<p>Does anyone know if Brown accepts by certain majors? If so, what are the most competitive and what are the least? Thanks!!! =P</p>
<p>I cant speak with authority on this, but i do know of someone who was recruited by the classics department and got in (because classics is an increasingly rare major and new freshman are needed to keep the department afloat.) One might extrapolate from this that majors are taken into consideration by the adcom. Would you be better off putting Portuguese Studies than Biology? Maybe. Again, I dont know for sure.</p>
<p>Now that I have said that it is rather difficult to jack the adcoms on this. If you have studied classics at your HS....ie Latin/Greek...history then it is no problem. If you have participated on math team and done extra interests, contacted the math department, AIME etc....not problem. If not and you think you can sell yourself to a major.....not so easy. Chess is at some schools another useful hook which I don't see mentioned on CC very often.</p>
<p>Ya, it makes a big difference. Put down something unusual like neuroscience and you'll get in alot easier than if you put down something like bio.</p>
<p>"you'll get in alot easier than..."</p>
<p>That's an overstatement. The truth is, many people getting in to Brown are going to change their majors, and they know that. Bio and Neuro is a bad example, because they are related (and at Brown Neuro is not even so so unpopular). There is more likely to be differences in being accepted across broad subject areas, like Math vs. Classics.</p>
<p>it doesn't have a big effect. it can have some, but it is very slight in comparison to other factors, and even then, only if it is an important part of a bigger picture. in other words, you can't check off "classics" for the hell of it and have it help you. you have to demonstrate that the pursuit of classics is important to your scholarly aspirations based upon a demonstrated history of achievement and obvious passion for the subject</p>
<p>considering your prospective major is important in the admission process...just how popular is math among Brown undergraduates? also I second JSAGeek in asking which majors seem to you the most (un)popular?</p>
<p>"considering your prospective major is important in the admission process..."</p>
<p>Who said that?</p>
<p>the OP's question sounded like perhaps it was referring to whether Brown accepts people INTO a major, and to that question, the answer is no. It's not like at somes schools where you are accepted to "be an education major" or even like a school like Cornell where you are accepted to the "school of engineering." You are accepted to the University as a whole.</p>
<p>That said, I'll second dcircle in saying that your academic interests CAN influence your acceptance if they are particularly unique AND if there is a demonstrated commitment to them in your application that goes far beyond checking off a box in section 1.</p>
<p>still...no one answered me....just how popular is math major at Brown: unpopular(though I very much doubt it), average or very popular?</p>
<p>More info on the math dept than you may have bargained for: :)</p>
<p>The math department has about 12 concentrators per graduating class and about another 20 that are receiving cross-departmental degrees, or about 30-40 math degrees awarded per year in total. However, don't be misled--the department is involved with teaching the majority of students at Brown at some time. Over half the students at Brown take at least one math course during their first year, and about a quarter take two.</p>
<p>There are 21 faculty and, as I said, about 30-40 graduate students. The
undergraduates are very active in the department and have many opportunities for interaction with faculty. There is a Math DUG that meets weekly and sponsors talks, trips, and a yearly conference called SUMS that is just for undergrads. Brown was the first school in the country to hold such a conference. WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) has an active presence in the Math Department and often has meetings, luncheons, and activities there. There is a weekly seminar (with pizza!) especially for undergraduates, an annual celebraton of Pi Day (Pi Day is, you guessed it 3/14), and a department picnic every spring that includes undergraduates, graduate students and faculty from both the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics Departments.</p>
<p>There are many opportunities for students to work with professors. One professor, for example, always has many students working with him during the academic year and over the summer on computer visualization and geometry. Summer UTRA projects are very popular. The Math Department offers Freshman Seminars. One recently offered by Prof. Silverman, department chair, was called Explorations in Math. It involved discovery and exploration of various mathematical phenomena such as game theory, map coloring, and the Fibonacci Sequence.</p>
<p>Brown has one of the top Mathematics Departments in the country and, I'm told by a professor in the department, a mathematics degree from Brown is an excellent stepping stone toward careers ranging from academia to business, from teaching to law, from medicine to computers, to name just a few of the career choices made by Brown math majors over the years.</p>
<p>For students who need assistance with their math courses, the Math Department has a somewhat unique program called Math Resource Center. The center is open from 8-10pm Mon-Thurs as a place to get help with the basic Calculus and Linear Algebra classes. There are people there to assist with problem sets and the center can also be used as a study group meeting place. In general what distinguishes Brown from many other excellent programs is that faculty are accessible and friendly and welcoming towards undergrad involvement.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I can't really speak to the unpopular majors, as some of the smallest departments (such as math) are the "least popular" in that they are small but in no way other than their number of concentrators--not unsuccessful or underappreciated by any stretch of the imagination. Both of my concentration areas were extremely small, and if anything, I think this just allowed me to have an even better, more personal education. But the larger departments (bio, history, IR, to name a few) are also fully equipped to handle the volume of concentrators.</p>
<p>well....realy thanks for your help....now I'm even more thrilled about applying to Brown...and obviously wanting a major in math :D</p>