<p>Which should I pick??? Some of my friends say it is obvious…i want to hear your advice…(for cognitive science)</p>
<p>Brown either just built or is building a cog sci center, I think. </p>
<p>I dunno, it depends on you, mostly. Both will give you a fantastic education, both have really intelligent students. Some say Brown is more undergrad focused than Harvard. No core requirements is always a plus. Can't go wrong either way. I wouldn't go to Harvard just for the name though.</p>
<p>Brown vs. Harvard is a really difficult choice, I think. The student bodies seem pretty similar in personality. Brown is more undergrad focused, but you'll have many resources at Harvard that you won't find elsewhere. Boston and Providence are both good college towns. Boston is much bigger and is home to more students, and Providence is more intimate.</p>
<p>Ruth Simmons >>>> Larry Summers. :D</p>
<p>i say brown, but thats only cause harvard is a bit more of a womanizing place... plus the name evokes a strong vision of cockiness... plus, brown is the name of a color, how can u go wrong?</p>
<p>Both schools are strong in cog sci--I'm not how the department works at harvard (in terms of what undergrads have access to), but one neat and unique thing about Brown is the multidisciplinary resources of the Brain Sciences Program (led by Nobel Laureate Leon Cooper--a Professor who teaches small undergrad freshman seminars and advised my thesis).
<a href="http://www.brainscience.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brainscience.brown.edu/</a>
<a href="http://www.cog.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.cog.brown.edu/</a>
<a href="http://neuroscience.brown.edu%5B/url%5D">http://neuroscience.brown.edu</a></p>
<p>Generally, the advantages of Harvard include strengths in virtually all arts and sciences departments (in case you change your mind about what you want to study), and a very powerful alumni network.</p>
<p>The advantages of Brown are primarily the increased freedom to design your academic course. This is the main reason why people chose Brown over Harvard (when it happens). I actually know someone who transfered from Brown to Harvard, and then transfered back to Brown when she realized Harvard limited her from studying all the things she wanted to.
She ended up being very succesful at Brown (Ryan Roark)
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/InsideBrown/2005/022005c.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Administration/InsideBrown/2005/022005c.html</a></p>
<p>The other factors in deciding are pretty much personal--your perception of the student body, student life, and academic culture/atmosphere. Best of luck</p>
<p>I dislike Harvard. I find the atmosphere very different from Brown. The students are much more competitive, cocky, and generally less attractive. The school focuses more on graduate studies than undergraduates. They force you to take distribution requirements.</p>
<p>As for Cognitive Science, both schools are very similar.</p>
<p>It really comes down to your feeling of the social life. I found Brown to be much more open, accepting, inclusive, and overall "cooler". Harvard felt very stuck up and competitive.</p>
<p>obviously brown was cool when you visited because i was there ;)</p>
<p>but actually, I agree. nothing specific ever attacted me to harvard. it was just like "OOOOH, it's HARVARD." ...but no real reason why it would be right for me.</p>
<p>i've met a decent amount of people who go there, and they're all very nice, but definitely different from the people at brown.</p>
<p>Honestly, it depends on what you want from your education. If the name value is crucial, Harvard definitely has a higher panache. However, you will probably get a better education from Brown plus closer faculty student relationships, if you can believe the the statement made by the president of Harvard. Also, Brown has no core requirements, which lets you avoid paying for courses you don't want and being able to take courses that you want. Thus, you can structure your education any way you see fit.</p>
<p>The quality of instruction is superlative at both, so basically the choice you are making is:
more freedom, attention, and classes taught by actual profs
vs.
