<p>Hi, I am a Brown 2016-er and I am thinking about applying for one of the pre-orientation programs. I am an international student so I am attending the international orientation which starts on August 29. I know Excellence at Brown begins on 26, and TWTP begins on 28. So I’m assuming there would be conflicts if I attend both international orientation and pre-orientation? How does it work? Has anyone ever done that before?</p>
<p>Also, I can’t decide between Excellence and TWTP. I am really interested in Minority problem, but I also really want to improve my writing skill… Can anyone give me some feedback on either of these programs?</p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
<p>From what I know, it’s possible to attend both the international orientation and one of these programs. You just need to skip some events from one or the other.</p>
<p>I did neither, but from what I’ve heard TWTP is more useful. My freshman roommate did EAB and said it wasn’t honestly worth the time, but meeting people early was fun.</p>
<p>I disagree. I was an EaB-er and though some of us did concurrently do TWTP, it may be harder now that both programs have since been expanded to stand alone; there’s just a lot in the schedule to be able to fully enjoy both (not to say you can’t crash an event or two). I’m not sure about the numbers for TWTP, but EaB started with maybe a couple dozen people several years ago and for the class of 2016, it will have the funding and means to accept closer to 200 people; obviously someone likes what we’re doing. I have no qualms in stating that EaB has been the defining experience for me at Brown. You are able to start forging much closer relationships with professors/fellow EaB-ers/facilitators. </p>
<p>This is not to say that TWTP doesn’t offer the same thing, but given the size and loosely structured seminars and discussions, I just didn’t see it as often. Ultimately, it’s what the program itself offers that should be the deciding factor. Some people really want to discuss issues of identity, diversity and so forth and some people really want to have a more academically-focused week.</p>
<p>Edit:
Regarding the IMP (International Mentoring Program), I believe both TWTP and EaB make space for it in their schedule. You might have to miss a social event or two, but since a great deal of people in EaB at least, are international, they don’t plan huge huge things.</p>
<p>I am a Brown 2016-er, considering either the Excellence at Brown or UCAAP pre-orientation programs. There are conflicting opinions concerning whether EAB is worth the time, so how many hours of writing and discussion does it actually involve? What is the nature of the writing assignments–are we talking about a paragraph or a 5-page paper?</p>
<p>UCAAP also sounds interesting, but the website does not give many details about the program itself other than the focus on volunteerism.</p>
<p>UCAAP is a much smaller program than both EaB and TWTP (maybe 30 first years?) and focuses more on community involvement within the scope of Providence. Almost all the people I know who went to UCAAP are dedicated or became dedicated to issues of social justice and humanitarian service. It’s a very rewarding pre-orientation program in and of itself. </p>
<p>EaB is an all-day affair. You are placed in small groups of 12-20 people. A typical day starts with breakfast, reading assigned material for an hour and a half (which varies according to which lecture your group is going to), going to lecture with the professor for 2 hours, lunch, writing a rough draft to a prompt about the lecture (minimum 500-700 words), conferencing with a graduate student Writing Fellow to discuss the cohesiveness/effectiveness/organization of your paper, dinner and the rest of the evening to write and email in the final draft to your Writing Fellow. Evenings are also full of social events hosted by group facilitators and there’s plenty of time throughout the day to dick around, procrastinate on writing anything with friends, exploring campus for good reading spots, etc. </p>
<p>The lectures/professors in EaB range from almost every department at Brown and they can help you choose what classes to shop when the semester begins; although, it has been a trend that leading professors of each department like to participate because they really want to draw first years into their department and classes. They include Sociology, Gender and Sexuality, Geology, Biology, Africana, etc (and since the expansion of the program, the list has grown even more).</p>
<p>From the information on the website, UCAAP sounded like it has a competitive admissions process–only a quarter of applicants admitted. I downloaded the form for EAB and it basically asks about my preparedness for college level writing and the my high school. Apparently the program gives priority to students from high schools with fewer college-bound students. Coming from a well-regarded public high school, will I be admitted to the EAB program? Does the EAB have a similar admittance rate compared to UCAAP?</p>
<p>It depends on how many people apply in a given year and how much space they have. I was initially rejected from EaB because of my SAT and AP scores, but was accepted a week later, which seemed to be a common thing for a lot of people my year. Acceptance rate definitely isn’t as low as UCAAP’s though.</p>
<p>By being rejected from EAB because of your SAT and AP scores, I presume you mean they were too high–the only application where high scores are a liability. Would writing an incoherent application for EAB, showing a complete unpreparedness for college writing, increase my change of acceptance?</p>