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Hey me applying to Brown this year from Sri Lank...unfortunately I cant visit the campus to get to see what it really is like...

Can Anyone been there/studying there tell me about it?

By Achat (Achat) on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 09:26 am: Edit

Very pretty University on top of a hill in Providence. We went on a Friday. Had some parking problems because so many were visiting.

The campus guide were sophomores and juniors. Ours was a "tongue in cheek" kind of guy. Explained everything in detail including benefits of the "no core" and "pass/fail option on every course".

My family and I are from New York and Providence seemed very slow and sluggish to me on a Friday evening. But that's just me. The excitement of NY is just not there.....but to each one his own..

The campus is beautiful and the neighborhood is picturesque and artsy. RISD (RI School of Design) is nearby as is John and Wales Culinary Institute. So you have good food, art and culture.

The place is very very liberal if you care about politics. I read the college newspaper while I was there. Well written, but as I said very liberal. Which is ok by my son.

The impression we came away with is that it is a very intellectual place where the students are passionate about knowledge and don't care as much for real-world things like getting ahead and all....could be wrong.

By El_Diablo (El_Diablo) on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 03:18 am: Edit

Thank you very much for describing it in so much detail, much appreciated

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 09:01 am: Edit

You're welcome. But you should investigate whether an "open curriculum" is your cup of tea before you think of going there.

Brown is for people who know what they are doing and who are passionate about their prospective field of study. It has great programs in neuroscience which interested my son. It's Comp Sci department is also very good, I've known about the Comp. Sci department since I was a young person (I am in my mid-40s and the mother of a prospective student).

By Brown_Eyes (Brown_Eyes) on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 08:40 pm: Edit

Achat, what tour did you go on? I visited Brown on Friday as well. Did you go on the Info session?

By Achat (Achat) on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 08:37 am: Edit

Yes, we went to an info session last year in October.

I forgot to mention that one of the admissions committee members gave a presentation as well (as is standard for these info sessions). The info session was very informative. The presenter is a Brown alumni.

The campus guide was very forthright as well about class size. He said that class sizes are large for first year. That is the standard for almost every university, so that did not come as a surprise.

Another fact that gives me comfort (as a parent) is that only about 15-20% of Brown students participate in the Greek system and the housing for these are in the center of the campus, so opportunity for mischief is limited.