Current Brown students taking questions!

<p>^Avoiding burnout is generally a good thing, and for many people, this involves having some sort of a social life. I am not considering jobs that would take 80+ hours a week for that reason.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the responses! This is really helpful</p>

<p>I’ve got another question, this time about the Pre-Orientation Programs. I have to choose between UCAAP and the International Orientation. Any thoughts about each of these programs?</p>

<p>Keynesian: how international are you? If you’re in Canada, then I’d skip the int’l orientation if you really want to go to UCAAP. If you’re somewhere that coming to Brown will be a bit of a culture shock, I’d go to it. Also, I’ve heard international orientation is a great place to meet awesome people.</p>

<p>You can definitely do both the programs together – IMP’s extremely flexible.</p>

<p>Brit, and I’ve lived in a boarding school as well. So it’s not a cultural shock at all.</p>

<p>Not this year. They said explicitly in their email that you can only do one or the other, and that we won’t even have time to spend with our families. My parents are coming so I feel kinda bad just leaving them by themselves…</p>

<p>keynesian: they said we, as internationals, can do both without missing the required session in IMP :)</p>

<p>Does anyone understand the lottery for CAPS and FYS? It says on the website that you will find out whether you have gotten one of the classes you requested in the lottery in July. Does that mean you automatically enter the 2nd lottery to ensure getting one of your requested classes? Thanks for any and all clarification.</p>

<p>When does the second lottery start? It should start after you find out the results of the first lottery.</p>

<p>The second lottery starts tomorrow. Do you perhaps remember the method by which you received which FYS you were in?</p>

<p>The second round lottery begins on June 24th, yet the website states that you will get information on the CAPS and FYS in July. So would you just enter the second lottery based on the fact that you have no results from the first? Very confusing!</p>

<p>The deadline to sign up for the second round is in July, so you might know by then. The lottery also seems to be for people who missed the first deadline, which might explain why it’s open now. I’d suggest e-mailing a dean, but my attempts to do so when I was an incoming freshman were greeted with silence - it was rather off-putting.</p>

<p>Thanks! You guys are awesome and extremely helpful!</p>

<p>The website was updated today to include a “placements” tab letting you know which CAP and FYS you received in the first round lottery. Thanks again.</p>

<p>I was placed into both a Spring CAP and Spring FYS! However, I’m having second thoughts on my CAP course (it was my last choice)…would I be able to opt-out of the course? Has the professor already been assigned as my advisor?</p>

<p>The professor’s your advisor, but you can drop the class. I dropped my CAP class. Don’t worry about it too much, it’s not that big of a deal. Your schedule is bound to change around during the first few days you get to Brown.</p>

<p>Hi Keynsian!</p>

<p>I am actually an IMP mentor for this upcoming year - so I can answer questions about IMP quite well. Obviously I am biased, however, IMP is an amazing program where you meet amazing people. While I was familiar with the US system, I still loved IMP because it allowed me to meet people with such diverse, interesting backgrounds. I remember eating lunch once with four of my friends: one from Bhutan, another from Poland, another from Zimbabwe, and finally one from Brazil. I learned so much about those cultures; we all brought alternative, interesting perspectives on different issues, which created such an insightful and enjoyable conversational, while still sharing the mutual bond of being international. It was simply fantastic. If possible, I highly recommend you go!</p>

<p>Four questions: </p>

<p>How do Brown students get around to various stores? I heard talk of free bus transportation to Brown students.</p>

<p>Where does everyone store their belongings over the summer?</p>

<p>Is the Bed Linen Value Package (the $200 one) a rip-off? </p>

<p>How uncomfortable are the dorm beds?</p>

<p>Zulatooka–</p>

<p>If I remember correctly, Brown sponsors a couple of trips down to the Providence Place Mall (about a 15-minute walk from campus) during Orientation so students can buy sheets/supplies/etc. Bed, Bath, and Beyond, among other stores, have fairly cheap linen packages (much less than $200).</p>

<p>I’ve slept on a dorm bed for two years without a mattress pad, and I’m fine. Then again, my mattress at home is pretty firm, so I’m accustomed to “uncomfortable” mattresses. Most of my friends got a piece of foam or a small pad to tuck between the mattress and the sheets, but I don’t think it’s necessary.</p>

<p>RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transportation Association) offers free bus service to all students with a valid Brown idea. So… you can travel any RIPTA route you’d like for free. You could also walk or bike places; Providence is good with that.</p>

<p>At the end of the year, storage companies will advertise on campus. I’ve never stored anything, but I hear the rates are relatively inexpensive.</p>

<p>This might sound like a really stupid question but I’ve started to visit colleges and this is kind of bothering me lol. What’s the student to bug ratio in the dorms??</p>

<p>I personally use two foam pads underneath my mattress pad, and it ends up incredibly comfortable (more so than my own bed, really). I’m sleeping on a practically identical bed without any mattress pads this summer (working at a boarding school), and I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable, but I occasionally wake up with thigh or back pain.</p>

<p>And…student to bug ratio? I haven’t really had bugs in my dorm room. A wasp did get in my freshman year, and I’m sure there are occasional flies or ants, but that’s pretty much all I’ve seen.</p>