<p>over Amherst, Cornell, NU, WUSTL, Emory and Vandy</p>
<p>over duke :)</p>
<p>actionrunner, I was in love with Wesleyan for the longest time, but my love for Brown grew with time.</p>
<p>Personally, I feel Brown's campus was nicer, Providence was nicer... it was a tough choice, but eventually, the larger amount of freedom of classes and in choosing classes at Brown won out.</p>
<p>Also, I liked that Brown was a medium size, as opposed to Wesleyan's small size.</p>
<p>wesleyan and vassar tend to attract the same romantic free-spirited artistic types that apply to brown in droves, but are usually regarded as a safer bet since admission to brown has gotten absurdly competitive</p>
<p>I chose Brown over Yale, Wesleyan, Tufts, Drew, U. of Rochester, and Queen's (in Ontario, Canada), even though the last three were academic and financial safeties. </p>
<p>Why? Yale had too much structure, and I didn't like the res college system. Wesleyan I liked a lot, but in the end, it was a bit too small, and only has DIII athletics. And Brown has so many more departments and concentrations. The others were really were for if I didn't get into Brown, Yale or Wes.</p>
<p>paperfish154, what do you mean, "Yale had too much structure" I'm a junior and I'm looking at Yale and Brown and I'd just like to know more about why you chose Brown over Yale.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is really not much of a "safer bet" than Brown anymore -- yes, it's slightly less selective, but it's becoming harder to get into. I have a friend here at Brown who was flat out rejected there.</p>
<p>brown over jhu (bme), chicago, nw, lehigh (ibe), cornell.</p>
<p>s/cornell/dartmouth. ****ing exams melt my brain</p>
<p>there are all kinds of anecdotal stories about people getting into x and getting rejected by y. by yield, admit rate, entering class stats, and cross-admit wins, wesleyan & vassar (though great schools) really don't compete w/ brown the way columbia and yale do. even amherst, williams and swarthmore cross admits (in aggregate) don't usually choose those schools over brown in the end.</p>
<p>for brown over yale</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the res colleges at yale are both a blessing and a curse. they are a huge part of the culture and create wonderful communities for first year students. still, despite the loyalty that many yale students profess for their college, many also agree that the system breaks down after the first two years. most of the friends you make (and therefore want to live with) are not those that are arbitrarily assigned to your college--they are the interesting people you meet in classes and extracurricular activities. a residential system w/ more choice is often preferred by people once they've gotten into the swing of college.</p></li>
<li><p>the distribution requirements at yale are more limiting than brown's open curriculum if you highly value autonomy over your academic experience</p></li>
</ol>
<p>dcircle wrote:</p>
<br>
<p>wesleyan & vassar (though great schools) really don't compete w/ brown the way columbia and yale do. even amherst, williams and swarthmore cross admits (in aggregate) don't usually choose those schools over brown in the end.<</p>
<br>
<p>Ten years ago statistics (based on an admittedly small sample) showed that Wesleyan took about 20% of all Brown cross-admits. My suspicion (based entirely on anecdotal evidence) is that for serious film studies and musicology students, the rate is even higher today than it was ten years ago.</p>
<p>ohhhh i just got my package from brown filled with tons of fun forms to fill out.</p>
<p>goodie goodie</p>
<p>TECHY101,</p>
<p>What I meant when I said that Yale has too much structure is basically what dcircle was talking about. For some reason, when some people love the idea of the res college system, I really didn't like it. I suppose if you go to a big school, the idea of knowing 100 or so freshman really well would be appealing, but I'm graduating with less than that, so it felt like I'd be doing high school over again. </p>
<p>Again with the requirements. I understand that there are a LOT more courses to choose from at Yale than my high school, but I felt confined by the course requirements. I spent a lot of my scheduling time figuring out what I had left that I had to fulfill, rather than what I really wanted to take. The feeling I get is that at Brown, I'd be able to do more of the latter. </p>
<p>One more thing that I liked about Brown over Yale was that it felt more like people were only at Yale to get to grad school. Maybe because there were more grad schools there, but it felt more like people were only in undergrad because they had to, to get to grad school. I'm not saying that grad school/goals to go to grad school are a bad thing, it's just that the feeling I got is that people at Brown are more appreciative and happy with their experience as an undergrad, rather than using it as a stepping stone. </p>
<p>I don't know if you want me to go on, but I have a lot on the subject, seeing that my decision came down to Brown, Yale and Wesleyan. And just for the record, I applied to Yale EASC. That was mostly because it was the only school on my list that had a non-binding program, and I wanted to know something before April 1. </p>
<p>If you want more info/perception still, let me know on this forum. Or PM me, either one.</p>
<p>paperfish154, </p>
<p>thanks for clarifying that for me. It would be great if you could tell me all the reasons why you chose brown over yale. Thanks a lot</p>
<p>Wow, okay. Well, this is about as complete a list of my reasons that I can remember. Therefore, probably the more important reasons, for me at least. </p>
<p>1) the whole Yale has requirements, and Brown doesn't</p>
<p>2) not really a fan of the residential colleges</p>
<p>Hmmm, of the more obscure, less talked about reasons, a lot of them were about the type of people that I met at each school. As I mentioned before, the people at Yale seemed to be more "in transition" than at Brown. It might have been a misperception, but that's what I felt. </p>
<p>Despite the residential colleges with the gothic architecture, etc. the campus felt really disjointed. There are more major streets, city bus routes, etc. running through Yale's campus than Brown's. Because of that, it seemed more like Brown is in a quieter area, is a more cohesive campus. It's a little more calming, less stressful trying to walk from the library to your dorm, or wherever, at Brown. While I'm talking about atmosphere, well, I don't know what your financial situation is, but the shops/restaurants, etc. around Yale seemed much more high-end, out-of-my-reach-as-a-college-student. I don't know, it made me feel out of place, and slightly uncomfortable. The feeling at Brown was much more laid back, more like I wouldn't have to work hard to fit in. The people that I saw at Yale (and I'm going to get yelled at for this, I know) seemed to all/most fit into a more prep-school kind of genre, even though the public/private ratio is about the same at the two schools. </p>
<p>Hmmm, what else? Well, you should know, I'm from a really rural town in VT. So, despite the fact that some of the residential colleges have courtyards, the old campus has a green, etc. I didn't feel like there was enough greenspace/trees at Yale. What I think it might be is the location of the campus up on the hill from Providence, rather than on the level of the rest of the city in New Haven. </p>
<p>And because I think that you've probably/ or probably will see all of the aforementioned stuff on the campus, I'm going to try and touch a little on the actual academic/living sort of thing. Apart from the requirements, I've heard that the attitude of Brown students is collaborative, rather than competitve. I may be wrong, but it is the feeling I got. </p>
<p>I know that really didn't seem like much information, maybe you could ask me questions? Like if you are more or less concerned about certain areas. </p>
<p>The other thing is that you're a junior, right? Apply to both, see where you get in, and then if you still have to weigh your options, then think about all of this more in depth. Don't stress too much now, until you know where you get in.</p>