Does anyone have experience with any of the freshman pre-orientation programs?
http://www.brown.edu/academics/college/orientation/pre-orientation-programs
There’s Catalyst, Exellence at Brown, and The Third World Transition Program.
Rising second-year. I did TWTP (Third World Transition Program), and have close friends who did Excellence and Catalyst. I enjoyed the program, especially because I am not that socially extroverted, and the 3-4 days to make close friends really helped in forming early friendships. You also get to move in early, which means you can adjust to the campus much faster before the rush of orientation/registration and everyone coming back.
As far as the individual programs, the kids in Catalyst are super close. It’s smaller (like 15 kids) and they get here really early. TWTP is larger, but almost everyone enjoys it. Really good information about systems of oppression at Brown; I learned a lot while also meeting cool people and getting to know about Brown. I know the least about Excellence, but have not heard the most positive reviews from people who have done it, especially compared to Catalyst/TWTP. I would recommend Catalyst and TWTP if you’re interested in STEM, and just TWTP if not (you have to do Excellence or TWTP if you do Catalyst).
Whoops, my apologies for not responding sooner; I don’t check this site often. Thank you so much for the advice!