Despite the push for all institutions of higher learning to embrace a corequisite model for writing instruction, there is limited evidence that suggests this model is desirable for all students. This study seeks to expand our understanding of the characteristics of students enrolled in Basic Writing at a 4-year comprehensive university, and the reasons why students enroll in either a prerequisite or corequisite writing course. After surveying both prerequisite and corequisite Basic Writing students at our institution, our findings reveal that students who enroll in either model may not neatly fit within the description of basic writers found in the literature and in Complete College America data, and their reasons for enrolling are diverse. Their responses challenged our assumptions about who our basic writers are, and it became clear that in our program a shift to offering only a corequisite course model would not address the needs of our students who wanted more than a single semester to work on their writing skills. The accepted rationale for eliminating prerequisite Basic Writing courses is not supported by our data.