<p>That’s how a few kids at my high school describe it.</p>
<p>Yes. Every Friday the 13th we all dress in black robes and drink blood and vodka on the Main Green. Then we sacrifice two freshmen virgins. One male, one female.</p>
<p>Then we make the dead bodies have sex. The end.</p>
<p>What the hell does it even mean for a university to be cultish?</p>
<p>They just refer to it as cultish, like as if it's the "odd" Ivy.</p>
<p>I've never heard the phrase "cultish" in that sort of context nor do I know what you mean by the "odd" Ivy.</p>
<p>We are quite distinguishable from other Ivies in some clear ways, but I don't see any of them as odd or something that could be described as cultish.</p>
<p>i remember in one of the campus visits posted on here the person said the tour guide called it the "black sheep" of the Ivies</p>
<p>I guess when people genuinely like their school they become "cultish". Then again when people hate their school they call it Harvard...jk. I don't think that you can ever call a university a cult just because it is such a diverse collection of people. So remember Jonestown=cult, Brown=not a cult.</p>
<p>@js416256</p>
<p>I think that's what they mean: people very oddly LOVE Brown as if it were a cult.</p>
<p>That may be true... I didn't think of it in that light.</p>
<p>Yes, people who are here are very happy and tend ot like it quite a bit. We are Princeton Review's Happiest Students and I think it's fairly obvious when you talk to us about our school that we have plenty of reasons why.</p>
<p>cultish? no</p>
<p>but people can be quite quirky</p>
<p>If you mean "cliquey" (i.e., with groups that keep to themselves and have an attitude) instead of cultish, then yes, I know that in some people's experience the school is seen as significantly more cliquey/self-segregating than many other top universities. Part of the problem seems to be that Brown, unlike HYP, is not need-blind for international students, and therefore that significant part of its student body tends to be a bit richer and less "down to earth" than at HYP/MIT/Caltech. </p>
<p>You shouldn't take anyone here's word for it, though -- visit for a few days, compare it with other places, and decide for yourself.</p>
<p>@posterX - I don't recall Caltech being need-blind towards international students.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm not sure how we went from "cultish" to cliquey but here's my take on cliques. Basically according to posterx, Brown is a place where people will never associate with anyone except a certain group of people but at places like HYP everyone is so friendly that you can basically walk up and hug a complete stranger...yeah that's a lot of bull. So far all the Brown students I have met have been so friendly and so diverse that I can't imagine these people ever solely associating themselves with a certain homogeneous group of people. From the valedictorian jock to the nerdy partier, I really can't see many of the people I have met clinging to the stereotypical high schoolesque cliques (nerds, jocks, stoners, etc.). </p>
<p>Secondly, about posterx's comment on internationals I don't agree with that statement for a number of reasons. Just because a school is non-need blind for international applicants doesn't mean they will not accept students needing financial aid so don't blindly assume this policy means that all internationals will be rich. Also, just because a student doesn't qualify for aid doesn't mean that student is rich, I have many friends who are in similar financial situations as me (parents make around $80k a year) yet their efc's were much higher than mine, so sometimes qualifying for financial aid doesn't accurately reflect on one's true financial situation.</p>
<p>IMO, many internationals are probably not very used to American culture so they would probably be even more friendly and open to meeting new people than most American citizens. That's the way it's been with many internationals I've met at camps and summer programs.</p>
<p>lol, posterX, this is truly some of your finest work.</p>
<p>Somehow, having a richer contingent of international students contributes to cliquishness enough to be the only factor you mention. How, in even your wildest acid trip, you could imagine this being true, I don't know.</p>
<p>Brown is NOT more cliquish than any other school that I have at least one friend attending, in my and my friends' experiences. In most cases, Brown is decidedly more inviting and less cliquish. The only groups that I really see as cliquish here are (a.) theater people (disclaimer: I am marginally a member of this group), and (b.) ethnic minorities. Unfortunately, both of these sets of groups are going to be cliquish anywhere you go, and I'd argue that they're less so at Brown than many other places.</p>
<p>I don't usually respond to PosterX, but this time he was pretty funny, so I figured, why not?</p>
<p>MG has been working hard to keep my post count down ;).</p>
<p>hey you guys, give posterx a break. he knows all about Brown cuz he visited for 2-3 days. and we know that means he knows everything, even more than you actual students..</p>
<p>^^ lol, this is exactly what I think when I see his garbage posted on other forums as well.</p>
<p>In my experience, it's hard to break into certain groups and groups are highly delineated...hipster, west coast, new yorkers, etc.</p>
<p>It's a good think that these groups don't form so quick (except maybe hipsters) considering you're placed in random housing (number 1 way to meet people) and your courses will expose you to everyone (number 2) in my experience. Activities are more where you're going to find like minded people, but nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>And since when do NYers form a clique?</p>
<p>Jason -- actually a lot of NYers do form cliques. At least that was my experience at Tulane. </p>
<p>Except at TULANE, a lot of people were snobby, so cliquishness followed. At BROWN, people are down to earth and friendly, so it's not nearly as cliquish as other schools. </p>
<p>PosterX -- stop smoking that crack cocaine. Internationals make up a SMALL portion of the student body. So how could the presence of SOME rich internationals make the student body, overall, more cliquish? You are just absolutely determined to badmouth Brown!!!</p>