What is Brown REALLY like?

<p>Quote:
brown: i’m very glad I visited because it made me realize how much a I hated it. it seriously used to be my first choice, but I was so turned off by the campus. I felt surrounded by bricks for one thing, and the students seemed so preoccupied with being trendy and avant-guarde that it was disugusting, I don’t really get who they were all trying to impress. Also, they were completely shoving the whole ‘diversity’ thing down my throat. I want a college with diversity, but don’t you have anything else to talk about? the curriculum was WAY too touchy feely for me. i would take a regular college with MAJORS, not ‘concentrations’, actual grades and gpa’s, and some distribution requirements. not a great fit for me at all, but to each his own…</p>

<p>I have never been to the east coast, but Brown is my first choice as of now. Reading this makes me really worry. I like big old buildings, ivy growing on the walls…basically the “classic” college. Does Brown look anything like this? And I know that Brown doesnt have a core curriculum, but what does “concentrations” mean? And does it have actual grades and gpa’s? </p>

<p>Anything on Brown would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>^^^^ i posted all of that somewhere else, but it never got answered, so sorry for everyone reading it twice :)</p>

<p>Wow. That whole paragraph is so chock full of **** it's not even funny.</p>

<p>Concentrations ARE majors just with different names. Of course you have a GPA. You can take any class Pass/Fail which of course cannot be applied to your GPA, but that's your choice, excpet for like 15% of classes that are writing courses that are mandatory Pass/Fail (we call it SNC).</p>

<p>No one is interested in impressing you, no one cares what you do here. The environment is open and accepting of all things but conservatives (that's a joke, though conservative viewpoint is rare at Brown).</p>

<p>I have not had diversity shoved down my throat here more than anywhere else.</p>

<p>The lack of distribution requirements and the ability to take whatever courses you want so long as you pass 30 of them and fulfill the requirements of a concentration is why most people come to Brown.</p>

<p>Etc, etc.</p>

<p>To see how it looks, Google Image search is beautiful.</p>

<p>Try buildings like Sayles Hall, Salomon Center, Faunce House, Keeney Quad, Pembroke Campus (or Andrews Hall or something), Barus and Holley, Main Green, etc.</p>

<p>:) it looks beautiful...I am soooooooo happy that paragraph is complete crap :) Thanks so much</p>

<p>Anyone know anything about Providence? Is it a big city, or what?</p>

<p>ohh and whaat is the library called so i can google it</p>

<p>The main library is "the Rock" (Rockefeller). There is also the SciLi. Brown has a rule though, and that is to make all the libraries the least impressive and actually most horrific buildings on campus. I guess it's just so Harvard kids can make fun of us for something, otherwise, they'd feel pretty bad about themselves ;).</p>

<p>There's also the John Hay Library, the John Carter Brown Library, and Orwig, which are all much prettier.</p>

<p>whoever wrote that description hasn't stepped on many ivy league campuses</p>

<p>brick is standard fair for buildings that date to colonial times</p>

<p>brown is not unique in calling majors "concentrations"--harvard does the same</p>

<p>and of course brown has grades</p>

<p>Wow how many libraries does Brown have? And how big is it? I heard that you can at least walk around the campus...but is it super small? I have only seen Pomona and I am guessing that it is bigger. </p>

<p>And really...thanks everyone who is explaining how ridiculous that paragraph is...:) Brown es numero uno once again :)</p>

<p>Brown's campus is not exactly what I'd call small. If you factor in the Pembroke campus with Brown's, it's kind of expansive. Plus there's Perkins/Orwig out in the random nowhere. I have a class at one end of the campus and another right after about 2/3 of the way through, and it can be a hassle to get to the second one on time, particularly if the first one goes just a few minutes over. It is walkable though, and as much as we who live in Keeney complain about hiking up to Pembroke, it's still less than 10 minutes. I think the athletic center is a little far out of the way, but since no one's making you go there (unless you're an athlete), it's not a big deal.</p>

<p>comparitively, it's not a very big campus
main campus is ~100 acres</p>

<p>10 minutes seems about right for the farthest walk</p>

<p>bump...anything else?</p>

<p>uhhh, of the like 2000 kids ive seen walking around, ive seen like 7 that fit that avant-garde description.</p>

<p>so what do they look like? just normal kids? </p>

<p>and were there a good number of Hispanics?</p>

<p>Depends on what you call normal. Some of friends look kind of like your typical sorority girls. Some proudly sport mathletics and marching band shirts. One guy I know dresses up in slacks and a suit coat every day. Another has 13 pairs of suspenders. It really depends on who you hang with. </p>

<p>I've met a few hispanics. You should look into some of the cultural groups. There are tons.</p>

<p>haha 13 pairs? are you sure of this?</p>

<p>Yes, he told me so.</p>

<p>Brown is beautiful, thayer street is awesome, the students are cool. That paragraph is garbage, brown kicks ass.</p>

<p>anyone know how urban Brown is. I haven't visited yet so I;m curious. I don't like campuses where the buildings are like built along a main road. So if Brown is urban is it at least kind of sheltered from the city? Does it have its own separate campus with green grass, trees, etc, away from the city streets. I hope this made some sense.</p>

<p>Providence is prett urban, but Brown is set apart on college hill...I'm the same way as you and I liked Brown's campus when I stayed there for 4 weeks. Good feel to it.</p>

<p>Shining star....I will try to describe how urban Brown is. It is NOT downtown in the middle of a city. It is in a residential section of the city called College Hill ( a hill overlooking the downtown/urban area). The downtown area of the city is in walking distance but Brown is set apart from the real urban part of the city. Though, it is not like an isolated type of campus at all. Brown has a campus.....yes, there are grassy quads, trees, etc. Brown spans many many blocks but it feels and looks like a college campus. However, adjacent to the campus blocks are residential streets bordering some campus streets. And then there is a a rather "cool" street called Thayer Street that is on the border of campus. This street has cafes, the Bookstore, shops, movies, etc. that college students would gravitate toward. So, this street is steps from campus, practically as if on campus. But the true downtown and city part of Providence is many blocks away down a hill. </p>

<p>I know my daughter likes this set up. You get the college campus thing but can walk to EVERYTHING and also have the city close enough that it is assessible. The train station and the mall can be gotten to on foot, as well as all of downtown. But the school itself does not have a city feel to it that much at all. She wanted to be able to walk to things but not be smack in a city area. So, it is not so much like Penn or NYU or Boston University, all in downtown urban areas but it is RIGHT BY a city, not too big of a city but not right IN it. But it is not exactly on the total outskirts either. It is not as urban as Harvard. When you are walking on campus, most of the folks you run into go to Brown. When you are walking on Thayer Street, many go to Brown but there is also the public. The dorms are not huge and there aren't high rises except the science building. So, it is not super urban as it is away from the downtown public areas but it is not super separate in that you can walk to things off campus and there are houses or shops bordering the school. But there are definitely campus quads and such, several of them. It is a fine mix of having a city and things to do and walk to while still having a fairly separate campus and not being smack in a city. Also, Boston is an hour away. You can go to Brown and never need a car and be fine. But you can also have that campus feel, unlike downtown universities. Try to view a brochure or the website but most of all, I hope you can do a visit. </p>

<p>Susan</p>