<p>“Brown is laid-back, relaxed…Students are all happy. They just party and have fun…BUT Brown is an IVY league school…SO I LOVE BROWN”</p>
<pre><code> I keep seeing similar posts. This is the way Brown advertizes itself as well. In their info sessions etc, they tell you about this. IMO it is quite disturbing and just points down the cliff…It seems to be close.
Brown is an academic institution(aka. university) , so it is mostly about academics. It is not a resort or a new night club. Instead of talking about academics, Brown uses the social,fun,laid-back card instead. All other IVY league schools prefer using their superb professors, great “academic” facilities etc…Brown just seems to use the IVY brand instead of adding to it. I found this extremely disturbing.
It seems to me like this started after Ruth Simmons. Brown has the smallest endowment, Brown has the most limited facilities…BUT Brown is in the Ivy league so people think that Brown is the easiest way to reach an Ivy league diploma. Maybe this is quite effective in the short-term but in the long-run I think this picture is going to harm Brown.
Advertising yourself as the “Laid-back Ivy” sounds so weird to be. It is quite an oxymoron. Maybe it is not the reality but still I think this will affect the student body of Brown. All the kids in my highschool see Brown as a “I will go, party, rarely go to classes and at the end will get an Ivy league diploma” school. With this image, the student body will change to kids who just go there to have fun and with this image the whole nation will consider Brown as a non-academic school.
I found this issue quite interesting so I wanted to share. I am a Brown applicant and maybe on Monday I am going to get into Brown. BUT IMO this image is really dangerous for the prospects of Brown. (Since it is quite inferior to all other Ivies in terms of endowment, facilities, academic salaries, scholarships etc…) This idea sounds like those schools where you only pay for a college diploma and you get it w/o attending. This is just the more elite way. It sounds like someone is going to give u an Ivy league diploma for 3rd tier school workload…Just by using Ivy league’s name…=(( Thanks…
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<p>PS. The O’Reilly Factor was already harming Brown’s image…so even after that Brown keeps playing that card…</p>
<p>"I found this issue quite interesting so I wanted to share. I am a Brown applicant and maybe on Monday I am going to get into Brown. BUT IMO this image is really dangerous for the prospects of Brown. (Since it is quite inferior to all other Ivies in terms of endowment, facilities, academic salaries, scholarships etc...) This idea sounds like those schools where you only pay for a college diploma and you get it w/o attending. This is just the more elite way. It sounds like someone is going to give u an Ivy league diploma for 3rd tier school workload....Just by using Ivy league's name....=(( Thanks.."</p>
<p>Having not attended a class you ascertain that we coast through college based on....your friends beliefs? I don't have time to refute more of your comments but if you are so concerned with your friends image of the school don't attend. Please. If you are accepted, go to ADOCH, and speak to current students about their experience. If it mirrors your own convoluted sense on the school then feel free to go elsewhere but I don't know any students that party all the way to a degree.</p>
<p>I think your forgetting that even though Brown advertises itself like that its STILL one of the best universities in the country. its still about acedemics, but it is just much more flexible compared to its peers.</p>
<p>btw Yale students also advertise Yale as being "the laid back ivy". Does that make Yale much weaker than other schools?</p>
<p>uhhh wow... you haven't even BEEN to a class! YOU HAVENT EVEN GOTTEN IN!!! everyone i know who applied to brown is so excited for shaping their own education instead of having to do gen-ed, they are NOT excited about coasting through college. this post seems pretty ill informed.</p>
<p>Since when does Brown advertise itself as a party school? I've seen Brown's admissions material and sat in on an information session, and that is not the impression that I got.</p>
<p>Any students who go to Brown assuming they can party all the time are in for a rude awakening when they realize they have 1000 pages to read in a week, papers and problem sets to do, etc. There are partiers and slackers at every school, including Brown, but there are plenty of kids there working very very hard. My daughter's workload is significantly higher than her friends at other schools.</p>
<p>Brown may be the "laid-back" Ivy because there are no distribution requirements or core curriculum. Not because it is a party school.</p>
<p>Wooo..Woo...Woo..No offense...I was just talking about the image that seems to appear thru advertisement and exaggeration thru high school kids....and vast majority of the educated community....</p>
<p>"uhhh wow... you haven't even BEEN to a class! YOU HAVENT EVEN GOTTEN IN!!! everyone i know who applied to brown is so excited for shaping their own education instead of having to do gen-ed, they are NOT excited about coasting through college. this post seems pretty ill informed."</p>
