<p>I am a chem major at Brandeis and, although it did seem that I had more work than my humanities-majoring friends, part of that was just the life of a science major. Weekly problem sets take up a lot of time and, when a lab (1/2 of a class) takes up 4-6 hours/week not even counting weekly write ups...that's a substantial difference in workload. However, at any school that's going to be the case.</p>
<p>Along with my physics and computer science classes, I managed to be active in Hillel, take over a literary magazine as co-editor, learn how to swing dance, have plenty of social time, and still not do any work Friday night or Saturday day (I'm Shabbat observant). Mostly, you just need to know how to budget your time. However, in comparing my workload with my friends, one of whom is a physics major at Princeton and another one who is a chem major at Notre Dame, they were pretty much the same. Furthermore, we all agreed that we had more work than the humanities. =P</p>
<p>Brandeis is on break this week (President's Day week), so many buildings were closed. Monday was also the coldest day of this winter, so everyone really just wanted to get inside! That showed on the tour; the guide was less than enthusiastic, although he did seem to like the school a lot. It was nice to have a tour by someone who grew up outside New England - he was from Minnesota, I believe. His biggest dislike - that the library closed early (about 1 AM), but he did say that everyone seemed to have sufficient time on weekends to play. D liked the info session, and liked what she heard about the academics. She loved the flexibility of the curriculum, even with its distribution requirements. And the fact that only calculus had sections taught by TAs (and she has no intention of taking calculus in college!). Loved the calm, residential feel of the campus, particularly the Castle which houses sophomores. They have a housing lottery, so you have to have a really high number to get the Castle, but she likes to dream. </p>
<p>She loved the fact that Boston was so nearby and easy to get to. I promised her that we wouldn't drop in unannounced, which took the sting out of going to school so close to home. (Also that we could bring her winter clothes later and take other stuff home so her room wouldn't get so cramped!) She wants to take another tour when classes are in session.</p>
<p>Could either quiltguru or Chedva address the "artsy, quirky" quotient at Brandeis? What do you know, if anything about the fine arts (esp ceramics and fiber arts) department?</p>
<p>Quirky: not so sure about this - our guides didn't seem too quirky. I know that Brandeis is artsy, at least for theater. Spingold Theater is just beautiful, and the small black box theaters are also great. The biggest drawback for my d is that there is no dance, other than clubs.</p>
<p>Sorry, we don't know anything about fine arts - stopped at fingerpainting!</p>
<p>As a current Brandeis student, I can address your question about us being quirky/artsy. In a word... yes. </p>
<p>There is so much diversity in THE TYPE of person at Brandeis (from history buff to recruited athlete to hard-core liberal to dedicated musician in the Brandeis-Wellesley orchestra to observant Jew to the brainiac who works hard M-Th and plays hard on the weekend (well, until Sunday afternoon at least) to inquisitive journalist to Student Union politician to the International Student learning about Chanukkah for the first time to hard-core rocker to actor, etc., etc.</p>
<p>There is a certain something that sets a Brandeis student apart. A certain amount of maturity and dedication to studies. What that something is varies from person-to-person. However, we always see "Brandeis Moments." Whether seeing a passionate political debate at a party on Saturday night, a newspaper reporter discussing the latest Student Union gossip "off-the-record" with a friend on their way to class, or, more seriously, students laying face-down on the Great Lawn to raise awareness about the genocide in Sudan, you can always identify these moments as pure Brandeis.</p>
<p>As to your question about fine arts, I'm not sure- I'm extremely unartistic and haven't taken an art class since middle school. I know there is a very active pottery club with a large studio in the castle. </p>