<p>I’m deciding which school to ED to, and I’m really stuck! I would love any perspectives or opinions I can get!</p>
<p>I am interested in psychology and cognitive science, but am not going premed.</p>
<p>Here’s where I am at right now:</p>
<p>Wash U Pros:
seemingly happy, friendly students
food
dorms
greek presence
PNP program
merit scholarships
more accessible from home (hour plane ride)
beautiful campus
ballet minor</p>
<p>Wash U Cons:
too many premeds? Just what I have heard, don’t really know about this. Would love an insiders perspective
St. Louis
name recognition
too many Jewish people? Again, just what I have heard. Is this a dominating culture? I’m not Jewish. Do Jewish guys not date Jewish girls?
unattractive student body? Another rumor. When I visited, I didn’t observe this, but what do you think?
lack of sports spirit</p>
<p>Brown Pros:
open curriculum
happy students
not a dominating race or religion
more even distribution of interests (not premed heavy)
name recognition
attractive student body (from what I have heard). This isn’t super important, but just something that keeps coming up.
cognitive science major
period where you can test classes</p>
<p>Brown Cons:
food
dorms
further from home (4 hour plane ride)
very small greek presence
too many hippies? Another stereotype. What do you think?
too intellectual? Sometimes I don’t like to be smart and academic all the time haha, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>PLEASE give me any help you can! I think I would be happy at either school, but I just really need to make a decision and I will greatly appreciate any input. Thanks!</p>
<p>Seems to me that you shouldn’t apply anywhere ED. You don’t have a clear favorite, and based on these lists, you need to spend more time on campus to figure out if any of these stereotypes come even close to reality. Because my impression is that you are making decisions based on rumors and other people’s impressions and stereotypes – and on factors that, to me, don’t seem the most important things about the college decision process.</p>
<p>Here is my sense of Wash U vs. Brown – I know a lot about Brown (I’m an alum), have visited Wash U once and know several people who have gone there:</p>
<p>Close in size, similar location close to the downtown of a city, both attractive campuses in nice residential neighborhoods with a shopping district close by. In walking around WashU, I didn’t notice anything overtly different about the students – the hippy, preppy, geek, attractive ratio seemed no different than most college campuses. Since there are plentiful Jews at Brown, I just had to laugh at that presupposition about WashU vs. Brown. You are going to find many, many Jews and Asians at all the top selective universities. </p>
<p>The biggest difference, based on my conversations with WashU students, is that WashU students are really, really intense about schoolwork. Their courseload seems higher than Brown – they take more classes/semester. They seem to really like to have a lot of work and spend a lot of time doing it. I have no idea if this affects their social life vs. Brown. And I don’t mean to suggest that Brown students don’t care about their academics. </p>
<p>I just spent about 3 minutes on the Wash U website, and my head is spinning with the descriptions of its curriculum, compared to Brown’s requirements. But I did see that Wash U requires 120 units for graduation – if that’s 40 classes, then compared to Brown that is more classes. Which many students might prefer – I don’t want to suggest at all the Brown is better in this regard. </p>
<p>I guess I’m suggesting that instead of focusing on things like how many geeks and Jews there are on campus and how good the food is, you look a little closer at course requirements and curriculum. Because that to me is where the differences are.</p>
<p>How many Jewish people and hippies would be too much for you? That information would tend to keep responders from substituting their own values for yours, which may be different. 5%? 10%? 25%?</p>
<p>And did you really mean to ask about “hippies”? I have read that some people think there is a big hipster culture at Brown, but hippies would be a new one for me. Would be interested to know the source of that stereotype.</p>
<p>As for “Do Jewish guys not date Jewish girls?”, well I always have trouble answering negative questions, but based on non-scientific observation I think the correct answer is “yes”, sometimes.</p>
<p>Based on this comment, “I’m applying ED and my family doesn’t qualify for financial aid so I’m banking on merit scholarships,” you should NOT apply anywhere ED. </p>
<p>Have you filled out the financial aid calculator on the Brown website? Can your parents pay the contribution? If not, you need to cross Brown off your list. If you need financial assistance and your parents can’t pay their EFC, you should only be looking at schools with substantial merit aid. There’s no,point in getting accepted ED somewhere if you can’t afford the school.</p>
