My child registered for one of their courses, and I’ve found the whole thing mystifying.
Problem 1: paying for it, because of requirement that the student explicitly has to authorize the parent in order for the parent to be permitted to pay. This is their pre-college program. Most hs students are minors.
Problem 2: getting any information about the schedule. Granted, it’s online, but it’s implied that not all of it will be asynchronous. “We will send you an email the morning that orientation begins with instructions explaining how to access your course and begin orientation activities.” Really. And by what time in the morning is my child to expect this email?
Are pre-college programs like this, or is Brown just uniquely annoying?
Our D has taken summer programs at Brown, Georgetown, and Stanford. In this group, Brown is unique in their administration processes. Our D did, however, enjoy the class she took.
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I can’t speak to the precollege programs, but Brown is notoriously horrible at communication. It’s like that with them.
Gah! I’m sorry, but there is no way I’d foot the tuition bill for 4 years at an institution with that attitude.
It’s really only the administration that’s bad. The other students, professors, and student-facing staff are all amazing. If your kid is looking at Brown, I would encourage them not to take it off their list because they suck at emailing.
I agree. Brown is still on our D22 list.
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You may want to consider that Brown is actually in the midst of a full summer session. They went to a trimester system uniquely for this year in order to welcome freshman for a winter and summer session so they could enjoy an uninterrupted college experience. This approach of adding a 3rd semester option also allowed sophomores to return in the fall to avoid having a second (of three semesters) disrupted.
Obviously the school administration is not staffed for this but they have made it happen.
All of this was Browns attempt to go above and beyond to minimize the Covid impact on students. These measures included flexing housing so all on campus students had single occupancy housing, off campus students were accounted for and supported, access to twice a week testing and support for kids that got sick. All accomplished while the administration worked (and continues to work) remotely in compliance with fairly rigid state rules.
Professors remained accessible, students worked collaboratively and thankfully the class of 2024 is now enjoying a beautiful summer on campus while Thayer street is largely back to its bustling normalcy with upperclassman living in off campus housing.
I agree that Brown’s communications can sometimes be lacking, but the schools focus has remained on giving matriculated students an exceptional learning experience in a safe environment. I think they have done a great job given all the challenges faced and relative to how some of their peer institutions responded to Covid and treated students.
It would be a shame if you were to cross Brown off of your kids “wish list” because of your experience as a summer session parent given the totality of what Brown offers its students. Happy to provide any further insight and hope your kid has a meaningful educational experience this summer.
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Glad you are satisfied with Brown.
But there are many institutions that have also gone above and beyond to offer their students a high quality educational experience in the midst of the pandemic.
I am unimpressed by an institution that cannot divulge such basic information as to what time orientation begins, or what time to expect the mysterious informative letter on what to expect, but can tell you that there will be negative consequences for not participating.
If it were 1 email, or just a series of generic mass emails, it’d be one thing. However, even direct communications have been replied to unhelpfully.
I tried to provide context, and apparently failed. I hadn’t realized your goal was to rant unopposed.
“But there are many institutions that have also gone above and beyond”
What other schools are you aware of that moved to a trimester schedule from their traditional 2 semester format?
Apparently Brown isn’t a place for you, and as you so eloquently put it you would be footing the bill.
Regrettably that sounds like your child will miss out on the ability to independently make her own choices based on your experience.
Good luck in identifying which schools will best suit her needs and your expectations.
Some people yell at the busboy and focus on glasses having water spots while others enjoy a meal and recognize the purpose of a restaurant is to serve good food.
FYI this is a link that states orientation is the Monday and Tuesday before your sessions and then I have attached a link with the course guide and corresponding dates. Hope this helps.
https://precollege.brown.edu/accepted-students/summerbrown-online
https://apps.precollege.brown.edu/catalog/
I suspect with 3,500-5,000 HS summer students (along with a full unexpected matriculated session) they don’t have the resources to respond to individual inquiries when they state email notifications will be sent.
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