Brown

[Anonymous]

DD is a recruited athlete with the academic stats to match. Has loved her 4 years and I love the fact that her great internships led to a great job when she graduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you go into any academic buildings? Some of the are very nice. Brown does a good job of preserving the architecture on the outside, while completely renovating to modern on the inside. The engineering center is a good example.

OP here. We were not allowed to---I really think my junior is influenced by whether he gets to see the inside or not. I'll ask him to check out virtual tours.

[Anonymous]

Question to OP - but please explain why you need to do anything other than just "move on"?

You both went in excited about the idea of Brown but found that the reality didn't resonate. That's ok and that's why you visit places. Just move on and keep visiting other potential schools.

There are plenty of schools to love of equal or better caliber and competitiveness than Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go into any academic buildings? Some of the are very nice. Brown does a good job of preserving the architecture on the outside, while completely renovating to modern on the inside. The engineering center is a good example.

OP here. We were not allowed to---I really think my junior is influenced by whether he gets to see the inside or not. I'll ask him to check out virtual tours.

What do you mean, you "were not allowed to?"

You went on a tour and they didn't take you inside anywhere?

You tried to walk into open buildings and someone stopped you?

[Anonymous]

This is such a weird thread

Whenever we visited a campus, I considered a strong negative reaction a great outcome - one less place on the list, easier to focus on places my kids liked. But I never considered starting threads to talk about places they weren't interested in

For the record, one of my kids went to Brown and had a great experience. The dorms and food are pretty bad but the educational and social experience was phenomenal. And yes there are majors, called concentrations. Because of the open curriculum, it was easy for me kid to double concentrate, because their schedule wasn't filled with required courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually they are building several new dorms and they look to be very nice. Fund manager, Will Danoff, donated the funds. Administration has gotten the message from students and alums that the residential living areas need serious upgrading. It sounds like you did not see the part of the campus with the two new dorms opening Fall 2023 or the health/wellness dorm (Sternlicht Commons) that just opened (it’s beautiful). It’s likely another 4 - 5 dorms will be built in the next 5 years.

Yes, but the space is so limited. It's not like they will cycle out the other dorms. I have a kid there. The housing is an issue despite new dorms.

[Anonymous]

Main reason to go to Brown is the lack of required classes and its grading policy. that said it is so crazy hard to get into that if your kid didn't love it, I would consider that a win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question to OP - but please explain why you need to do anything other than just "move on"?

You both went in excited about the idea of Brown but found that the reality didn't resonate. That's ok and that's why you visit places. Just move on and keep visiting other potential schools.

There are plenty of schools to love of equal or better caliber and competitiveness than Brown.

This is my question. I’ve been thrilled when my kid visits and school and has a definitive opinion about it. Move on, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go into any academic buildings? Some of the are very nice. Brown does a good job of preserving the architecture on the outside, while completely renovating to modern on the inside. The engineering center is a good example.

OP here. We were not allowed to---I really think my junior is influenced by whether he gets to see the inside or not. I'll ask him to check out virtual tours.

What do you mean, you "were not allowed to?"

You went on a tour and they didn't take you inside anywhere?

You tried to walk into open buildings and someone stopped you?

We visited Brown last spring. There were 4-5 tour guides with 15-20 people per group all leaving from the same place. Whether because of space considerations of covid precautions, they didn't take us into buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go into any academic buildings? Some of the are very nice. Brown does a good job of preserving the architecture on the outside, while completely renovating to modern on the inside. The engineering center is a good example.

OP here. We were not allowed to---I really think my junior is influenced by whether he gets to see the inside or not. I'll ask him to check out virtual tours.

What do you mean, you "were not allowed to?"

You went on a tour and they didn't take you inside anywhere?

You tried to walk into open buildings and someone stopped you?

We visited Brown last spring. There were 4-5 tour guides with 15-20 people per group all leaving from the same place. Whether because of space considerations of covid precautions, they didn't take us into buildings.

Wow that is weird, I have been on many college tours, including Brown, and have always been taken inside certain buildings. Also had to register inside the student center at Brown. Where did you register?

