<p>I visited Brown and loved everything about it. The size, the vibe, the surrounding area (urban but not unbearably so), the programs. what schools are similar to brown in the student life aspect? (not necessarily academic prestige, but that is a factor)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for helping me out</p>
<p>What do you mean "student life aspect"?</p>
<p>University of Rochester has an open curriculum like Brown, meaning no gen ed requirements.</p>
<p>At times Wesleyan University seems more Brown than Brown.</p>
<p>Yale has that same slightly artsy vibe...but the school itself has a somewhat more intense feeling than Brown</p>
<p>also, maybe Vassar?</p>
<p>The historical connections between Brown and Wesleyan go WAY back and perhaps explain their similar position along the student life aspect of their respective peer institutions (Ivy League vs. LACs.)</p>
<p>Both started out as the flagship colleges of religious orders that ultimately flourished better outside of New England than within it. This gave each of them a kind anti-establishment, in-your-face stance toward the rest of the world, IMO.</p>
<p>Perhaps as a way of proving themselves, they nevertheless managed beween them to graduate some of the most "established" figures of their age, men like John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (Brown), Walter Wriston, the late Citibank Chairman and CEO (Wesleyan) John F. Kennedy Jr. (Brown) and Edward Kennedy Jr (Wesleyan). In fact, Wriston's father, Henry M. Wriston (Wes' Class of 1911) was President of Brown from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s.</p>
<p>The campuses are kind of similar, eclectic to the nth degree. And, being located on the edge of two blue-collar, former shipping/manufacturing cities probably lends some similarities as well.</p>
<p>For students interested in the Brown/Wes type school, ideas for others? I see Yale and Vassar mentioned. On the Brown website it seems a lot of students also applied to Tufts which does not feel similar to me, but I wonder what others think. Also, what are some safeties/matches for a student interested in Brown/Wes who does not want to go to a small school (i.e. under 2000) remotely located? Thanks.</p>
<p>Tufts and Brown share a lot of cross-applicants despite the fact that Tufts has a core and Brown does not. I think it's because they are liberal arts college-like universities; mostly liberal-minded student bodies; and similar locations.</p>
<p>movinmom (and wu-tang): My top choices were Brown and Wes. The other schools I liked a lot were, yes, Vassar, and also Carleton, Pomona, Oberlin and Reed (also Barnard I liked a lot except for the all girls factor, though that might not bother other people). Haverford, Swarthmore, Grinnel and Amherst are other colleges that people who like Brown/Wes also sometimes like. Also, I do know a girl whose top choice was Brown who went to Tufts, and she really likes it. </p>
<p>Skidmore is often a saftey for people who like Brown/Vassar (~2,800 students, and it's not in a big city, but everyone says Saratoga Springs is excellent). </p>
<p>I also liked Occidental (though it's small), and Pitzer could be another good option for a low match type. Also possibly Goucher, Lewis+Clark and Kalamazoo (those three are adressed to wu-tang, since they are under 2,000).</p>
<p>Brandeis is another possible safety for Brown/Wes-type students. Similar size, vibe and surrounding area.</p>
<p>Another vote for Tufts :)</p>
<p>My son was torn between Brown, Wes and Chicago. (Both the Core and the freedom excited him equally....it seemed to him that all 3 schools had a lot of intellectual energy) Brown and Chicago especially had a quirky sense of humor about the schools, the students and their traditions that we didn't pick up elsewhere. Well except for Wes's use of Joss Whedon...mega points for that:)</p>
<p>I know that here on CC, someone thinking of Chicago and Brown at the same time is unfathomable, but my son was far from the only one deciding between the two on Chicago's admitted students facebook. He used that as proof that not all things 'But CollegeCon says' is always based in reality.</p>
<p>I'm actually not at all surprised about the Brown/Chicago (and Wesleyan) crossover. I would think both attract intellectual students looking for something a little bit quirkier than your average elite HYP kind of deal. While the core/complete freedom thing is a major difference between the two, and location is another, I think overall the atmospheres at both are very attractive to a certain kind of student.</p>
<p>i was interested in wesleyan because it seemed to have that liberal arts feel while still having more students then the average LAC. i don't think i can handle a school with less that 2000 people. are there any other larger schools that have that brown/wesleyan feel?</p>
<p>"I think overall the atmospheres at both are very attractive to a certain kind of student."</p>
<p>The atmosphere at Brown and Chicago are completely different. Brown kids are laid back, party a lot, really liberal in some ways (vegans, LGBT) and almost everyone uses recreational drugs. Brown kids are also non-traditional, in terms of having an open-curriculum, as well as majoring in more humanities related fields. Chicago kids are not really any of those things.</p>
<p>wu-tang: Since you want bigger than 2,000, I certianly suggest Oberlin, Tufts, and Skidmore. Vassar might be good too, though it's only about 2,400, as opposed to the closer to 3,000 at Oberlin, Skidmore and Wesleyan. Also def. check out Pitzer and Pomona--although individually they both have less than 2,000 students, the Claremont consortium schools are literally RIGHT next to each other, so there are five colleges worth of students about. </p>
<p>Unfortunatly, on my search, I found the schools most like Brown/Wes were smaller, most under 2,000 (one of the reasons Wes and Brown were my top two was because of size). However, here are some other possibilities. As far as I know, these will be less "Brown/Wes" like than say, Oberlin or Vassar, but they are schools that people I know who applied to Wes or Brown also liked, for whatever that's worth (and yes, some of these have been mentioned before, but they're worth repeating): Yale, Northwestern, Wash U, Brandeis, NYU, Tulane.</p>
<p>"The atmosphere at Brown and Chicago are completely different. Brown kids are laid back, party a lot, really liberal in some ways (vegans, LGBT) and almost everyone uses recreational drugs. Brown kids are also non-traditional, in terms of having an open-curriculum, as well as majoring in more humanities related fields. Chicago kids are not really any of those things."</p>
<p>Thank's the Duke student for proving my son's point:)</p>
<p>What was your son's point? </p>
<p>I'm not speaking from a College Confidential perspective, just the point of view of someone who stayed over at Brown. I guess its nice to pretend a school like Chicago is as chill a place as Brown. That being said, its not surprising that there is an overlap between applicants who apply to top academic schools. </p>
<p>I found the atmosphere at Brown somewhat like the atmosphere at Duke or Dartmouth - laid back with partying. Just a bit more on the hippy-esque side.</p>
<p>Pomona College (with Pitzer supplying the hippie factor)</p>
<p>Ooooh, you stayed overnight.</p>
<p>My son stayed overnight at both schools as well. As did I'm sure the other kids accepted to both Brown and Chicago. Obviously both admissions departments thought these kids 'fit' their schools or they wouldn't have admitted them.</p>
<p>At Brown my son actually did get some sleep though he loved the kids he met, at Chicago he was up past 4am, two partys under his belt and a tour of some parts of Chicago from I believe members of a comedy improv group.</p>
<p>Fun is a form of intellect. Absolutely convincing yourself that you and your buds are the only ones capable of defining fun? Isn't.</p>