How would you characterize the students at Baylor? The interview day was so short and packed that I didn't really get a good feel for the students. What were your impressions - perhaps when compared to other regional schools like UTSW or Vandy?
Look here for your answers:
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/ . You can compare schools.
However, I'll give you my pre-med opinion (I stayed with a student, so maybe that helped me. Also, know several Baylor grads and spoke with students on several occasions). I am entering this fall. Going in I also plan to do the research track, with a year of research between MS2 & 3.
Here are mine: I know a lot are from Texas so I presume you have some from big state school. But at my interview, it seemed like a larger number were from Ivy-ish backgrounds (of interviewees at least).
In the past, Baylor has also drawn heavily from Rice. They might also have a lot of Texans who went somewhere else for their undergrad. Also, students can become Texas residents after 1 year by owning property, etc., so I'm not sure how that factors into the statistics. You can search MD applicants to get the background of some of the students, although this would not be a statistically reliable sample. Baylor tend to be good students, and they come from good schools, whether public or private. BCM might also provide more detailed demographics about what UG schools they draw from.
Since it is a H/HP/P/F system, I'd think people would be a little more laid back, less cutthroat than traditional graded system, but some students I met seemed really stressed/overwhelmed (maybe it was a test day, just the individuals, or it's a function of 1.5 yr condensed?).
There are some gunner classes (I'm not sure where the class of 2010 or 2009 fits) where many are going for the H. I heard that the class of 2007 was a gunner class. It varies somewhat from year to year. Maybe cooperative is the better word. Baylor med students I have met are typically smart, intense, hardworking, personable, and friendly (great people skills). If you are thinking laid-back in the sense of watching a lot of TV and spending hours playing football on the lawn, I would say no. If you are thinking laid-back in the sense of helpful and cooperative, I would say yes. From the outside (soon to be inside) looking in, Baylor seems to make more of an effort to weed out people with personality defects that could hurt their ability to serve as a physician.
Diversity-wise (based on again limited exposure), Baylor felt more diverse (ethnic-wise) than UTSW or Vandy, but less so geographic-wise than Vandy and more so geographically than UTSW.
I didn't interview at Vandy, but I agree with respect to UTSW.
Overall, it didn't seem that many students had an interest in research (outside of MSTP) or that the med school put much emphasis on it. Rather students seemed to be involved in community health or even international health (I was impressed how many students I spoke to spent time in S America).
Maybe so, but keep in mind that there are many OPPORTUNITIES for research. I don't think they emphasize research for the MD applicants on interview day, but don't let that fool you. They have a research track for a reason, and I felt very encouraged about doing research there when I asked some questions about it. No, it's not an exclusive training center for people who are going into research or academia (like maybe some people have rumored that WashU is), but the opportunities are certainly there for those that want that. Baylor students also seem to respect those who are research inclined. I did get the impression that UTSW had more of a research presence (large buildings filled with researchers and labs) that I didn't have a chance to see at BCM, and I'm not sure how the size of their research staff compares to say, UTSW (my guess would be UTSW would be larger in this respect). I still have a few questions of my own (minor), e.g., how much clinical vs basic research they do.
Hope this helps!
... no upset stomach 
... well, it's a small taste of medical school stress without the sleep deprivation anyway. 
