Brown/RISD Dual Degree Program?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>hello! im becoming high school senior this year, and i am interested in visual art and science/math. brown/risd dual degree program sounds like a perfect program for students like me (art + science/math student),so i want to ask some questions to you guys :)</p>

<p>1) how many students do apply to this program each year approximately? is it competitive?</p>

<p>2) what is the difference between a “degree” and a “major”? (may be this is more like a general question about college terms…)</p>

<p>3) if any of you is currently in this program, will you recommend this program to me? how is life?</p>

<p>4) i am not a us citizen, but is it possible for me to get financial aids for this program?</p>

<p>5) what majors are availble for this program at brown? i visited brown.edu and read that students may not choose some of the majors</p>

<p>6) can i get credits from my AP scores?</p>

<p>7) i forgot what it was called, but i read a pdf file that was on the website (i cant find it…!!! orz) says that if i get into this program, i HAVE to attend brown/risd NO MATTER WHAT. is it true, or did i read something wrong?</p>

<p>8) i need advices…should i just do double majors instead??</p>

<p>wow, that was a long list of questions…thank you guys for spending your precious time to answer my questions. thank you!</p>

2

<p>1) Last time I checked, around 500 students apply, but I’m sure the numbers will go up.</p>

<p>2) If you go to an interview and have a BFA ( Bachelor in Fine Arts), you would put on your resume “BFA in Painting” or whatever your major was. At Brown the AB (Bachelor in Arts) is the degree you would get, but there are many majors under that degree.</p>

<p>3) I’m not in the program, but I’ve heard that it is difficult for the students to assimilate to either campus, because they don’t stay in one place for all 5 years. </p>

<p>4) Yes, it will probably be difficult for you to get financial aid. The US government has been subsidizing student loans, so they are less expensive, but you could get a loan from somewhere else. I’m guessing since neither Brown nor RISD are public colleges, however, you could get institutional aid.</p>

<p>5) At Brown, you would be getting an AB (Bachelor in Arts), so you could pursue any majors under that degree.</p>

<p>6)You will have to look at the scores that Brown and RISD accept. I’m guessing you will have to have a 5 for the score to be accepted for credit.</p>

<p>7) You have to attend Brown if you apply Early Decision and are accepted. Students apply ED for a better chance of acceptance to the school, and it is a legally binding process. So, if you are accepted ED you must go to Brown whether or not you get into the Brown/RISD Dual Degree program. Applying regular decision is not legally binding, but you will have less of a chance of getting in.</p>

<p>8) It will be very difficult to get into the program, but if you want to do it, go for it! However, since you are an international student it will be even more difficult to assimilate while in the program. The national students have problems with this, so you would probably have more. If you only go to Brown, you can take classes at RISD. Brown has a reputation for being a very eccentric school, and there aren’t really general ed requirements. It would be very easy to do a double major there. </p>

<p>Can you post the artwork that you plan on submitting to RISD?</p>

3

<p>Are you an international student? I thought you were because you said you weren’t a US citizen, sorry. Just disregard what I said about being an international student.</p>

4

<p>I think a big question you need to answer is if you think art will be a part of your career or if you just like it as a hobby. RISD has a higher prestige factor in the art world than Brown does in the general world, and you will be working very hard as a student there. If art is more of a hobby, the visual arts department’s courses as well as the ability to take a few RISD classes as a brown student would more than suffice.</p>

<p>I do believe that some of the ScBs are off limits because the number of courses needed is too high. Pretty much any AB program should be an option.</p>

5

<p>1) how many students do apply to this program each year approximately? is it competitive?</p>

<p>It is extremely competitive – it is very difficult to get accepted. First you have to be accepted by both RISD and Brown, and then into the program. Brown’s acceptance rate last year was under 10%.</p>

<p>2) what is the difference between a “degree” and a “major”? (may be this is more like a general question about college terms…)</p>

<p>A major is a subject area – like English, history, physics, psychology. To major in a subject, you take a required number of classes as proscribed by the department (like 10 English classes in four years). A degree is what you get from a college/university after four years of study, after you’ve satisfied the college’s requirements. For example, you can earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.</p>

<p>3) if any of you is currently in this program, will you recommend this program to me? how is life?</p>

<p>The program is great, but it’s only been around a few years so they are still working out some kinks. The first class has not graduated yet. You spend time on both campuses, so there is a chance that you could feel “at home” at neither. If you search this website, you will find other threads on the program that will give you more info.</p>

<p>4) i am not a us citizen, but is it possible for me to get financial aids for this program? </p>

<p>If Brown accepts you, it will provide 100% of your demonstrated need. Brown decides what your need is. There is a financial aid calculator on the Brown website; I recommend you look at it. I don’t know how RISD financial aid works. </p>

