Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

?

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 11:11 am: Edit

Actually, change that to Brown vs Harvard/Stanford/Yale?

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 11:19 am: Edit

i think one person from this board chose Brown over Stanford for some good reason other than prestige; and another over yale.

By Asianalto (Asianalto) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 10:13 pm: Edit

Brown has a reputation for being the "rebel ivy." The students are supposed to be sort of...weirder than those at HYP. I'm trying to put it so that no one gets offended. Also, the lack of core requirements give it sort of a more liberal rep.

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 12:08 am: Edit

So are you saying that Brown gets kids who might be harvard/yale/princeton material but chose not to even apply because they prefer the rebel ivy?

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 01:41 am: Edit

my instructor at princeton review was a princeton grad, and he told me people at brown and cornell had this attitude because they were HYP rejectees or something

By Jnatkins (Jnatkins) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 01:49 am: Edit

We're not all HYP rejections...They accepted half the class ED...They didn't even apply to HYP

By Satman04 (Satman04) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 02:01 am: Edit

Yeah, it's kind of absurd to think that everyone at Brown are HYP rejects...The ED folks are naturally excluded with this premise (I think its more like 30% of EDers were accepted). Also, I can attest that many students are just turned off by the large amounts of pretentious students found at schools like HYP, yet they still seek an IVY-league caliber education. Brown is then a top choice.

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 05:58 am: Edit

agreed

By Fredmurtz2 (Fredmurtz2) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 12:26 pm: Edit

Simply put, If you don't think Brown is right for you don't apply. There is much misconstrued myth about Brown because of it's original policies.

Ultimately, the bottom line is by any stat you number-driven people would like to use, It attracts very capable students and faculty and has an endowment bigger than many people will ever see.

Just because everybody knows what Yale, Harvard and Princeton are doesn't mean that the world is universally interested in them. Some people may have decided they didn't want the core program, Some may have thought Brown was a better size for them, Some would have I don't know liked the flowers in the gift shop. Maybe they [gasp] like me didn't like Harvard OR [Bigger gasp] Yale OR [Even bigger gasp] Princeton. By now you must be in cardiac arrest, so I apologize to you for that. It's a tremendously subjective thing but it is very true that Dartmouth and Brown are considered the happiest and that they have the best undergraduate teaching [yes you can check your 95 US News and World Report AKA as the King Richard Bible]. I felt most at home here and because I believe that the school gets something of a minsconstrued rep I am posting this . This is such a crazy topic of conversation though,

Ok so a Princeton grad feels the need to make shots at Cornell and Brown -- What does that say about the attitude of Princeton students [Or at least of that student]?

No amount of convincing will make you feel that Brown is anything, You need to figure out where and why you are applying. If you are applying solely for a 'name' you are making a grave mistake. I know you're an international student but ifyou haven't checked out liberal arts colleges you may want to check Wesleyan, Carleton, Macalester, Amherst, Vassar

In any event, Good Luck

By Smhop (Smhop) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 01:16 pm: Edit

I passed over Yale for Brown. But, I am a transfer if that matters.

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 02:49 pm: Edit

What were your reasons, Smhop?

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 07:07 pm: Edit

My top choices are Brown, Amherst, and Dartmouth. They are absolute reaches for me! The Princeton grad has this notion that most of the ppl that applied RD and was accepted to Brown were rejected from HYP. I tried to tell him that a lot of people choose Amherst, Williams, and Brown over HYP, and told me it was ridiculous. So what can i say more? He was my math instructor!

By Smhop (Smhop) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 11:13 pm: Edit

Yale was going to be very tough as a transfer bc my AA would not quite fit thier curricula. Brown, on the other hand,, has an open curriculum so more of my prior classwork is going to fit in. (I have an AA in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Humanities.) Plus, my dad went to Brown. I am from RI, my family is there... lots of reasons.

