<p>Coming from ADoCH it didn’t seem like brown really had much of a cohesive community. in the dorm i stayed in (hope 10?) everyone had their door closed and there didn’t appear to be any sort of common room. Is this typical? I just got back from harvard where the house system really seemed to help create smaller, comfortable communities within the larger school, and I’m wondering how brown manages to do the same (if it does at all…). Where do kids hang out and socialize together? Where do you go if u want to get out of your room but aren’t hungry?<br>
thanks!</p>
<p>one thing I can tell you now is that the literal keeping of doors open only last a few weeks. While my friends and I in our dorm my have our door closed, we all know that we can still knock and come in. You'll learn very quickly that having your door open can be kind of a pain in the ass (lots of noise comes in, in my room, if the door and windows are open, you get like a 15mph draft that blows everything around). Most of the dorms have lounges, or people just hang out in the halls or other people's rooms.</p>
<p>community at brown is a funny thing. all dorms have lounges -- the hope lounnge is in the basement, and actually being completely renovated/refurbished this summer. moreover, most dorms have study lounges as well (hope doesn't, but it's right next to faunce, the rock, and the scili, so it's not too bad). all freshman dorms contain units; every unit is between 40 and 80 first years who all live together, and every unit has between three and four sophomore/junior/senior counselors. immediately from day 1, there is unit-bonding, and most people stay quite close with their unitmates throughout their time at brown.</p>
<p>community is very strong at brown, but again it's completely what you make of it. if you are proactive and go out and try new things and clubs and organizations, then you will feel a part of something. because of the intrinsic nature of the university, the school is full of independent souls who march to their own beat, and thus at times its understandable that a sense of cohesion amongst students is hard to come by. however, it's there.</p>
<p>there are numerous other reasons why you should choose brown over harvard, and if you're interested, i'll enumerate them.</p>
<p>That'd actually be awesome. I'm trying desperately to decide between the two. what you've already said was really helpful (thanks!) so anything else you might be willing to tell me would be GREATLY appreciated.</p>
<p>ready?</p>
<p>(1) harvard is for graduate school.</p>
<p>it's undeniable that a harvard education is a great education, but it is not as strong in the undergraduate sense. would you rather have a class taught by the professor only the first week and the last week, or a class where the professor teaches every class. would you rather attend a university with a huge and well-known graduate school that encourages professors to collaborate on research with graduate students, or a school that doesn't have many graduate students thus giving the opportunity to numerous undergraduate students to work closely with professors on cutting edge research. </p>
<p>(2) brown is fun.</p>
<p>brown is ranked in the top 3 in the nation for having the happiest student body, and it shows if you have every visited the campus. brown students know how to mix academia with partying, and are very relaxed individuals who do not stress over school work and are not hypercompetitive in classes, something premed students absolutely love about brown. its a very chill campus; the students at brown know they are smart but have no need to discuss sat scores or ap scores, and have no need to brag. people here keep education personal, and it's a great, great environment.</p>
<p>(3) school is fun at brown.</p>
<p>the only competition at brown is with yourself. you work at your pace, you work to accomplish your personal best. at brown, people are not here to get As, or Bs, or Cs--people are here learning for learning's sake, because they genuinely enjoy reading and writing and discussing and dissecting and experimenting. at brown any class you so desire can be taken S/NC, which means Satisfactory/No Credit. at brown, there are no pluses or minuses. at brown, classes you fail simply do not appear on your transcript. the academic atmosphere at brown is certainly not for everyone, but if this sounds enticing then there is no reason why you should turn this place down.</p>
<p>(4) brown is simply amazing.</p>
<p>brown's student body is well rounded. we're smart, and we're active. moreover, peeople here are ****ing amazing. not only are people unique, but people at brown are truly special, and are at brown for a reason. getting to know those reasons is an amazing process, something that transcends sat scores and gpas and ap courses and the rest. </p>
<p>anything else?</p>
<p>Wow, letsgetin05.....your post(s) brought tears to this mother's eyes. My son will be a first year at Brown in the fall. Your insight has made me even more certain that he has chosen the right school!! Thank you so much!</p>
<p>That's great letsgetin05! after a half-hour discussion with my parents and reading your posts, i'm now about 93% sure i'll be going to brown. you've been really helpful -- thank you!
