By Sarah Gallaher | Staff Writer
Baylor is in the top five universities for first-year experience — a jump from the previous top-10 ranking in 2022, according to a recent U.S. News and World Report article. With a dedicated New Student Programs department and a variety of long-standing traditions, Baylor aims to make the first-year experience unique.
According to BaylorProud, Baylor is among the larger schools within the top five, so its commitment to offering “a tight-knit community as well as the opportunity to be involved in big-time academics and athletics” speaks to the university’s greatest qualities.
Dr. Nathan Shelburne, director of New Student Programs, said Baylor’s commitment to the “small-school feel” is one of many things that makes the first-year experience special.
“We have the benefit of the resources and opportunities of a large institution, but it’s really important to us that we are being creative in trying to scale that down so that any new student doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the size of Baylor,” Shelburne said.
New Student Programs transitions first-year students into life at Baylor through a variety of programs, such as Line Camp and Welcome Week, even offering an additional Welcome Weekend for those coming to Baylor in the spring semester.
“Regardless of how they got here or when they came, our team is essentially the hand off from the enrollment process and admissions team into this first semester,” Shelburne said. “We’re really there to serve as a bridge and to help welcome them into the Baylor experience.”
Baylor offers many of its own first-year traditions while sharing some with other schools. One of the most popular traditions is the opportunity to run the Baylor Line, during which first-year students run across the football field in bright yellow jerseys at the start of every home game.
According to Frisco freshman Marisa Young, her favorite experience in the Baylor Line section was during Baylor’s rainy game against Iowa State University.
“I ran the Line every time that I had the opportunity to,” Young said. “I had so much fun being in the Line section, and I’m going to miss that.”
As for shared traditions, Baylor emphasizes the importance of on-campus living, requiring first-year students, with few exceptions, to live on campus. The Campus Living and Learning experience “creates diverse residential environments that support learning and faith development through relationally driven communities,” according to the Campus Living and Learning website.
“I was able to establish a friend group here pretty quickly because of that, since we’re all in the same space,” Young said. “I would not trade the dorm experience for anything this first year.”
Shelburne said that he, on behalf of the New Student Programs team, is honored that Baylor has been recognized. However, he said efforts to create a meaningful first-year experience come from departments all across campus.
Further, Shelburne said it is difficult to determine which university is “doing it best” because the first-year experience is unique to the mission of each university.
“I’m really proud of the efforts Baylor has made and the fact that the institution is incredibly supportive of new students and invests pretty significantly, so I don’t have a lot of trouble believing that Baylor is doing a lot of things well,” Shelburne said.
