<p>Both schools have good neuro programs so you can’t go wrong. last summer, my son worked with top neurosurgeons at a highly rated hospital in NYC and coincidentally, both interns were from Brown. So although Brown is ranked a bit lower overall as a school, it didn’t seem to matter. Brown seems to be a bit misunderstood, though, by some people. Some will tell you it’s easy to get As or you don’t have to even get grades (just take all your classes pass/fail). But the people who state these things have never actually attended Brown. Do NOT attend Brown expecting classes to be easy. My son was a top student, top scores, top GPA, top 1-2%, 5s on almost all 9 APs and believe me, he works for his grades. Perhaps not as much as he should, but much harder than in HS. But I don’t expect him to study 24/7. Brown kids mix books with fun. But as a neuro major, you should expect to spend a lot of time in the SciLi(brary). As far as pass/fail, realize you will need letter grades when applying to med school. You may or may not want to take some exploratory classes pass/fail such as learning a new language or trying a new passion (art or theatre or rocket science). Pass/fail is a nice option to reach toward something that may be a bit out of your comfort zone but it intrigues you. As a pre-med you don’t want to risk a B or even a C, so at a traditional school, you’d probably decide to skip it, to prevent getting a blemish on your transcript. Brown offers flexibility, support and freedom to create your own curriculum (within the restraints of fulfilling neuro and pre-med requirements).</p>
<p>Since both schools have strong neuro programs, I suggest you base your decision on non academic factors, such as location (how difficult is travel, how expensive), weather (Duke is much easier to like), fun factor (Duke Greek/sports oriented, Brown barely Greek/sports barely attended, you certainly won’t find students sleeping out for tickets to any sports event), campus (Duke much larger and beautiful but split with freshman on one side and upperclassmen on the other, could be a good thing or not depending on your view, busses transport students from one side to the other: Brown smaller campus, more cityish with streets running through campus but still plenty green, has diversity in buildings), dorms (Don’t know about Duke, Brown: not fancy but all types/floorplans and different locations around campus (lottery system), my son had a semi-private bathroom freshman year and lived in a suite 2nd year but he lived in a tradional style dorm with large shared bathroom during a summer session, housing is guaranteed all four years I believe), college relationship with town/city (when touring Duke, we were told by students and admin of “problems” between townspeople and students, only worsened by the wrongly accused lacrosse rape incident; Brown has a strong volunteer commitment within the city, seems to have built a good relationship), ease of getting off campus without a car (Duke has little to nothing to walk to, Brown has Thayer Street (restaurants, stores), the Providence Mall, the bus/train station, basicallly a small city right there with free transportation, easy access to NYC and Boston, close to Cape Cod and RI beaches).</p>
<p>My son was in the same boat two years ago, deciding between Brown PLME, Duke and Yale. He chose Brown. But he felt all three were good choices or he wouldn’t have applied. He loves Brown but he recommends you choose the school that fits you the best. You can succeed at Duke or Brown, but like most things in life, you will do your best when you’re happy and less stressed, Remember, med school is the destination but take time to enjoy the journey.</p>