risk versus reward if you can get into one of those school, but in my opinion Baylor will not be Tier 1 until the administration is willing to charge the amount those schools do for education.

Finally, the problem of Waco. Don't bet me wrong there are things to do. There are bars, there is a nightlife, everything you need is there. But it still sucks and there is no avoiding it. Look at other private schools that compete with Baylor: Rice = Houston, SMU = Dallas, Tulane = New Orleans, Vanderbilt = Nashville, TCU = Fort Worth. Get my point? The other private schools are in big cities that are generally speaking pretty freaking cool. Houston is huge with tons of business for Rice grads, Dallas has a great nightlife where SMU's campus is in one of the most beautiful, clean, and safe places in the US, Tulane is in New Orleans which means endless music, great food, interesting culture, incredible architecture, and the campus is on one of the most historical streets in the country, Vanderbilt is in music city USA, and Fort Worth, while not the most happening of places, is a hell of a lot better than Waco. Again, Waco isn't "terrible," but its not cool either. Honestly, the city would be nothing without Baylor keeping it alive. Which, once again, brings me to my next point and my conclusion.

Waco, while lame, might be Baylor's greatest weakness and simultaneously its greatest strength. Baylor is a tight community, often called condescendingly the "Baylor Bubble," and that tight community may be the result of Waco. The Baylor community also vigorously tries to improve the quality of life for the city of Waco and it is admirable how much Baylor, through its students and faculty, have accomplished in a city that has little hope of improvement in terms of issues like poverty and crime. Waco creates for Baylor something that, as I stated earlier was so impressive to me while I was there, purpose. The goal of bettering another man's life and helping humanity is always present and I cannot emphasize home much that helped form me as a person, religious or not.

In conclusion, academically I probably could have received a better education at Rice, Tulane or Vanderbilt, but Baylor did something for me that an academic education would never be able to do, it made me a better person. That type of education is priceless and I would not trade it for any type of academic education in the world.