<p>Thanks, but I’m going to apply somewhere ED. My parents can afford Brown, it would just be nice to get merit aid at WashU. Nice, but not necessary </p>
<p>The problem with applying early to Brown is you will be competing against applicants who are applying without reservation and who are somewhat aware of what’s happening at Brown socially and academically; and Brown seems able to decipher this from the applications, perhaps more so than other universities. </p>
<p>Why? The point of ED is to apply to a school you really want to go to, not just to use your “ED card.” By applying ED you may be costing your parents a lot of money to go to a school that may not be the best place for you.</p>
<p>@fireandrain - you are taking that quote out of context. The OP made it perfectly clear it will be either WUSTL or Brown. They are looking for advice relative to only 2 schools.</p>
<p>
That makes absolutely no sense. The two things are actually unrelated. Just because his family can afford any school doesn’t mean they should apply for merit aid. That is why it is called merit, not need based. As for applying ED, that is based on wanting to really go to a school. In this case, the OP is trying to decide if Brown or WUSTL is more appropriate for them. The fact that they can afford either school regardless of any kind of aid means they are perfectly suited to apply ED.</p>
<p>Thank you! Someone finally understands! Now I just wish someone would give me advise about the 2 schools rather than criticizing my ED decision or financial standing! </p>
<p>@indecisive73 - My first question would be why those two schools? There must be a reason you have narrowed it down to WUSTL and Brown, when there are many similar schools in academic level and size.</p>
<p>But assuming there is a good reason it is those two, I know them both well. I grew up literally in the shadow of WUSTL and know hundreds of graduates, and now I have lived in RI for many years and know Brown pretty well. They are both excellent schools but they do have significant differences. Brown is much looser in the way it allows flexibility in majors, grading options, and other academic choices. WUSTL is more traditional. The Brown campus is closer to downtown Providence and is criss-crossed with regular streets, while WUSTL is more the classic self-contained campus with only a couple of streets to cross. For example, there is one major street you cross to get from the academic quads to the dorm area, and even then there is a tunnel to go under the street. St. Louis is a larger city with major league sports, for example, while Providence is charming but smaller with no major league teams, which I use as a proxy to demonstrate size. But of course Providence is not far from Boston, which is easily accessible by train, as is NYC (which takes a fair amount longer to get to than Boston).</p>
<p>I think all your questions about hipsters, Jewish students, etc. are just vague generalities that have little relation to how it would affect your college experience at either school. The student bodies are far more similar than different. In fact, a bigger difference might be that the WUSTL students have more of a Midwest character while Brown is still more East Coast. But even then, I would say that is of little consequence these days.</p>
<p>Bottom line, the vibe is different at each school, but almost everyone finds their niche at either place. Money is important, even if your parents can afford either school. If you think a merit scholarship at WUSTL would make it much more attractive (and I totally get that it would), and it is possible that applying ED might be a small advantage in getting one of their competitive merit scholarships, then I think WUSTL would have the edge for you.</p>
<p>I have narrowed it down to these schools because I like their academics. I love Brown’s open curriculum, however I feel this might be a bit too unstructured for me, so I like that Wash U has more structure yet still is very flexible. Also, a huge pull for both schools is the students. At both schools, students seem friendly, happy, collaborative, and hard-working. I feel like the academic flexibility and student bodies are what set these schools apart from the other schools in their same academic level and size. At this point, I’m leaning towards Wash U because I think a bit more structure would be good for me, I actually like the feeling of the mid-west, and the quality of life at Wash U seems pretty hard to beat. The only thing I’m concerned about is that I’v heard and read that Wash U is a very stressful environment. I’m not going premed, so hopefully it wouldn’t be as rigorous for me, but I’v heard Brown is more laid back and relaxed academically. I don’t want to spend all of college working, and while I understand this is largely someone that only I have control over, I don’t want Wash U to kill me. Can you confirm/deny my findings about the schools and speak a bit as to academic rigor and stress? Thanks so much! You are the only helpful post so far!! </p>
