Baylor University Top Questions

Some professors know my name, mainly because I have gone to visit them outside of class. It's really important to visit your professors and get your name on their mind so that they know who you are, which allows them to be more willing to help you out. It depends on the student how often they study. I have friends who prefer to go out every weekend then take it slow and stay in to focus on classes. I have other friends who prefer to spend many hours studying in the library. It depends on how focused you are in school and how much studying time you need for your class. Class participation is common in language classes where its important for you to be comfortable with the language. In most of my other classes, such as math or science, class participation is seldom. Students at Baylor are very competitive. Everyone is competing for a job or a spot at a medical school. I do not spend time with professors outside of class, but if you want to have lunch or sit down with them, they are willing to schedule time with you.

I will give it to academics at Baylor though. For the most part, I love my teachers. If you go in and talk to them, you can tell they truly do care for the students. But at the same time, there are teachers that do not care at all whether or not you are failing their class. The class sizes vary from 10 to 200 people. It depends what school you are in and what types of General Education classes you are signing up for. Chapel is not as bad as everyone says it is. It was the only time I got to see my friends in class, so that was fun. Religion is horrible. Baylor should not require those classes. Waste of my time. Those classes did not help me pursue my faith more, but instead, I ended up dreading those classes and resenting learning about my religion. The Writing Center is amazing. It is free and they help you edit your papers. I would stay at Baylor solely for the Writing Center. Also, OALA helps special students, and I am truly grateful for their services. The human performance requirements are so stupid. If students want to be active, then they will be. This is not supposed to be high school, so do not try to seperate the jocks from the nerds. Oh, and if people tell you that your professors invite you over for dinner, do not believe them. I have never heard of that ACTUALLY happening.

Professors really get to know you. I can't think of one class i've taken where the professor didn't call me by name by the end of the semester. (Granted, I take the time to meet in office hours, which I highly recommend you do). The library is great for studying, as is the SUB, which is more casual. The professors really try to teach you what you 'need' to know, not just mindless information.

Some professors are geniuses and make you feel retarded every time you speak in class, some are idiots that give tests over material we haven't covered, and some are foreign, so you can't understand a word they say. Whatever the case is, I doubt you'll be satisfied.

The classes and professors here are probably one of the best things about Baylor. It's a big enough school that you get a wide range of classes to choose from, but small enough that even in your intro classes, professors will often know you or at least recognize your face. As you start taking more and more major-specific classes, you'll come to really respect the passion and knowledge that Baylor professors possess. There are the few inevitable tenured profs that are too brilliant for their own good and expect you to know everything about the subject because they wrote the book (seriously), but wouldn't you rather have that than profs who don't know what they're talking about? A good handful of my classes have been taught by the type of professor that cares more about your life experiences than the class curriculum, which is really cool. They'll pay no attention to the syllabus and talk more about your thoughts on revolution or the afterlife or religious pluralism or foreign culture or any number of subjects more applicable to life than is the textbook. Those are the classes I enjoyed most.

My classes are what keep me here. I have connected with a lot of really great educators who have taught me so much about their respective subjects as well as myself.

Class size at Baylor is really good; except for a few introduction to business or science classes, most do not exceed 30-50. Being in the Honors College, I have few classes that exceed 20. I have loved my upper level classes, but the introduction courses in any area are usually pointless and more of a hassle than anything else. I have taken mostly History and Literature courses, and the professors are wonderful. They are really interested in their subject and in your education.

Academics at Baylor is a tough subject, because every major is different. For example, I am a biology/pre-med major, and this year my easiest class was Political Science. However, I heard some business majors in my class talking about how difficult they thought the tests were. I have found, at least in the pool of science majors, academics are very competitive. However, most students would never show their anguish when someone else out performed them. Many students have intellectual conversations outside of class. You just have to find another student who is on the same level as you are, which is not difficult to do. Every class with thirty or less students I have had, the professors make sure they know every one's name and face, which is nice. In other larger classes, if you make an effort to get to know the professor, they will always make sure to get to know you. If you want to see a professor outside of class it is almost always easy to do, because Baylor makes certain all professors give a large chunk of their hours to be available to help students. My least favorite class has to be freshman semester biology. The class average was in the 50s. Beware of this type of weed-out class for every major.

I touched on that above.

I enjoyed my classes at Baylor for the most part. I do not enjoy the busy work of writing papers and filling in work sheets, but for the most part I have enjoyed these classes.