<p>I’m curious as to what’s really great about Brown. What are it’s highlights? Why do students really want to go there? Why do current students love it? What are its flaws?</p>
<p>Everything about Brown is amazing. </p>
<p>You get to pick your courses and there are no “course requirements” (a big draw to some applicants). Additionally, students take advantage of a pass/fail option for courses they’re unsure about instead of getting an A,B, or C. None of the school’s departments are subpar… all areas are at least great in what they’re supposed to do. The attitude, from what I can collect, is not uptight and super competitive socially. Most kids seem to want to help their peers and only remain competitive with themselves. It’s also a great school if you want to shop for a variety of different courses that you want to try. It’s not uncommon at Brown to find students taking that strange art history class or caribbean studies course, even if you’re a chem major. The school wants you to have a broad education and have a degree that is well-rounded. </p>
<p>The PLME Program is also a great feature if you want to study medicine. You apply the fall of your senior year, and while not an “advanced track”, it does admit you into the school, let you skip the MCAT and have a reserved spot awaiting you in med school after you finish your undergraduate degree. </p>
<p>The Humanities are wonderful at the school, too. Adding to that, you get an awesome theatre program. </p>
<p>From students who have told me about the school, it’s a place that’s never inactive. You can always find something to do. Brown is a campus with a happy medium of partying and studying. Everyone on the campus really wants to be there and, generally, the student body is very accepting of diversity. It’s not the most liberal and fashionable Ivy for no reason. </p>
<p>I can’t really find any real flaws with the school at all. However, if you’re a hardcore science student and only want to live and breathe that within an atmosphere like that… I don’t think this would be the best place for you. Brown seems to be a school that doesn’t want to focus on just on of its departments (MIT, Harvey Mudd, etc…) . Instead, the school gives this impression that it wants to be great at everything instead of just being phenomenal in one area. Also, the greek scene isn’t too large on the campus, either. Financial aid-wise, though it is an Ivy, its endowment is lower than that of the others, so if getting lots of money from the school as a middle class student is a huge factor, then don’t apply ED or expect to get an aid package comparable to that of a school with more money to spend on financial aid… but it isn’t by any means thrifty in aid. A lot of students get great aid. </p>
<p>Regardless, it’s just about the best place on earth.</p>
<p>from what i gather, if youre really into sports, brown isnt the place to go. other than that the place seems just about perfect</p>
<p>While I know what dtalia is getting at, I think to be super clear, it should be “if it’s really important to you that the community rallies around the school’s teams, Brown isn’t the place to go.” For some (like me) this was a flaw, for others, this was a highlight. I get the feeling though that sports are starting to get more popular these days.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/385841-brown-curriculum-university-college-explained.html?highlight=modestmelody[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/385841-brown-curriculum-university-college-explained.html?highlight=modestmelody</a></p>
<p>The above thread explains one of the the best parts of Brown University, which is the Open Curriculum, as the above poster says. It’s interesting because s/he hasn’t even really become a part of the Brown Community yet, and has found the unique and wonderful part of the university that is so important to many students. However, for some, that aspect can be daunting, as it requires students to pretty much find their own way, and navigate among thousands of interesting courses. </p>
<p>It’s not exactly true that there are no course requirements. There are no distribution requirements or a core curriculum, as there are in other schools, but each concentration has definite requirements, some more stringent and demanding than others.</p>
<p>The idealistic ambience, as I understand and long for?</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Brown was ranked number 1 for America’s happiest college students :)</p>
<p>Initally my daughter wanted to go for the student reputation of being intellectually oriented as she thought that would be the best fit. That and being undergraduate oriented. Also the ‘away’ experience as is was on the other coast.</p>
<p>What is really great is the access for undergraduates to do real and meaningful funded research. This is very beneficial if you aspire to grad schools or to build a resume. (My daughter went on to a PhD program.)</p>
<p>Also the grading system in general encourages exploration. My daughter took Mandarin and Russian for credit/nocredit. and you usually have to think twice as a science major. I do know that people avoid that at other schools, to protect the gpa. You are allowed to fail and continue on to success by the entire grading system. It works.</p>
<p>The school itself has a collaborative culture that starts at the top and works through the departments and informs the student body. My daughter never found such great atmosphere when looking for grad schools.</p>
<p>If there were flaws, I’d say it can be in freshman advising. You may or may not get matched with a sympatico prof and peer advisor (mine didn’t, really.) By the sophmore year, you may have the same issue but you should be talking to your other profs and more people. By upper division, you are working with department advisors, if it was different major.</p>