Oklahoma Baptist University — Local services in Shawnee

This school is hardly what it pretends to be in its recruiting campaigns. The professors are usually great, and the student culture is very welcoming, but the administration of the school is far over reaching, and their public image is decietful at best. Nothing really sets this school apart from any other secular liberal arts college except their over-bearing restrictions and expectations.

They claim to be affordable and award academic scholarships generously but don't factor that into your budget for the long haul: tuition rises, awards don't. Apart from those scholarships, the school is especially expensive and needlessly so. They require an expensive meal plan for their unbelievably wasteful cafeteria and they charge high price for minimal housing accommodation.

You will find that once you enroll here you drop to the bottom priority of the administration. Everything here is about impressing visitors (well except for the attrocious landscaping across campus). On football game days, you will likely have difficulty finding parking spaces, despite the fact that you live here and ought to be able to park here. If on gameday you decide to park elsewhere on campus (if you manage to find a space) you will almost certainly receive a citation. Citations are enforced on the students who live here and pay to attend, but visitors are given a pass for just about every infraction they could dream of committing.

For their most recent new residence center they have added only a gravel parking lot (behind the building so visitors hopefully won't see it) and I assume they don't intend to pave it considering it's been 3 years now. Who knows if this trend will continue.

Internet has never been great here but it gets worse as the years go on. They have installed more restrictions over their network as the years go on. YouTube is hit or miss since half the intersting things you'll find might be blocked. (I'm not talking about just innapropriate content, but almost anything from an unverified channel that might be censored).

Like most Christian colleges they have a chapel requirement, and they are very strict about it. You won't graduate unless you watch all 96 of the half-baked evangelistic sermons they force feed you and don't you dare try to be distracted by your phone or with homework.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea here. You probably will struggle to find another university that's much better about most these issues. My point is, though, that OBU really is nothing exceptional as a school and especially not as a Christian school. It's very clear that they are far more concerned about the prevalence of Christian appearance than ministering to their students or their community. Just go to a state school and join a campus ministry if you really want a Christian experience in college. This place...

Could i give less than a star. STAY AWAY! Whatever you do, do not go here unless you are a student enrolled, you will NOT be WELCOME! Do not stroll through, do not attend any events, and definetely do not go to a small pond to pick up trash and feed the turtles. The OBU Security will come and be hostile and harass you. They will be combative and agressive for no reason and then you will get a ticket!! I was under the impression they were a christian college. There was nothing friendly or christian or even nice about the security attitude. Im both amazed and appauled that that is how they treat there surrounding community and i will warn everyone thinking of visiting, attending, or even just passing through to stay away. There's nothing christian about these people....

You won't find a university with a more caring staff, faculty, or student body. Within a week of being on campus, I found my place.

OBU offers plenty of student organizations and sports and encourages campus involvement (Biggie, Spring Affair, basketball, football, TWIRP, and more). Yes, classes are rigorous, but I felt more prepared for a career than friends who attended state schools.

After attending a state school myself, I can say I felt more like a person than an ID number at OBU. Your professors will know who are and even invite you for afternoon tea.

Whether you are enjoying the hammocks in the spring, filling the fountain with bubbles, or attending Canterbury, it's easy to find your...