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Bob Jones University

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityD Faculty AccessibilityB+
Useful SchoolworkD+ Excess CompetitionB+
Academic SuccessC- Creativity/ InnovationD+
Individual ValueB- University Resource UseC-
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyA FriendlinessB
Campus MaintenanceA Social LifeD+
Surrounding CityB Extra CurricularsD+
SafetyA-
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Arrogant, Snooty, Closeminded

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Arrogant

Male
Quite Bright
Lowest Rating
Educational Quality
D
Highest Rating
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty
A
He cares more about Educational Quality than the average student.
Date: Dec 27 2004
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
Positives: 1) Clean, attractive, and safe campus. 2) Many genuinely friendly teachers and students who love God. 3) Wide variety of majors for a fundamentalist college and low cost. 4)BJ is kind of like a fundamentalist Baptist religious/monastic order. It is certainly not for everyone, but some will thrive in this kind of isolated environment.

Negatives: 1) Lack of accreditation and low academic level for majority of classes. BEWARE if you plan to go to grad school. While BJ likes to focus on the handful of grads who have successfully entered top grad schools, the shared experience of myself and my friends has been one of multiple rejections based on our undergrad - not our scores or grades. While I did finally make into a top grad school, I was told by my advisor that I was nearly rejected due to "concerns about my undergrad" and that I was only admitted due to exceptionally high test scores and courses I took outside of BJ. While a few majors seem to have very successful programs (for example accounting, and nursing), be careful in majors that demand critical thinking - most classes will teach you more "what to think" than "how to think.

2) The "racism" legacy. If you plan on getting a professional job outside of the South, take into account that many people will assume that you are a "racist" due to your undergrad choice of schools. After a year of trying to find education positions and being unrelentingly questioned about my attitudes towards those from other races, I learned that my BJ undergrad was an obstacle most secular employers could not see beyond. Unfortunately there is enough truth (though often exaggerated) in the accusations that they continue to stick.

3) Weak theological program and potentially dangerous spiritual atmosphere. If you are firmly rooted in a biblical faith you should survive here - make sure you find a supportive community of friends! However, there is a very prevalent legalism, culture of guilt and condemnation, arrogance or lack of brokeness, and a lack of emphasis on growing in the fruits of the Spirit and a Spirit-empowered (v. rule-abiding) life. I am still struggling to unlearn some very bad spiritual thinking that I absorbed in my years at BJ. Unfortunately many of my acquaintances from BJ - even "PCs" and other "spiritual leaders" crashed and burned spiritually after emerging from the sheltered BJ bubble. You will find a lot of "religion" at BJ - but you'll have to work hard to retain the "life" of following Christ. Much of this comes from the leadership of BJ - you'll do better if you tune out most of what you hear from the President in chapel pulpit (which focuses on angrily denouncing all who do not follow a very specific cultural interpretation of Christianity), and listen more to those professors who encourage you to dig into the scriptures and learn.

What redeemed my BJ experience was 1) a couple good profs who encouraged me, 2) staying rooted in the Word and not being afraid of being condemned by my fellow students for not following the party line, 3) wide reading outside of what I could find in the library, 4) great friends who encouraged me to think critically, and 5) God's most amazing grace! True, there is no perfect school, but I would not send my kids here - I know of far too many "shipwrecks" who attended there, and I think that there are other schools out there that do a much better job of training students in the true "fundamentals" of following Christ.

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Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
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