I’m choosing between Penn and Brown right now, and while I think Brown is a better academic fit and have been obsessed with it for a few years now, I’m just worried about the prospect of coming in for the spring and not being to adjust as well socially. Brown offered a study abroad program in the fall for spring transfers, but I feel like I would be better off knocking out concentration requirements at my old school for a semester…it’s an awkward tradeoff at that point between what would work better socially (meeting other transfers in the study abroad program) and academically (knocking out concentration requirements early so I won’t be as bogged down and can take better advantage of the open curriculum to explore once I get there).
Does anyone here know of any spring transfers who didn’t study abroad in the fall and still managed to adjust well socially? Thanks in advance!
You should go to the school that is the right fit. Brown’s whole philosophy revolves around loose and minimal requirements; knocking out concentration requirements is likely not the best use of your time (or $). Immersing yourself abroad will teach you more about yourself, another culture, and the world as a whole, more than any academic class. You will also get a head start on friendships, creating life long memories with an intimate group of people. Hope to see you in Granada. 
Just a thought, I would think you would want to take your concentration reqs at Brown, with Brown profs as you will get to know them and your department better. I know my kid was quite close with her department and did dept social things as an upperclassman. Plus if yu are considering grad school it will be helpful for getting to know profs better. I didn’t even realize that you could take more classes at your current colleges for transfer.
@BrownParent My concentration of interest has a LOT of requirements. At my old school I would be knocking out some of the very basic intro courses and it would allow me to dive into the more advanced, smaller courses involved in the concentration as soon as I get to Brown. I think if anything this might be a bit more helpful to developing relationships with my department. I love this field so much I would probably end up oversubscribing credits to this concentration and take grad school classes to be honest.
Yeah, it’s only an option for spring transfers to take more classes at my current college I believe. I mean it makes sense if you want to graduate by a certain time, no?