just to satisfy my curiosity, would you mind telling me the sizes of your largest and smallest classes and whether you feel like you've been able to make a meaningful connection with any professors (or other faculty)? thank you soo much!</p>
<p>Fantastic post, letsgetin.</p>
<p>I'll contribute this: in the last couple of months, everytime something else amazing/wonderful happens here at Brown, my friend here and I have gotten into this habit of getting into a conversation about why anyone would want to be anywhere but here. Brown is the place to be, and I would want to be no where else. </p>
<p>That includes Harvard. My friend who goes to Harvard has spent the last two years convincing himself that he likes it there. I am glad they didn't admit me, because it may have been a hard decision, and I'm afraid I would have made the wrong one.</p>
<p>I know of no friends of mine attending college in the US (Cambridge, UK is a very, very fun place) who are as happy with their schools as I am. Most of my friends are enjoying their times, but almost always have some degree of awe at how cool Brown is when they come, and none of them are as excited to talk about the great parts of their schools as I am. I love it here in a way that I can't even fully communicate, and there is a good chance that when you are 2 years into your time here, you'll feel the same.</p>
<p>I could not agree more with mgcsinc and letsgetin05. If you're a self-motivated go-getter who wants to make fantastic friends and have an amazing college experience, Brown's definitely the place to be. Although there are advantages to Harvard's residential system, social life at Brown does not suffer for lack of such a system.</p>
<p>thequaker -- I'm a current freshman at Brown. Last semester, my smallest class was 12, and my largest was 150 (with the other 2 under 25). This semester, my smallest is 30, and my largest is about 500. I've made some really great connections with professors already, including asking the prof of my 500 person class to be my sophomore advisor! It's definitely possible to take lots of small classes, but the profs of large classes are really easy to get to know if you go to office hours or get yourself into their discussion section. For example, I really love the prof of my 60-student History class, so when I wasn't assigned to the discussion section he led, I just showed up to it anyway, and asked to switch. Of course he let me. The great thing about Brown is that even when they tell you that you can't do something, you probably can if you are persistent. And the great thing about the Brown student body is that students don't usually take "no" for an answer.</p>
<p>thank you all for the wonderful posts. right now im really stuck between brown and dartmouth and one thing i love about dartmouth is how the students get all gushy about their school. it would really be great to hear more of you brown students get sentimental and profess your love for brown...thanks!</p>
<p>smallest class -- 4 -- making men: masculinity in british literature before 1860
largest class -- 390 -- principles of economics</p>
<p>most of my classes have hovered around 20.</p>
<p>Oh man... Brown kids love to gush! Anything specific you'd like me to gush about?</p>
<p>the students, camaraderie, hanging out, friendships, community, memories, professors, "ah-ha" moments in or out of class...anything really!</p>
<p>I'm doing two independent studies with different professors so two of my classes have one student (me!) another so-called lecture class is like 12 and another has 10 and the last has 60ish. The amount of personal attention you can get if you look for it is tremendous. I've had professors play their Itunes for me which is about as personal as you can get. The academics are brought to life. You're not studying industrial development in New England abstractly, you are going to Slater Mill. You're studying museums with a behind the scenes tour of the MOMA. Since you choose your own classes, everyone else is really engaged in what they are doing. I made an argument about departmental requirements and was able to get some modifications for example.</p>
<p>If I could echo the sentiment of Mgc, I like it here so much that I will not be going abroad without any regrets. Providence is a city that avails itself to student interests.</p>
<p>Let me put it this way: Finals are coming up, I have a crush of crap to do in the next few weeks like everyone else. BUT, here I am typing away at midnight trying to convince you that you have something beyond amazing because I've seen the other side of the coin and I don't want to see you throw it away. </p>
<p>Although there is an almost inevitable power dynamic at work in a professor-student relationship, they really treat you as though you were on their level. </p>
<p>As far as the students, I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps it is best to say that I wish I had the time to meet maybe 75% of the students. I have maybe met 5-10% and these folks are smart blah blah blah but more importantly they are largely passionate and good people. There are students here who have inspired me to become a better person and I appreciate that because change is so very hard.</p>
<p>So far as to your question about the open social atmosphere or questions about it....I think there is an adjustment period to Brown for most people and that ability to put yourself out there is really hard at first. That's why Brown has women/minority/peer counselors and a unit system in the freshman housing.</p>
