<p>I would really love to live in brown, I'll be transferring in as a 2nd yr student this fall.
Brown has very nice students, fairly big single rooms, good security, sense of home, great location, etc...
I have already slept over Brown once with my close friend, but have been wondering what other people think of this residence.
I have heard lots of people say it's where all the weirdos, bookworms, extreme liberals and so on live...is this true? I didn't have time to meet many students while I stayed over, that's why I'm asking.
Can anyone share his/her opinion about Brown?</p>
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<p>we might not have a huge proportion of people active in greek like, but
- pretty much everyone at uva is a bookworm, or if you’re doing anything humanities at all you’ll be doing a lot of reading
- extreme liberals - there are plenty of liberals who don’t live in brown college, but yes it is majority blue. not crazy intense blue, but decidedly blue.</p>
<p>we’re a little off, sometimes dorky - but so are most people at uva.</p>
<p>if you have a hankering for greek life, brown might not be the best place for you… if you think you’d like to be a little off-beat and have fun that way then it probably is for you. typically, you get a vibe about brown - for me and my close friends in brown, we heard about it and knew it was for us in an instant. and we all still live here (i’ve lived here 3/3 years and am living here again next year, same with my roommate).</p>
<p>the cons are mostly related to first year experience, which you don’t have to worry about since you’re not a first year.</p>
<p>i don’t know what housing could beat brown… it’s so close, such a great sense of community, no restrictions like 4th years only like the lawn, etc…</p>
<p>i think a good measure of your compatibility with brown is how you view the application. if you die laughing or get all sorts of great ideas for your essays, and have a good time filling it out, you’ll like brown. if you think it’s stupid or something, and don’t have fun while filling it out, brown might not be for you.</p>
<p>I will be living at Brown next year as a third year student. I have heard the same things you have. But I have to say that Brownies are probably going to be a far more decent group of people to hang out with than the rest of the school which are largely homogeneous in their attitudes, external appearances, and beliefs which is exactly why they consider students who live at Brown as being “weirdos”.</p>
<p>If I get in as a transfer student, I might apply as well. It seems like a great place to live. I’ve heard the “weirdo” stuff as well, but a) who isn’t weird? and b) more fun. Plus, it seems like a very close environment where can meet a lot of cool and interesting people. I saw the application for last year and it did make me giggle. I especially liked the one about how Einstein, Freud (I think those two were mentioned), among others were all brilliant but “jerks” (to put it nicely). It would be a really fun application to fill out.</p>
<p>Brown College is, like many Frats at UVA, a “community in a box” - it’s not a community for everyone, you’ll be ostracized for having pro-greek views or membership, but they’re a very loyal and very intelligent group. I teetered between the two my second year - having membership in both the Wash Soc. and a frat. Bit torn, clearly couldn’t remain in both and keep friends. Ended up choosing my bros at the frat. It was probably the right decision for me personally, but many make the opposite. </p>
<p>That said, it’s the best location on campus, period.</p>
<p>“you’ll be ostracized for having pro-greek views or membership”</p>
<p>Would it be fair to say that if you’re in a frat and you act like a “Brown” kid, you’ll “ostracized” as well? Just trying to play devil’s advocate here.</p>
<p>Wait, aren’t we all like overlooking one thing? I mean I hear that Brown has like a 5% acceptance rate. (Which would make it lower than the rate for the corresponding Ivy.) Even if that’s an exaggeration, it’s still very competitive.</p>
<p>Really? 5%? I never thought I was THAT amazing… I mean I guess I always knew I was wickedly funny…</p>
<p>that’s a lie, i don’t know where that started. it’s about 50% if you’re patient enough to wait on the wait list. there are usually 300 people applying for anywhere between 50 and 100 spots, but many end up declining future offers once put on the waitlist.</p>
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<p>I’m an incoming first year, and I’m really interested in Brown. The only concern I have is that I will miss out on the first year experience if I don’t live in one of the first year dorms. Will it be really difficult to meet other first years if I live in Brown?</p>
<p>Also, how is it having people walk through your room in Brown? Does it feel like you don’t have any privacy?</p>
<p>No. Absolutely not.</p>
<p>It’s a freaking dorm guys. You’ll be using it to sleep in, do some studying, and maybe half of your hanging out. There’s like a whole Grounds out there.</p>
<p>I visit other dorms to visit friends and study group pals so often, this whole first-year concern almost seems ridiculous to me, no offense. :)</p>
<p>i personally wouldn’t have traded my first year experience in brown for anything.</p>
<p>but i know people who regret it. it took until this year, when my roommate, my longtime friend i recruited into brown from a mccormick single, and i went gallovanting over to ohill one morning for breakfast, and i saw all these first years everywhere, and realized they got to have that environment all the time, that i realized what the first year experience even is.</p>
<p>like i said before, i liked having upperclassmen to befriend aka drive me everywhere, and less first year drama, but if you’re afraid you might miss something then do the first year thing and then apply to brown. it’s significantly easier to get in as an incoming first year, but if you’re meant to live in brown you’ll get in later (like my friend i mentioned).</p>
<p>brown first years get their own first year experience (with ~50 of them), very unlike all the other first year experiences. coming in as a second year you might even feel you missed something by not living in brown your first year! it’s really up to you.</p>
<p>so about how many spots are open for first years? I’m wondering how much of a chance I have to get a Brown room based on my spot on the waitlist :)</p>
<p>How much openness to moderate political points of view is there?<br>
Do you have to be a leftist to fit in?</p>
<p>Oh haha yeah forgot to post saying I had put up the waitlist today…
Green is arbitrary. There are 46 spots for first years. I highlighted 20 names in each column since I don’t know the boy-girl breakdown beyond that reasonable guess.
Beyond those 46, maybe one or two kids will get in if one of the top 46 is Echols or something and they make them live somewhere else.
If you’re an upperclassmen, your chances may be better or worse, but definitely less precise. There are usually rooms come the start of the year (~14) for upperclassmen but that isn’t a guarantee and it’s up to the membership co-chairs to fill them once the year starts (last year, they let no one in even though there were empty rooms, for reasons they had…).</p>
<p>Re: politcal: hahaha Brown is decidedly Blue. But my roommate’s fiance, who also lived in Brown ugrad, is republican. Totally shocked us both! If you’re not constantly bringing up how you feel about abortion/immigration/etc then you’ll proly be fine, other things people in Brown do for fun include video games, TV shows, our haunted house for charity, etc which do not involve politics.</p>
<p>Politics isn’t a topic that comes up in conversations most of the time, unless it’s election night where the residents go crazy. Living in Brown is more about how well you connect with the people there.</p>
<p>^^Thanks for last two responses. It’s good to hear.</p>
<p>YAY I was highlighted! Around what time should I expect the offer to arrive? And is it sent through snail mail or email?</p>
<p>I’m so excited :D</p>
<p>July (online I think, but that’s all having to do with Housing) – please see the other thread I just replied to regarding if you have more questions and want to talk to me! Congrats!</p>
<p>I am assuming that there are still 46 spots open for first years, but I was wondering why 4 extra names were abrubtly highlighted a few days ago. Why I ask so is because my name is the VERY next one down, that combined with the fear that a couple or so spots were unexpectedly cut. Also, the wait for the pending housing info release date this Thursday is simply killing me via suspense. I was really excited about this community upon hearing about it from this year’s “Grand Poobah” himself, and will definitely apply again next year if the cards don’t turn out right for me.</p>
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