<p>woooh...
I <3 this post
i <3 brown :)</p>
<p>I love Brown too! </p>
<p>Jason, that definetly did help explain the subject, even after going to like 4 information sessions, and touring like 5 times (lol, I'm obsessed) I still didn't find how to explain the curriculum to my parents. They hardly speak English, so I translated your post for them (lol, it was hard to translate the "big" words (lol) but they got the point). Thanks again for the breakdown! Brown is lucky to have students that are so passionate & dedicated to advocate. (you)</p>
<p>I may have to do a pretty serious update to this post-- there are so many things about the curriculum I did not include in the original. I'll have to see if I can find the strength to write a little more this weekend.</p>
<p>excellent post...i have a friend whose parents were turned off by brown when they visited because they got the idea that the open curriculum is designed to make students lazy and avoid tough subjects...sooo not true...this is the place where good students thrive and don't need to be forced to take tough, interesting classes as they will do it on their own for the sole purpose of learning, not for a letter or numerical grade, and thats what education should be about, modestmelody, i'm adding you on facebook lol, if i end up going to brown then i can get some more insight from you</p>
<p>Here’s a cool comment from Maureen Sigler, lecturer in the Education Dept."
</p>
<p>This is one of the reasons I love Brown. I would like to be history major but still be able to take some courses in the science and art field. I’ve talked to some of my classmates and some were actually turned off by the open curriculum, I was like “dude that’s one of my top reasons for applying to brown!” I guess it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>Hi Jason. Thanks so much for your post! I’m a prospective applier to Brown, specifically the PLME program. I really found myself loving the concept of the Open Curriculum, with the freedom to build your own course of study, when I heard about it on campus, and that’s one of the main reasons PLME (and Brown if I end up getting rejected from PLME but accepted to Brown) is near the top of my list. This thread has been INCREDIBLY helpful in confirming my good opinions and assuaging my fears about the curriculum.</p>
<p>I just had a question. Personally, I am pre-med (as you might have gathered) and am especially passionate in the sciences (as well as in writing, English, and possibly South Asian studies - hence PLME). I live a tad bit far from Providence and wasn’t able to make the sciences tour on campus. You said you are a science tour guide. I am particularly curious about sciences at Brown because I always considered the emphasis at Brown to primarily be on the humanities. Could you either post a brief blurb on the sciences / PM me if that’s more convenient? </p>
<p>THANKS SO MUCH!
~dragonbkwrm :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much for posting this. I only recently found out that Brown has no core, and after reading your post I feel much less confused. I’m not particularly familiar with Brown, having never really considered attending it until just a few days ago. Now it is near the top of my list of potential colleges. I would like to learn even more about it.</p>
<p>Brown is an excellent school and the salary depends of the company that is going to hire you.</p>
<p>Brown is great in practical terms. Your interviewer is going to say “Wow you went to Brown!” and you’ll get a little thumbs up next to your education section.</p>
<p>To simply put it:
- There are motivations to education that are not economic…
- Your statement would only be true if Brown students weren’t being hired by high-paying firms or entering the most prestigious professional schools if that was their goal. As someone who has both already graduated and looked far more deeply into outcome numbers at Brown than anyone not in the administration, I can tell you this is simply not true by a mile. If the path exists from Brown, then your whole concept is flawed.
