<p>Thanks a lot for your advice, Uroogla</p>
<p>Heya! So recently I was thinking of double concentrating in both a science and non-science field. Taking into account that I’m considering med school, would you guys suggest I do Sc.B. & A.B., A.B. & A.B., or just drop the idea? I’m a little confused as to what these options would entail (though I know Sc.B. requires more coursework).</p>
<p>Hey guys! Do you guys know if many professors are e-reader or tablet friendly? I’ve already spent thousands (it feels like) on text books and would like to limit the amount I spend in graduate school. I’ve spoken with some friends at other schools, some had programs that were very supportive of e-books, others were not. </p>
<p>Also, should I go e-reader or tablet (Kindle vs. iPad 2, for example). My laptop is new and my phone has more bells and whistles than I know how to use, so m not sure if I need a tablet-type thing because I already have those features in my other electronics. </p>
<p>Any help is appreciated!</p>
<p>not sure about the tablets, but you can amazon/chegg your books, get amazon prime so you get extra discounts/free-shipping, and then sell the books at the end of the semester if they’re in decent condition and you’ll make a small profit.</p>
<p>Chippedtea: you can definitely double-concentrate and also be thinking about med school. Probably, the two concentrations should be ABs. You could possibly do one ScB and one AB as well; two ScBs wouldn’t really be feasible.</p>
<p>Gradgirl: just about all of us on this forum are undergraduates, so I can’t give you grad-specific information. However, I haven’t seen friends having much luck with using tablets or e-readers, as most of the books they need just aren’t available for this technology yet. I’d do as Lapras suggested and buy books on Amazon, then sell them back.</p>
<p>@bruno14: thanks so much! :)</p>
<p>What are your least favorite things about Brown? And most favorite?</p>
<p>you can also do an ScB and “an AB” where you still spend only 4 years, and your AB is technically not a 2nd degree, but just listed on your transcript (which med schools would see, and treat as an AB)</p>
<p>Least favorite things were that no one liked going to sporting events, although I hear that now that is changing, the sorority scene was really weak.</p>
<p>Favorite things: being on campus when the weather was nice, the GCB, courses/curriculum, the friends I made</p>
<p>I was gonna create a thread but I’ll post here first:</p>
<p>What happens if you miss the deadlinefor some required incoming students’ documents? My circumstances are such that I won’t be ableto get my health forms in by the required deadline of July 1st. Will I be in serious trouble if I were to send it in a bit late? Do I have to write a letter to explain my situation?</p>
<p>Call Health Services to explain the situation, but you should be fine so long as they have it before Orientation starts.</p>
<p>There’s a saying at Brown that deadlines are “optional,” and that’s true 95% of the time. (ResLife is the exception.)</p>
<p>I am really interested in Brown, but one thing worried me: there dosen’t seem to be much on the internet about fitness facilities. </p>
<p>Is there a gym at Brown with things like treadmills, ellipticals, weightlifting, rowing machines, etc? Is it really far away from the dorms or easily accessible? Does it cost money? Are there any fitness facilities in the dorms or the residential area?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Mckibski: your question was answered in the other thread. Try to not re-post the same thing twice. We’ll see your question.</p>
<p>For lab science courses, are common meetings (pre-lab sessions, right?) supposed to come directly before the lab session, or should there be a day between them so that you have time to prepare for the lab? Or is it simply personal preference?</p>
<p>It’s personal preference. Your pre-lab needs to be before your lab, but it can be right before or four days before. All your choice. Also, at least for Chem 330, you can sign up for one pre-lab but end up switching around which one you go to, depending on your schedule. I found that useful.</p>
<p>What are some handy tips to cut costs at Brown? Is it easy to get a campus job, and do they pay reasonably well? </p>
<p>I’m looking at my financial aid letter, and I’m trying to think up of ways to cut down my personal expenses and books/supplies expenses; e.g. buying 2nd hand text books.</p>
<p>Tips to cut costs: Don’t buy coffee (it really adds up). Don’t buy alcohol. Don’t buy books from the campus bookstore (I use Barnes and Noble, but there are places you can buy for less). You can avoid eating out or buying snacks (make use of the dining halls and places like the campus market or Little Jo’s - even if they are overpriced, it’s part of the meal plan rather than extra cash).</p>
<p>Brown campus jobs pay above minimum wage, and Brown’s official wage scale is good…it’s just that many departments ignore it. For example, the level of work done by a computer science TA (we’re essentially running the course) is supposed to merit $11+ an hour. We get a starting salary of $8.20. It’s pretty easy to get a job with dining services, I gather. I’m nor sure how well they pay. Most jobs seem to be in the $8.20-10.00/hr range, though. I believe that my freshman year, the BDH mentioned that for most people, campus jobs covered weekly coffee costs and not substantially more. If you want to work more hours, they’re probably there, but at some point, it will hurt your academics/social life (I reached that point last term, at an average of 15 hours a week).</p>
<p>The biggest way you can substantially cut costs is to live off campus and go off meal plan. This doesn’t apply to freshman (sorry, there’s just not a lot of ways for freshman to cut more than a few hundred dollars from their cost of attendance), but it’s something you need to think about during freshman year to do for sophomore, junior and senior years. Personally, i’d recommend against being off meal plan for sophomore year (still too many of your friends will be on it), but a huge number of juniors are off meal plan.</p>
<p>The other way I know of for people to make significant money is tutoring. Especially if you can do private tutoring of high school kids (though Brown wouldn’t arrange this, so you’d need some sort of “in”). Tutoring can get you ~$25/hr, so you could work 8-10 hrs/wk and cover some of your costs.</p>
<p>Kaplan is a great way to start out. I did MCAT, but you could start right away with SAT. I don’t know if SAT is different, but for MCAT, I started at $17/hour. For the 3 hour classes, you get 4 hours of pay since you have to show up 15 mins early and be willing to stay up to 30mins after class to answer questions (never stayed more than 10). After one course, I got a raise to $18.50/hour. Teaching 2 nights/week is easy, and I usually taught 2 nights per week plus 1 hour of tutoring/week.</p>
<p>Another on campus job that pays a little higher is with the development office (I think) in the call center making calls to alumni for donations. It’s not for everyone but if you have an outgoing personality, give that a try. It helps to have some related experience (my daughter did it for her High School) or sales background to get selected. I think the hours are convenient.</p>
<p>Just bear in mind, that research and academic jobs with profs are good relationship builders, and LOR prospects. TA is about more than the pay, in CS you are a respected member of the dept and it is a nice bonus to your grad school app if that’s where you intend to go.</p>
<p>Save money by being frugal; if it is expensive, skip a trip home (and bond with internationals!); delay laptop purchase; borrow textbooks from friends (not in same semester!)</p>
<p>So you only have to work until it starts getting in the way of socializing. Ahh, to be in college!</p>