<p>I’ve decided that I want something extremely particular from my college education. I want an intense learning environment, an emphasis on a capstone project, and a place where people are free to be themselves. My dream schools are those you probably haven’t heard of: New College of Florida, Reed, Hampshire, and Marlboro.</p>
<p>My parents, on the other hand, are aching for me to go Ivy. They think that Brown (and Dartmouth) are the best schools for me, given my predilections for small and rural (Dartmouth) and intellectual (Brown).</p>
<p>I think Brown is a nice school, but I honest-to-goodness don’t see myself here. I feel that admissions are too competitive in a way that drowns out student personality, and I feel that I as a Brunonian would take advantage of the open curriculum and pass/fail and would not use it constructively (and profs wouldn’t run after me and yell at me/prevent me from graduating because I decided not to do any work). A school like Hampshire, on the other hand, there is pressure to get something done (in the form of a capstone project) but not so much pressure that you can’t enjoy yourself.</p>
<p>I also don’t know if I fit in with the Brown “vibes,” either. I think of myself as a pretty crazy person, and the school seems pretty normal and well-rounded.</p>
<p>I think if you can't see yourself there, you shouldn't go there. Everyone I've talked to said to go with your gut feeling because it's most likely right. If you haven't visited Brown yet you should do that just because it can give you an entirely different perspectice. If you have visited and you still don't feel you belong there, find the place that you do.</p>
<p>I just finished reading the post. Very thoughtful, and again, I'm not surprised you're doing so much for the school.</p>
<p>I've admired the Brown approach, but I still don't think it fosters the specific kind of intensity that I'm looking for. I'm looking forward to spending hours in a library along with other kids, and it sounds like Brunonians take academics at their own pace.... i.e. being cooped up in a library is not their first choice. Yes? No?</p>
<p>And, katieg, thanks a lot for the advice. The problem is, I feel like I know what I want, my parents want something else for me. Brown would satisfy my parents, I'm not sure yet if it would satisfy me.</p>
<p>Cooped up in the library is the choice of many Brown students, it's not the choice of many others. I also think that if you think your other choice schools have a more "cooped up in the library" sense then I think you're wrong.</p>
<p>I wouldn't go somewhere you're not comfortable with, and I wouldn't even apply to go somewhere you're not comfortable with. We offer a unique environment and community to students, and it attracts all kinds of people. There are tremendous difference between all Brown students and what unites us is our difference from one another more than any similar trend in how we act or what we do.</p>
<p>I can say for me, learning, growing, and maturing has been happening far faster and to a far greater extent out of the library and out of hte classroom (which by know stretch is equal to partying/drinking/doing nothing). That's why to me, the sense that you want to be locked in a library for four years seems contradictory to exactly what education I, and my friends at other institutions, are getting and where it's coming from.</p>
<p>But that's what's great about applying to colleges these days-- there are choices for people who want heavy handed core, for people who want know core; choices for those who want to learn from the books and those who want to learn more than just that.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that judging a school without having been there and feeling hte place out and simply on paper is probably a bad idea. I'd also say this-- though many student sod have a good idea of what they want from college, they find their perceptions DRASTICALLY change in just one year or semester. Brown is still the perfect place for me, but for very different reasons and in very different ways than I expected. Be sure you have options if you're looking to go somewhere that may in some ways be restrictive to a lifestyle other than the one you're predicting for yourself right now. If you were an 8th grader telling everyone what high school was going to be like for you... well I think you get the picture.</p>
<p>Brown is a great school and I think it can provide the experience your after, but you need to decide if this is the place that's going to motivate you to pursue that experience or not.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, the professor I work with went to Reed as an undergraduate and that influenced his choice as Brown for a place to settle and make his professional life.</p>
<p>it sounds like brown would be a great place for you. if you are "different", it's perfect because you can make your experience what you want. once you choose a concentration, you will have an abundance of advisors, capstone project opportunities, etc--you are not completely left to your own devices. many people are there to help. the thing is, you have to have a strong idea of what you want (which it sounds like you do)</p>
<p>I spent last summer studying Neurosciences at New College, Florida, as part of Duke U TIP's program. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. Whenever someone asked me about my favorite schools, I always mentioned New College as one of them, just because of that experience. However, I remember my dad's expression when he went to pick me up and he saw the school...."what have u been doing here!!!??" If you are looking for rural.... then you will be right at home there. </p>
<p>I am curious, what is it about New College that you like?</p>
<p>It seems a little paradoxical to me that you are so interested in such "intensity" in your educational experience, and yet you're going to need to be pressured to get your work done. If anything, that sounds like you're risking being unhappy. Unless you just thrive under pressure, you come off as if to say, I need to be forced to buckle down and do work. Correct me if I'm overlooking something, but if that's the case, maybe Brown would be perfect - there's plenty of motivation to excel in class, and room to cut back and relax.</p>
<p>FYI, I believe a fair number kids at Hampshire kind of spin out of orbit and take a bunch of extra time to graduate, so I am not sure it is as intensely motivated an environment as you imagine... Look at the 5 year graduation rates of these schools for an idea.</p>
<p>If you want to do a thesis or capstone project this is also commonplace at Brown. (If you are an honors concentrator, you will do a thesis.)</p>
<p>Look at Deep Springs if you are male. You might like it too.</p>