<p>Whenever people talk about the quality of academics at Brown, all I hear is “It’s great because you pick your classes” and “It’s great because you can do S/NC.”</p>
<p>Is this the only good thing about Brown academics? US News and Princeton Review rank it surprisingly low in terms of academics. Why is this?</p>
<p>Do you guys have good teachers? Are classes interesting? Do you get excited about any particular class?</p>
<p>I’m sold on quality of life, etc., but I have yet to be intrigued by academics. Perhaps someone could fill me in here.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Don't trust the U.S. News and World Report on this. There system has A LOT of problems. Brown is a great school...probably no worse than most of the schools that rank before it.</p>
<p>'surprisingly low in academics' wow...never heard that one before. </p>
<p>If you have yet to be intrigued by the academics either
a) you haven't looked
b) Brown isn't the right place for you</p>
<p>Go to <a href="http://boca.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://boca.brown.edu/</a> and check out the courses</p>
<p>Personally, I can't imagine being happier.</p>
<p>Believe me, I don't live by these rankings.</p>
<p>Thanks for reassuring me about the quality of academics, Fred.</p>
<p>BTW, what are you majoring in?</p>
<p>Those academics ratings are affected by things like the number of awards that faculty receive for their research. In my opinion, it doesn't do an undergrad much good if dozens of faculty have Nobel prizes, if those professors aren't actually teaching you, or if they're bad teachers. Brown's emphasis on undergraduate teaching as compared to many peer schools actually sometimes hurts it in "academic" rankings. Ironic?</p>
<p>I've had fantastic professors in my two semesters at Brown, and honestly, I've been excited about every single class I've taken. That's the thrilling thing about Brown -- since you pick all your classes (except for requirements within majors), nearly everyone in every class you take excited to take it, just like you! There are hardly any schools where this is so often the case, and it really shows in the classroom environment and the enthusiasm of the professors to be teaching students who are excited about the subject.</p>