<p>I'm not sure from the OP what's creating the lack of warm fuzzy feelings, but it could be a simple changing of the guard. This is the time of year where the admissions people step aside and hand the ball off to the offices that handle orientation, advising, housing, financial services, etc. for the incoming class. It could be that this is just the transition period, and the non-admissions offices are just gearing up.</p>
<p>When my daughter applied (class of 2004), they did schedule overnights (earlier in senior year) which sealed the school as her first choice. At that time, they also offered an on-campus interview the summer before (she was up there doing research), as well as alumni interviews during senior year.</p>
<p>Like some previous posters indicated, my daughter's four years as Brown were pure joy. It as an exceptional place, offers a myriad of opportunities, with a wonderful balance of support and promotion of independence.</p>
<p>jerzgrlmom,
I found it on Brown's website. And yes, they have parking available. You need to make reservations in advance, as the place is pretty small...
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Saunders_Inn/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Saunders_Inn/</a></p>
<p>As a parent, I would hope that a college my student attended was offered little "hand holding". He had spent 17 years in the nest, was old enough to go off to war and was entering independent adult life to a limited extent.</p>
<p>Given the fact that Brown and similar colleges admit mostly exceptional students, they may have the same attitude as I do. Yer in collige now kiddo-start fendin fer yersef a wee bit.</p>
<p>It's a delicate thing. I'm not so much in favor of a sink-or-swim approach. Universities are incredibly expensive, complex institutions, and it's not a great idea to tell a bunch of 18-year-olds "Go figure it out!" They will, but may miss some relatively precious opportunities along the way. I don't think they should be coddled, but I think becoming a good consumer of advising services is part of the development process. And it helps if good advising is available and user-friendly.</p>
<p>A generation ago, one of my sisters suffered (not horribly, but noticeably) from hands-off advising in college. I have not been that impressed with the advising my daughter has gotten, although her school has a structure that forces her to meet with an advisor regularly. She's a planner and a schemer, so she doesn't tend to need it that much, but one of the things I bug her about is actually to use the advising resources. It probably matters less for kids with a definite direction and a known set of requirements to tick off. </p>
<p>Anyway, I don't know anyone who has been through Brown recently, but when we looked at it a few years ago they probably spent more time talking about advising than any other school we visited. In a world where 90% of the content is identical from college to college, that stood out.</p>
<p>I stayed in the dorm hotel when one of my kids did an overnight there. It was convenient and there is a parking lot for guests about a block or two away. My only complaint was that it was one of the hottest hotel rooms I ever stayed in ever ... bring cool clothing!</p>
<p>"Universities are incredibly expensive, complex institutions, and it's not a great idea to tell a bunch of 18-year-olds "Go figure it out!" They will, but may miss some relatively precious opportunities along the way. I don't think they should be coddled, but I think becoming a good consumer of advising services is part of the development process. And it helps if good advising is available and user-friendly."</p>
<p>Too funny! If a state university didn't provide needed advising and etc., we'd say they are cold and impersonal. If an Ivy didn't provide it, we'd say they are "encouraging independence". ;)</p>
<p>(I think Brown is a great place!)</p>
<p>I'm a junior at Brown. Feel free to PM me. </p>
<p>In a nutshell:I went to the admitted students weekend and was quite overwhelmed by the whole thing but I am so glad I chose to come to Brown! There are not very many schools who encourage you to be such an activist in your own education. There IS an adjustment period to the whole Brown schema but, if you get in you can handle it.</p>
<p>I've been to professor's homes, worked on independent studies in American Civilization, Engineering, International Relations and Political Science. It's hard to get more warm and fuzzy than a professor's home and actually for freshmen a number of faculty fellows exist who live adjacent to the campus and hold weekly events with food and such. </p>
<p>One important skill people need to learn somewhere along the line is when and how to ask for help.</p>
<p>Let's put it this way: I'm considering graduate school even though the field changes often, I know I definitely want a mirror image and experience of my time at Brown. If any parents have any ideas about that I'd be all ears</p>
<p>In short, Come! It really is the furthest thing from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf provided that you are willing to go after that what you want or that at least you will be an active participant in finding out what you care about</p>
<p>I spent some significant time at Princeton and Georgetown and by comparison in my mind at least Brown is certainly warmer and fuzzier.</p>
<p>Congrats for the all-around great choices!</p>
<p>A couple of general comments, not Brown specific:</p>
<p>a) You aren't going to get the ultimate in warm and fuzzy from a school with nearly 6000 undergrads.</p>
<p>b) The only schools inundating prospects with warm and fuzzy right now are those trying to increase their yields. The Ivy League schools, not so much.</p>
<p>c) The real interaction with the college starts after the May 1st depositing. Housing questionnaires, advising information, etc.</p>
<p>We're from NJ & my daughter is currently finishing her freshman year. </p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>]She's concentrating in Applied Math & now plans to add Economics as a double major. The advising seems very strong from multiple official sources and she's (as far as I can discern) getting terrific input.
