Congrats! Now what...?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I realize this is a few hours early but…</p>

<p>For those of you who were just admitted to Brown today, congratulations from a member of the class of '09!</p>

<p>Now that you’re in, some of you may have some hard decisions to make. Are you trying to decide between Brown and another fantastic institution? If so, I’m here to do my best to answer any last-minute questions you may have. Or if you’ve already decided that you’re absolutely coming here, and you just want some more information about your new alma mater, I’ll try to help you out, too.</p>

<p>Obviously, my perspective is limited because I’m only one person, and I’ve only been here for a semester and a half, but I’ll do my best to answer any questions or point you in the right direction (and other current Brown students, feel free to step in!).</p>

<p>I know that Brown’s not the right place for everyone, but I am incredibly happy here and am so glad I chose to come. I hope to see you all here in the fall! (There. Is my bias clear enough?)</p>

<p>Ready? Go!</p>

2

<p>Yes, good luck everyone in your decisions, and I also hope to see many of you! Come to ADOCH!</p>

3

<p>ready to help as well. congrats!</p>

4

<p>how do they work in scholarships? I know they first cover loans and work study but after that, can you use them to help pay off your parental contribution? Because mine is ridiculously high for my parents income (24,000 a year)</p>

<p>Are any of you all on financial aid? I guess I'm starting to question whether its worth that much money. </p>

<p>Also, how is the school newspaper/radio station/literary journals? I'm interested in writing for the paper or working in radio so i wanted to know how good they are</p>

5

<p>I don't know a ton about financial aid, but as I said in another thread, I think Brown will match other Ivies, Stanford, MIT etc, so if you got a better package from another school, you should definitely call Brown and let them know.</p>

<p>The paper is good, and it's really easy to get involved. A lot of kids are also involved in the radio station, although I don't know as much about it.
<a href="http://www.browndailyherald.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.browndailyherald.com/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.bsrlive.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bsrlive.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

6

<p>Yes, the adcom told us that Brown matches financial aid from "peer" institutions: HYPSM and ?all the Ivies?</p>

7

<p>Some poster last year didn't get his fin aid from Yale matched by Brown, for some reason, but I think that's pretty rare.</p>

<p>As far as scholarships go, they are supposed to take it out of your loans, work study, or student contribution first, or you can put it to the purchase of a computer. (This doesn't always work out, as they took my scholarships out of my grants, but I think this is also rare.)</p>

8

<p>Hi ILoveBrown, RaboKarabekian, and dCircle. Thanks for offering to answer some of our questions!</p>

<p>I am a new admit to Brown, and although I've been on campus once before, it was during the summer and on a Sunday... so there were no tours or anything, and not really any students around. I had a good feeling about the atmosphere at Brown, so I applied even though I knew very little about it, and now that I'm accepted, I'm so excited to find out more! I will hopefuly be attending ADOCH if my parents can help me out with the airfare (i'm from MN), but in the meantime it would be great if you could answer a couple of my questions. Thanks!</p>

<p>-do most students live on campus all 4 years?
-how are the study abroad programs?
-are the dorms nice?
-about how big are most classes? are the profs engaging/generate lots of discussion?
-what is a typical week like for you? typical weekend scene?
-what is the character of the student body like? (academically and socially)
-is there a lot to do in Providence? do you feel safe on campus/in the city? (small town girl, lol... had to ask)
-the area around Brown seemed very artsy when I was there. Is that a pretty accurate description? Do many students take art classes at RISD?</p>

<p>Well, I'm sorry that's so many questions. You don't have to answer them all, you can pick and choose, lol. I will probably have more over the next few days and weeks. Thanks again :)</p>

9

<p>I second allie's question about the dorms. Do freshmen live in the same dorms, or do they mix with upperclassmen? Also, how is the food/meal plans?</p>

10

<p>At Brown, you have to apply to live off-campus so mostly only seniors and some juniors won't be in the dorms. However, the majority of upperclassmen still live on-campus, and most of the apartments are within walking distance to campus. As a freshman and sophomore, everyone in your year will still be in the dorms. Yes, freshmen do have their own dorms with some upperclassmen housed in the surrounding singles.</p>

<p>I don't know much about the study abroad programs, but a good percentage of juniors spend at least a semester abroad and programs are available in most countries. The only country that I know is popular and not approved is Israel; however, I think that they might be changing Israel's status this year.</p>

