The brand new engineering research center was an $88M project
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2017/10/researchcenter
There are many other projects recently completed and underway, easily found on their website to avoid any misinformation:
https://www.brown.edu/facilities/projects/current/active-projects-list
https://www.brown.edu/facilities/projects/building-brown/capital-projects/in-progress
@lizzy1234, one of my sons graduated from brown in 2015 and chose it over Penn, uchicago, washu in small part because he preferred the campus and liked Providence. He ended up loving both the school and the not just providence, but also narragansett where there’s a gorgeous beach. He also visited Boston/Cambridge a number of times for things academic, like conferences, and social, like parties.
Providence is a pretty cool city with amazing food and art. I love the restaurants on Hope Street, on Broadway (Nick’s on Broadway is outstanding), on Wickenden (the Duck and Bunny is so much fun), and of course Al Forno’s, although that’s a restaurant that most students will only go to with parents. Risd’s museum is a jewel, and Brown’s List Gallery hosts fascinating exhibitions. So does Brown’s Library that’s on the main green. Additionally, brown has leading student theater and really terrific stand-up comedy. Providence itself has the Trinity Repertory Company, one of the leading regional theater companies in the US. The Providence Civic Center attracts major bands and other sites attract indie music.
While all of this is true, I think it’s also true that brown attracts such a swath of talented students because of its strength in myriad departments, from stem to theater, that the campus is hopping with so many student-run events. My kid had a ball.
Here’s a recent article in Vogue magazine that touts Providence’s charms:
@“Idaho Father”: First I suggest you read a recent blog on Brown Daily Herald written by a girl in Engineering (not Chemical Eng) – http://post.browndailyherald.com/2018/03/15/the-new-generation/ .She wrote “…Brown University must be doing something right because we all feel like this is a place for us.” While you are there, join a Physical Sciences Tour to see for yourself. (https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/content/physical-sciences-tour)
When choosing a school for engineering degrees, you must make sure the program has ABET Accreditation. Brown’s Chemical and Biochemical as well as Materials are both ABET Accredited. (https://www.brown.edu/academics/engineering/abet-accreditation) I can see the program is not in the traditional sense. (https://www.brown.edu/academics/engineering/undergraduate-study/concentrations/chemical-and-biochemical-engineering).
UC Berkeley has a College of Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering is part of that college. Most top universities have a Engineering School and Dept. of Chemical Engineering is part of that school. You can use UC Berkeley as a reference point to see what #1 is doing. However, doing a engineering degree at UC Berkeley would be a totally different experience compared to Brown. See the sample course plan at the Brown’s Chemical Eng link , you will see it is pretty intense where-ever you go to get a engineering degree. Brown has 100 students graduated with a engineering degree last year. (https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/institutional-research/factbook/degrees-and-completions – click undergraduate completion tab) You do want to make sure the program you choose offers the courses your son is interested in. Best luck and enjoy your trip.
@nrtlax33 : Thanks much for the link to the blog; look forward to reading that! We’ll go through both the sciences and the engineering program; hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to speak with a department head or faculty member (my wife has scheduled, so not sure what all is in store).
Am familiar with ABET, although not exactly clear on what trade-offs one makes with a concentration vs major; I’m sure we’ll cover that at some point along the way. Brown’s open curriculum is quite appealing to our daughter, who would like to jump into things and not have to work through a seemingly endless course of general education/core-type requirements.
Quite familiar with rigor of engineering programs in general (older daughter is in engineering at Stanford and loves it). While I doubt she’ll consider UCB, Illinois is on the list mainly due to its strength and history in materials engineering. All in all, I think she’ll do better in a bit smaller environment, however, hence Brown’s appeal. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!
^^^ There is no difference between a “concentration” and a “major.” Brown and some of the other Ivies simply refer to majors as concentrations. It’s the same thing.
@Gourmetmom : thanks for your input. Had a very good visit at Brown on Monday, despite not being able to meet students or attend class as they were on spring break. Seemed a good fit with our daughter’s interests, and she was able to have an impromptu chat with a junior who just happened to be on campus; those are invaluable in terms of sizing up the culture and fit for a prospective student–much more so than a tour and info session.
Do Brown and RISD students hang much with each other? What about Brown and Providence College students?
There is some interaction between Brown and RISD, although not much. Because of the Brown-RISD program, there are a handful of students who are present in both schools. And Brown students attend some RISD events, and RISD students will go to Brown parties.
PC is on the other side of town. The only interaction I ever saw was when both Brown and PC students were working on a political campaign.
So RISD and Providence kids don’t party around Brown’s campus or vice versa?
@lizzy1234 : your question can be asked in regard to Harvard and BU. Brown has a small fraternity community. Unlike Eating Club in Princeton, there is no “center of social life on campus”. So it is hard to find parties which dominate the campus scene. The one thing common to students in Brown, RISD, and Providence College is that they can all use their ID to visit RISD museum – free year-round admission. Obviously everyone is free to walk around.
@Lizzy1234: Some people from RISD definitely hang out with Brown students, and vice versa. Quite rare for anyone from PC or JWU, just because they’re physically further away.
@lizzy1234 My brother runs a lab at Brown (after moving from Harvard) with a large group of students working for him over the years and DD is a sophomore at RISD so we have some insight into the “party” atmosphere of the college kids on the hill (they’re too far away from the other two schools to interact much - whereas Brown and RISD’s campus are right next to each other).
The RISD kids who want to socialize and attend Brown events have no trouble doing so and many of the more social/extroverted ones do hang out with Brown students (RISD students can use the gym facilities & take classes there, join clubs etc). HOWEVER, the RISD kids spend a brutal amount of time in the studios…and they’re not usually very ‘typical’ in terms of college socializing and weekend partying. They can’t expect to survive/pass their classes at RISD if their focus is all social. They DO party, but it tends to be more localized and not the Thursday-Sunday of some college campuses. Also most RISD kids aren’t the frat/sorority types. It’s not their vibe. My kid’s not a partier, but she uses Brown gyms and library, and is very fond of their tech lab and it’s laser cutter - no 2week waiting list like RISD!
Years ago we toured both schools with DD and the students on the Brown tour talked about how hard RISD students work and how they’re always in the studio. They weren’t exaggerating!
Also re new buildings, both campuses are in historic districts. There’s a lot of very delicate negotiations that go on with the community whenever a new building is needed for either college. And generally the vibe of any Ivy is ‘older is better’. They may build new structures, but they’re not often tearing ones down. And there’s usually not a huge sports franchise bringing in the millions.
I’ve been a corporate recruiter for several years in NYC. Brown definitely has the cache.