What happened when you tried to go into buildings on your own? Not dorms, obviously, but the academic buildings, libraries, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a weird thread

Whenever we visited a campus, I considered a strong negative reaction a great outcome - one less place on the list, easier to focus on places my kids liked. But I never considered starting threads to talk about places they weren't interested in

For the record, one of my kids went to Brown and had a great experience. The dorms and food are pretty bad but the educational and social experience was phenomenal. And yes there are majors, called concentrations. Because of the open curriculum, it was easy for me kid to double concentrate, because their schedule wasn't filled with required courses.

It's no different than any other thread in which someone is excited at their ability to say negative things about a school with competitive admissions. It's the bread and butter of this forum, but it just hits you harder because OP is talking about your kid's school.

Read DCUM long enough and you'll find people who denigrate, among other things, your school, your kids' schools, your neighborhood, the style of your house, the number of kids you have, the car you drive, the vacations you take, the food you eat, and the politicians you support. At some point you'll decide the best defense is a good offense, and you'll be off to the races saying negative things about some other school the next time you have a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a weird thread

Whenever we visited a campus, I considered a strong negative reaction a great outcome - one less place on the list, easier to focus on places my kids liked. But I never considered starting threads to talk about places they weren't interested in

For the record, one of my kids went to Brown and had a great experience. The dorms and food are pretty bad but the educational and social experience was phenomenal. And yes there are majors, called concentrations. Because of the open curriculum, it was easy for me kid to double concentrate, because their schedule wasn't filled with required courses.

It's no different than any other thread in which someone is excited at their ability to say negative things about a school with competitive admissions. It's the bread and butter of this forum, but it just hits you harder because OP is talking about your kid's school.

Read DCUM long enough and you'll find people who denigrate, among other things, your school, your kids' schools, your neighborhood, the style of your house, the number of kids you have, the car you drive, the vacations you take, the food you eat, and the politicians you support. At some point you'll decide the best defense is a good offense, and you'll be off to the races saying negative things about some other school the next time you have a chance.

I'm not the PP you are referring to and don't have a kid at Brown and I agree with PP that this is such a weird post by the OP. I'm not offended by it at all and I don't even feel like OP is dumping on the school - in fact - they seem desperate to love it. And that's what's weird...just move on...your kid will most likely be rejected by Brown anyway so find another really hard school that is worth the application effort to fall in love with and get rejected from.

[Anonymous]

I went to Brown 20 years ago. Sure, it's not the prettiest campus but that's only when compared to Yale or Princeton's quads. I still found it a pretty campus and it's surrounded by a gorgeous historic district. I liked the college hill vibe, close to an urban center but removed enough to be its own place. I visited last summer for the day and found it quite lovely, more lovely than I'd remembered.

I can imagine standards have changed and people expect more from dorms and facilities compared to the past. The whole idea of roughing it slightly when at college seems to have gone out the window. Bit of a shame. Why do you need fancy dorms to study? A basic room does the job fine enough. College is more the people than the buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Brown 20 years ago. Sure, it's not the prettiest campus but that's only when compared to Yale or Princeton's quads. I still found it a pretty campus and it's surrounded by a gorgeous historic district. I liked the college hill vibe, close to an urban center but removed enough to be its own place. I visited last summer for the day and found it quite lovely, more lovely than I'd remembered.

I can imagine standards have changed and people expect more from dorms and facilities compared to the past. The whole idea of roughing it slightly when at college seems to have gone out the window. Bit of a shame. Why do you need fancy dorms to study? A basic room does the job fine enough. College is more the people than the buildings.

You are 100% correct, and the dorm criticisms, while empirically valid, seem like classic Aesop's sour grapes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question to OP - but please explain why you need to do anything other than just "move on"?

You both went in excited about the idea of Brown but found that the reality didn't resonate. That's ok and that's why you visit places. Just move on and keep visiting other potential schools.

There are plenty of schools to love of equal or better caliber and competitiveness than Brown.

Hi, OP here. virtual tours don't take long. Pretty sure not doing ED any more. I hope you sleep peacefully tonight.