<p>I completely agree with tinselkawa about the Leadership Institute.
I went last summer and took Leadership & Global Engagement, and it was by far the best summer experience I’ve had. I’ve done numerous other summer college type programs (Johns Hopkins’ CTY programs, JSA programs, Explo, etc) and this was definitely the must substantial and valuable of them all.
The main difference between the regular Summer@Brown programs and the LI is the rigor. Leadership Institute classes meet from 9:30-12 and 1:30-3:30 every day, while the Summer@Brown programs often entail an hour and a half to two hours of class a day. The expectations seem a bit higher for the LI, and nothing can compare to the experiences one garners doing the projects the LI poses. For instance, in the Leadership & Global Engagement class, we were assigned a 24 hour group policy proposal project. My two partners and I spent basically an all-nighter working on our proposal, which we then presented to a panel of experts (ie former Clinton Administration advisors, lead researchers, etc) the next day.
If you have any questions about my experience I LOVE talking about it :).</p>
<p>I’m a Documentary Film for Social Change alum. Though we didn’t get credit, our work was really inspiring and we worked hard. Towards the end, when we were putting the final touches to our films, we worked from 8:00-1:00, took a 30 min lunch break, worked from 1:30-6:30, took a break for dinner, then worked from 7:30-11:30. Leadership is by no means easy.</p>
<p>do u get grades if u attend?</p>
<p>@tennisboy- No “grades,” just an evaluation thing.</p>
<p>Hi, I know that most of you guys happen to be in like high school, but I have a few questions about the SPARK program for middle schoolers because I’m only in 8th grade. Please answer them if you can. I’d really appreciate it:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is the SPARK program a bit similar to the regular pre-college one?</p></li>
<li><p>How much freedom do they allow you to have? (I know that some prople said that for the pre-college program, you were allowed to go to the mall and stuff, so you could pretty much do whatever you wanted once you finished classes.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>And…that’s basically it. I’m going to the prpgram this summer, so I just want to know what I’m in for. Thanks ahead of time!!!</p>
<p>I’m unaware of the regulations for the SPARK program but when I did the Summer@Brown program we had basically 100% freedom from the minute we got out of class until 11:00 at night. Curfew was at 11:00 during the week and at 12:00 on the weekend. You needed to check in with you RA by 11:00/12:00 but you could go to sleep whenever you wanted too.</p>
<p>I’m going to assume the SPARK program curfew will be earlier and maybe an enforced bedtime. In addition you guys may not have the same amount of freedom as pre-college kids. We could of gone to NYC during the day, but as long as we were back by 11:00/12:00 it was all good. :)</p>
<p>I also loved my Summer@Brown experience! I did the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) which is not on Brown’s campus but at a site about 20 minutes away. It was definitely one of the best experiences I have ever had! If you are at all interested in environmental issues, I highly recommend it!
If you want to know any more about it, I’d be happy to answer any questions!</p>
<p>I did Summer@Brown07 as a rising-Sophomore and had a great time. Here’s my “2cents”:</p>
<p>-These programs are not selective – at least not in the sense that that word is usually used on this forum (e.g. a few kids on my hall had C-averages).
-At 3K a pop, they are primarily revenue-generators.
-Simply participating in them and listing them on your resume will NOT give you any sort of boost in the admissions process, as tens of thousands of students participate in these kinds of programs every year. The exception is if have a transformational experience and write about it, or develop an exceptionally close relashionship with a senior professor, in which case you might get a <em>slight</em> boost.
-You get out what you put in. (See: Tnedifnocegelloc’s post about texting in class.)
-Courses are not necessarily taught by Brown professors, though quite a few are; for example, mine was taught by a department chair. I suggest trying to find out who your teacher would be before you apply, as it makes a huge difference.
-Nearly everyone who participates has an amazing time.</p>
<p>So yeah, I guess I don’t really diverge much from the general consensus 
</p>
<p>If you are signing up for this program because you have a genuine interest in the subject and a genuine interest in Brown/Providence, by all means delve in! But if you’re just looking for resume fluff, your money is better spent elsewhere…</p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>*relationship, haha.</p>
<p>Hey, I know this is sort of an old thread, but I need some input on courses to take on the program. Has anyone taken dual three week/ three week + concurrent 2 week session before? What’s it like?</p>
<p>i am planning on going for a 2 week session and i was wondering if we have classes on weekends.</p>
<p>You have class Monday to Friday (unless there’s a holiday) either in the morning or afternoon, usually for three hours.</p>
<p>I did Summer@Brown last year and spoke to the Dean who is in charge of Summer@Brown admission; she said that 50% of applicants get in to the regular program. If you have all A’s in school and can pay, you’re pretty much in.</p>
<p>And it is definitely what you make of it…I spent hours every day reading papers in the Science Library and actually doing my homework, as well as talking to my prof who was an actual prof at Brown, but I know a lot of people who simply stayed in their dorms or didn’t bother paying attention in class and blew their parents’ 3K.</p>
<p>hello, i am considering applying for the Brown Summer School Program and I was just wondering whether an essay is required and if it is too late for me to apply now. Also, how long do they take to let you know whether or you have been accepted in the program? Do I also need teacher recommendations or will just my school transcript suffice?</p>
<p>My son attended Summer at Brown last year. It was a last minute decision and we didn’t apply until the end of May. He found out he was accepted mid-June. There was no essay, but they did ask for a high school transcript and I think the school had to send it out. As long as you aren’t a mediocre student and can pay, they will accept you. The only reason you would apply early would be for the scholarships, but those are so limited, I’m not sure how many they give out. That, and certain classes do fill up fast.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how long the So You Think You Want to Be a Doctor: An Introduction to Medicine is? In terms of hours</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you can find information regarding every course’s time commitment on the Summer@Brown site.</p>
<p>I took a planetary science course for a week at Summer@Brown and it was really the greatest thing ever. I met incredible people, and I learned incredible things. It’s definitely something you should do!</p>
<p>Hey guys! I study in the UK and I recently got accepted into the Brown Summer program. I was wondering whether it is a good idea or not to do two courses at the same time, i.e. one from 9-12 and another from 1-4. Will it be too intensive? Will I have time to hang and chill out with people?</p>
Hello, I would like to know if you ended up doing more than one course while att he Brown Sumer program. My son wants to apply for 2 courses but he is being advised against it.
@sofitel123: This thread is mostly from 2011.
I believe that students are told to do only one course, and professors assume students aren’t taking multiple courses. From what I’ve heard, the outside-class commitment would be very heavy if he did two, and it probably wouldn’t be worth it.