<p>After all the BS about prestige and USNews and comparing the pre-scientology tracks that are debated on this board you are choosing a group of people to spend four years with, a city to live in for years and a set of faculty to teach you. On all levels, Brown delivers.</p>
<p>I don't know if any of you remember Bruce Springsteen but his song 'Glory Days' reminds me of high school but halfway through college I have to say I'm making it a point to take more pictures and feel the same way about college.</p>
<p>Take some advice from the boss: 'You're Dancing in the Dark' if you don't choose Brown (And you're probably not Courtney Cox). </p>
<p>The Real Question: Are you ready to accept the responsibilities? Brown demands that you step to the plate on your own behalf in a way that no other school does. Before you answer that question carefully think of your last success and failure. You don't even need to be ready to do that, but, you do need to be ready to aspire for it.</p>
<p>I had a miserable, horrible time when I went to ADOCH. I got lost. My host's roommate was obnoxious and wasn't too happy with Brown. The weather was ever useful too. </p>
<p>I mean you should go with your gut but don't be overly swayed by those awkward moments of conversation about names, cities, concentrations and your impressions of that prefrosh person who is trying equally hard to size you up. </p>
<p>PM me if y ou have any specific Q's</p>
<p>So, Ready to be an adult?</p>
<p>With that said, I'm off to study......and watch Saved by the Bell</p>
<p>Before I go</p>
<p>I was telling a professor about roommate stories. A professor was telling me about how he dealt with a roommate who had a significant other back in the fifties and how thin the walls were. It was good times</p>
<p>guys - i can't tell you how much of a difference your comments are making to me as i ponder all this college stuff. its incredibly helpful. thank you.</p>
<p>thank you so much fredmurtz for those very heartfelt words. seriously, this is making me feel so much better about brown, thanks guys</p>
<p>i love all the gushing.. please continue! how would you guys describe the student body at Brown? i felt that i didnt really get to know them at ADOCH. please don't use the word "quirky".. seriously, what colleges DOESN't have quirky students?
how about specifics? i would love to hear about your roommate who volunteers at the nearby orphanage or your RA who loves doing Bush impersonations, etc...</p>
<p>Here are some aha moments:</p>
<p>Realizing that the arguments about modernization made in central and Eastern Europe about Jewish communities (Judaic Studies 9: Modern Jewish History, Society, and Culture) were extremely similar to arguments being made today about African Americans (Anthropology 66: Politics of Race and Culture).</p>
<p>My friend emailing me saying, "how about we start a new program house called Cooking House, where we'll all teach each other how to cook and use food to help the community," me emailing her back saying, "sounds fantastic, let's do it!" Then building this entire plan from the ground up, recruiting people, getting them excited, writing a proposal, constructing a constitution, petitioning ResCouncil and ResLife... then getting approved, and actually making this thing happen from scratch!</p>
<p>Walking down the street about a month into the semester and running into a prof who teaches my 100-person lecture class. Didn't think he'd recognize me, but said hi anyway... he stopped, called me by my name, and chatted about the class.</p>
<p>Going to a chorus party after the first concert at a girl's appartment... then realizing that the chorus prof was there, partying and drinking with us.</p>
<p>Going to a casual tea party at a co-ed literary society, meeting a retired Professor of Slavic Studies who was sitting by candle light in their library, telling students stories about Brown (did you know there are still secret arms-smuggling tunnels below campus from the Revolution?). I've seen him several more times, and I'm going to go meet with him and a few other students next Tuesday night for him to read tarot cards for us for fun (I don't actually believe in them, but it's really fun to have it done by someone who studies this stuff for a living).</p>
<p>This morning, buying a t-shirt for $6 on the main green that says "I (heart) Ruth" on the front and "Brown 09" on the back. Does the Class Coordinating Board at any other college spontaneously print t-shirts worshipping the President? Didn't think so.</p>
<p>A few hours ago today, being warmly welcomed into the home of a prof who was the faculty fellow of my friend's dorm, even though I wasn't officially supposed to be there. Eating cupcakes and listening to my friends jam in the prof's living room on their piano, harmonica, drumset, etc.</p>
<p>Staying up countless times late at night, talking about sexual morality, religion, international human rights issues, relationship problems, and academics with my Korean roommate.</p>
<p>Throwing bi-weekly tea parties for my dorm, cause I have a lot of tea and just like hanging out with people.</p>
<p>I'm sure I'll think of more... and I'll post when I do!</p>
<p>Going to a Quaker Meeting Downtown with a committed Quaker (I myself am not) and hearing one of Gandhi's relatives speak about nonviolence and how when he threw a pencil out of the car he was committing a crime against nature and Gandhi made him find the pencil he threw in the forest.</p>