<p>I didn't say that it is that way in reality....In most cases what is drawn is completely different that wats in there BUT only 1450 kids learn the reality but the rest stays as it is....PLUS what is known by the community is what really matters more since kids come to Brown from there....If people start coming to Brown with an expectation that it will be an easy ride, it will eventually become an easy ride school since in most cases the work load is student-oriented in some way....I am not saying that Brown is any of those things that I have listed but it is advertised that way directly or in-directly. And honestly, it is quite an effective, who wouldn't want to enjoy "school" throughly? I couldn't quite understand why people were offended by any means...</p>
<p>PS. I clearly couldnt understand "you even couldn't get in yet" business...This is not a crazy fight..I just posted about a general idea hold by many people. It may be a stereotype but stereotypes rule our world...so it matters..</p>
<p>After I read the first post, my immediate reaction was exactly what sly_vt wrote in post #5, which I had not yet read at that point. I think the OP is confusing the term "laid back" with "party." My D is about to graduate Brown and there is no way she would call Brown a party school. It is most definitely a very challenging college with a very accomplished student body. She has worked very hard there in her academics. She can't cut classes. In fact, even to go to her grad school accepted student events, she has to miss some or schedule alternate visits due to not being able to miss certain classes at Brown more than twice per semester. The "laid back" is likely referring to the fact that for one thing, it is not a competitive environment but more of a collaborative friendly learning setting. Also, it refers to the fact that at Brown, you shape your own curricula and put together your own program of courses, rather than being told which subjects you must study. The courses for the most part are quite demanding, just like at any other highly selective college. Laid back is describing an atmosphere or climate, but not the rigor whatsoever. I can tell you that my daughter's fellow seniors are heading to either very good jobs or very good grad schools like med schools and so forth. My own kid was just admitted to six of the top grad schools in her field. Clearly those in the academic world are well aware of what the rigors are of a Brown education. </p>
<p>Students at Brown are happy....yes, indeed. The love their school. That doesn't imply "party school". My D has LOVED Brown but NOT because it is an Ivy League school. She did NOT care if she attended an Ivy League school at all. In fact, when narrowing her list of accepted colleges down to her final choices, she was seriously considering two non-Ivies and had knocked out an Ivy she had been admitted to because she preferred the non-Ivies over it. She chose the school that best fit her and had no cares about "going Ivy" ever. Brown best fit her and she is a "happy student" and will miss Brown so much when she graduates.</p>
<p>Ok..Maybe I wasn't clear at my point...I didn't ever claimed that Brown is a party school. That would just be ridicilous...I just said that there is an uprising image that way which isn't the reality....If it would be the reality, it would just be meaningless to complain about the image....I am sure that the there is an enormous work load and pretty strict academic rules...Also shapin ur own education is a huge mission and that means more responsibility, risk and work....SO no worries there...BUT I still think that the way Brown is shown directly by the university or by media is quite different....That may just well be because of the "Liberal" side of the school...From an conservative's eye freedom may be seen that way...Still in the info session, starting with "Welcome to Brown, the laid-back Ivy....the school of the happiest kids..." doesnt sound that right...
Also I am quite shocked seeing that nobody else witnessed a similar image in public(or all posted were current students or graduates?) If you think that this is just "ill-informed"(as one of the respectful posters called my post), I may just share many clear examples of this image with you....</p>
<p>Well, matthewyy, just how large is your sample of students who think Brown is a party school? A few dozen (or less) at your high school? If you are referring to posts on CC, most of the time someone here asks if Brown is a party school, current students shoot them down. You are taking an opinion held by a small sample and turning it into a non-existent image issue for Brown.</p>
<p>OK..So well...Brian O'Reilly 's Show affected almost everyone who has an access to a TV or any newspaper....Think about all the places where Brown's name is being used in popular culture..Simpsons: Lisa gets an F, so can only go to Brown...Otto got tenure from Brown...Family Guy: The episode clearly made fun of Brown...etc..This list can go on....Of course in all these, it was more about humour than reality..But in most cases Humour comes from some streotypes...and stereotypes come from some reality....This reality is apparently not from the Truth but from the image that was drawn to public..
I suppose it is quite pointless to discuss this...since we are not the ones to take an action even if what I claimed is the right...I quite regret starting such thread...</p>
<p>OK..So well...Brian O'Reilly 's Show affected almost everyone who has an access to a TV or any newspaper....Think about all the places where Brown's name is being used in popular culture..Simpsons: Lisa gets an F, so can only go to Brown...Otto got tenure from Brown...Family Guy: The episode clearly made fun of Brown...etc..This list can go on....
