I’ve seen multiple threads on this already but I wanted some opinions specific to my situation. I plan on studying computer science/ engineering but want to keep my options open for Economics or Mathematics as well.
With respect to computer science and engineering, I would appreciate your thoughts on-
The quality of research conducted (primary research topics) and access to this research
I’m not in those fields so can’t evaluate the content of the research but access is without a doubt highest at Brown (or at the very least, not less - maybe it’s equivalent, but I don’t think so). Minimal graduate students + very available research funding from Brown = very easy to get research position
I’m a few years out, but I doubt the following will have changed much. Columbia, being in NYC, has a large proportion of its social life off campus. NYC is NYC and has literally everything you could ever imagine and in abundance. Columbia at least has a real campus with quads and such unlike say NYU, Fordham or Hunter.
Ithaca is essentially a rural area - you don’t go to Cornell “for Ithaca” unless you’re specifically trying to avoid an urban area.
Providence is a small city which has a great food and art scene and all the things you’d expect to find in a city (museums, live theater, shopping, nightlife, etc) but without the extensive public transit infrastructure or 24hourness of NYC and a lot less diversity in terms of niche interests because it’s so much smaller. There is RIPTA and things are open until 1am or 2am, but there’s a “curfew” in the city that forbids alcohol sale past 1am and for places to remain open past 2am. The earliest things can reopen is 5am. The one major thing with Brown that is different now is the change in the alcohol policy which has drastically reduced the number of large scale parties on campus and moved a lot more of the parties in general off campus in comparison to what things looked like when I was there (05-09) http://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/11/13/with-time-to-adjust-student-groups-navigate-class-f-policies/
The other big campus difference between Columbia and Brown is the curricular differences. During your first couple years at Columbia, nearly every classmate you bump into will be taking almost an identical course load to you. At Brown, that’s definitely not the case. Discussing which classes to take and how shopping period is going are rituals unto themselves that pretty much everyone will engage in at the beginning and end of each semester. As mgcsinc '08 once said, instead of sports teams, the thing that everyone rallies around at Brown is the course catalogue and discussing which courses you want to take. Not much of a discussion to be had when so many of your courses are picked for you.
Thanks so much! Could you also tell me more about the people/ social life at Brown? How rigorous are the academics and consequently how is the stress level? What do people usually do on weekends? How would you describe a stereotypical Brown student? (I understand that Brown is very diverse and I will meet people of all sorts, but just want to get an idea of the “vibe” on campus)
Haha. I’m a young alum, but even I’m feeling old here, now that I’m two years out of undergrad.
Stress levels: not that high. Brown doesn’t have a strong pre-professional feel, and even premeds are generally much more relaxed than I’ve seen at other schools. Academics are rigorous, but people work hard for their own sake. There’s always something going on on campus for weekends - a cappella concerts, plays, parties, etc.
What 5 extra years out of college means:
-No Uber - vast majority of people walked the 30 minutes to FishCo (which is now Whiskey Republic)
-Majority of current Thayer street establishments were something else (thankfully, and I guess not surprisingly, the best ones are still there)
-Facebook was limited to ivy league students only when I started and newsfeed didn’t exist until my sophomore year
-iPhones didn’t exist until my junior year
-I had a landline in my room freshman year (although in fairness, it was rare even then)
-I registered for, and added/dropped classes freshman and sophomore year by handing in paper slips filled out by hand to the registrar
Reputationally, Cornell and Columbia might have higher ranked CS/engineering programs because they are more traditionally structured, but Brown is their equal in many ways, and has a very good reputation in Silicon Valley and with the start-up community. My D, who really disliked Columbia on her visit, is at Brown and loves the open, non-competitive atmosphere of Brown CS. Brown is known as a more artistic and creative place, so its CS department is more well-known for graphics, animation and entrepreneurship. I don’t know if this actually has any validity, or whether it just correlates with pre-conceived notions of what Brown students are like, so take it with a grain of salt. (One of Brown’s most famous CS professors purportedly trained and mentored many of the Pixar animators so that may be some of where this reputation comes from.) Job-wise, recruiting for Brown CS and engineering is very robust; most of the concentrators are able to nab good jobs with the likes of Microsoft, Facebook, Google et al. and start-up culture is alive and well at Brown. I don’t know how it might compare to Columbia and Cornell, but it’s probably similar. Brown CS alums also populate the leading PhD programs and academia; several leading Carnegie Mellon and MIT CS professors have Brown undergraduate degrees. One thing that’s unique about Brown is their undergrad TA program, where all of the teaching assistants come from the undergrad population, so you get a very early experience in being able to teach and tutor fellow peers, whereas at other schools like Cornell and Columbia, these positions are taken by graduate students. (The extra money from TAing is also nice.) The UTA program is more than 40 years old, and produces a more friendly collaborative department.
My daughter is in Freshman year at Brown and LOVES it. They work their butts off, but it isn’t competitive. It’s stressful, esp. during Midterms/Finals, but not over-the-top. She has taken Comp Sci classes and STEM courses…they are very tough but do-able. There are “very wholesome nerds” at Brown who balance their academics with social fun. Providence is awesome. You can walk from Brown to downtown, the Nordstroms, the Amtrak Train station. Everything in Providence is “compacted” into a nice little city. She had a chance to do research at Brown this summer, but she also got an internship somewhere else, so that’s what she’s doing. She was amazed at how easy it was to get an invitation to do research at Brown.
She is in the Band and travels to Columbia and Cornell. Her perspective is that Cornell is big, more rigid with their structured curriculum, and is in the middle of nowhere. Columbia is OK. But, NYC doesn’t have the feeling of ‘charm’ that Providence offers. That’s all I know.
