<p>How practical and easy is it for Brown students to cross register classes with RISD, especially those especially interested in art/design?</p>
<p>I know TONS of Brown students who have taken classes at RISD. If you want to do it, it can definitely be done. That said, you do have to make taking the RISD class your first priority, because scheduling it can be difficult since RISD doesn't work in the same kinds of blocks of time as Brown's scheduling. I have never done it myself so I don't know the details of the process, but it's not just an advantage that Brown talks about on the tour--it is true in practice; lots of students do cross-register. RISD students register for Brown classes a lot, too.
A couple of the rules I can talk about...I believe there is a prerequisite Brown Visual Arts class (va10, I think?) that you have to take in order to be eligible for RISD classes, but that makes a lot of sense to me--you have to express interest in art at Brown before using the art resources at RISD. Also, by a similar token, I think you can't take a class at RISD that is available to you at a comparable level at Brown. But I haven't seen anyone who wants to take a RISD class find that they cannot do so. Friends of mine took painting, photography, drawing, sculpture...it's a very cool thing.</p>
<p>Yes, and now that there's a real movement on campus to make it easier for students, I think that our relationship with RISD will just get closer.</p>
<p>It is probably easier for the fall semester than spring semester, but you will have to show up earlier (I think? or was it the other way around, Brown stars earlier?). Anyway, I was told that it is much rarer for Brown students to enroll in RISD courses than vice versa: due to RISD's smaller class sizes and priority to native RISD students. An average of 250 RISD students will take classes at Brown each year. Less Brown kids will take classes at RISD, and out of the larger total Brown population, so it is competitive.
If someone could explain to me the differences between fall and spring term, that would be helpful. RISD has wintersession so their "3rd tri-semester" should start up around the end of the 6-week wintersession, right around the time Brown kids return from Christmas break.</p>
<p>I think the problem is (and I could be wrong on this so someone correct me if thats the case) that RISD spring classes end after Brown spring classes, so you have to hang around later. Or maybe its that RISD starts earlier in the spring so you have to come earlier then... I'm more sure that RISD starts up after Brown in the fall, so I believe that most Brown kids take RISD classes in the fall, because its much easier then. Another thing that makes it hard to take RISD classes is that they are such insane workers (its the MIT of art schools I've heard someone say) and some classes are once a week for like 6 or 8 hours. Thats hard to reconcile with the way the Brown schedule works. Hopefully they'll be able to work this out in the coming years.</p>
<p>Do you know if students can take RISD courses pass/fail?</p>
<p>this is an incredibly useful website, that can hopefully answer most of your questions</p>
<p><a href="http://risd.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://risd.brown.edu/</a></p>