<p>ugb202 – congrats on your acceptance. If Brown accepted you, then Brown thinks you can do the work.</p>
<p>I can’t answer the sleep question (I’m an alum so my data is quite old). But I’ll tackle the one about the workload. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about this, then be really smart about your classes. Take four (not five) courses a semester. Make sure there is a mix of reading/writing heavy courses, and other types. Take one easy class (a “gut”) your first semester. In reading-heavy classes, make sure you understand what you absolutely MUST read, and what is important but not necessary to read. Don’t put off reading assignments (IOW, don’t be like my friend who had to read a semester’s worth of reading in the few days before the final).</p>
<p>Seek out help. Make appointments before writing assignments are due at the writing center – make two appointments, one at the very beginning and one after you’ve written a draft. For STEM classes, get help if you need it. Go to your prof’s office hours if there is anything you don’t understand. </p>
<p>The workload at Brown can be very very difficult, for instance, if you take 5 classes that are all reading/writing heavy, or 5 engineering/science classes. Some classes are notorious for their difficulty – organic chem, for example. The beginning computer science class eats time. There will be kids around you who went to very demanding high schools who will feel that Brown is too easy. If that’s not you, just ignore them (and chances are, they’ll be floored by organic chem). </p>
<p>However, the workload can be very deceiving. Unlike high school, you aren’t in class from 7:30 to 3 every day. With only 12 hours in the actual classroom, you’ll think you have a lot of free time. In college, much of the learning takes place outside the classroom. Many of those “free” hours are meant to be spent reading books, writing papers, doing problem sets, etc. If you have fun during that free time, you’ll find yourself absolutely swamped at midterms and finals, and that’s when the workload will be daunting. </p>
<p>Hope this helped!</p>