shock value of the "h-bomb"
It's as simple and as complicated as that...</p>
<p>i think the 3 yr res college system at Harvard is nice, but the real kicker should be that "core curriculum" (i put it in quotes cuz its really not a cc like Columbia's) Make sure you have a course catalogue and look at what Harvard will be asking you to take. If you like the courses on that list, I'd say by all means Harvard. If you don't like them, then go with brown.</p>
<p>Harvard is known for having a lot of very unsatisfied students on both academic and social terms. (Large classes, little student-professor interaction, shoddy residential college system, exclusive finals clubs, parties that get busted by the administration.) I'd say to go with Brown.</p>
<p>Harvard is known for having <em>EXTREMELY</em> satisfied students. A higher percentage of enrollees stay on to graduate than at any college or university in the United States of America.</p>
<p>Furthermore, once they graduate, Harvard students are among the nation's most loyal alumni, contributing to their alma mater at a very high rate.</p>
<p>Every year, Harvard has the highest yield rate - as top students overwhelmingly prefer to enroll there, if admitted. </p>
<p>Year after year, more than 90% of common admits with Brown elect to matriculate at Harvard. There is little evidence that they regret it. Virtually no one ever transfers out of Harvard.</p>
<p>None of those "surveys" showing Harvard students "dissatisfied" with this or that indicates that they'd rather be elsewhere. These are people with high standards and high expectations - for themselves, and for their college.</p>
<p>It has ever been thus.</p>
<p>"It has ever been thus."</p>
<p>Go to Harvard and you will be blessed with the snobbery to talk like this.</p>
<p>i actually know someone here who transfered to harvard (from brown) and then transfered back because she found the curriculum and people stiffling. she ended up triple majoring, (something she wasn't given the freedom to do at harvard), and won a marshall.</p>
<p>i also have a friend who chose not to matriculate to harvard because upon visiting she thought too many people looked bored during classes. by contrast, brown students (who choose all of their classes and therefore there because they want to be), seemed considerably more enthusiastic and excited to be there.</p>
<p>i'm sure most cross admits choose harvard, but i've come across several during my time here who haven't. ultimately, the choice is personal.</p>
<p>I know a current Brown student who, during her freshman year, applied to Harvard as a transfer and was accepted. But she decided to stay at Brown, because she realized that the things she valued most about her college experience, such as Brown's open curriculum and laid-back atmosphere, were just too important to her to give up.</p>
<p>Byerly is known for always advocating Harvard, so take his opinions with a grain or salt.</p>
<p>Clearly, as a member of the "establishment" at Brown - on the Committee on University Resources - you, "dcircle", have an axe to grind and strike a predictable posture. </p>
<p>Fact is, many of the miniscule fraction of cross-admits who choose Brown are, most likely. legacies.</p>
<p>Oh, but I know: you "heard of a girl that transferred from Brown to Harvard, then transferred back because "people looked bored in class..." </p>
<p>LOL!</p>
<p>Was that the best you could do on behalf of the Provost's office? I suggest people take your party-line mouthings with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Come on, Byerly! Stop with the personal attacks on dcircle! I think * everyone * who has posted on this thread has been incredibly fair to both Harvard and Brown, despite the obvious Brown bias.</p>
<p>Besides, you're really not representing Harvard too well with your negative remarks.</p>
<p>As per the Harvard Crimson: In a 1999 survey given to graduating Harvard seniors, 34 percent of government concentrators said yes to the question of whether they were advised which courses to take. Only 31 percent of economics concentrators said yes to the question of whether their academic interests were discussed. Any Harvard grad should know that graduating should not be held up as a proxy for being 'happy'. </p>
<p>In 2002-3 48% of all Harvard undergrad enrollments were in courses with more than 50 students though these accounted for only 10% of undergrad courses. </p>
<p>Among core courses, 79% of enrollments were in courses with more than 50 students and 62% were in courses of more than 100 students.
In the 2003 senior survey. 16% of those who did not do a senior project cited the fact that they couldn't find a suitable advisor with 33% of those that did a thesis or project saying it was 'difficult' or 'very difficult' to find an adviser. All of these figures can be found verbatim in the Harvard Cirriculum Review . These are all reasons that when USNews did a study of commitment to undergrad teaching Dartmouth and Brown were at the top and Harvard was 17th. Before Byerly attacks me, I would recommend he write Larry Summers and the Academic program review. They are Harvard's own figures.</p>
<p>At Harvard you can't double-major though you can do a joint-major. You must declare a concentration at the end of your freshmen year at H vs. the end of your sophomore year at Brown.</p>
<p>Don't forget about the Brown S/NC option either.</p>
<p>I can't speak to the relative quality of cog sci. However, I feel I can speak to the relative qualiity of undergraduate education. On that score, the Veritas is that Brown is far ahead. Just ask Harvard.</p>
<p>If you care about prestige, go to Harvard.</p>