Brown is too easy

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>what the hell is Amherst doing in there? Also, that data has probably changed in the last 5 years - no way is Amherst beating out Penn and Dartmouth. I mean, Dartmouth is basically the same thing, but better. And Penn is just better.</p>

<p>I would also be curious to see if they reached the same findings as mychances - has the sustained lower ranking of Dartmouth and Brown negatively impacted their cross-acceptances at other universities, such as Columbia, Penn or Duke, like mychances seems to indicate?</p>

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<p>Doesn’t MyChances use samples of sometimes as few as 3 students? Also, doesn’t the data come from a single counselor who could easily direct students down certain paths of his/her own preference?</p>

<p>Whereas we have to be careful using the oft-sighted RP survey due to it only being a model based on data, I’m more inclined to trust a model with more data points as its basis than a very small sample from a counselor.</p>

<p>Ever heard of sample bias?</p>

<p>Additionally, I still think that the data presented from RP is favorable to Brown. Yes, it’s been correctly pointed out that choices are far less predictable below the top 5. However, as an aggregate, Brown still well out performs the number 8 slot, and I’d love to see some analysis on the likelihood that Brown scored that much higher totally by chance. Confidence in very basic statistics is calculated that way, and even if Brown may curiously lose in a few head-to-heads with lower ranked schools, the aggregate still may be accurate and elevated through far greater than predicted success against other schools.</p>

<p>If anything, this may suggest there are fewer cross-admits with Brown and some of the schools surrounding it, and that instead, more students who chose to go to Brown are self-selected. How could one explain that scenario? What if students who apply to Brown and other schools of similar selectivity choose to go to other schools if they get in, however, students who apply to Brown and then only a set of schools with less perceived selectivity go to Brown. The higher RP score for Brown could come from frequently being the “top choice” that students who apply to say, schools 15-25 on the RP list, and refrain from applying to other top schools because they don’t attract them (Brown being unique like CalTech, another anomaly by siserune’s analysis). This simply means that schools right below Brown beat Brown because many students are applying to Brown in a lump with other top schools, however, in instances where Brown is a top choice, students are rarely attracted to even apply to other schools of similar selectivity.</p>

<p>Does that make sense? It’s far harder to describe in writing than I anticipated.</p>

<p>For example, no school I applied to was nearly as selective as Brown despite the fact that I had stats that made me competitive anywhere. The reason I applied to no other schools is because unique elements of Brown made me feel Brown was “worth it” whereas other expensive schools would not be worth the added expense over schools where I would get considerable merit scholarship. Had I just been interested in going to a top school, I may have applied to many schools in the top 15 or so, got into a few, a selected one which was less unique from the others in that subset than Brown.</p>

<p>Regardless, this is all speculation helping to keep a nonsense thread bumped over nonsense splitting hairs.</p>

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<p>I had the same question, but from the confidence interval they reported it looks like the sample was 25-35 direct cross admit battles between Brown and Columbia. The total sample size is larger than the Revealed Preference study but a little thinner for the top schools and with data of lower quality. The site should definitely report the number of battles for each pair of schools, in addition to the confidence interval.</p>

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<p>It’s the same as College Confidential, self-reported data from thousands of users who submit stats profiles and admissions results, but with an Elo point cross-admit ranking similar to Revealed Preferences, and a display of the raw cross-admit rates (with confidence intervals). I think the site is run by a medical student with a computer/stats hobby, not an admissions counselor. </p>

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<p>That’s exactly what the “confidence probabilities” table in the article claims to quantify. They assign 79 percent confidence (in the sense of a confidence interval) to the Brown > Columbia ranking output. This is not a 79 percent cross-admit victory rate. It means that they performed thousands of simulations in which the rankings were re-computed and in 79 percent of those Brown ranked higher than Columbia. They claim that these simulations are, under some assumptions, samples from the distribution they are trying to access and if so, really do represent confidence in the usual statistical sense (the likeliness of the result appearing by chance, given their model).</p>

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<p>Brown is self-selected less than Caltech and MIT but more so than other Ivy League schools, so yes, this should bias its results upward (as an indicator of what all students want, not what students who chose to apply to Brown and other schools want) in the RP model. </p>

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<p>You described it perfectly as far as I can tell. The “being unique” (Brown, Wellesley, Notre Dame, Caltech, …) makes the ranking complicated if it is understood as a desirability rating, because on the one hand it’s a plus that is attractive to many, on the other hand it leads to the upward self-selection bias. </p>

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<p>This is part of what’s screwed up in the RP method. Such an applicant expresses a lower preference for HYPS and a higher preference for Brown but hurts the latter’s rating (and helps the former) compared to a more lukewarm preference where one does apply to those other schools, then turns them down for Brown.</p>

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<p>It is intellectually interesting to dissect the RP ratings but they should certainly not be viewed as in any way reliable or authoritative, even as measurements of their own 1999-2000 data.</p>

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<p>…and now this from the news room:</p>

<p>Apparently employees of Taqueria were being rude on many occasions so AS220 booted them. </p>

<p>Back to you…</p>

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<p>I was at Taqueria yesterday, shedding a tear for its imminent shut down.</p>

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<p>Hmm, I would agree that Brown is fairly easy in comparison to the other Ivies, but not because of their average GPA. Not only do they not have distribution requirements, they only require 28 credits! That’s less than 4 classes a semester! Yale requires a full year more than Brown does–36 credits. </p>

<p>Not to say the classes are easier, but graduating sure is.</p>

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<p>I believe one still needs at least 30 credits to graduate at Brown, so that means about 4 classes per semester and there’re 8 semesters. (Btw, one class = one credit at Brown. )</p>

<p>-Successfully complete at least 30 courses
-Successfully complete a concentration (major)
-Fulfill the Enrollment Requirement of 32 units of tuition</p>

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<p>Think Brown is easy huh ?? </p>

<p>Apply then we’ll see if you get in “an university” wth is wrong with you ?</p>

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<p>Really…? So why don’t a large portion of Brown students graduate in 3 years? Probably too busy spending trust fund monies, getting high, having woo-woo shared learning experiences, and gawking at on-campus celebs to warrant that extra year.</p>

<p>^ sophy is correct:</p>

<p>[Brown</a> Admission: Requirements & Grading](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>

<p>Expected more from an Eli.</p>

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<p>Stop hating on Brown and listen, OP…</p>

<p>The answer to the OP’s argument is very simple:</p>

<p>1- Brown uses the S/NC. This means that students need not worry about courses that will probably not affect their future at all and focus on the courses pertaining to their majors. Sounds fair to me. Brown encourages you to study what you actually like and try to JUST learn the rest without having to worry about the courses that have no say in your future.</p>

<p>2- You actually get to CHOOSE YOUR COURSES. SOUNDS FAIR… AGAIN! so you take difficult courses that look interesting just to learn new stuff… and not have to worry about ruining your future… SOUNDS FAIR!</p>

<p>3- Brown is ranked number 1 for “happiest students”. Simply put, HAPPY students study and do well.</p>

<p>So if you still think Brown is “too easy”, then don’t apply and just go to a university that would satisfy you. I, for one, do NOT agree with you, OP. Brown is just as good as it’s peers. The only difference is… STUDENTS ARE ACTUALLY HAPPY!</p>

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<p>The web page you cited has the answer: Brown makes it impossible to graduate early.
There is a draconian (and unique) financial requirement and several other high hurdles that have to be cleared in order to finish in less than four years. </p>

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<p>not to revamp an old, tired thread, but i think the bottom line is that you really have to be a brown student to “get it” </p>

<p>we’re just throwing rocks at a brick wall. a stupid, stupid brick wall.</p>