<p>Since people are making decisions soon I decided to take questions that perspective students may have.</p>
<p>A little bit about myself: I am currently a sophomore (rising junior) at Brandeis. My major is Neuroscience B.S. with a minor in film. I work in one of the labs on campus doing protein work but am moving to a lab that is more neuroscience focused. I am part of one of the improvisational comedy troupes on campus and am part of the film making community on campus. I also do various cultural related performances and activities. </p>
<p>I am pre-med and recently applied to the Tufts Early assurance program.</p>
<p>Alright, from housing and dining to class schedules and anything else, I’ll try my best to answer questions.</p>
<p>I know that in the past Brandeis has taken a lot of students off the waitlist. I know about 10-15 in my year that were off waitlist (including myself) and that’s just out of the people I know. </p>
<p>I believe this year Brandeis is accepting less students than it has the previous year ('11-'12) mostly because of the large current freshman class. I expect less people getting waitlist acceptances but there is still a chance.</p>
<p>My advice to you is if you accept being put on the waitlist make sure to put a deposit at somewhere else (I put my deposit at BU). Also, send in supplementary materials with the waitlist paper, I sent in 2 strong recommendation and a paper with with comments from my senior English teacher. Don’t overdo it but show that you care.</p>
<p>I can’t remember but it was some time after the deadline for deposits (2-3 weeks?). I was notified by mail, one night my dad gave me a large envelope from Brandeis when I totally thought I was set for BU. It was a very happy surprise!</p>
<p>how smooth is the transition for a typical transfer? Do you know what typical housing is like for a transfer? I understand you yourself are not a transfer, but any transfer input you may offer based on your peers’ experiences would be great!</p>
<p>Although this may be a little out of your field, do you know much about the music program? My sister’s friend did not enjoy her time there in the jazz vocal department. That’s not what I’m planning to go into, but I’m worried regardless.</p>
<p>Might as well get in on this. I’m a current freshman (rising sophomore), going for a computer science B.S. and linguistics. I’m also taking Arabic. I do various cultural things (I’m going to take a wild guess and assume tomphn was in Culture X too) and I’m on the staff of Gravity magazine, which is the university satire and humor publication.</p>
<p>@transfers: I have 2 transfer friends in my Arabic class. As far as I understand, they both transferred over with sophomore standing and lived in the sophomore dorm, East. I know that if you’re over a certain age (21?), you get put in the upperclassmen housing lottery, where the nice dorms are. Both of them are really glad they transferred. I don’t remember where they transferred from, but the schools were both in Massachusetts.</p>
<p>@meal plans: I’m on the 14 meals a week plan, which is the cheapest and fits me. Most people I know are on the 10 meals a week plan (which gives 500 points to be used on any food item + the meals), or they’re lucky and have kitchens, so they don’t need to be on a meal plan.</p>
<p>How is Brandeis’ need based financial aid? I’m from New York, and I’m doubtful that my parents can cover tuition, room, and board with an EFC of ~$8000.</p>
<p>Sorry that I haven’t been quick on replies. I just finished up a couple of exams! (Hello Autumncomet!)</p>
<p>Skibloom: The transfer experience varies between person to person. Out of the transfers I know they’ve had a tough time in the beginning but as the transitioned into campus life it became a lot easier and a great experience. One transfer I know, transferred from U. Pitt., had a rough time at first but as she made friends and found her circle it was great. I truly believe Brandeis has a group for everyone, there will be a place here for you.</p>
<p>I think if you are sociable and warm in your first week at college and really try to reach out to people than you will have a wonderful transition. However, the school will try to put you with others of your year, e.g. East if you are a sophomore but if there is no room they may put you with Freshman. I know a transfer who lives upstairs from where I am (East) and another transfer who lives in a freshman building (North). If you are put in a freshman building it could be problematic to build relationships with your year but if you are sociable I don’t think it’ll be a problem. People are generally nice and approachable at Brandeis so it won’t be that difficult striking conversation with new people.</p>
<p>TLDR: be nice, social, warm, outreaching in your first week and once you find your niche or
circle, you’ll be fine. Transfers I know are happy they transferred.</p>
<p>Trofast1004: I’ll be honest I don’t know much about the music program so take my answer with a grain of salt. But from the music majors I know I haven’t heard of a complaint in any of the departments.</p>
<p>Robinpoohg: First, I do not recommend the 21-meal plan. If you don’t plan on eating breakfast it’s essentially a waste. After that, It depends on your preferences. I opted for the 10 meal 525 points. Points will allow you more options in C-store (campus convenience store), einsteins, etc. It’s a bit more expensive than the 14 meal plan. But I think the added flexibility outweighs the cost. The 14 meal 20 points plan is if you want a slightly cheaper option with less choice.</p>
<p>attribute: The policy has changed since I’ve applied as a freshman. The policy now states that they will meet full need until the funds run out, giving priority to those that have the most need. I think you will be in that range of having more need than most people so I don’t think this policy will affect you. That being said, Brandeis is amazing on financial aid because it is a full-need/need-blind school. I have an EFC=0000 and I received a $40,000 need-based grand from Brandeis. With state and federal need-based aid, the only financial aid I needed to pay back was a $3000 federal subsidize loan.</p>
<p>Could you tell me a little more about the film making community? How would i go about getting involved in that? the improv troupe sounds pretty cool too. What are the time commitments on that? I’ve just got a lot of activities I’m interested in and a little worried I’m going to have to drop most of them.</p>
<p>You can get involved in the film community by helping with other people’s projects or starting your own project. The film program is mostly about analyzing film and studying theory. So a lot of students do their own projects out of their own volition or the faculty and students will do a project over the summer, or work together and do a project over the semester (e.g. a 20 minute short film was produced by faulty and students last summer). I’m not sure if you guys have seen this but this is a fairly popular comedic video from my friend at Brandeis:</p>
<p>We have a media lab on the bottom floor of the library where you can rent out DSLR’s and other film equipment along with 20+ computers with FCP7. People advertise when they need help with sound, lighting, producers, actors and actresses, etc. so it’s not hard to get involved! I make my own short films with a friend on campus purely for fun and have gotten to known a lot of great people because of it.</p>
<p>In terms of improv, you audition in the fall for one of the four improv troupes. Time commitments range from 3-5 hours a week + shows. I think I average about 7 hours a week. </p>
<p>Don’t worry! I haven’t made many sacrifices in terms of activities and if you really want to do a bit of everything you can. A lot of people are in 1-2 clubs/activities but there are people that are in 5+. It really depends on how much you want to put into it.</p>
<p>How hard is it to have the close relationships with professors- i.e. have lunch or great conversations, that I’ve seen at some of my other top choices, like Colby and Middlebury? It seems harder or less common at Brandeis due to larger classes. Also how do top graduate schools, like Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford look at a Brandeis education? Thank you!</p>
<p>I don’t think it is that difficult to have a close relationship with your professors. I’m actually going to lunch with one of them this week. It takes an email usually. I see my other professors sometimes at lunch with various students. If you are looking for a close relationship with a professor it is definitely doable and even encouraged. The school sponsors “lunch with your professor” days where you can request a lunch with a professor. There’s events that promote student-professor relationship. Two weeks ago there was the “Hoops for Haiti” event, a basketball game that pitches faculty members against students to raise money for Haiti.</p>
<p>I don’t think there are any hard statistics for where Brandeis students get in. I want to say that Brandeis is looked favorably. We always do have graduates that go to top professional schools and graduate schools. A friend of mine recently was accepted to Harvard Med. If you do well here I’m sure you will get in to a top graduate school --if that is what you want.</p>