<p>another thing about the shopping period--you're not required to officially register until the end of it (although you may preregister).</p>
<p>also, since it's part of the brown culture, professors acknowledge and often embrace it, making it much easier to be a shopper. still, for people who truly shop, they end up doing incredible amounts of work for those weeks since they have to keep up with many different classes.</p>
<p>Well, I didn't mean to make it out as if getting a B is cake, just incredibly reasonable. I didn't feel like in any of my courses, and of my group of friends (who took quite the variety) I received similar feedback, that the B mark was unreasonable for what it was. A fairly large amount of students get Bs percentage wise in most classes, especially first year, and in general, I find that when a class is graded on a curve like that (precentage versus class rather than direct scores), I find it hard to say that Bs are unobtainable. Now some classes aren't graded like that and may be more difficult, but I haven't come across that where it was unfair (Sociology was a set score, but the range was appropriate to effort).</p>
<p>My point was basically that effort equates grades and it's not impossible to work as hard as most of the class in a subject. If you can't dedicate the average time for the class (and that can be determined by going to the CR and using some common sense and friends), you won't do well. If you can dedicate that time, talk to the professor if you're hvaing rpoblems, and use the many resources available, a B is a very obtainable thing.</p>
<p>Engineering I would presume is an exception due to the many requirements across a large range of topics.</p>
<p>I'm not demeaning a B, I am just stating that by in large, at Brown, B is the average score not C and it is accesible.</p>
<p>I am against grading in general and I am a chem/math concentrator as of now (to give prospective). I also missed the A in two classes by one point.</p>
<p>im interested in doing music performance related activities in college. What kind of music activities does Brown offer? Are they popular?</p>
<p>What is school spirit like at Brown? Does anyone go to the football games or care that they won the Ivy championship this year? Is sports attendance in general big? I'm asking because I come from a very spirit-oriented school and have heard a lot about little or no spirit at Brown (I got in early)</p>
<p>There's a lot of music stuff at Brown! The Music Department sponsors the Orchestra and the Chorus as well as a bunch of smaller music ensembles. I'm in chorus, and I can tell you, it's pretty amazing. There are also a LOT of a cappella groups which are very popular, as well as OMG, the Original Music Group, which is a student-run group. Of course, there's also musical theater, and Gilbert and Sullivan, if you like that sort of thing. Music stuff is pretty big at Brown.</p>
<p>I come from a University town where the school spirit focused on athletics, too. I'd say there's a lot of school spirit at Brown, but it doesn't really revolve around sports. Yeah, people go to games and winning the Ivy League championship was pretty cool, but I think most of the school pride and student bonding doesn't have much to do with sports. People here are, for the most part, very proud of Brown and very enthusiastic about the school. If you walk around campus, you'll see lots of people in Brown sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc, and people will tell you how much they love the school, but they might not be able to tell you the score of the most recent football game.</p>
<p>Ilovebrown, I'm in chorus too....who are you lol?</p>
<p>I think the major problem with Brown's football is not its quality...it's the fact that you have to walk like half an hour to get to the stadium, or wait for a crowded and unreliable shuttle. The Brown Band is a great musical group heavily involved with school spirit. Very fun people.</p>
<p>I think the amount of spirit you'll find also depends on who you end up being friends with. I know my friends and I went to every football game except to yale, georgetown and cornell. (...yes... we went to some away games... and we walked the half hour to the stadium every time...), but in general, sports spirit is kind of lacking. I think my friends and I were kind of in the minority, unfortunately.</p>
<p>I have read a lot of bad reviews about the campus food. I don't want to get a full meal plan and be stuck with crappy cafeteria food. Although there are some great restaurants and cafes in Providence, it's probably a bit inconvenient to have to leave Brown every night for a good dinner. What do you recommend doing about the meal plans and just dining in general?</p>
<p>What's the co-op like? I've heard it mentioned in passing reference only.</p>
<p>All freshmen are required to be on some kind of meal plan. The food is not that bad. It just get repetitive really quickly. If I had any advice on how to avoid this without incurring major expenses (eating out is not cheap), I would not be stuck with it myself. But really, the food is not that bad. To switch it up, I would try going to the Gate or the IV room every now and again. The Blue Room is good for a quick lunch too.</p>
<p>So which plan would be good to go with? I can certainly survive without eating three big meals. per day Usually two meals of regular size each day are good for me.</p>
<p>Even though it seems like more than you need, the 20 meal plan is the better deal (as in you get more for your money's worth). Plus, at the end of the day you can always use those unused meal credits at the Ivy Room or Jo's to get a wrap or smoothie or to just stock up on food and drinks.</p>
<p>I'll admit that sometimes it seems like the 20 meals is too much and I won't really need anything from Jo's but feel compelled to go just so i don't waste a credit... but eh.</p>
<p>How is your financial aid package at Brown? I was accepted Early Decision this Decemeber and the financial award I recieved was not exactly gracious. My parents don't know whether we can afford it since it would knock out around a third of their income once taxes and all that stuff are calculated. After four years I'd probably be looking at around 80k in debt (24k in loans from Brown plus another 15k per year from other institutions). Is that comparable to the amount of debt you're looking at once out of Brown?</p>
<p>My financial aid award stinks. Including loands and everything, it amounts to like only $6,000.</p>
<p>I would definitely say to get the 20-meal plan freshman year. I usually eat two meals per day in the dining hall, and then use my third meal credit to get breakfast for the next day from Joe's (cereal, milk, granola bars, etc) or just to grab a snack. If it turns out to be too much, you can always switch to a lower meal plan next year, but it's definitely better to have too much than two little, and the 20 meal plan doesn't cost much more than the 14 meal plan.</p>
<p>There are a couple of co-ops. One is owned by Brown, and there are a couple of student run ones. You contribute to the co-op by helping to cook meals and do chores, and in turn you get to eat good food and live in a fun community.</p>
<p>The Gate, Ivy Room and Blue Room are really great while Jo's is decent. I shy away from the Ratty and V-Dub. Generally though, the food is pretty good though repetitive. Freshman need to get a meal plan and getting anything other than a 20 really doesn't add up.</p>
<p>A. Dillon</p>
<p>Have your folks talked to the financial aid people? They like to land 100% of their ED'ers.</p>
<p>beprepn</p>
<p>How do Med Schools evaluate Brown applicants if GPAs aren't part of the package?</p>
<p>brown will include a letter explaining the whole brown philosophy and education and package it all in a nice brown folder with a personal letter written on your behalf from the pre-med dean and the rest of your application (the AMCAS application will have the "unofficial" calculated GPA).</p>
<p>for all other things, (jobs, grad school) you can always calculate and include an unofficial GPA</p>