<p>I want to major in Environmental studies and possibly bio-engineering - would I have a lot of options to do study and research at Brown in this field? How into sustainability is the school itself and the students?</p>
There are plenty of small stores on and around Thayer Street. Many are clothing/shoe stores, but not all. As for university student hangouts, the Blue Room and its building are intended to be student hangouts; students are often in there working, socializing and eating (they serve Kabob and Curry evenings, which is very popular). A few students will hang out in JWW (the mailroom). The dining halls, particularly Jo’s, the Ivy Room, and the Gate, are popular hangout spaces too. Some students go to the libraries to socialize. There aren’t a ton of places specifically set aside for that purpose, but they exist. I’m not incredibly familiar with the coffee shops around campus; there’s Blue State Coffee near Pembroke campus, Starbucks in the middle of campus, Au Bon Pain (if you call that a coffee shop) in the middle, and Tealuxe in the northern half. Most of the dining halls sell coffee too. I don’t drink tea or coffee, so I can’t comment on how good any of these places are, and I’m sure I’m missing at least one. As for trees and green…the main green is nice. There are some greens on campus like that. Pembroke campus has a nice field with trees. For a city, I’d say there’s a reasonable amount of trees. However, I live in a house with woodlands in my backyard. To me, Providence is dreadfully grey, dull, and lifeless. I’m not a city person at all.</p>
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I’m not really qualified to talk about Environmental studies research (though keep in mind that any ScB requires you do at least a semester of research), but…</p>
<p>One thing that Brown is proud of is how, in the past year, they’ve stopped selling bottled water on campus for sustainability and health reasons. I’ve definitely heard some visiting parents complain. The effectiveness of this maneuvre can be argued, since bottled water is sold quite cheaply at stores like CVS, which are in the middle of campus. Some departments insist that you use bottled water because of lead issues in the water, though. I’ve definitely been told off by many people for refusing to drink tap water and buying bottled water instead. Just an anecdote; I don’t have much more information on that front.</p>
Here are some numbers that begin to answer your questions:</p>
<p>"Brown currently enrolls approximately 5,900 undergraduates from all 50 states and 93 countries.
52% of undergraduates are female, 48% male.
About 29% of undergrads are people of color.
10% hail from abroad.
The graduation rate within 6 years is 95%.
80% of all undergraduates live in residence halls.
9% of students belong to fraternities or sororities; there are 12 fraternities, and 5 sororities.
1542 graduates in the Class of 2008:</p>
<p>California, New York, and Massachusetts are by far the three most represented states, each with approximately 10% of Brown’s population. New England and the Mid-Atlantic make up 50% of the school’s population.</p>
<p>In Fall 2009, here was an approximate racial breakdown:
American Indian or Alaska Native <1%
White 47%
Asian 14%
Two or More Races 2%
Black or African American 5%
Unknown 10%
Hispanic/Latino 8%
International (citizenship) 14%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander <1%</p>
<p>The Brown curriculum is as challenging as you want it to be. I found the standard courseload of 4 courses to be too easy, so I’ve taken 5 courses every term since Freshman Fall, with all of my courses for a grade. This takes up a good amount of time, since most of my courses require 10-20 hours of outside preparation a week. I’ve found grading to be extremely lenient, but that doesn’t change that I’ve learned quite a bit in my classes. Brown is not immensely competitive between students, which might have shaped my views somewhat - I went to an incredibly competitive high school, so I’m missing the stress that such an environment causes. It’s possible to coast along for 4 years without challenging oneself, but why would one do that?</p>
<p>The thing about Brown I like most is that I’ve been able to double major in supposedly unrelated fields, while using my few electives to connect them. (The downside, of course, is that I don’t get many electives, and I don’t have time to take many more than the minimum number of courses for each concentration, which might cause me issues when applying to grad school or looking for a job. Not everything can be planned for (though without any planning, you may find yourself wasting your time.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by “international style of music,” but I think that you could probably modify the ethnomusicology requirements to fit the degree. A friend of mine is a music major, and from what I understand, the electives can spin in many directions, so long as you fulfill the core concentration requirements!</p>
<p>(Oh, and I’m thefunnything '13Cognitive Science.)</p>
<p>Sportfreak93: just to add to what thefunnything said, I’m probably going to be a Bio/Music major and I’ll still have room for other courses. You should definitely look at the ethno music major.</p>
<p>So… how often, if at all, do you guys run into Emma Watson? Does she have a cult-like following there, or are most students mature enough to respect her privacy, etc? I ask out of curiosity… and because I think the reaction to a resident celebrity will speak a bit to the mindset of the student body as a whole (but mostly just out of curiosity).</p>
<p>^ most people get really excited and might smile to their friends if she walks by, but no one screams at her or harasses her. It seems like most people are mature enough to respect her privacy, but she did say in an interview that she felt overwhelmed at times. I know I respect her (and other “famous” people’s) space at least, and I’ve come into contact with a few of the more well-known people on campus.</p>
<p>Could any of you tell me about your experiences with Literary Arts/Comparative Literature/Linguistics/Literatures and Cultures in English? I think that’s the direction I’ll be going in at Brown.</p>
<p>The CogSci DUG and the Linguistics DUG have merged… sort of… but most of the stuff that gets out is linguistics-related. I can try to change that if I figure out who’s in charge of the DUG.</p>
<p>pleinelune,</p>
<p>I also do linguistics, so I can help you there. The classes here are typically very theory-based (after Intro Linguistics, most of the classes are semantic/syntactical/phonological theory). There are classes offered in other departments that offer a linguistic perspective on other topics (History of Language x in the Language x Department, Linguistic Anthropology in the Anthropology Department) If you concentrate in comp lit/translation, you’ll have to take a linguistics class (either History of English Language, Linguistic Anthropology, or Intro Linguistics). I really like the linguistics classes, theoretical or otherwise. Linguistic theory courses tend to be very abstract, problem set or project-based, and, depending on the nature of the course, may require interaction with large data sets. History of the English Language did not expect a background in linguistics, making it accessible for non-concentrators. Good stuff!</p>
<p>My googling is failing me. I’m trying to find a list of every course offered at Brown. Is this restricted to current/accepted students? If not, do any of you know where I could find it?</p>
<p>Do you know of anyone in your circle(s) at Brown who found it helpful to be interviewed by a Trustee of Brown who then wrote a letter of support?</p>
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