- Following 2), the truth is many Brown students choose to do something which is not immediately lucrative upon graduation, the key being CHOOSE. Many more choose to do something lucrative including fill the halls of places like Harvard Law School or work for D.E. Shaw, Google, or attend JHU medical. However, the most popular job for students graduating is work as a member of Teach for America, just like other top schools. We also have a high percentage of people going into the non-profit and/or government sector. We don’t attract the purely money-seeking students, however, if your goal is to be hired at 6 figures it’s definitely possible. I know of more than a handful of people who are making unreal amounts of money straight out of Brown because they wanted to and knew that when they got here…</p>
<p>As for Brown being a place for the rich, I didn’t pay anything near full price and Brown had by far the most generous aid package of anywhere I applied. Brown’s financial aid is tops in the country-- not tippy-top, but definitely in the top 10. Very few places in the country will give you as much money as Brown will if you get in.</p>
<p>…The funny thing is, I know at least 5 people who have graduated from Brown. One works for Google, another entered IB and was very sucessful, another has their own radio show, the fourth is in medical school, and the fifth just graduated and works for Teach For America. …I don’t ask them how much they’re making, but from what I can tell they love what they’re doing and are successful.</p>
<p>Brown grad here. </p>
<p>Some of us-- gasp-- manage to study what we love, do what we love, and make money too! I studied English Literature-- commonly thought of as a pre-Starbucks path-- and I became a writer. I was making six figures by age 27. </p>
<p>I have a lot of Brown friends who went the Wall Street route. Others went to law or med school. Brown prepares you beautifully for these traditional paths, no question.</p>
<p>But many became entrepreneurs: starting their own soft drink empires, hedge funds, literary agencies, restaurants, high-tech companies, publishing imprints, architectural firms, non-profits, etc. I don’t have stats, but it seems like the majority of my friends are running their own something-- in fact, virtually all of them. </p>
<p>Brown grads tend to be self-motivated, engaged, innovative. Also HAPPY.</p>
<p>Maybe the best way to have a great job in a crap economy is to be able to create your own?</p>
<p>Thank you so much for this inspiring conversation. Up until today I was planning on applying to UPenn and Brown, among other schools. I’ve been dead set on going to school in Philadelphia so I figured Penn would be a good choice. I visited briefly and figured maybe I could deal with the preprofessionalism. As of today, I know I can’t. High school has been four years of getting grades for colleges to see. It’s sad, but with seven classes (at my school at least), there is little time to truely delve deap into these subjects with high levels of interest, especially when most are graduation requirements. I have a new respect for brown, thank you. (This is, in fact, coming from a prospective engineering major, which are probably steriotyped as very preprofessional.) Maybe I’ll get super lucky and get to have a brilliant next four years at Brown.</p>
<p>… The one in medical school is first generation with barely any family here. The guy with the radio show simply worked hard; started at the bottom and worked his way up. The I-Banker…I’m not sure honestly. Probably had connections. And the girl with Teach for America got her job with the help of Brown. I agree with what someone said before. If a person’s #1 priority is making money, they’ll sure as hell find a way to make lots of money. The determination simply has to be there. I’m sorry you see an issue with working your way up to becoming something. Congrats on getting into Wharton, but life won’t simply be handed to you in a golden plate upon graduation. </p>
<p>You’re correct; if you simply want to go to college and leave with a ton of money, maybe Brown isn’t the right place for you. But if you’re looking to learn and have a true intellectual experience and be HAPPY with what you end up doing, then Brown is a great place and that determined student will definitely be able to make something of themselves upon graduation.</p>
<p>If all you are focusing on is the salary, then you may be in for a rough ride. These days many of us know highly educated people with financial degrees, law degrees, etc. who are out of work. The world is changing so fast right now, that counting on anything is a bad mistake. You have to be able to count on yourself. You have to be able to think outside the box that has gotten us all into this lousy spot in the first place. I sincerely hope that Wharton is teaching its students that Wall Street and all it stands for is currently being redefined. It seems to me that the primary characteristic for success in a young person today is his or her creativity. Money evaporates, jobs disappear, and we read everyday about the millions of unemployed, including executives and those with higher degrees. Brown seems to be the kind of school that will help young people get past all of this trouble. Thinking outside of the box is what it teaches best. Good luck, kids…</p>
<p>COLLEGEMOM:</p>
<p>I don’t know how the system works, but I would like to suggest that modestmelody’s thread about the curriculum at Brown be featured as a “hot topic” from all threads (so that when you reach the talk CC homepage, you see it featured there).</p>
<p>Thanks for your time and consideration,
wittywonka</p>
<hr>
<p>MODESTMELODY:</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and effort in articulating your thoughts; I enjoyed reading them, and I look forward to applying to Brown!</p>
<p>wittywonka</p>
<p>very interesting! open curriculum is the BEST!</p>
<p>Freshman on the curriculum:
[The</a> Brown Daily Herald - Kshitij Lauria '13: (Ab)using the Open Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.browndailyherald.com/k****ij-lauria-13-ab-using-the-open-curriculum-1.2188313]The”>http://www.browndailyherald.com/k****ij-lauria-13-ab-using-the-open-curriculum-1.2188313)</p>
<p>Good article. I know that my daughter overloaded just about every semester and would have to drop or even withdraw classes, sometimes her ambition and interests would be greater than she could handle, but she wanted to try. And even when she had to withdraw at the end of semester, due to workload, she felt she had got something out of it. But then, she was always that way.</p>