</p>
<p>In all honesty, it sounds like you are a gimmick poster.</p>
<p>There is a big difference between being a non-competitive environment and being a laid-back party school. My D has never worked harder than she has at Brown this year. She stayed up until 5 am finishing an art piece and the next day the same thing studying for a Cog Sci mid-term. A few days later, the same thing for a paper that was due. She is taking some classes S/NC, and has worked as hard or harder at those classes. And what did she say when she finally had a few moments to call us? She was brimming with vitality and excitement. She said that although she was too exhausted to think, she never felt more exhilarated and more excited about the work she had just completed. She pulled a 4.0 her first semester, and it looks like it might be the same this one. Even though Brown doesn't compute GPAs. Fine with us! The purity of her love of the work is what feels real to her. The fact that everyone around her is the same, although at times feels very intense, is giving her an opportunity that will never be duplicated. She knows this. The air is charged with learning. It's charged with intelligence. It's also charged with a great sense of humor. It may not be the right place for everyone; I hope it's not. But it is so the right place for so many. I have never met anyone who went/goes to Brown who has said anything but the best and highest praise for this place. That simply does not exist at many places.</p>
<p>sorry i attacked you i was just offended because brown is one of my favorite schools. and i agree there isn't much of an issue about brown's image but it seems like you've gotten that.</p>
<p>you are clearly confusing "laid back" with "party." no admissions official has ever advertised brown as a party school, nor any of its students. why? brown ISN'T a party school. I attended Tulane for a year. Now that's a party school. That's a school where people just beg for a C so they don't have to take some class again and really don't care whether they learn, just how much abita they can chug in 30 seconds (don't fight with me about tulane, there are of course exceptions). EVERYONE goes to class here. I was shocked when I got here and realized how much everyone goes to class. The classes here are very challenging. The only difference, the "laid back" difference, is that students may stay up all night studying here and at Harvard, but here, they don't freak out about it. And no one in the "general educated community" (or whatever you said) who knows their a$s from their elbow disagrees. </p>
<p>And DON'T Bill O'reily me. Half of what he reported was untrue, and the other half, well, what's wrong with celebrating sexual freedom and diversity? It's a QA party in case you didn't know...which I'm sure you didn't. </p>
<p>And the simpsons make fun of EVERYTHING. Family guy featured Brown because the makers went to RISD. If we're talking pop culture, what about the fact James Vanderbeck got an "academic scholarship" to Brown in Varsity Blues, and Natilie Portman got the same in "Anywhere but Here"</p>
<p>COME ON</p>
<p>This thread is so outrageous, I'd say it was a troll thread and you were on the waitlist, only decisions haven't come out yet...</p>
<p>I'm a defender of Brown, but I do feel that matthewyy has been unduly attacked. Many people DO think that Brown is the backdoor to the Ivy League because they CONFUSE its "laidback" description with the "party school" image. He was simply acknowledging that this "party school" image of Brown DOES exist in certain circles as much as we hate for it to. If you go on the Cornell boards, you'll see what I'm talking about... Brown is frequently cited as the "weakest Ivy," the reason being that it's "laidback." Again, their understanding of "laidback" is clearly incorrect, yet that's how they've imagined Brown to be just from hearing that word. Matthewyy was just questioning the extent to which the University's emphasis on "laidback" (which could easily take on a negative connotation) is harmful to the image of the University because people MISUNDERSTAND the University's use of that word so much.</p>
<p>Thank you sanjenferrer..Thank you! Exactly..I didn't ever say that Brown is a party school. I just said that advertising it as a "laid-back "Ivy" school" makes the public think that it is some sort of a not-very-academic school...Also come on, I am sure that Brown's laid-back athmosphere is well more competitive than a mediocre school since most kids that go to Brown were created to WIN...As I said numerous times, I didn't attack Brown..I just wanted to share a misbelief in public about Brown in a friendly way....I was expecting people currently going to Brown to share the same worries about this misbelif. I didn't call Brown "the doormat Ivy" or "back door to Ivy" or "the weakest Ivy" , people with this common misunderstanding or misbelief do.....As I said in my first post, Brown needs to be careful because only 1450 students witness the truth.. Brown's image is quite critical because of things like endowment,no of research papers, facilities etc. already compared to other Ivies.(This is whole other story and actually Brown doesn't need all those since it is not a grad school-oriented school, which is great) (Also according to a long-run survey, if something positive happens people share it with 3 people max, but when something is negative, this number goes up to 11 in average) That was what I ve posted....But people called it a troll post...A troll is the one where I would come and just say "Brown is laid-back..Laid-back is partying...So Brown is a party-school"..I never said that instead I said Brown is a great school..But with a risky approach, it seems to get an image that it doesnt deseverse and is not in reality....</p>
<p>If you don't like how Brown is advertised, how it is, or anything about it, then don't go there, pure in simple.</p>
<p>And btw, Cornell sucks. I visited that place...piece of ****. And at my high school, which sends a very high percentage of its 300 people graduating classes to top schools, Brown is not considered the "back door to the Ivies." Actually, Cornell is. I can't count how many times I've heard "Cornell's as easy to get into as UMass..." (exaggeration, obviously, but you get the point..."</p>
<p>There's a very simple explanation and solution here.</p>
<p>Brown is able to attract ~20k applicants for ~1500 spots, and the quality of their applicant pool is such that those 1500 students are a rather competitive class compared to any institution in the United States.</p>
<p>Brown's image works well enough for enough people.</p>
<p>Oh, and no one in academia or in the "real world" accepting/hiring you later in life thinks the way you fear they think, the only people who care about these things are some high school seniors and CC posters, so I wouldn't worry.</p>
<p>My brother, a rather high-powered investment banker, said that when prospective hires interview with him and he learns that they graduated from Brown, having concentrated in whatever interested them, he is always tempted to hire them. The inherent self-motivation and curiosity in Brown students informs him about their qualifications far better than many other criteria! :)</p>