Brown has a great network, similar to UPenn. They’re Ivy Leagues. If you look at CS, Brown graduates are gainfully employed. I thought I read somewhere they were top 5-6?
They have a great startup culture. There is a parent on this forum whose child was working on his funded company while also finishing up his senior at Brown where curriculum was customized based on his start up company.
At Brown there is no general ed requiremt other than two semester of writing classes. You can concentrate in as many areas as you want. CS and arts&science.
I was clarifying because many people did not know you can add CS as a second major from CAS without an internal transfer to engineering.
Also when I said Brown is more laid back and does not have a startup culture, I am using the words of Brown students who have described it to me. I guess everyone has a different experience at a given university.
Then you spoke to the wrong kids. Go to the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship website and look around. Search and review the Brown Venture Prize, Dojo, entrepreneurs in residence or any of the other programs and opportunities.
Watch this and then tell me if these Brown students look “laid back”…
My kid started a venture that has already received proceeds of a seed round well north of 7 figures, has a VC committed to leading the next round, and has 18 employees prior to graduation. The venture has been funded and gained advisors from the Brown community. 2 CEOs of fortune 50 companies, some extremely well known VCs and several benefactors of the specific industry group that are household names.
They (and several of the current ventures) have gotten National press attention and have been accepted and or completed premier accelerator programs.
Not questioning what you heard but that is simply not the case amongst a certain cohort of Brown students. These kids live and breath start ups and Brown has a long history of success in the space.
PM me if I can help. I would at a minimum contact Danny Warshay or Jonas Clark at the Nelson center and discuss Brown’s start up culture with them directly.
I also should mention one of my kids options was Wharton (along with several others) and choose Brown because of the flexibility to combine an applied math concentration with a certificate in entrepreneurship after speaking to the aforementioned contacts. As a founder that flexibility to tailor every class taken to the furthering of the start up has proven invaluable and was able to work with Barrett Hazeltine as a freshman. Look Prof Hazeltine up and ask yourself if you will have comparable access at Wharton.
Lastly Wharton is an awesome school and great place but I can’t comment on the road not taken.
The OP was not accepted to Wharton. He was accepted to the College and, as such, would have limited access to Wharton classes and resources. If he had been accepted to Wharton, this would be a totally different conversation.
A friend of our oldest son graduated from Penn Engineering in 2019 with a degree in computer science.
We met with him his senior year when my youngest son was considering Penn and wanted to study computer science, but was sure he did not want to be in the engineering school.
The Penn student told us that if you are not in the engineering school, access to the best courses/teachers in the CS department is limited, with priority given to engineering students.
He said it was a serious enough problem that if you wanted CS but did not want engineering, Penn should not be your first choice.
OP @applyingtocollege121 you seem to now be watching from the sidelines but at at the risk you might still be making up your mind here is a story about a real time start up from those “laid back” Brown kids😀. FYI this isn’t my kids venture but good friends and part of the same community that mutually supports one another at Brown. The founders are all Brown students who are graduating or completed studies this December.
The open curriculum allowed these founders (and my kid) to not just stay at Brown and graduate but leverage the schools tremendous resources by providing access to the Brown schools of public health and public policy, faculty and alumni network. At most schools entrepreneurs would have to decide between evolving their companies or completing their education. At Brown those often mutually exclusive goals are combined, supported and achievable. Unlike other more structured schools, at Brown you can customize your course load to inform and support your entrepreneurial efforts.
Once again if I can help provide any info or direct you to the entrepreneurship community at Brown please let me know.
You can also try to link up with some of the peer entrepreneurs in residence that are listed. While extremely busy they are also representative of the schools sense of teamwork, innovation and initiative. These students tend to be running ventures founded while at Brown and are imminently completing their studies but are also mentoring other students and helping with idea generation.
Hi there @applyingtocollege121 I consider myself nonbias when it comes to preference between Brown and UPenn. I was in your shoes the other day. I got into Stanford and USC for CS and had to consider between them. I ended up choosing USC due to the flexibility within CS there. I believe that you have two really outstanding choices and that you should go with whichever you feel would have more flexability. Just think about your options on CS electives, which school would allow you to take classes relevant to your CS field? What is the overall feeling that you experience when you just think of Brown/UPenn? Do you get like chills when you think of rigor or are you just picturing stress? Go with what you feel. Hope this helps!
The two schools are so different that it seems absurd that the CS departments would be the determining factor in choosing one over the other. The OP clearly wanted Penn in the worst way - and, he got his wish. It will probably work out fine for him.
It sounds to me like UPenn is more you, while Brown may be better for you academically.
I would talk to as many people as possible in Penn CS and find out how difficult it is to take CS courses for CAS students. If they say it’s doable, then you’re good.
Honestly, you could very likely attend either and do just fine. Brown might not be known for being pre-professional in its academic vibe, but at a school that size you could find your people.
Wharton is known for its pre-professional vibe but at a school the size of non Wharton Penn I am sure you will find your people😀. Unfortunately you may go down a career path that puts you in competition with Wharton kids and they will have a leg up.
I do agree that ASSUMING you have found a way to do a CS major at either school AND the cost is equivalent then you should attend the college you prefer. You have earned that right,
I think posters just want to help the OP avoid misconceptions. But young people make decisions for mysterious reasons anyway. My son applied to Dartmouth because the tour guide had keys to the theater. At 18, my son loved keys.
He ended up at Brown. As head of the CS TA program, he probably had keys there
Following a gut feeling is probably the best way to go. So you are right @circuitrider: basing decision solely on the CS department is probably not wise.
That’s where you should go, we all love saying on C/C that fit is more important than anything, outside of cost, so if both are equally affordable, pick UPenn, looks like that’s where your heart is.
Wow, thank you for so many replies. After attending A Day on College Hill today, I really changed my mind about what college “fits” better. I found the Penn CS and Brown CS majors to be a pretty similar mix of people tbh. But I found the overall environment at Brown to be a lot more welcoming, and it really felt like a community. So I think I can find my group at both schools, but I think right now I’m leaning towards Brown. I think I had said Penn fit better before because my sibling goes there, and I just knew more about it. Also, the US News rankings did affect my preconceptions, I admit.
On an aside, I talked extensively with Penn students about majoring in CS from CAS, and most of them said it is a straightforward process. However, Brown CS is just as good if not better so why risk the hassle of an internal transfer or double majoring in something I don’t even know I want to major in? I even emailed the Penn admissions office and they admitted that CAS CIS students are given lower priority for classes and the BA in CIS degree is viewed differently than a SEAS CIS degree. Also, the applied math/cs track at Brown was highly recommended to me by many people.
I think the lesson here is to not eliminate a college based on how people describe it to you. You really have to go visit multiple times and meet with admitted students. Also nothing is really a “perfect fit.” Just go where you think you can be happy and the best version of yourself.
