<p>This is a comparison that I have not yet seen. What would you say are the relative merits for a liberal arts student interested in history, international relations, creative writing, and classical voice?</p>
<p>did you get into them or something???if you did im really sorry....
i really dont understand...this kind of thread...(no offense..)</p>
<p>My daughter has the option of Brown or Stanford.</p>
<p>both are great schools. if possible, you should visit both and see which environment (academic/cultural/climate) appeals to you more.</p>
<p>international relations and creative writing are both very strong at brown</p>
<p><a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org%5B/url%5D">www.watsoninstitute.org</a> (as pointed out on other threads, professors that teach undergrads include former presidents, the founder of the chinese democratic party, nikita kruschev's son, and others)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Literary_Arts/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Literary_Arts/</a> creative writing at brown is called literary arts--there are opportunities to do senior capstone projects with people like Paula Vogel, Robert Coover, John Edgar Wideman, CD Wright and others</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/History/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/History/</a> another strong department, but going through some turnover right now with some faculty retiring, and more new hires on the way</p>
<p>one advantage to Brown, is that your daughter could conceivably use the open curriculum to triple concentrate in all three areas, while also pursuing classical voice lessons
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Music/people/teaching.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Music/people/teaching.html</a></p>
<p>The schools are both so strong that I would pick based on the differences-- in curriculum, campus culture, size, & location. Your D will get an amazing education either place.</p>
<p>For me, Brown's smaller size and undergrad focus were a plus, the open curriculum was a plus, and (having grown up within an hour of Palo Alto) Brown's new & different location was a huge plus. </p>
<p>Campus cultures are fairly similar, but the Division 1 sports are obviously more intense at Stanford, and the large spread-out campus creates a different "feel." I thought Brown was much more beautiful, but I had had brick and ivy in mind since I was about 12 ;).</p>
<p>These are all subjective decisions; your D will have to form her own opinions.</p>
<p>Brwon is more cultured. Stanford is west coast TV culture.</p>
<p>I really like both schools. I applied early to Stanford (deferred, then rejected) and applied regular to Brown (accepted). I will be attending Brown in the fall. The main reason I originally wanted Stanford over Brown was a stronger engineering program (which I probably won't major in now anyway) and I like California. But here's my take on the two schools: both have a fairly open-minded, liberalish student body with a very laid back and chill atmosphere (which I really like about both schools). Although both campuses will have a very diverse student body with all kinds of people, it seems that Stanford is a little preppier than Brown (a pro or a con, depending on who you are). Stanford does carry slightly more prestige than Brown, and Brown is still stuck with the unfair label of being full of crazy pita-bread eating hippies. Which, if you visit the campus, is not true. there are all sorts of people there. Both, I think, would give you a hell of an education. Just depends on which atmosphere suits you best.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your comments. I really appreciate them and welcome any more. DanJH, good luck next year at Brown! You're in a great school.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Stanford is better.
Try posting this thread in the Stanford board and see what others say :)</p>
<p>stanford is not more prestigous than Brown</p>
<p>Stanford is definitely more prestigious. Its worldwide fame hardly needs remarking here. However, that does not make it a better school. </p>
<p>Quite the contrary, your daughter might well like the closer focus on undergraduate education that Brown is likely to provide. And given the interests you have listed, I think Brown is the more appropriate choice.</p>
<p>Both are great schools, but it depends on your audience which one is more prestigious. For those who matter, the Northeast elite, especially Wall Street types, there really isn't a debate here. Brown is far and away more prestigious. As good as Stanford is, it is still not vintage Ivy League, and the Ivy label matters in the Northeast. Now, if you are talking about Asian engineering types, Stanford is more prestigious. However, it is significant that the last time I saw the statistics, Stanford Law School had, in its entering class, as many Brown undergrads as Stanford undergrads, and Law Schools tend to give a slight edge to its own undergrads.</p>
<p>Stanford is internationally recognized. I'd say that pretty much all over the world (including the US) its name carries greater prestige...even some kids from the Mid-Atlantic area hadn't heard of Brown before college searching.</p>
<p>Again, that is no reason to choose one over the other.</p>
<p>It really depends on your major, if prestige and faculty quality is what you're looking for. Stanford definitely has an edge in physics and most disciplines of engineering. Its economics and political science programs are also 'better' than Brown's, in the sense that they have more big-name profs and rank higher in those research rankings. Then again, since its undergrad education we're talking abt, perhaps the difference won't be that great.</p>
<p>My Bias: </p>
<p>Accepted: Brown, Princeton, Cornell, Colgate, UVA, Middlefield and a bunch of Canadian schools (I’m from Toronto)
Denied: Harvard
Didn’t apply: Rest of the Ivies, Any West Coast schools.</p>
<p>Looked for a prestigious liberal arts school with balanced athletics (swam for Brown) and a great education with renowned TEACHERS, and strong sciences department. </p>
<p>I went to Brown for undergrad, now finishing my medical residency at Stanford so I have intimate knowledge of both schools. I graduated Brown with my eyes opened to different ways of learning, and a desire to re-evaluate the status quo whenever possible. </p>
<p>My personal interests lie with the disgrace of socio-economic inequity, and a strong desire to make the world a better place. Call me an idealist…but I’m not. I am a realist who would rather methodically pick my battles and thus affect lasting change.</p>