<p>5) what majors are availble for this program at brown? i visited brown.edu and read that students may not choose some of the majors</p>

<p>Don’t know about this. Can you provide the link to the website that says that?</p>

<p>6) can i get credits from my AP scores?</p>

<p>I believe your AP scores can satisfy some of the RISD requirements (like its English one). Brown works differently. No matter how many APs you have, you still have to take a certain number of credits to graduate. This info is on the Brown website.</p>

<p>7) i forgot what it was called, but i read a pdf file that was on the website (i cant find it…!!! orz) says that if i get into this program, i HAVE to attend brown/risd NO MATTER WHAT. is it true, or did i read something wrong?</p>

<p>As said above, only if you apply ED. </p>

<p>8) i need advices…should i just do double majors instead??</p>

<p>You can always apply and then decide what to do.</p>

6

<p>

The exception is if you apply for financial aid, and the school does not offer enough to support attendance. In that case you can say thanks but no thanks, and apply elsewhere. Here is the Common Application rule:

</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There is nothing legal about ED; it is an honor-system agreement.</p>

7

<p>google works wonders:</p>

<p>[Brown-RISD</a> Dual Degree Program FAQ](<a href=“Home | Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program | Brown University”>Home | Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program | Brown University)</p>

<p>And from the handbook (also found on google):
Not all combinations of Brown concentration and RISD major may
be possible to achieve within these parameters. Brown concentrations require
varying numbers of credits. Due to the time and logistical constraints inherent in
the program, students are strongly advised not to undertake more than one major
or concentration at each institution, and to consider selecting Brown concentrations
that require 12 or fewer course credits.
[Brown-RISD</a> Dual Degree Program](<a href=“Home | Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program | Brown University”>Home | Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program | Brown University)</p>

8

<p>I was a RISD undergrad. From the dual-degree people I talked to, I got the general gist that the main issue is how once you get used to student life at RISD, you switch to a whole new life at Brown. It is a very stuck-in-between feel. In the end, you may not feel very prepared in either studies. I would recommend just doing one - either Brown OR RISD. I felt that as a RISD student, it was relatively easy to take brown classes. I was able to take music theory, wind symphony, 2 philosophy courses, and a chinese language course. It depends on your RISD major requirements how many Brown courses you can take.</p>

9

<p>My daughter concentrated (majored) in Visual Arts at Brown and took several classes at RISD, as did many of her other Brown friends. It is not difficult to do, and they loved the VA department at Brown. Other friends of hers doubled in VA and sciences or English, etc. at Brown. You could concentrate in either arts or sciences at Brown and then expand courses to include RISD. Since the dual program is so competitive and you have the extra burden of Financial Aid as an international, perhaps it would be easier for you to be accepted at Brown (more financial aid opportunities than RISD is able to provide) and then branch out from there. It would still be very competitive, though, so you need to be prepared for that.</p>

10

<p>thank you everyone for your answers!!! sorry for not replying for a “while”… :'(</p>

<p>btw, im not an international student anymore cuz now im a permanent resident :D</p>

<p>AND i have some more questions to ask you guys…thank you :)</p>

<p>1) how many recommendations should i get??? i know i have to get two teachers recommendations, but im not sure about the counselors rec…do i need to get a recommendation from my counselor?? also for teachers recommendation, do i have to ask my academic teachers only??? i want to ask my art teacher because i had his class for three years in high schoo, and he knows me very well not just as an art student but also as a person.</p>

<p>2) if i get accepted to Brown but not to RISD (or vice versa), can i still attend the school i got accepted to??? i was just wondering what if i get accepted to only one of them but since i apply to Brown RISD Dual Degree Program, i might not attend both schools…?</p>

<p>3) let’s say i put my first intended major as visual art and second intended major as mathematics. do i still have to write essays for chemistry/biology/computer/math major for the supplements??</p>

<p>4)last one! is the required GPA for Brown RISD program lower than the regular required GPA??? i know for UCLA, required GPA for art department students is a little bit lower than the regular students, so i just want to know if Brown is similar to UCLA or not.</p>

<p>thank you!!! :D</p>

11

<p>Recommendations: You need two from teachers and one from your guidance counselor. This is what Brown says:</p>

<p>

</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If you are accepted to one and not the other, yes you can attend the one you got into.</p></li>
<li><p>No</p></li>
<li><p>There is no “required” GPA for admission. I believe that RiSD accepts students who have GPAs that are on average lower than Brown. But Brown will look at your application along with all the other students with high GPAs, and will not discount a lower GPA just because you are applying to the joint program. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you are interested in biology, visual arts or English, Brown expects you to have a high GPA in high school.</p></li>
</ol>