I was admitted off of Brown’s wait list and now I feel really conflicted. It seems like USC will offer me a traditional college experience and more connections. The Trojan family is strong! Also, USC has a really nice campus with nice housing and D1 sports and all that fun stuff.
I think Brown will give me more educational opportunities because of the open curriculum. The classes would also be smaller and I would probably get to know the professors. And I’ll be in an entirely new part of the country and I think that’s an opportunity for me to learn. The east coast is probably very different from the west coast.
I feel really emotionally committed to USC because I really thought I was going to end up there this fall. But Brown just popped up! I’m going to be a chemistry major. Financial aid is not a factor.
What are the important differences between the schools? Dorms? Food? Campus life? People? Connections?
Hi! Haha I’m in the same boat as you! I visited Brown over the summer, loved it, and then got wait listed. I commited at USC for human biology and just got the wait list call today! I’d love to know more as well cause I’m from California and so Rhode Island is really far…
OP sounds like your heart is set on USC. Moreover I assume you will settle in Southern California after graduation? If so, the USC network would be even more important. If the previous assumption is wrong, for example if you are interested in academia or NYC / Finance or med school, the calculus changes. Pzpzpz, Providence has a nice (relatively large) airport with lots of convenient connections. If I were considering Brown that would be a plus. Good luck to you both. You have great options. Whatever you decide, move forward full speed and don’t look back.
My daughter went from Calif to Brown (started in science, ended up a math-cs major) if you have any specific questions about that. I think she really wanted the ‘away’ experience and it was great for her. She has a high comfort level with living in both coasts, getting around to Boston and NYC. I think if you are premed Brown is a very strong choice and there will be benefits in the smaller community and close relationships with faculty and faculty research, not to mention some very forgiving grading policies although you can expect courses to be hard. I don’t like to be too pushy to tell people where to go when they have their own preferences, but I can just say Brown is amazing. I’m sure you are thrown for a loop.
I do think of Brown as the more traditional college experience with the atmosphere of College Hill and how old Brown is. But I do get that you are saying a rah-rah spectator sport type environment is what you are thinking of when you think college experience, but she was not so interested in that, though she has played sports. I can’t really imagine picking one over the other because of dorms. I think Brown might seem downright cozy next to USC. She always said it felt homey to her. There is a lot of local walking around places you can do which is so different from L.A. I loved visiting and exploring a few neighborhoods on foot. Biking to Newport (well I didn’t make it all the way, took the bus.)Brown will have a more close knit community, at Brown her department was super tight.
This might sound silly considering how great of a school it is, but weather is a concern for me because I’m used to the whole Californua sunny all the time environment. Is the weather a huge factor in terms of getting out and being able to enjoy campus, as in did the snow ever make your daughter feel really cooped up and winter-depressed? Also, is grading relatively lenient at Brown like it is at Stanford? I’m premed so my GPA is a huge factor.
I’m from CA as well, and I never had an issue with the weather. I love the seasons here in RI - coming from CA, you’ve never really experienced fall or spring before, not like it is here. Snow is fun, too!
Grading “lenient like at Stanford?” Not really sure what you mean here - I don’t think that grading at either Stanford or Brown could be considered lenient.
@Pzpzpz Congratulations on your acceptance! I hope you were excited as I was! (:
@kaukauna I don’t think I’m as set on USC as I seem. When I applied to my schools, Brown was my number one and it still is. It’s just that when I found out I was on the wait list, I had to make do with what I had so I tried really hard to fall in love with USC. I think that when it comes down to it, I find USC more aesthetically pleasing but I don’t think that is enough to go. I don’t know where I want to settle after graduation. I am leaning towards Brown and the east coast though. I just wanted to see what other people had to say about each school, maybe stuff I never thought to consider.
@BrownParent Thank you for sharing your daughter’s experiences! I’m really glad to hear that it’s a really strong community. I am interested in the rah-rah experience but it’s not enough to win me over, I don’t think. Did your daughter have any issues switching her concentration? I would imagine not because of Brown’s curriculum but it’s still nice to get reassurance from someone. Or maybe someone to tell me otherwise, hahaha.
Here is my recollection I hope I don’t have any details wrong. Switching concentration is effortless from what I could see. You don’t officially declare your major until the end of sophomore year. I don’t know if students make it official before, some people are set on the major and don’t change while others are exploring. You do have a faculty adviser and a Meikleljohn peer adviser from whichever department you pick. If you switch you get an adviser from your new department. Meanwhile, you can explore the departments, take any classes you want in any department if your have the prereq and I do know that my dd got that waived for some classes which I think only required the profs permission. When you do declare you major you create a contract with your adviser that outlines the classes you will take to fulfill your graduation in 4 years. This can and likely will be revised as you go along. Be aware that some majors might need some of the sequences to graduate with that major started well before the end of sophomore year.
As for weather, she didn’t ever mention it that I recall. It seemed like a non issue. I never visited when it was cold.
If money is not a factor, I would definitely go to Brown. I am an alum, so I am biased, but it’s a great place to attend school. Very laid back and California-like, other than the weather. But it’s not like Buffalo or Minnesota, though it can rain a fair amount.