By Boogieshoes (Boogieshoes) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:35 am: Edit

same. i know someone at brown who applied to yale and said even if he got in he wouldn't go because transferring credits to fulfill the yale requirements were going to be tough. he probably would've had to stay an extra semester or two. lucky for him, he's staying at brown

By Dcircle (Dcircle) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 04:17 pm: Edit

within my group of friends i have an example of people who have chosen brown over each of the mentioned schools. here were their reasons:

one chose brown over princeton, because as a minority, he did not feel that princeton was diverse enough

i chose brown over yale because i felt like that atmosphere here was a better fit for me

because my year brown, MIT, and harvard were all "early action" schools many people applied to all three and in the end there was a significant number of people choosing between the three. several of my friends, including myself, chose brown over MIT (my girlfriend, chose MIT)
i know several others who chose brown over harvard...one who told me that when she visited harvard, the students didn't seem as interested in their classes, whereas at brown everyone seemed really engaged. she attributed this to the fact that at brown, everyone picks their classes and hence chose to be there.

in the end, the decision to matriculate can come down to the most random factors--many of which are circumstantial and depend only on which day you visited which school. (another friend that i visited schools with chose swarthmore over brown because he met a pretty girl there during the orientation weekend).

i guess the point is, that many people chose schools on the basis of where they think they will fit in best, or are likely to be most happy--whatever that may mean

By Jamesah1 (Jamesah1) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 09:03 pm: Edit

I chose Brown over Stanord. I've posted many times with an explination, but it was mostly because I've lived on Stanford campus my entire life and Brown felt like a better place for me.

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 11:28 pm: Edit

Yeah but youre an anomoly, most people don't live on one of the campuses.

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 12:48 am: Edit

bump

By Jamesah1 (Jamesah1) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 08:43 pm: Edit

True, but Brown still felt like a better fit for me as a student.

By Jessc (Jessc) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 11:27 pm: Edit

I got into Yale and Harvard but not Brown and Brown was my first choice.There is no rhyme or reason.

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 06:48 pm: Edit

My best friend chose Brown over Yale. lots of people do. Having friends at lots of top schools I would say Stanford, Dartmouth, and Brown people are the happiest. When you graduate people who don't know of brown arent probably going to be important to you anyway.

By Asterix (Asterix) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 01:12 pm: Edit

Yale people are supposed to be extremely happy as well. It's one of the best things about the school, everyone seems to love it.

By Jessc (Jessc) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 09:30 am: Edit

PLus Yale classes are smaller and Yale puts tons of money into sponsering student activities.

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 06:29 pm: Edit

AWS also have extremely have happy students and have smaller classes taught by tenured professors than at yale. but brown, yale, and AWS are all prestigious and happy

By Punchline05 (Punchline05) on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 12:41 am: Edit

i FELL IN LOVE with brown last week when i visited. students absolutely love it there, they just open up when you start to talk to them about their college life. there's just something about the students there that makes me feel good, like i'll be comfortable there. plus, you don't get the "i'm smarter than the rest of the world" vibe like you do at hyp. i think the reason jessc probably didn't get into brown but did into "better" schools is because brown looks for those different kids. brown just has this way of selecting only a certain type of character, and if i am selected as one of them in december, i wouldn't be happier in my life.

By Tmonmon (Tmonmon) on Saturday, August 14, 2004 - 08:50 am: Edit

bump

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 06:29 pm: Edit

Chose Dartmouth over harvard. Second choice was Brown, and a hard one! Social life and undergrad focus were my reasons.

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 09:10 am: Edit

why Dartmouth over Brown?

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 10:59 pm: Edit

Toughest choice of my life, I visited both (crucial) and thought I would have a better academic, social experience at Dartmouth, but honestly it coulda gone the other way.

Dartmouth Advantages
1) tighter student body
2) more parties/ easier to know everyone, not cliques like at other places
3) more UG focused academics (grants, money to throw on UGs, thesis money, etc.)
4) school spirit
5) beautiful

Brown Advantages
1) THAYER Street!!
2) More liberal student body
3) City
4) Less jocky

Overall it was tough, but I chose the right place for me. Anyone with these choices should visit both...

By Rhonda63 (Rhonda63) on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 12:58 pm: Edit

Brown ranks very high in the studies looking at schools people choose over other schools. I personally know two current Yale students who applied to Brown ED and didn't get in (deferred then rejected) but were accepted to Yale RD. So there are Brown rejects at Y, and probably at HPS, too.

By Jamesah1 (Jamesah1) on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 05:05 pm: Edit

I guy who works in the lab I worked in at Stanford told me that he wanted to go to Brown when he was applying to college. He didn't get in, and he ended up going to Stanford. Brown looks for a specific type of student too. One who fits in at Brown. Just the same as the other schools look for people who fit in there.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 12:58 pm: Edit

Sorry if I sound anal...but the "King Richard Bible"? You mean the "King James Bible".

By Fredmurtz2 (Fredmurtz2) on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 01:12 pm: Edit

No. I meant the King Richard Bible. King James would give this little craze some level of legitimacy which it does not deserve. So think of it as a cult religion of sorts.