[</em>]A close friend from H.S. who graduated Brown in 1982 influenced her decision to attend. He got great advising there back then and had discussed it with her before she even applied.
[<em>]Whenever she's needed help in her courses, it's been readily available.
[</em>]Don't miss ADOCH. And when you're there, consider letting your son/daughter stay overnight in the dorms and stay out of his/her way. Otherwise, the experience is not the same. According to my daughter, this makes a difference.
[<em>]I stayed downtown (a few minutes walk from campus) at the Westin -- which for my money is the nicest hotel over there -- while she did ADOCH. We've also stayed at the Inn on campus before but it has no A/C and is part of a dorm on Thayer St. So... expect noise until 2 or 3 am if you book it.
[</em>]She's having the time of her life & has already signed up to host an ADOCH student in her dorm room.
[li]If you want more information from a parental viewpoint... feel free to ask.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>MPNSOFT- Did your daughter have to decide between any of the other Ivies? My S is deciding between Yale, Brown and Dartmouth. Any comments or suggestions, he has loved all three on visits includung overnites, probably leaning towards Yale because of the prestige factor.</p>
<p>If you truly cannot decide, either flip a coin or go for the highest per student endowment.</p>
<p>I'd go with the best food.</p>
<p>The kind of student that really thrives at Brown is the INDEPENDENT, intellectually driven, quirky, out of the box thinker type (or the extremely wealthy eurotrash type or future Broadway behind the scenes types LOL). But seriously though, I don't know how important this "warm and fuzzy" thing is anyway. I think the fact that such a high percentage of Brown students love the school though says something about the place.</p>
<p>Food's good. Or, which one has big screen TVs in more dorms.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Brown have better food than Yale (FYI).</p>
<p>There ya have it. (But I bet they don't have as many blue phones....)</p>
<p>BRUSTER -- Congratulations to your son. Yes, she did get into other Ivies. Ultimately, Brown came closest to fitting all her criteria (urban campus, excellent Applied Math program).</p>
<p>From our perspective, Yale's math program is simply not as robust (we knew someone who had just graduated from Yale & switched majors from Math to Economics during his senior year) despite Yale's claim to fame with Dr. Mandelbrot. However, one of Michelle's close friends is currently a freshman at Yale (playing softball for their team) and absolutely loves it. </p>
<p>Michelle didn't apply to Dartmouth because the school simply didn't fit some of her other criteria. But a very good friend of ours has a daughter who is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth & plays for their Volleyball team (she's short for Div I at 6'!). Though she'd probably like more court time, she loves the school. We saw her just a few months ago when Brown played Dartmouth & we all went to the game. </p>
<p>The point is that your son will probably be thrilled with whatever choice he makes. However, each of the schools you mention presents a different environment & has different strengths. Perhaps now that he knows all three "feel right", he can begin to look more closely at course catalogs for prospective majors & areas of interest to help him make a tough decision. He might also want to consider off-campus activities as well. Providence & New Haven are quite different from Hanover. As far as Providence vs. New Haven, Providence has seen quite a resurgence over the past 15 years. There's a huge mall, concert arenas, etc. within walking distance of campus & Thayer St. (adjacent to the campus) has all manner of eateries, etc. Though New Haven is also vastly improved over the same time period, I prefer Providence. I'm sure there are opinions on the other side of that coin as well. </p>
<p>If possible, I would take advantage of the visits arranged for admitted students and see if a preference emerges.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Why on earth would you go with your kid to ADOTH? Just send them to fend for themselves alone. Their life.</p>
<p>Lynxie.....I went to ADOCH but spent NO time with my kid. But the only way to truly get there was by car. The way ADOCH is organized is there are PLENTY of events for parents. I went to that stuff and she went to her stuff. I stayed in a hotel, she did the overnight hosting thing. She had various appointments lined up and classroom observations, etc. She did the social stuff with other kids. I saw some performances and she may have been at one of those too but we didn't go together. I met up with her near the very end of the two day event when it was time to go (which is when she proclaimed, "I'm going here!" and we did a fast run on the bookstore for a few logo things, finally). </p>
<p>Many parents were there but again, the students and parents had separate things to attend. Some students don't have a way to get there that easily. You can't fly or take a train from where we are located. I was happy to get to see the school again too and learned things from what I attended. The decision was totally in her hands. Also, we went from ADOCH straight to another overnight student open house at another school she was admitted to and so I drove and dropped her at that one. </p>
<p>Yes, it IS her life .Yes, she fended for herself during the entire ADOCH event. And she surely fends for herself now at Brown. Parents still may make the trip and parents may attend parent events. It is not so odd. My kid never minded. We didn't do the events together at all. But I did get to see various things too for my own sake even though I truly didn't care which school she chose to enroll at. Frankly the drives back home from these events were a special one on one time to hear her thoughts and to talk about it. I also had some sense of the place having gotten to see it and attend various things too.</p>