Waco, Texas future (Houston, Dallas, Austin: crime rate, chapel, neighborhood)

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Within Texas the scarcity of available room at UT and A&M means that those two schools are quite a bit more selective than Baylor.
Without actually looking up the statistics, I'd guess that Baylor's average incoming GPA and SAT scores put it in the same range at Texas Tech. Not as good as UT and A&M but better than all the other state schools around Texas.

going off the information listed on the website below... A&Ms acceptance rate is a good bit higher than Baylors. Baylor is 3rd highest in the state, behind Rice and UT.
Baylor actually has higher average SAT scores than A&M (no idea about GPA). and 150 points higher than TTUs average SATs.

SATSCORES

Originally Posted by explorer2014

You are misquoting me. Baylor's Cost of Attendance is almost exactly the same as Rice's COA. Texas A&M and Texas Tech COA are almost the same and are less than half that of Baylor or Rice. My point is that Rice does buy you a lot of prestige but if you are going to study education, business, engineering or similar and then get a job in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio, then I don't know that the Baylor cost is worth it relative to other less expensive options.

And yet Baylor continues to rank amongst one of the best value private schools in the country...

Every year, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine names its “Best Values in Private Colleges,” and every year, Baylor makes the list. This year is no exception, as Baylor comes in among the nation’s top 50 (out of nearly 600 schools in the study).

BU comes in at No. 27 on the list when sorted by total cost (tuition, fees, room and board, and books).

Baylor Proud » Kiplinger’s once more names Baylor a ‘best value’ among private schools

[explorer2014]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

going off the information listed on the website below... A&Ms acceptance rate is a good bit higher than Baylors. Baylor is 3rd highest in the state, behind Rice and UT.
Baylor actually has higher average SAT scores than A&M (no idea about GPA). and 150 points higher than TTUs average SATs.

SATSCORES




And yet Baylor continues to rank amongst one of the best value private schools in the country...



Baylor Proud » Kiplinger’s once more names Baylor a ‘best value’ among private schools

Wow, that is classic propaganda! So the link you gave was to a 2012 blog. When you click through to the actual Kiplinger site, it appears Baylor no longer even appears in the Top 100 for Private Schools, according to what shows on their site.

When you then look at "prior years" Baylor shows up at 54 in 2014, and 48 in 2013.

Then if you go back to 2009, Baylor shows up at number 40.

That's quite a different story. Next I'll look at the SAT scores you reference because I suspect the story might be different there too.

[texasdiver]

In the past Baylor has been caught trying to manipulate its average SAT score by paying already enrolled freshmen to retake the SAT after they had already been admitted. This was all over the news a few years ago. So one wonders how reliable their reported scores are

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/ed...anted=all&_r=0

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

In the past Baylor has been caught trying to manipulate its average SAT score by paying already enrolled freshmen to retake the SAT after they had already been admitted. This was all over the news a few years ago. So one wonders how reliable their reported scores are

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/ed...anted=all&_r=0

Heh.. True. But are you seriously trying to imply Tech ranks anywhere close to Baylor academically?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

Heh.. True. But are you seriously trying to imply Tech ranks anywhere close to Baylor academically?

No, I was suggesting (without actually looking it up) that they probably about equally difficult to get into.

[explorer2014]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

Heh.. True. Bu t are you seriously trying to imply Tech ranks anywhere close to Baylor academically?

You are missing the point. Is Baylor better academically than Texas Tech? I don't know for sure but since you're a self-reported Baylor grad, let's assume so. Incidentally, based on my observations of graduates of each I see no difference.

Now the question becomes: is it sufficiently better so as to justify paying more than twice as much to get a degree from there? My observation is that most major Texas employers don't seem to differentiate much between students from the major schools like Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, UTD, and UH. They do differentiate between say Baylor and SFA or SHSU.

What your earlier link to the "best value" schools ironically suggested is that as Baylor tuition continues to increase rapidly but academic standards don't, it's increasingly a bad economic investment.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by explorer2014

You are missing the point. Is Baylor better academically than Texas Tech? I don't know for sure but since you're a self-reported Baylor grad, let's assume so. Incidentally, based on my observations of graduates of each I see no difference.

Now the question becomes: is it sufficiently better so as to justify paying more than twice as much to get a degree from there? My observation is that most major Texas employers don't seem to differentiate much between students from the major schools like Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, UTD, and UH. They do differentiate between say Baylor and SFA or SHSU.

What your earlier link to the "best value" schools ironically suggested is that as Baylor tuition continues to increase rapidly but academic standards don't, it's increasingly a bad economic investment.

Are you missing the point to the benefits of private colleges?

Lulz.

Academic standards at Baylor actually ARE increasing. Idk where you get your "facts" from. Something tells me your hate for everything Waco related is clouding your judgement.

Baylor University || Media Communications || News

Baylor and A&M are practically the same academically.

Texas Tech is ranked over twice as low as Baylor..

[explorer2014]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

Are you missing the point to the benefits of private colleges?

Lulz.

Academic standards at Baylor actually ARE increasing. Idk where you get your "facts" from. Something tells me your hate for everything Waco related is clouding your judgement.

Baylor University || Media Communications || News

Baylor and A&M are practically the same academically.

Texas Tech is ranked over twice as low as Baylor..

Help me understand this amazing increase in academic standing.

So according to the Announcement (from Baylor), Baylor moved from 75th place to 71st place and this is apparently a great achievement. Now, when I go to the US News table, it shows that Baylor was tied at 71st - with 5 schools. In other words, Baylor and four other schools lie in the space between 71 and 75.

I also want you to explain what it means that Baylor was ranked 40th for Best Value in 2009, 48th in 2012, 54th in 2014 and apparently not in the top 100 now. What it seems to be telling me is that the increase in cost must be outpacing any increase in academic status.

Then I want you to explain to me why a graduate of UH/TTU/TAMU would get the same job and starting salary as a graduate from Baylor (in the majority of Texas industries).

[Fadskier]

Explorer2014 failed to get admitted to Baylor. He then attended A&M junior college (Blinn) where he bought into the aggie hate of Baylor. Ahhh, the jealousy...

[TexasTallest]

it all makes so much sense now... thanks!