<p>Each of the freshmen dorms have their own character, and for the most part are all equally good places to live and are fairly spacious. Keeney quad houses about a 1/3 of the freshman class and is therefore known to be very social and great for seeing friends since the houses are all interconnected. Hope and Littlefield are on the Main Green and close to classes. Perkins is the most isolated dorm but has one of the best communities since people bond more because of the distance. Perkins also has the highest marriage rate of all the freshmen dorms, and is the only dorm with carpet. Pembroke, which lies to the north of the Main Green, houses Andrews, Emery-Woolley (Em-Wool), Morris-Champlin (Mo-Champ), and New Pembroke 3 & 4. Andrews, nicknamed "Hotel Andrews," is one of the few dorms with an elevator and each room is equipped with a sink. Mo-Champ and Em-Wool are located right above one of the satellite gyms and the dinning hall. Both have elevators and semi-private bathrooms, which serve every two doubles. The New Pembrokes also have semi-private bathrooms and are located right on Thayer, a street with shops and food places.</p>

<p>Classes and professors vary depending on who you talk to. My first semester my largest class (a freshman seminar titled Mythscapes) had 20 people in it, my smallest class 4 (Sanskrit), and the other two 12 and 18 (Creative Nonfiction and Digital Art). Although my schedule was probably atypical compared to most freshmen, all freshmen have the opprotunity to enroll in freshmen seminars which are capped at 20 people. In addition all the writing classes are capped under 20 people. The personal attention I recieved in these classes was nice. A couple of times I've shown up to Sanskrit and had a private lesson. I also got to know my Digital Art professor very well and had lunch with him a few times. All my professors tried to encourage conversation, but I found that the quality depended mostly on the mix of the people in class and the level of interest in the topic. That being said, many of the more popular classes and intro level science courses do enroll 100-300 people, but the class is broken down into several discussion sessions led by TA's. Sometimes I wish I would have enrolled in some of the 300-people classes that "all the freshmen were taking" because its a good way to meet people and stay in touch with friends if you're taking a class together.</p>

11

<p>I don't have enough money to fly in for ADOCH from the West Coast...Barnard offered to fly me out and such for their visitation days, and I was wondering if something like that could be arranged with Brown as well.</p>

<p>Also, what's the reputation of the Art department at Brown? I was told Brown students can register for up to four courses at RISD, which seems like an interesting option.</p>

12

<p>I am trying to decide between Brown and St. Mary's College of Maryland. We can afford Brown (with a few sacrifices), but St. Mary's would be much easier financially. It is a small, public liberal arts school, and it's building a pretty good reputation. There are many smart kids there who have chosen St. Mary's over Oberlin, Georgetwon, even Princeton. Kids from there can get into the best graduate schools in the country. It would be more difficult on my parents for me to go to Brown, especially since I have a little brother who will be going to college in four years.</p>

<p>I ultimately think I can get a great education at either place, so I guess the main differences would be the money and just the experience of going to that school (and also maybe some of the character traits I would develop at either place)</p>

<p>Give me some advice? Or even just your own experience, and how you think it differs from how it would have turned out if you chose a cheaper institution?</p>

13

<p>Lewis, I would definitely call up Brown and ask them about helping to pay for your coming to ADOCH. If you mention that you are on the fence and/or that Barnard has offered and/or it is a financial hardship hopefully, they will be able to work something out. Brown students can register for upto 4 RISD classes and I think that you could petition for more if you wanted to. You should know the schedules do not coincide 100% so it is a bit hard but certainly doable. </p>

<p>One professor of Art & Arch teaches a lecture class to a packed room and gets a standing ovation at the end of every lecture. Take a look at the course catalog to get a better sense. The entire campus leans artsy. Congrats</p>

14

<p>this question is for any/all of you current Brown students:</p>

<p>What were the other colleges you were accepted to & strongly considering, and what made you choose Brown?</p>

15

<p>Wow, lots of questions! I'll answer allie_babwa's first and work back when I have more time.</p>

<p>I applied to Georgetown EA and was admitted, so I dropped my application to my safety (GW). I then applied to Tufts and Brown RD and was admitted to both. I knew from the get-go that I would rather go to Brown over Tufts, so my ultimate decision ended up being between Brown and Georgetown.</p>

<p>This ended up being an extremely difficult decision for me, because both schools had so much to offer. I wanted to study International Relations or Political Science, but since I wasn't exacty sure which I wanted to do, and since I wanted some flexibility to change my major, I applied to Georgetown College and not the School of Foreign Services. Even so, the opportunities for me being in DC were fantastic. I really wanted to go to college in a big city, and I was really excited about the idea of having congressional internships or working for non-profits or NGOs.</p>

