<p>So, is Jamie and his Brown experience an anomaly? I would be most interested in hearing from other Brown students, parents or alums.</p>
<p>Being from Georgia, Brown University is a bit foreign to us, but our daughter has a strong interest in their TAPs program. </p>
<p>Just trying to learn as much as I can about the school. As schlagg kindly points out, I’m not well educated, but I can say that the few Brown students, profs and alums we have met seem clear-minded, down-to-earth, and generous of spirit.</p>
<p>My experience at Brown was nothing like the one in the video either. The very reason why I went to Brown, why I love Brown so much, why I practically tithe to Brown, and why I founded a non-profit dedicated in part to Brown, was because Brown is unlike the world that Jamie describes.</p>
<p>Most Brown students, profs, and alums that I know are clear-minded, down-to-earth, and generous of spirit.</p>
<p>I am a senior at Brown, and I can see where this guy is coming from. My freshman roommate frequently copied answers on her homework. She did it openly and none of our hall-mates batted an eye. On the surface, she is a saint, doing all of this charitable volunteer work. In private, she talked about how she’s doing it all for the future money in her career, and if she could marry rich, she would be so glad to quit it all. There are so many at Brown who are clones of her on the surface that I can’t help but think they are like her in private as well. Doing some honest self-reflection, I must admit that I am also the type of person this guy is railing against, though not to the extent of some of my peers. I am not always completely honest if it doesn’t benefit me or my family. I prioritize the interests of those closest to me. I have witnessed breaches in conduct at Brown, and not just among undergrads, and kept quiet, as I have been told. I have been ambitious in the traditional sense and cut throat. I am not proud of it and I hide it when I can. In my experience people who are cut throat at Brown usually try to hide it. This is because everyone knows Brown students are supposed to be laid back, generous, and free spirited. Being cut throat means you are playing into the system, and that’s like not cool, yo.</p>
<p>There seems to be two types of Brown students: those this guy is criticizing, and those who are similar in philosophy to this guy. There are a ton in the latter category and they are usually activists, involved in LGBT activities, passionate humanities concentrators, laid back MCM concentrators, or into Theater Arts. The former category is the norm among the premed, prelaw, finance, and probably engineering concentrators. If you tell an average one of these students that you skirted an assignment, they will snicker and give you a knowing glance, in my experience. I feel like it is because so much is expected of them, and it can be so stressful, that if you find a clever way to reduce your work load, they will admire you.</p>
<p>I have no idea if it’s generally like this at other colleges, though; I’ve only ever been to Brown.</p>
<p>My experience was unlike what was described, and unlike cocogogos, except maybe amongst the worst of the premeds that exist at every other school. Preprofessionalism is far less common at Brown than most of its peers, and much of these complaints are just an extreme form of this.</p>
<p>I earned an Sc.B. in chemistry followed by an A.M. in urban education policy.</p>