<p>Yeah, it is the prestige that attracts a ton of people to Harvard. I myself am thinking of doing my grad at Harvard just because of its prestige. LOL</p>
<p>I mentioned undergraduate ...not graduate schools. The graduate schools I understand are fantastic.</p>
<p>If I had the option of going to any Ivy League school I wanted (so plausible haha) I would pick Dartmouth or Brown over Harvard or Yale any day. Dartmouth has one of the best undergraduate programs, in my opinion. Members of my family and family friends I've talked to rave about Dartmouth.</p>
<p>any chance you were confusing it with this thread?</p>
<p>they are both top notch schools, however, the cities that they are in are very different, the system is different (brown has some kind of open cirriculum), and the people are different. i know some who chose brown over schools that are ranked higher probably because after being SO uptight and hardcore in high school, he just wanted to be at a more laid back school without the snobby/preppy factor... i bet brown has a lot of wealthy kids as well, but ivy leagues are known to accept the brightest, but also some of the wealthier people, because those poeple can afford to go to private hs and so on.</p>
<p>meh, idn why anyone would choose brown over harvard... harvard's name is enough to get you pretty much anywhere (including brown's grad school if you decide you don't like harvard :P)</p>
<p>Reading this was great.</p>
<p>Harvard Students write: Why I will rule the World
Yale Students write: Why I should rule the World
Princeton Students write: Why Daddy's money rules the World
Brown Students write: Why I DO rule the World</p>
<p>I think as someone who has recently become a fan of Brown University, it just shows you the philosophy behind many of the students who attend Brown. I have no idea if its the school that does it to the kids, or the kids they pick, but the kids seem to have a very open, tolerant, real, and positive outlook towards life, and essentially what matters in life. The definition of success at Brown is completely redefined, if you know what I mean. Success isn't like the kids who go to Penn and follow the pre-professional path, for example money, career, etc. Success has alot to do with your happiness and your commitment to using your strenghths and passions, whatever they may be, to affect the world in a positive way. And people say Princeton Review lists aren't anything, but it has to be saying something when Brown is consistently ranked in the top two spots for happiest students. Sure its a statistic, but honestly if theres any statistic you want to believe before deciding on a college, its that. Happiness has to mean EVERYTHING to a person when applying to a college. Why, would you let anything else trump your decision? Of course, besides financial aid. And people hold these notions, that you must be a little different or strange to fit in with the Brown crowd, but that's exactly the opposite of what kids there say. When you're there you supposedly realize that because people there are different, anyone can fit in as long as they are comfortable living in an environment that tolerates and promotes diversity in not only race, gender, sexual orientation, and class, but more importantly the diversity of THOUGHT. There is no stereotypical Brown kid, there really isn't. You can fit in, as long as you allow others to fit in also. </p>
<p>I feel like I'm a walking advertisement for the school, but honestly, why would I write this at 2:22 AM if I didn't fully believe it? Sure its not HYP in prestige, but people are so satisfied with their decisions to attend that school, that I feel assured that it is a good place to be. And personally the idea of intellectual exploration trumps pre-professionalism any day at a college. </p>
<p>People who are AWAKE in this world attend Brown. Sure they get a lot of criticism from outsiders for their Open Curriculum, but I have not heard a single complaint, in fact only praises, from people who actually experience it. Whereas I have heard numerous complaints about Core Curriculums and Requirements at the other Ivy Leagues from people experiencing them. That shows something, doesn't it? You're going to learn best when you're learning the things you want to learn, and when people have a little more faith in other people, you can stop worrying over the fact that they may only take one science class and seven history classes. So what? That person is making the independent and personal decision to do that, because they WANT to learn a certain topic that is offered. </p>
<p>I think Brown's greatest gift is creating or simply adding to people who are intellectually, emotionally, and philosophically very strong and outspoken people. People who are conscience human beings. </p>
<p>Not to say those schools aren't good also. Because, actually they are fantastic. But I think the thing that always sells me is the Happiness factor. Yale comes in a close second, though. </p>
<p>Check out this website: <a href="http://www.**************.com%5B/url%5D">www.**************.com</a>
