Hi guys, I’ve been going through many Brown posts about its science department (specifically the ones related to biochemistry and chemistry), and I’m just curious is Brown actually really weak in the sciences? I’ve been getting many mixed reviews, and I just wanted to get a more solid answer about it. I plan on concentrating in either biochemistry or chemistry; I’m also planning on being pre-med as well.
If so, what is the difference between Brown’s science department and Harvard’s or other top tier schools? I heard a lot about how the quality of education between top tier schools are mainly the same, so I’m just wondering why do people tend to deem Brown weak? Thanks!
@fireandrain Idk, I’ve just been searching many of the older forums and people are always like “For ivies and other top-tier schools, just don’t choose brown for science and you will be fine.” Other stuff are like “Brown is mainly an artsy school”, “Brown lacks a lot in the research department”, “Brown is extremely weak compared to the other ivies for science”, and etc.
But at the same time, I see people say “The quality of education between Ivies are negligible”, “Brown is actually very strong in the sciences; more people major in the physical and life sciences than humanities and social sciences,” etc. so I’ve been finding my search ending up to be quite confusing.
Though I did find more of the “Brown is terrible at science” is why I’ve been questioning it.
The people who describe Brown that way tend to be other high school students who haven’t a clue. They know nothing.
I’m an alum who has been following Brown academics for decades. Many of my friends from Brown have engineering and computer science degrees and have done remarkably well professionally. Brown has put millions of dollars into its science and technology programs. Are there stronger schools for STEM – ones with higher research budgets, more specialized classes – yes. Many STEM students go to Brown because they want to take liberal arts classes, they want to be in classes with students with diverse interests.
Brown is actually known BETTER for STEM fields–> bio, neuroscience, engineering, comp sci and applied math are particularly strong there. brown actually has applied math and neuroscience which some ivies dont even offer!
Also a lot of people don’t realize that graduate and undergraduate education are different (and in some instances, oppositional) and that most rankings of departments are actually graduate focused. Brown undergraduate sciences is in a very different tier from its graduate training.
I know of a current Brown student who turned down Yale, Swarthmore and Harvey Mudd because she was convinced, after a lot of research, that Brown’s CS department was stronger than at those schools.
@Lvillegrad Oh, that’s good to hear. Could I ask if you know anything about the strength of the biochem or chem department at Brown compared to other similar caliber of schools? I’m planning on concentrating on one of those. I’m pretty sure the strength differences between these caliber of schools are miniscule, but I’m just curious haha.