<p>How would you compare the choice between Brown and Middlebury? Of course both are excellent schools and anyone could get a great education at either…so it comes down to which might be better.</p>
<p>What if the student had a preference for the small LAC environment - close relationship with professors, etc.? …for you, would that override the Ivy cache of Brown (and all its other merits)?</p>
<p>going to a LAC does not automatically mean you will develop close relationships with professors and going to a university does not mean that you won't. developing these relationships will mostly depend on your interest and efforts.</p>
<p>in Brown's case, undergraduates are highly valued. i had many opportunities to get to know my professors and advisors both inside and outside of class. every professor i was interested in meeting with, took the time to speak to me outside of class. others really went out of their way and invited their class or advising group to dinner at their house. i'm three years out of college and i still have several professors that i'm in regular contact with.</p>
<p>Brown considers itself a "University-College" and thus is quite different than simply a "University" and considers itself somewhere in between the happy medium of having professors doing cutting edge research with the resources to be contributors, in that way, to the creation of new knowledge while still emphasizing teaching undergraduates, education, and a small community feel.</p>
<p>I happen to think that it's the perfect place to have a closer relationship with professors and would go as far as saying that I'm friends with 3 or 4 of the 8 professors I've had at Brown thus far.</p>
<p>Brown is a University where the undergrads form an overwhelming majority. The figure is something like 6000 vs. 1500 in favor of undergrads so the undergrads tend to be the primary focus of the University. I think with Brown you'll be getting the ivy-cache PLUS the good LAC flavor.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts. What difference would the size make?<br>
2,350 students at Midd vs. 6,000 undergrads at Brown + (1,500 grads.)</p>
<p>Seems like a relatively big difference.</p>
<p>What was your HS experience? I can tell you the best way for me to describe size is that intro classes can still be quite big (intro chem classes are 300) yet every semester I've taken classes with less than 20 kids and by the tiem you're done with orgo the chem classes are 10-15 max. Everywhere I walk I see people I know, but everywhere I walk I see people I don't know as well and I love that about Brown. Knowing everyone isn't always the best place to be, at least for me. Also, I can say that of the 8 or so professors I've had here so far, all of them know my name despite the size of the class, and 3 or so of them are actually close enough that I'd call them friends.</p>
<p>There are other advantages to having a grad school, namely, that we have far more professors drawn here to do world class research and bring undergraduates in on that process because they have the support of grad students and the resources of a university.</p>
<p>One thing to consider re size: class selection.</p>
<p>I went to Brown and never had a problem getting into a class I wanted. There were a few that were closed to freshmen, but that was about it.</p>
<p>My D attends a LAC similar to Middlebury, and has experienced more hassles getting her preferred classes. </p>
<p>I think this has to do with the overall numbers...</p>
<p>Go with Brizzown</p>
<p>Are any classes at Brown taught by TA's? All classes at Middlebury are taught by professors. </p>
<p>Frankly, despite the fact that Brown has a small LAC "feel", the truth is that it's more than 3 times of size of Middlebury. There are as many advantages to that size difference as there are disadvantages.</p>
<p>At Brown there are only a couple of courses taught by TAs-- math classes up until linear algebra often have sections with TAs and sections with a professor. You can choose which one to sign up for, though many students shop both and choose whoever the better teacher is. This is actually advantageous, IMO, because a course that typically would simply be a larger class is smaller, and typically would just have one professor and one option now has more than one teaching option. In fact, of the three math classes I've taken, twice I felt the TA was a better teacher than the professor and took their section (and the TA section was more popular). The only other classes that have graduate students teaching are the very first level writing seminars in the Literary Arts Department. Fiction 1 with Holly Tavel, a grad student, was on of hte best taught classes I've ever taken.</p>
<p>So when it comes to it, arcadia, of our 3500 or so courses, Math 10 (first level calc, Math 9, is only professor taught), 18, 17(honors of 10), 35(honors of 18) and 52 all have one or two sections taught by a TA, but if you'd rather take a course with the professor you have that option without ever being locked out (though math classes tend to be smaller, they're often not capped). LR11 (Intro to Fiction, Intro to Playwriting, or Intro to Poetry) have sections taught by TAs, but everyone I know have had extremely positive experiences in that case.</p>
<p>I think what matters is, are the TAs equipped to teach, and are they capable and knowledgeable. I don't really buy into the fact that a professor is always better to teach a course because there are bad teaching professors everywhere and their are excellent teaching grad students everywhere. That being said, such a small number of classes being taught by grad students is far from a blemish even if it's a really big deal to you.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot-- language classes are always taught by native speakers who may or may not be professors. However, they have to go through quite a bit to be approved to teach a language. For instance, this semester the Korean professor went on leave and despite the fact that native South Korean's are top three in terms of numbers here (for internationals) they did not feel anyone they spoke to was equipped to teach the course and so it was not offered. Obviously, with language, having a PhD on the areas culture, or a PhD in some other field, does not mean that you're equipped to teach a language, and while many language classes are professor taught, there are a few that are taught by grad students, sometimes employees of the university in some other ways (a lab research assistant), etc. I'm pretty sure this only really happens with the more popular languages on the lower level, but I don't take language at Brown.</p>
<p>Again, I've heard no complaints about this and most of these classes do have a section with a professor teaching.</p>
<p>It's about priority and certain meanings. Of cousre we are larger than Middlebury, that's quite obvious, but one of the things we like to tout is that our size is a perfect middle ground between having the benefits of the university and the LAC. We give very little up in terms of personal interaction and gain quite a bit in terms of research and the ability to draw professors here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughtful replies. There are a lot of important considerations.</p>
<p>brown is the best of both worlds in terms of having ivy benefits and lac benefits...if you're looking for both, go there</p>
<p>i'll be over at middlebury, though, since good old brown didn't want me</p>
<p>In Brown, you can be the architect of your own courses.. I had a math teacher who graduated from Brown and she was just amazing. She said that among the ivies, Brown and Princeton actually care about their undergraduate students.</p>
<p>thanks, that's helpful. anyone else?</p>
<p>Your math teacher forgot about Dartmouth, the most undergrad focused Ivy. Anyway I'd go to Brown, its a great overall academic school and social atmosphere. Middlebury is a great school, however.</p>
<p>In defense of Midd:</p>
<p>Brown kids are weird, providence is dirty, the mountains are gorgeous, isolation is splendid, midd kids are good looking and happy, and academics are no worse overall.</p>
<p>weird and dirty??</p>
<p>I think the username says it all-- TROLL!</p>
<p>Did you not get in? I'm sorry you won't be gracing us with your presence.</p>