<p>Well, they could mean that Brown is in the Ivy League (people forget all the time that the Ivy League is actually an athletic conference and officially nothing more) and WUSTL (not WUISL, no one uses that. Just look at their URL) is in a conference called the University Athletic Association along with Brandeis, Carnegie-Mellon, Emory, etc.</p>
<p>If they meant it in the informal sense of Ivy League, and that Brown is therefore academically superior to WUSTL, then they simply don’t know enough about WUSTL. Both are absolutely world class in virtually any academic measure one wishes to use.</p>
<p>With respect to your post #11, WUSTL is absolutely not cut throat. I am not sure where that is coming from, but it simply is not the case. Is it challenging? Sure, but no more so than almost any school of its caliber. I think Brown’s reputation for being “laid back”, while true in terms of the vibe one gets, is over stated when it comes to the effort one has to put in to succeed there. At both schools the students are extremely bright and therefore one is challenged to study hard to keep up and do well. All these schools are “work hard, play hard”. It is a cliche, but it is also quite true. Premed is competitive everywhere. Chemistry is chemistry, and all schools have their weed out courses. Since you are not premed, this shouldn’t affect you very much.</p>
<p>I am sure you have read the WUSTL forum on here and seen many current students post about the cooperative but challenging atmosphere for premed and engineering. Almost to a person they love being there, as do Brown students. Like I said, academically they really are more similar than different when you get right down to it. If you think the feel of the Midwest suits you better, then there is your most likely correct answer. No one has a crystal ball, so you can only go with the information you have and your instincts. You are gathering information, which is great. It seems to me that once you get past the generalizations and misconceptions about both schools, but especially WUSTL, you seem to have more “pros” for WUSTL. But go with your gut. I would bet you would do great at either place.</p>
<p>My Daughter’s AP Calc teacher, who is writing her recommendation, graduated from WUSTL recently and advised against it because of the overly competitive nature of the students. The teacher freely admits she didn’t know much about the school, just that it was a highly selective school in the mid-west. She was pretty unhappy with the academic culture. Maybe she’s wrong, it’s just one data point, but from a recent grad.</p>
<p>D is applying ED to Brown, and WUSTL was never really in the running for this reason even though I was pushing her to take a look.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are leaning towards WUSTL for some very good reasons. Your concerns about the lack of structure at Brown are relevant- Brown is looking for students that are self-directed and can make the most of the open curriculum.</p>
<p>@indecisive73 - What do you think you will be majoring in? I know a young woman who just started at WUSTL who intends to major in architecture. I could put you two in touch and you could see what one non-premed thinks of WUSTL so far, if you want.</p>
<p>If you have high enough test scores and grades, WUSTL may be the safer bet. Their admissions seem to be more stat driven and less idiosyncratic than Brown. I think WUSTL also has a higher rate of acceptance.</p>
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<p>This is very general and could apply to a lot of universities. I would be very careful about sending an overly generic application to Brown.</p>
<p>I would go with your gut instinct- if someone had a gun to your head and was making you choose, which school would pop out of your mouth first? And not to repeat what other people have said, but if you really can’t decide, then that’s a sign that you maybe shouldn’t be applying ED. Honestly, applying ED is something you wanna do if you go to the school and you just KNOW immediately that it’s the 110% right pick for you. If that’s not the case, then ED seems like the wrong option. I’m pretty indecisive, and I’m applying early because even I KNOW that I ABSOLUTELY want to go to a certain school. Anyways, there’s also the distinct choice that your choice will eventually be made for you- you’ll get into one school and not the other. So that’s another pro of RD. Anyways hopefully this is helpful :)</p>