Hi guys
My son was accepted ED to Brown and we plan to visit in March.
Any suggestions on what to see on campus and in the area?
It is possible for him to sit in on a class?
1 Like
Take a stroll down Thayer Street, which runs right alongside/through campus.
Visit Providence’s Arts District on Wickenden Street.
Find an Italian restaurant on Federal Hill for dinner.
Visit The Arcade, America’s oldest indoor mal, on Weybosset Street. It’s a delight.
Roger Willams Park is beautiful.
If you’re going to be in town for a few days, drive down the bay and visit Newport. The most popular spots there are the mansions, the waterfront, the historic district, and the National Tennis Center. But my favorite is the enigmatic Newport Tower in Touro Park. Across Mill Street at #152 is the Newport Tower Museum, open on weekends or by appointment.
Enjoy your visit!
2 Likes
March 26 is spring break so try to come before then so you can get campus vibes. Indoor masks still required. Sign up for a tour. I think they had tours available when I last checked.
We like staying at Residence Inn downtown. You could walk 2 miles to campus from there or take a $7-9 Lyft ride to campus. Avoid Downtown Marriott off Orm St near campus because that’s the BrownU COVID isolation jail (my son is in day 6 there) :).
Start at the Main Green. Andrews/Miller/Metcalf is one of the first year housing group (also Keeney Quad, etc). Van Wickle Gate pix is a must :). Bookstore to get your swag off Thayer. If your bank happens to have atm branch by campus, good idea to test your kiddo if they’ve never used their atm card. The other reco for Newport visit is on-point. Federal Hill is fun to walk around, too (listen to the Crime Town podcast on the mafia story in Providence!!!).
2 Likes
RISD art museum is free ( a five minute walk from the Brown Green) although you need tickets ahead of time, I think (covid protocols to reduce crowding). A couple of lovely Bed and Breakfasts near campus if you haven’t booked a hotel yet. Providence is a foodie town, you won’t run out of fun restaurants to try if you are adventurous eaters.
Get a map from admissions… there are some very moving memorials on campus which are easy to miss if you aren’t looking for them. Alumni who served in WW1, WW2, etc. and the newest one- the 9/11 Memorial (one of the NY Firefighters who was first into the World Trade Center Tower to help evacuate, and then was killed when the building fell was a Brown grad). It will also center you in terms of history- sites visited by George Washington in 1790, that sort of thing. It’s hard to fathom how old parts of campus are!
The admissions office will also help you figure out if sitting it on a class is going to work. It was easy pre-Covid, not sure what the protocols are now.
Enjoy! I graduated forever ago and I love going back to campus whether for a speakers event, symposium, reunion, etc.
2 Likes
After acceptance my son did an overnight at Brown and attended a class or two. Just ask admissions. I don’t know how COVID has affected things and March may be different from Feb. in that regard.
Thayer Street, yes- there is a nice Greek restaurant and a great pizza place. We stayed in a bed and breakfast on College Hill, near Brown- a great neighborhood of old houses. I don’t think it is useful to spend a lot of time touring the rest of Providence, but that’s me.
On our first visit, we hung around on the green, in the bookstore, library and dining hall to get “the vibe.” Brown is still my favorite school.
3 Likes
thanks folks. Any suggestions on things to do in Providence if it rains during our trip there?
There are admitted students days if your son is interested. He should have got the email too.
1 Like
Drive down to Newport and tour a mansion or two.
RISD has a nice Art Museum.
The Arcade. (Mentioned above.)
It was a very nice trip. We got lucky weather-wise.
Question- Do most students fly into Logan and drive to Brown, or take a flight into Providence or take the train?
We drove in from Logan.
Some students also take a train from Providence to Logan. It’s easy.
There is also public transportation from Brown to TF Greene airport (RI), or they take a relatively short Uber there.
TF Greene would normally be a much better option unless the flight from Greene involves long layovers to make connections.
At least for us, it usually does! Hence my son likes to take the train to Logan and fly from there.
My son has flown from Logan and PVD. Logan has better connections and faster and sometimes less expensive. He’s taken uber to Logan and has done train. Class of 2025 parents created a reference document to help you with these details. If you join the main FB parent page, you will see the link. I saw that this Thanksgiving, Brown also offered shuttles to Logan and PVD for free but the times available were limited.