It gives a percentage for each school with the number of kids who who would come back to that school, and its quite interesting what you will find. Also look at the number of positive versus negative reviews for the schools, and read THEM. seriously, it gives you a lot of insight to the schools. People may find it crap, but this is one of the resources I found to be very helpful in realizing what a strong school Broown was and is.</p>
<p>"Harvard Students write: Why I will rule the World
Yale Students write: Why I should rule the World
Princeton Students write: Why Daddy's money rules the World
Brown Students write: Why I DO rule the World"</p>
<p>I recommend that you avoid generalizing large student bodies like this. It's not necessarily smart or accurate. And I don't think you can be one to talk, when you haven't even been to Brown yet. What gives you the authority to make such claims?</p>
<p>And people find that website crap (and I can tell which one it is) because it simply is. Sure, it contains some good information, among lots of bad information. It's like talking to a few people who may or may not have gone to the school you're interested in. If you're going to use the website, you should at least know how to filter BS.</p>
<p>I didn't make that up. Of course its a generalization, I said it was funny, but it obviously has a little truth to it. Generalizations and Stereotypes are born out of something, although they shouldn't be promoted everywhere. Its from an article Vanity Fair Magazine did about Brown Students, that I found from someone else's post. I didn't mean to offend at all. </p>
<p>I haven't attended Brown, yes thats correct. But I have visited all four of the schools I talked about. I'm not using any authority, I'm simply one person who has talked to, met, and valued the opinions and my own judgement in places and used that to formulate an opinion. It's an OPINION, take it or leave it. I just tried articulating it well, thats it.</p>
<p>The website isn't crap. Just because your favorite school isn't the highest, doesn't suddenly make it crap. I read personal opinions, of people who noted experiences on there and reasons for saying certain things. What makes that website crap, what because its actually something student generated than official us news? Well even Princeton Review ranked Brown, followed by Stanford, students as happier than HYP. </p>
<p>I'm using my opinion generated with evidence. That's all.</p>
<p>The little quote from vanity fair about how students look at the world is a harmless laugh. honestly, what would happen if every brown student reacted when they were endlessly called druggies, hippies, narcotics, etc. paranoia would happen. Don't take everything so seriously.</p>
<p>Oh, okay. I wasn't offended by it, it's just that I myself generalized about student bodies and I regret having done that. For example, I too easily dismissed Williams as preppy and Princeton as conservative and aristocratic. I certainly should have considered both schools more seriously. And I'm saying this because people do do this: overgeneralize schools. I don't want you to do that.</p>
<p>Yes, but you have no base to back up that opinion. That's the difference between having a valid opinion and having an unjustified claim. Now, if you had gone to Brown and had given yourself enough time after your Brown experience before you said that, and you had personal experiences to back up what you said, that would be fine. But what you said was basically fluff, because basically, every valid opinion should have evidence to back it up.</p>
<p>I never said that because my favorite school isn't the highest means that it's garbage. Now you're putting words into my mouth. By the way, there's no way to prove that the posters on that website have actually gone to the colleges you might be looking at. Of course, you could say that there's no way to prove that I'm an entering college freshman at Swarthmore who's been accepted the University of Chicago and never wanted to go to an Ivy league school in the first place. But still, I think you should basically take everything on the website with a grain of salt. Don't believe everything that's there. The website certainly has bias. That's why you should be able to filter out the BS. I don't buy into US News either. Nor whatever flawed rankings the Princeton Review gives colleges.</p>
<p>okay, sorry, I didn't mean to presume you were offended or anything else. I just got a little defensive.
I do feel like I backed my opinion up with my two sense from people I've talked to and using some resources.
sure students review has to be taken with a grain of salt, as does everything. but if everything was crap including us news, and princeton review, there would be absolutely no basis. and i understand that there could be a lot wrong in them, but there could also be some things that are correct about what they say. you have to have some resources to base it off of, just like you said.
And I visited the schools, and that's where I give my best account. Brown students really were tremendously happy, I'm not lying or trying to sell off the school. I asked people up front. Its an important factor to be in the decision making process.
