<p>Hey everyone…I suppose only current Brown students can answer this…
I wonder how much is it work load of an average Science course? (I know that it depends on professors and course but just on average…) I suppose the contact time (lectures) is around 3 hours per week. Are there additonal Lab meetings? What about assignments(problem sets, etc…) Since most take 4 courses…how is a week of a Brown Science student set? Mostly are the weekends free or do you have to study?
Some call Brown laid-back and some call it super-hard for sciences. I wouldnt decide and I just wondered how is the work load on average…Thanks…</p>
<p>Anyone? =))</p>
<p>I'm not a current student (my daughter is) but I can venture an answer for some of your questions. Science classes have labs, and yes, they have lab work and problem sets and tests. My impression is that while students have fun, they are also working hard. I don't hear of kids having every weekend free. I think if you are looking for a place like that, you shouldn't consider Brown.</p>
<p>And how much you work also depends on what type of grade you want. My daughter has a friend in engineering who studies a lot, and is getting As as a result. If you are happy with Cs, then you can study less.</p>
<p>Course time for most classes and nearly all science classes is 3 50-minute sessions or 2 80-minute sessions a week (Some seminars meet less often, some language classes more often).
If your class is large (over 30 people or so) there will also usually be an often optional "recitation section" for review, homework questions, etc. led by a TA.
In some classes, such as the introductory Neuroscience class, that's it.
If your class has a lab, you'll also have the lab period once a week- this can range from an hour or two for Geology to 4 hours for Chemistry. In addition, you might have an hour-long lab lecture to go over what you have to do in lab.
Depending on the class, you may or may not have problem sets to hand in as well.</p>
<p>For example: My organic chemistry class meets Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9-9:50 am (ew). I attend lab lecture on Wed. from 12-12:50. My lab is on Thurs. from 2-5:50. This class has no problem sets.</p>
<p>You will not have any classes or labs on weekends, but depending on your schedule you might need to do your homework or studying on the weekends.</p>
<p>The weekly problem sets can take anywhere from several days to a couple of hours or less. Pretty much depends on the prof. Courses like math 101 or 153 are pretty time consuming.
And labs are beyond time consuming..</p>
<p>It seems to me like Science students suffer as they always do. I have couple of friends at Cornell, Columbia etc. and they all think that as engineering students they work much harder than the non-science kids. I just wondered it about Brown because normally Brown is known as the laid-back Ivy (which is probably a "lie" ). Also the engineering programs seems miles away from the liberal/no-curriculum program since 21 courses are mandatory and like 15 of them are just fixed for all engineers..=))</p>
<p>Those engineering requirements are set by ABET, Brown does not really have much control. Brown has fought with ABET about it in the past but this is the way it is everywhere that wants an accredited engineering degree program.</p>
<p>I didn't say that its Brown's mistake or problem...It is just a fact i suppose..I was thinking that open-curriculum would be extremely cool but in this case it doesnt matter that much in my opinion...There are like 21 requirement courses and 15 of them are pre-set. Engineering seems to be solid and asocial whereever you go...lol
As far as I could understand, a Brown engineer spends like 8-9 hours per weekday for the lectures,labs and problem sets... and in the weekends, he(or she which is rare) studies around 4-5 hours per day....Am I right? (of course it depends but I suppose it is the case for first 2 years)</p>
<p>to learn the material well you have to put in a certain amount of work. to get the core skills engineers (or scientists) require, you have to take a certain amount of classes, with a certain amount of depth.</p>
<p>the advantage of brown, is that BEYOND these necesities, you have extradinary flexibility with your elective time</p>
<p>
[quote]
As far as I could understand, a Brown engineer spends like 8-9 hours per weekday for the lectures,labs and problem sets... and in the weekends, indians(or non-indians which is rare) study around 4-5 hours per day....Am I right? (of course it depends but I suppose it is the case for first 2 years)
[/quote]
Fixt</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>negru...hahaha....are the numbers right by the way? I am just trying get a sense of the work that I will face next year...=))</p>
<p>There is far from a disproportionate number of Indians in our program which is, btw 37% female which is far higher than the national average. 40% of all physical science concentrators at Brown are female and if you included biology/life science, over 50% of all science concentrators at Brown are female.</p>
<p>Engineers are far from asocial and often enjoy the open curriculum more than anyone here becuase most schools as an engineer 100% of your courses are basically chosen for you when you factor in that last 1/3 of your course load is all required classes.</p>
<p>Chemistry requires 20 courses as do most of the physical sciences so the engineering requirements aren't that bad-- it's the 15 mandatory that hurt versus more like 10 in most physical sciences.</p>
<p>Oh...So negru's message was quite right, huh? There are many Indians studying Engineering at Brown..Are they International btw? or are they from indian-origin...? (I don't know why am I asking this? I just wondered....Normally, who cares ethnicity of students...)
I agree that at least not everything is set for you but still taking 21 concentration courses is huge...And definitely it means a lot of work since courses get more advanced every term..</p>
<p>Reverse--- there is far from a disproportionate amount... not there is a disproportionate amount.</p>
<p>OH I am so sorry...I should have read it carefully before posting. =((</p>
<p>They are very challenging. </p>
<p>I feel much more challenged here than I did at my former school, which was also to 50. </p>
<p>But of course, there's time for fun too. What's gonna happen is that maybe one weekend you're swamped and you don't go out, and the next you go to a party at Zete or Phi Psi or your friends house and then out to Gallery or something. </p>
<p>I know Jason goes to Gallery ALL the time :)</p>