Hello out there to all the Brown Bears and wannabe Brown Bears! I’m having a hard time deciding which college to apply to Early Action. I’ve nailed it down to most likely Yale or Brown and leaning more towards Yale (and possibly Princeton, Stanford or Columbia but unlikely) and I’d really appreciate some other opinions. (I plan on posting this on the Yale board too to hear from those who made the Yale choice.) I plan on becoming a writer and would major in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing at Yale at Literary Arts at Brown.
YALE PROS:
Residential colleges
More prestigious (we’re all thinking it)
Location (my best friend lives in CT)
I prefer the campus
BROWN PROS:
Open curriculum
I prefer the major
If anyone could tell me more about the happiness of students and community feel that would be great. I’d also like to know which department is considered better since I know they are both strong in English.
I can tell you a bit about Brown as a likely freshman for next year since I’ve visited overnight. In terms of community, there’s a survey showing that the students have a slightly stronger community feel than at top liberal arts schools like Amherst, which is pretty impressive considering it’s a much larger and more urban school with grad students too. About 80% are happy with the sense of community on campus.
When I visited and talked to current students, the first thing that struck me was the friendliness. I didn’t even feel like a “prospie” with them, I felt like a part of the group. At an overnight at another school, the students simply answered my questions and then moved on to talk to their friends separately, rather than including me. People are definitely happier at Brown than at almost any other college, particularly owing to the open curriculum, slight grade inflation, and pass/fail options which all work to keep stress down.
I would compare curricula, available classes and professors. Make sure you distinguish what’s accessible to you as an undergrad versus what the writing MFA program offers.
Be thoughtful and cautious with your early decision choice. In chasing prestige, you may be forgoing a slot at an intense and intimate undergrad literary program like, say, Kenyon or Middlebury.
If you are presenting yourself to Brown or Yale as a serious writer, be prepared to showcase your credentials in your application. I know one recent Brown graduate who (against conventional wisdom) submitted a 20,000 word play to Brown that he had written, directed and produced for his hometown. http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20091022/CURR04/310229997/
And, I know a current Brown student who won a national award for a novel submission she had written as an eighth grader and is a published poet; yet does not consider herself a serious writer and is not an English or Literary Arts Concentrater
I don’t think these stories are that unusual for successful Yale and Brown applicants.
arwarw
Regarding Kenyon or Middlebury, I’m not applying to any LACs as I’ve done my research and I’m certain that they won’t be a good fit for me. I know that limits my options. Thanks for the advice about admissions, as well.
If you’re not applying this fall, why even think about it yet? There’s no need to make a decision right now, and one of the worst things you can do is make a decision like this without all the full information. Just decide that you like both Yale and Brown, and then see how a visit changes what you think about them.
In terms of “I won’t like LACs,” on what are you basing that decision? Brown’s much more like a LAC than Yale is, in my opinion. Again, don’t decide what you do and don’t like just based on reading about them.
Write both schools’ names onto slips of paper and then place them into a hat. Have your friend draw a slip out of the hat. Go to the school that is drawn out from the hat