As a high school student considering my college options, I constantly hear everyone talk about finding a school that’s the right “fit.” Brown looks like a great place on paper…so I’m asking current students of Brown to describe your school or your experience there in 3 words in an effort to get a better feel for the place. Your help is greatly appreciated!
rockthisworld, I’ll answer here and not your PM.
I can’t come up with 3 words to describe Brown. I have trouble writing short titles for my emails – coming up with just 3 words to describe a medium-size university with 6000 students, hundreds of professors and classes and activities – I just can’t do it.
I’ve written plenty about Brown in this forum. If you respect my opinion, then search out what I’ve written and come up with your own 3 words.
I can say one thing – one word I would not use to describe Brown is “quirky,” which I’m sure will come as a surprise to some.
BTW, this is exactly the kind of tricky question I refuse to ask students I interview.
Covered in snow
@fireandrain I very much respect your knowledge and opinions of Brown. May I respectfully ask why you say Brown is not “quirky”? I am just curious as I have heard this so many times before. Thank you in advance.
definition of quirky: “characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits. synonyms: eccentric, idiosyncratic, unconventional, unorthodox, unusual, strange, bizarre, peculiar, odd, outlandish, zany.”
Sorry, but that just doesn’t describe Brown. Brown students are very diverse. Some are as WASPy as they come, others preppy, others laid-back hippies, jocks. There are econ and applied math majors who go to Wall Street and wear conservative suits. There are political junkies; uber serious students; “beautiful people”; socialites; computer geeks who end up at Microsoft. All Brown students were exceptional students in high school who got very high grades and SAT scores and the vast majority probably didn’t do bizarre or peculiar things that took them off the beaten path.
Sure, there are the occasional quirky moments. Like turning the Sci Li into a tetris board and the naked donut run. And you will meet students who have an offbeat brilliance and a strange sense of humor, and there are many creative souls. There are out-of-the-box thinkers, students who chart their own academic path. But if you expect to go to Brown and every day see zany, outlandish, bizarre, eccentric things – nope, not gonna happen.
If anything, Brown gets less and less quirky as time goes by.
I know a question like this is difficult to answer, but even moreso as a high school student on the outside looking in trying to figure out this thing call “fit”…I know as I go through my research on Brown certain themes will emerge…I’m just looking for some upfront thoughts/perspectives (yours and other Brown students/alums) that’ll help highlight common themes (I will, of course, be poring over the site in detail)…It’s interesting that when I created a wordle using the FYBU blog just as an example, some common themes/phrases that emerged included: amazing, campus life, the people/students, classes, love. I’m trying to gauge others views with this “3 WORD” survey. I would, for example, use these 3 words to describe my high school/my experience there: “awesome teachers, caring, fun” (okay, that’s not 3 words, but hopefully you get my point)
^ You’re smart to learn as much as you can. Visit if possible. Hang out. Attend a class. Meet with Brown’s regional rep when he or she visits and ask your questions.
I just think it is very artificial to ask for 3 words and think you will get a lot out of that. If you said to name the best 3 things I could get behind that.
great advice…esp. hanging out and attending a class…thx
yes, it’s artificial but when you construct a word cloud based on what a couple hundred knowledgeable people think about the place I think certain themes will show up and those themes will vary college by college
I asked my interviewer this question actually (I had a fabulous, laid-back interview). He described Brown as “s**tload of fun”.
GREAT Answer!