And congratulations on Swarthmore, which is a fantastic liberal arts college, and i hope you realize that you also have never experienced that school yet. But there are reasons you picked it, correct? visits, resources, talking to people, etc.</p>
<ol>
<li>Getting a little defensive is fine.</li>
<li>But don't you think a bit of what you said is a stretch, coming from someone who hasn't actually been there?</li>
<li>I suppose it depends on how you define 'crap.' </li>
<li>Good. I'm glad that you visited.</li>
<li>I have only experienced two days of what the kids and classes and professors are like. So while I can say, with evidence, that the campus is extremely pretty and that a bunch of kids probably have a secret crush with a certain psychology professor, I can't claim anything that would require actually having stayed there for a while.</li>
<li>Yes, I did it for many of those reasons. Unfortunately I had to resort to guidebooks and college websites, due to the inability to stay at Swarthmore for a semester and then decide whether I would apply or not.</li>
</ol>
<p>i don't get it. whats so speical with this? it's just like saying I choose stanford over yale, or I choose MIT over caltech, or I choose community college X over community college Y. You can't go to both can you.</p>
<p>my point is, you shouldn't choose a school because it's ranked 1st by some random people who wants your money. If school X is better for you than Y, then X is better than Y no matter where they're ranked. X is ranked 1st on YOUR rankings, and that's all that matters.</p>
<p>I personally wouldn't go to harvard even if i have the slightest chance of getting accepted.</p>
<p>Brown appeals to many students, as I said, because of its open curriculum and various programs. Students trying to get into PreMed apply to their PLME program. It's also true that their visual arts programs are very good.</p>
<p>If I was accepted, I might have said I chose Brown over Berkeley. They're both very good and different campuses, though.</p>
<p>Brown med school sucks.
What is Brown known for besides being in the Ivy League?</p>
<p>brown med school is ranked in the top quartile of med schools despite being relatively small and only 30 years old (dartmouth med school has the same ranking and is 211 years old)</p>
<p>brown med school is extremely selective (less than 4% get in) and has one of the best residency match lists in the country
Match</a> List</p>
<p>brown in general has several unique attributes:</p>
<p>-pioneered the open curriculum and thereby attracts independent, free-thinking students
Brown</a> University: Why Brown</p>
<p>-interdisciplinary departments (watson institute, old world archeology, applied mathematics, and many others)
Applied</a> Mathematics Department - Brown University
Joukowsky</a> Institute for Archaeology
The</a> Watson Institute for International Studies</p>
<p>-a long history of launching young entrepreneurs into successful careers
Why</a> Brown Students See Green | Fast Company</p>
<p>-a very strong alumni network in hollywood
Brown</a> in the movies (GSJ of Sept. 18, 1998)</p>
<p>-partnership with the most prestigious art school in the country
Brown-RISD</a> Dual Degree Program</p>
<p>I would choose Harvard over Brown, but I would choose Stanford over Harvard, and I'd choose Yale over Stanford. It's all relative. ;)</p>
<p>I've lived in Rhode Island my whole life and to be totally honest, I can't imagine ever choosing Brown over Harvard. Maybe it's just my familiarity with the campus, etc., but to me, Brown just doesn't have the same air of excellence that you feel at Harvard. That said, I had no chance to get into either, so take my words with several grains of salt.</p>
<p>I had a friend who chose Brown over Harvard and I did the opposite and chose Harvard over Brown. For her, she said her reasons were because of the feel of the laid-back environment. While I understood her reasons, I just didn't feel the same way. I find it to be annoying when people stereotype the Harvard students as unhappy people and that people would only choose it for its name.
For those people, I would ask if they have ever even been to the campus. While I was only there for three days, I can say that from my experience, these people were much happier than the reputation on these boards. Many people will argue that they had a friend or knew someone who didn't like Harvard or said it made them unhappy. Sure, that's one person. I'm sure every school out there has students like that.
I just feel that some people jump on the bandwagon without having actually their own visits or experiences at the schools. One of the main reasons that I chose Harvard over the other schools was that it was in Cambridge, near Boston. No offense, but Providence does not compare in my opinion. I'm sure if the cities were switched, the decision would have been a lot different.
And, on another note, did it ever occur to anyone that another HUGE reason would be the money. For the middle class families, there is a great disparity among financial aid in colleges. At Brown, I would have been paying tens of thousands more per year than at Harvard. Not the only reason, but a big one.</p>