BROWN admittee - not getting warm fuzzy feeling - anyone have experience here?

Parents Forum
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<p>Lynxie -- The reason I brought it up (ADOCH w/o parents) is simple. When I was there last year (strictly as a chauffeur), a large number of kids attended with their parents as families... and were isolated from much of the stuff that happened at meals, at night, etc.</p>

<p>I dropped my daughter off at the campus, ensured she arrived at the sign-in area, and then picked her up the next day to drive back to NJ. These days... she takes Amtrak to & from school.</p>

<p>When I went away to college, colleges didn't offer orientation for parents. That's changed radically. In fact, at the time she was admitted (March 2006), there was an article/editorial in the WSJ about parents who became personally involved in the first post college job interview process by negotiating salaries, benefits etc., directly with companies on behalf of their children. We've always encouraged our daughters to be independent & make informed decisions on their own.</p>

<p>The point however, was that you likely can't learn what you need to at ADOCH with parents hovering -- as well intentioned as those parents may be.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
In fact, at the time she was admitted (March 2006), there was an article/editorial in the WSJ about parents who became personally involved in the first post college job interview process by negotiating salaries, benefits etc., directly with companies on behalf of their children.

[/quote]
yikes ... when I was a hiring manager if this had happened with a candidate to which I had made an offer I would have had SERIOUS reservations about the candidate.</p>

43

<p>Brown isn't warm and fuzzy at all. Quite the opposite. Matter of factly, it is one of the largest Ivies in terms of undergraduate enrollment. It is more like Cornell or Upenn than Princeton or Yale. Because of the school's tiny endowment, there are comparatively limited resources for advising, fellowships, travel grants, or grants for student activities like orchestras and traveling bands. It just doesn't have the resources of a HYP caliber school. And the student body isn't really broken down into smaller groups like it is with Yale's college system (where students are randomly assigned into small, extremely tight-knit and excellent colleges that despite their tiny size, each have their own resources which can put entire universities to shame), so the result is that Brown ends up being clique-y. Students hang out with others like them. </p>

<p>Additionally, class sizes are much larger at Brown than they are at a place like Princeton, Yale, or Dartmouth, so it's harder to have real discussions with other students or professors, and it's harder to form true friendships with classmates in the way you can in a very small seminar setting. </p>

<p>Finally, Brown is in a larger metropolitan region, so professors have to travel farther to get home, and as a result just don't spend as much time on campus, interacting with students, or inviting students to their houses for group dinners as they do at a place like Princeton or Yale (at Yale, some of the faculty even lives in the residential dormitories, as "masters" and "deans" of the colleges).</p>

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<p>calmom, In response to your comments on post #2, my experience with Brown has been the complete opposite.</p>

<p>Of all the colleges that I applied to, Brown was actually the class act. The personal attention could not have been more personal. My letter of acceptance was personalized to the point of having the second paragraph,
mention in detail some aspects of my application and ECs that had caught their attention ( there have been several students whom I have talked with similar personalized letters ). </p>

<p>I was also offered an interview during the application process in my city.(unlike Northwestern, Chicago, Georgetown to name a few, who did not offer interviews at least in my case.)</p>

<p>Brown scheduled A Day on College Hill for admitted students and STEM for those interested in science, math, computer science. Also something called TWW for international and minorities and to be honest..it could not have gotten warmer, fuzzier and more exciting even with a temperature in the late thirties and light rain going on all the time.</p>

<p>Also, almost every course in Brown may be taken with a Grade. you have to state that at the beginning of the class. This allows the student to explore those subjects that may be a little intimidating and that sometimes competitive students hesitate to take because of the fear of a poor grade. This allows people to double major without major problems, which is a great advantage in my opinion.</p>

<p>As far as the selection of courses, students have an academic counselor to guide them with the concentration. I believe a counselor can not have more than 12 students to supervise. You can not get any more hand holding than that.</p>

<p>Finally, once a student is accepted, Brown goes all the way. I have been very impressed and my parents could not believe either the parents programs etc that were offered during ADOCH. Perhaps they do not show that until students are admitted, since certainly they do not need to entice people to apply to the school with the records numbers that they are already getting. (They do not even send likely letters unlike, Yale, Dartmouth and Harvard, for example )</p>

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<p>The overwhelming posts of parents and students on this topic speak for themselves.</p>

<p>and BRUSTER...you already know about posterX.</p>

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<p>Brown does indeed encourage independent thinking and decision making of its students. It is part of the university's identity. A lot of hand-holding is not part of that equation, as it is not at any of the Ivys. If your child was admitted to Brown he/she probably has what it takes to both survive and flourish in that kind of independent environment.</p>

<p>That said, Brown has tremendous concern for the well-being of its students and there are many support mechanisms for students who need and actively seek help. It is nearly impossible to flunk out of a school like Brown because deans/advisors/peer counselors will intervene and be available to help.</p>

<p>If your son or daughter really wants a more personal and directly supportive environment, you might choose to go to one of the many superior small liberal arts colleges (LACs) that really work hard to actively match students with the institutional culture. Think of it as living in a small friendly village (the LACs) as opposed to living in a vibrantly energetic and sometimes anonymous small city (Brown).</p>