I think the number one piece of advice I would give any grad student wanting to start at Baylor next year is to live close to campus. There are definitely pros and cons to living nearby, but judging from my own experience compared with how classmates talk about their commutes, I’m going to have to say the pros win.
I was able to find an apartment that’s two blocks from the business school. I know of a few classmates who live a little closer, but not by much. It’s nice being within a quick walking distance because I don’t have to leave my door any sooner than 10 minutes before class starts. That means no jockeying for a parking spot in the lot or garage near the business school. It also means that I can drop home for a quick nap or to take my dog out whenever I want.
As for the cons… Yes, it would be nice to get away sometimes and just completely take my mind out of school mode. And it can be, shall we say, challenging to be around undergrads all the time. But my apartment building is pretty quiet and I think it’s made up mostly of grad students, anyway. And it’s kind of nice to walk out my door when there are special events on campus and seeing all the activity. The Sing performances (ask your favorite Baylor grad what Sing is) took place right before Spring Break, which meant for the few weeks leading up to them, every night I could see dozens of people in all sorts of crazy costumes traveling to their rehearsals at Waco Hall, which is situated kitty-corner to my building.
If I oversleep, which I’ve been lucky enough to do only once, it’s easy for me to throw on some clothes and bolt out the door to class, meaning I’ll only be a little bit late instead of a little-bit-plus-20-minutes-of-commute-and-parking late.
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