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As someone who will be attending Brown next year as a freshman in the class of 2008, I think I’m qualified to put in my two cents about choosing Brown. I guarantee that I can rally most of my soon-to-be classmates behind me in seeking to dismiss most of the questions about specific programs addressed by many people on this forum. If you are that concerned with spending your undergrad life within a particular, niched course of study, then Brown is probably not for you. Brown’s cornerstone is academic exploration; its grade options, lack of core curriculum, and advising system all exist as a means of supporting this. The ability to try my hand at studies I was never able to undertake during high school is what draws me to Brown, and I am sure this is the same with most of the matriculants.

It is important that those with specific goals for graduate school not be deterred by the weakness of Brown’s programs painted by various rankings; certainly the graduate schools you hope to attend do not appear to be! Brown’s strong acceptance record at post-undergrad schools illustrate (particularly law and medical schools), in fact, how highly these institutions regard the liberal adventure that is Brown undergrad. When you finish your undergrad career at Brown, you’ve figured out where your passion is, which is much more than can be said for many of those who leave high school sure of what they want to do and leave college undergrad not so sure they made the right choice. I think we can all be assured that graduate schools understand and value this. If you have been able to explore your potential major in high school and are sure of your own interests, then by all means attend an undergrad school with a higher graduate “ranking” in that field, but if you feel the desire to just explore a little, then maybe you should strongly consider Brown.

I think what I’ve tried to express here can be easily applied to the issue of Brown’s rankings, from US-News and elsewhere. These rankings often consider issues of graduate study more highly, and are heavily dependent on the strength of individual programs. With the second-lowest percentage of graduate students (last I checked) in the ivies as well as a program aimed at interdisciplinary exploration, Brown can’t “compete.” I dare say, however, that studies of student contentment and high-school guidance counselors’ impressions of the school would paint a different picture. I suggest that when searching for a college, you should pick your own set of considerations rather than rely on those developed by a group of editors. There is no Consumer Reports-esque group with a set of perfected scientific methods for college selection, and thinking that there is may be, at best, foolish.

By Jschuman3 (Jschuman3) on Monday, May 10, 2004 - 05:08 pm: Edit

Well said, i'm a brown '08er too, and id like to add that brown, while not world renowned for its grad programs perhaps (another factor which hurts it. US news factors in what percentage of undergrads chose to go to the college's grad school, which is a completely idiotic way to rank colelges, since most brown grads go to the top five grad schools in their area, i think that should be more of a consideration) has several very well known undergrad departments, including but not limited to international relations, theater, modern culture and media (one of the first departments i nthe country), applied math, and portuguese. im sure there are others i dont know about either.

By Elleneast (Elleneast) on Monday, May 10, 2004 - 05:28 pm: Edit

Good post, Mgcsinc. Within a given "tier" of schools the rankings are bunk. IMHO, they can be used as the most basic indicator of the level of academic challenge but within a tier it is all about the fit of the student to the school. Individual students respond to different learning environments. There are subtle differences between the departments at various schools, but on the undergraduate level there is no doubt in my mind that a student who takes their education seriously will get as much out of Brown as any of the more highly ranked schools. I cannot believe how much energy is wasted on the discussion of rankings....especially among the supposed top 20.

By Mgcsinc (Mgcsinc) on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 06:40 pm: Edit

By Mgcsinc (Mgcsinc) on Friday, May 28, 2004 - 06:40 am: Edit