Hello,
I am highly interested in applying for Brown’s undergraduate program. I am most concerned about Brown students’ work/life balance. Specifically, I am asking former/current Brown undergraduates how happy and balanced they felt/feel during their studies.
Thank you!
I am a former student (former as in 25 years ago so take this with a grain of salt, or 2). One of the more remarkable memories I had of my time at Brown was the wide range of academic experiences students were able to have while all being undergrads at the same school. There are no requirements and concentrations (majors) ranged from somewhat rigid to downright flimsy. At Brown, and I have no reason to think this has changes as I think the place prides itself on this fact, a person can have whatever balance between fun and school he/she chooses. 2 friends upstairs were both engineering track guys (1 later left) and they had pretty demanding, constant problem sets and spent a lot of time working together in the libraries. Most of my friends studied quite hard during the day and after dinner but always had time to hang out and have some fun. It was not out of the ordinary for students to study for a couple hours Friday or Saturday after dinner before going out . That said, there were some students who I don’t believe studied much at all. The academic freedoms allowed some to follow a pathway where they could step from easy class to easy class and end up with a degree. That is also the spirit of the place- you are in charge of your own learning (or lack of it).