Any interest in getting a Brown parents discussion thread going? My son is heading there as a freshman this fall and I have to admit I don’t know a ton about the university or the city of Providence, except that they both seem great.
Also, I keep logging in to see if I can set up the 10-month payment plan and it isn’t active yet.
Not a parent, but an alum. I’ve been in Providence 6 years now, so I’d be happy to answer questions you may have!
I had been thinking about starting a Brown parents discussion but never did. My daughter is a CS major and very happy there.
@baltimoreguy I looked in my old emails and in 2015 the bill for fall semester was available on June 25. That is when you could sign up for the Fall Term Installment Payment Plan.
Do you have hotel reservations for Parents Weekend, if you’re going?
Mom of an alum, brown class of 2015, here. I, too, encourage you to book a hotel now if you’re attending parents weekend. It’s particularly fun the first year.
Wouldn’t miss the first Parents Weekend! We have family south of Boston, so I think we might just stay there.
@baltimoreguy - Parent of an incoming freshman from Indianapolis, IN here. I am definitely interested in a thread for Brown parents, since I have never been to Brown or Rhode Island at all. My 21 year old son attends UT Austin, and they have an extremely active (and large) Facebook group that has been quite helpful for new students, especially the out of state ones. I will be welcoming any and all helpful tips and info that others have on life at Brown, and on Providence in general.
FYI, once you’re there, I would recommend using the MBTA commuter rail to get to PVD (http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/?route=PROVSTOU) because parking will be a disaster and you can easily walk to campus from the train station.
For family weekend, make sure you make restaurant reservations early as well! The popular places tend to fill up fast, and by October, your students will be pretty happy not eating at the Ratty for one night. My hint? Los Andes - amazing Peruvian food on the other side of town. I booked my whole family in there three weeks in advance when I graduated.
@baltimoreguy My bill just showed up. Make sure your kid has put you on the billing notification list.
Hi-I’m the mother of an incoming freshman from southern California. We did get our hotel reservations for parents weekend, but I hadn’t thought about getting restaurant reservations. Thanks bruno14! I, too, would welcome any helpful tips about Providence/Brown-and East Coast weather. What about shoes for winter? My daughter has snow boots but I can’t see her wearing those to class-they are very bulky.
I forgot to ask-is anyone’s child doing a pre-orientation program? My daughter got in to Excellence at Brown (the writing program). Does anyone know anyone who has done this program?
Welcome, @Emsmom1. My daughter did a different one of the preorientation programs and thought that going to any of them was a great opportunity to make friends and have extra time to settle in. I don’t know anything specifically about Excellence at Brown, but the description sounds great and it should be fun.
The weather in Providence can get pretty cold–I have seen lots of winter temperatures in the 10-20 degree range since my daughter has been there. She has a down parka for the coldest months. For footwear, she wears leather boots a lot in the winter, with rubber boots in rain or snow. Sometimes she just wears ballet flats as well. It’s pretty individual.
I’m a man, so this may not be totally applicable, but when there is a lot of snow/ice on the ground, I had to wear my timberlands. They were far heavier and less comfortable than the shoes I regularly wore, but the fact is - especially if come senior year she lives off campus - it can be downright dangerous to walk around Providence (campus less so) with shoes that have poor traction. I can recall many near falls and one time I had to go for a job interview on campus and thus was wearing my dress shoes and fell HARD on Thayer street, and thus showed up to the interview with half wet/dirty pants. For the general coldness of winter without the fear of snow/ice, socks and my normal shoes were fine as the walk to class isn’t really long enough to affect your feet much. During the warmer months I wore flip flops. I didn’t wear sneakers day to day with venting and such (except on my way to/from practice or IM games) so my shoes were generally water resistant enough to wear in the rain - but I definitely saw lots of girls in Wellies (not necessarily the actual brand, just the style).
@Emsmom1 Welcome! While it does snow and get cold in Providence, the bad weather usually doesn’t happen until after Thanksgiving – snow in November is rare. My suggestion is for your daughter to wait until she is on campus and can see what types of boots and winter coats are being worn by other students. She can always order whatever she wants online. September is pretty warm in Providence – nights do get chilly, but she’ll only need a fleece or a lightweight jacket.
It does rain a lot – and a lot of women do have rain boots for that.
Brown typically shovels its sidewalks down to the concrete, so that slippery stuff is usually only a problem while it’s snowing or just after a storm is finished. A lot of kids wear sneakers no matter what the weather is, and I’ve seen women walking around in ballet flat with no socks in the middle of February right after a snowfall (I think they are crazy).
As for restaurant reservations – I wouldn’t make those yet! Your daughter might want to bring along a friend whose parents aren’t coming – or even have a larger outing with the parents of several friends. One to two weeks before should be fine. (OK, Los Andes is one exception – it is difficult to get into there anytime!)
Hi all, mom of incoming first-year here. DD is beyond thrilled about the start of the year. She was waitlisted for EAB and I was wondering if anyone knew how many people end up in this pre-orientation program off the waitlist.
Welcome, @listenmissy! That’s a good question that I doubt any of us have a good answer for. Perhaps you could contact the Brown Orientation staff directly? Phone: 401-863-2676 Orientation@brown.edu
Ah! Thanks, @ciervo —Brown has so many places to find new student info. I’ll let DD know about it.