<p>I went into Family Medicine and now Sports Medicine with a desire to treat the whole being, and to be able to reach out to anyone in any country, of any socioeconomic class. I love my field, and the direction I am heading and have to thank BOTH schools for getting me here.</p>
<p>My thoughts:</p>
<p>1) Prestige perceptions:
East Coast- B>S
West Coast- S>B
Heartland- S=B
Internationally- S=B (btw, there were an insane amount of international royalty at Brown, something I didn’t expect before going)</p>
<p>2) Atmosphere:
Stanford- Much larger feel, less personal, less of a nest, growing atmosphere, more of a feeling that you’re part of a giant machine or empire. Definitely more preppy. I get the sense that while Stanford is a laid back and fun place to be, it’s also a bit more conservative overall. I love California so in terms of climate, Stanford>>>Brown.</p>
<p>Brown- Progressive, nourishing, eye-opening, UNDERGRADUATE FOCUSED. It’s open curriculum is structured to encourage learning HOW to think so it fosters an edgy, questioning student body. I loved it, though it may be a turn off to a more stuck in the mud type of student. It is historically the most progressive school within the Ivies and that feeling was appreciated by myself and most of my friends.</p>
<p>3) Curriculum:
Stanford: Extremely strong in Engineering, physics, High tech and super-specialized sciences</p>
<p>Brown: Extremely strong in life sciences (including medical sciences), History, Art, and especially International Relations. There seems to be a funnel from Brown to the U.N. I personally know three people IN MY CLASS ALONE who are now working in rewarding careers there. Many go on to prestigious IR graduate schools like Fletcher (Tufts), Woodrow Wilson (Princeton), Stanford, JFK (Harvard), and Columbia before going on to the UN.</p>
<p>Brown has an open curriculum. For those that are not sure what they want to do or for those that have a great curiosity for all that there is to know in this world in many fields outside of a major interest, Brown is the better place…period. </p>
<p>Ex. My wife, also from Brown took classes from around 16 departments, and had to decide on a major between Education, Music, International Relations and a couple others I don’t remember. While it worked out for her (creative, international career as a video/documentary producer) it can be daunting to those that can’t deal with choice.</p>
<p>(BTW, I double majored (call concentrations at Brown) in Biology and Geology-Biology, with a neuroscience honors thesis.)</p>
<p>Qualifier: Both are tremendously strong in MANY departments. I argue that an undergraduate education is best taught by TEACHERS and not by “top of their field professors” who are more interested in their research, careers, and GRADUATE level teaching than teaching undergrads. Both schools have their fair of both types so research the departments and classes well before committing! </p>
<p>Quality of Life:
I can’t say much about Stanford’s undergrad but my memories at Brown are filled with nothing but warm and fuzzies… It’s consistently ranked top 5-10 for quality of life and student happiness. Providence, RI is a great place to grow into yourself intellectually as it’s a progressive, multicultural and diverse socio-economic city but feels like a large friendly town, and is very student friendly. It’s a short drive or train ride to Boston and New York (visited both numerous times in undergrad)</p>
<p>Stanford is in Palo Alto, one of the richest neighborhoods in the SF bay area. I have NO problems saying that socio-economically Providence is FAR more diverse. Of course, I qualify this by saying SF is so near Palo Alto and much of the rest of the Bay area is very diverse.</p>
<p>Marketability: S=B, unless you’re a hard core engineer, physicist, etc. then S>B. If you’re more humanities focused, I strongly believe B>S.
I’m always surprised by how many Brown grads are in the SF Bay area living and working, and HAPPY! In addition, I’m amazed by how many go on to do creative jobs that are based around social justice but are also very profitable. </p>
<p>My advice, go visit BOTH schools, have your daughter spend a night with a student. Also, pull aside students, faculty, locals and ask what their experience is! When I visited all the schools I was accepted at, the choice became very clear.</p>
<p>Good luck. It’s a tough decision! Hope this helps.</p>
<p>C’mon. Stanford is definitely more prestigious than Brown.</p>
<p>However both are excellent well-renowned institutions however so if you’re not going in a domain where international reputation matters all that much, it really shouldn’t matter.</p>
<p>I have two D’s going to college this fall. My D who is a senior this year will going to Stanford and older D who is on a gap year this year will be going to Brown. Both D’s visited and researched both schools and each decided on the schools that best fit them – socially, academically, and while my younger D thought Stanford’s campus was beautiful, my older thought it was too spread out and didn’t like the architecture, and fell in love with everything about Brown. So it is best to go visit both schools. Excellent education in both and I would like to think that they are the same prestige-wise! The right thing to do would be to see which is a better fit and where one will be happy for four years.</p>
<p>RowanMD – great input! My D who is going to Brown thought Stanford would be better for post-grad</p>
<p>Stanford is more prestigious than Brown. Stanford is on par with MIT and Caltech in terms of prestige.</p>
<p>Thanks. I agree with your D’s perception that Stanford would be better for post-grad…which is why I came here. :)</p>
<p>Excellent post Rowan, and pretty much agree with everything you said. It really does depend on the region of the country as far as comparative prestige is concerned. I went to a New England boarding school. When it came time to apply to colleges, the goal was an Ivy League school, not Stanford. As good as Stanford is, there is a cachet to having an Ivy pedigree in the Northeast that Stanford, as an undergraduate school, really can’t match. So, my point still stands. In the Northeast, particularly in New York and New England, Brown is simply more prestigious than Stanford. In California, the opposite is true. It also must be said that European royalty that attend elite secondary schools like Eton, Harrow, Aiglon, or Le Rosey tend to prefer Brown to Stanford, if they elect to come to an American college. With Asian students at these schools, it may be different.</p>