<p>I went to ADOCH last April, though, and absolutely fell in love with Brown. I met so many incredible people who were all extremely friendly and seemed to adore the school. Ultimately, I decided that although Georgetown's location was much better than Brown's, DC would still be there when I graduated, but the opportunity to be an undergrad at Brown would never come by again. Brown as a school was just a much better fit for me, and I realized that I would simply be happier there. And it's not like I sacrificed much academically -- Brown's International Relations program is one of the best in the world, and Political Science and Public Policy are also both quite strong here.</p>

<p>At the time, it seemed like a really hard decision... but now I have absolutely no regrets. After a semester and a half at Brown, I can't imagine myself anywhere else, and although I'm sure I would have been content at Georgetown, it just doesn't compare to my experience here.</p>

<p>And as a side note... I found out after coming here that one of the plusses to living in Providence is that Rhode Island politics are really accessible. Although I would have been closer to the heart of US politics if I had gone to Georgetown, I realize now that being in Rhode Island has given me a unique opportunity to get more intimitely involved with local politics. The Brown Democrats have a lot of connections to city and state politicians and are very involved and influential here. Even though I didn't know this when I applied, it turns out that I can make more of a difference here than I could in DC.</p>

16

<p>I have a question:</p>

<p>I got accepted to Brown as well as Upenn, Harvey Mudd, and NOrthwestern...</p>

<p>I'd like to know what you think about Brown for science or math. I have always thought about being an engineer but lately have thought about doing math instead. I really don't know what I want to do, but I know it'll be in science or math. However, I also have a pretty big interest in politics/international affairs, so a Brown education would let me do that too. So my question is: I know Brown is known for being a kind of "artsy" school, but is it also good for science/math/engineering? Or am I better off at a school with allegedly more resources for the mathematically inclined?</p>

17

<p>A pretty small question that (I think) was raised a little earlier, but never really answers.</p>

<p>What kinds of stuff do students do over a typical weekend? I've talked to interviewers about this, and they always start going off about how many clubs you can join and all that, but I'm more interested in what you would be doing with your friends in your free time?</p>

18

<p>Underthebelljar, I definately feel for your situation. I chose Brown over Berkeley (in-state for me) at considerable cost and went from nearly having my education paid for to depending on the good graces of my grandparents. For me, it was never about the education as I knew both would give me an excellent one. It was important for me to get away from home and experience a different part of the world outside of my insular California bubble. At Berkeley I would have been surrounded by mainly in-staters, and I highly valued meeting and building a network of friends from around the country and also internationally. I also found the size of Brown to be a good fit for me. It's large enough that I continue to meet new people, and small enough that I run into people I know often even if we live on opposite sides of campus.</p>

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<p>You'll probably get different responses from every person you talk to, but I'll try to give you a sampling of a typical weekend. First, there's plenty to do regardless of if you drink or not, but if you want alcohol it is more than easy to find (Brown's policy on drinking is extremely lax). If you don't, it's also easy to avoid. There are parties in the frats on Wriston Fridays and Saturdays that are easy to get into and relatively cheap ($0-$3), occassionally you'll have to pay for drinks separately. Freshmen drink in the dorms as well with their friends and those gatherings are pretty chill. Most studying is typically done during the day on Saturday and then all through Sunday. There's usually some play or muscial going on in the evening. Speakers come to campus regularly, but only the high profile ones really get a large attentence. People watch DVD's in their rooms, cook in the kitchens, hang out in the lounges and late night snack places. A favorite activity of mine involves talking till sunrise with a friend in some random place on Pembroke. Most people stay on campus, except over breaks and long weekends, but people do travel to Boston and New York occassionally. Also, some clubs like Debate and Ballroom Dancing travel to other school to compete. Although I haven't much, some people go to downtown Providence for the clubs or to listen to music at the cafes. The mall is also a short 15 min walk from campus, and people go there to shop and see movies.</p>

20

<p>I applied ED to Brown, but the other schools I was considering were Haverford, Grinnell, and Northwestern (Medill). I didn't decide to apply ED to Brown until mid-October. I chose Brown over the LACs primarily because of the fact that it had a much broader selection of courses. The graduate school also helped, since I was interested in Classics, and Brown is able to offer many more advanced courses than I would find at either Grinnell or Haverford. The open curriculum was a factor too, but Grinnell also has no requirements. As far as Northwestern went, I decided that I didn't really want to be roped down to journalism school, so it was really a separate decision between Northwestern and everything else.</p>