If there are similar recent forums, I apologize! Since I hear SO MANY incredible things about Brown, I’m just curious what people dislike about it? Obviously no institution is perfect!
Brown’s study abroad fee structure. All Brown students who study abroad for academic credit are charged Brown University tuition while studying abroad.
Isn’t that the case at most schools?
Good question. I don’t know. I just randomly checked Harvard and that is not the case there.
My daughter is currently on a semester abroad. Her tuition was payable to the study abroad organization and it was almost half the price of her college tuition for the semester. It included her dorm, but not her food.
@bwaygirl1 I assume she is not a student at Brown.
Many colleges charge a 'place holding ’ fee, by whatever name. And some, if the abroad is their own program, only charge you usual tuition or a little extra.
The frequent question about Brown isn’t about study abroad. Rather, it’s about the maturity and sense of purpose needed to both use the curriculum to have some breadth in classes, while not getting distracted, still graduating on schedule.
Agreed. I asked my daughter and her friends over the break about the biggest negatives about Brown and they said it’s actually the same as Brown’s biggest positives: Freedom and Acceptance.
To clarify Brown’s study abroad fee structure, Brown bills you for tuition and they pay the study abroad program. If the study abroad program cost less than the Brown tuition, Brown keeps the difference.
Don’t go to brown, but having a matched tuition study abroad program is very beneficial to low income students on financial need. Most could not afford the opportunity to study abroad if it were not matched to their needs package.
Re: study abroad, and perhaps a bit of a different point: My daughter did a summer study abroad program. We paid the abroad program fee, etc., and she got transfer credit. Not the same experience as a semester abroad, but thought it might be worth mentioning in light of the above. My daughter went into Brown thinking that she definitely wanted to take a semester abroad but, like many students, found that she didn’t really want to be away from the campus for a whole semester. Also, in engineering, it was not that easy to take a semester abroad and fulfill all the requirements, but they definitely do have engineering programs that they are affiliated with. One other point – you can take a semester abroad in an affiliated/pre-approved program, or can get an oddball program approved. I don’t know if fee structure, in those circumstances, is full Brown tuition.
As far as cons, weather could be for some people. Lack of active greek life or at least extensive, if that is important. It’s not a big sports school/spirit school the way southern schools, for example, are. It’s not a huge student body, which some may prefer. Whatever it is ‘not,’ may be a con for somebody who is looking for whatever that may be.
There is no house system, so finding community is more up to the student at Brown I would say.