<p>I haven’t been able to visit Brandeis yet, so I’m trying to figure out the fit. I’m wondering if anyone can tell me what Brandeis students are like? I know there probably is no “typical” Brandeis student, but are there any traits or characteristics that many of them share? (Outgoing vs. shy, liberal vs. conservative, etc. …)</p>
<p>What are you looking for in a college?</p>
<p>I would like to be somewhere where students care more about the learning process than they do about their grades, and hopefully are pretty friendly and open-minded. I’m pretty liberal myself, so I guess that would also be a plus. I"m also looking for a school where there is an emphasis on diversity and social justice.</p>
<p>I feel like Brandeis hits just about all of these checkpoints, but I guess I’m looking for some confirmation :)</p>
<p>dear jordan,
I went to see the school with my daughter and we were the most impressed with this school and the presentation. It was by far the best presentation of all the schools we visited. The students were very politically active and very conscious of their political and environmental surroundings. One of the things that the student that gave our tour said was that the students have lots of discussions and always brought lots of students to various political events in the area. They have a lot of discussions as to the running of the campus and the administration seems to hear a lot about certain actions taken by the admin. This is not by any means an apathetic student body.
I came away very impressed by what Brandeis has accomplished in the few years it has been in existence. To be ranked so highly after so few years is very impressive. Even though it was not discussed, it seems that they want to become the highest ranked school in the country as soon as they can. They have recently built new science buildings and administration buildings and are trying to continue to get great students in this challenging economic climate.
My daughter commented on the fact that the school’s traditions were much more attuned to what the kids are doing now (more relevant) instead of doing something because they always did it that way. ie we always throw toast on certain days which of course lost it’s logic and relevance many years ago. I particularly liked the big campus wide pillow fight around finals study time.</p>
<p>Here’s my take on the Brandeis culture which I have shared with others on CC.</p>
<p>Brandeis has an exciting intellectual environment that I would compare to its UAA sister school, U of Chicago (FYI its President is a Brandeis alum), only Brandeis’ is more relaxed and more undergraduate-oriented. I believe the kind of person who would feel comfortable at Brandeis is an intellectual and/or creative sort who is friendly and comfortable with himself or herself and not competitive or pretentious. Intellectual but down-to-earth and friendly I think is an apt description of the student body. Unlike some preppy place or frat-oriented environments where social interraction is based on the “exclusivity” of the frat system, Brandeis has a welcoming, relatively-nonjudgmental environment–yet there are some off-campus frats for those who like what they have to offer. There is no pressure to party, but parties are there if you want them. Often social interaction centers around the numerous clubs and other terrific extracuriculars like theater and music.</p>
<p>As evidence of the stimulating students that go there are the distinguished alumni who were of course students at one time–to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor) etc., the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland), Jeff Lurie owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). I went to school with several of these folks and can tell you that it’s no coincidence that these fascinating alumni have emerged from the stimulating brew that is Brandeis. Also, if you’re into social justice, Brandeis is a very exciting place to be (Angela Davis, Abbie Hoffman, I could go on, are alums as well).</p>
<p>It’s a cool place.</p>
<p>I’m a student at Brandeis. I would say that one of the most wonderful things about this place is that there is no such thing as a typical student. Everyone is very unique, and people with very different interests and personalities commonly hang out. Most people are liberal but there are plenty of vocal conservatives. And social justice is a very big deal - it seems most people are very dedicated to a cause. I would also say that a Brandeis student is “quirky.” Most are lovably nerdy. There is a lot of intellectual discussion going on, even on the weekends. People tend to party small. Also, everyone is really involved in their activities and very supportive of others, attending many club events/performances. Students are focused on grades, but that said I think the intellectual atmosphere indicates that they are just as concerned with learning for the sake of learning. I’ve found most people to be very friendly and open-minded. I’ve taken part in a lot of very civil and educational religious and philosophical discussion in diverse groups - people seem to actually want to hear what you have to say. That’s all I can think of at the moment to describe the “typical” Brandeis student. Let me know if you want any more info!</p>
<p>sstGO27*</p>
<p>I’ve heard that some Brandeis students are liberal yet not open-minded. And that some students are very much not interested in socializing. Is that true?</p>
<p>waikito11 - I’m sure this is true, but it’s definitely not the norm. Anywhere you go, you will find people with strong opinions who choose to be obnoxious about it. I know both liberals and conservatives like that at Brandeis. When there was an incident earlier this year involving vandalism of the Muslim prayer space, some such liberals chose to defend the Muslim community to the extent of very offensively criticizing Israel. But MOST people are very open-minded and open to discussion.</p>
<p>By your “interested in socializing” statement, are you referring to the reputation the school has for being “socially awkward?” To be honest, there are a lot of “awkward” people here - some don’t like to socialize, some are just bad at it. But first of all, I see this as somewhat of an endearing quality of the school, and second, you’ll just as easily find very social people to interact with. Making friends isn’t an issue, from what I’ve seen. Most people are very friendly and are friendship material.</p>
<p>Thanks ssTGO27!
Um… At my current high school, people are VERY nice to those ‘socially awkward’ and include them in all sorts of activities as much as they can - one of my favourite aspects about my high school.
At Bandeis, how accepting people are of those ‘socially awkward’ people?
And since Brandeis is 40% Jewish, 40% white, less than 7% international and 10% asian american, how is the racial integration/segregation?</p>
<p>I think different people mix together through the first year dorms and large campus events. Mela, the annual South Asian festival, is attended by not only South Asian students but their friends and other people on campus. The international club puts on the biggest dance of each semester, Pachanga.
[Cultures</a> meet at Mela - Arts](<a href=“http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/11/24/Arts/Cultures.Meet.At.Mela-3840304.shtml]Cultures”>http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/11/24/Arts/Cultures.Meet.At.Mela-3840304.shtml)
There’s also a Chinese New Year’s Celebration:
[Ushering</a> in the Lunar Year - Arts](<a href=“http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2010/02/09/Arts/Ushering.In.The.Lunar.Year-3867515.shtml]Ushering”>http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2010/02/09/Arts/Ushering.In.The.Lunar.Year-3867515.shtml)
What sort of extra-curriculars are you interested in? I think especially once students get involved in clubs, people are accepted based on those shared interests rather than anything is. There are big clubs like the theater clubs but then there’s also smaller active clubs like the Brandeis Official Readers Guild, Juggling Club, Quiz Bowl or Acappela Groups. </p>
<p>There’s a full list here.
[Club</a> Center](<a href=“http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/]Club”>http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/)
The two newest additions: The Brandeis Cheese Club and the Brandeis Quidditch club ;-)</p>
<p>I’m not sure yet, but the clubs sound pretty awesome. haha vagina club, very witty name after reading club description</p>