Brown was a dream school for one of my kids. She applied knowing she wouldn't get in, and didn't blink an eye when she didn't, but for what it's worth this was her list.

Brown
Wesleyan
Carleton
Grinnell
St Mary's College of Maryland
William & Mary
College of Wooster

My kid also applied to Wesleyan and Vassar for open curriculum reasons PP pointed out. Also, liked Middlebury and Williams, though those being rural are considerably different in locale. Also liked Brandeis, which has some vibe similarities, but the state of the buildings ruled that out for her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Cognitively there's a difference between 99th percentile and 97 percentile. Even if you have no idea, I think you'll agree Einstein and Newton are on a different level than the run-of-the-mill geniuses.

Yes, but Ivy admissions are not based entirely, or even primarily, on top intelligence--witness all the kids with perfect gpas and test scores who don't get in, and the athletes, legacies, urm, first-gen, and children of the very rich and famous that do (some also with top 1% stats, to be sure). And guess where the rest of the 99th percentile go to college? It's not as clear cut in reality as it is in your head.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Cognitively there's a difference between 99th percentile and 97 percentile. Even if you have no idea, I think you'll agree Einstein and Newton are on a different level than the run-of-the-mill geniuses.

That is ridiculous -- they may have not measured in the 1% on these tests. This whole premise of measuring the top 1% is nutty.

My dd who loved Brown also ended up applying to Yale, Wesleyan and Tufts. Of the 3 only Wes has open curriculum, but the campus feel resonated in same way. She had zero interest in any of the other Ivies or "top 10" type schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Cognitively there's a difference between 99th percentile and 97 percentile. Even if you have no idea, I think you'll agree Einstein and Newton are on a different level than the run-of-the-mill geniuses.

Maybe so, but neither Brown nor any other Ivy are filled with modern day Einsteins and Newtons. I see no evidence to compel me to believe that their students have across the board faster information processing than any other top university. Lots of high stats kids win like the tortoise - slow and steady and deliberate. Universities aren’t testing these things in applicants, so you can’t say Ivy students do have that. From all accounts what the colleges ARE looking for is a “spike” or an “angular” kid. One who excels at a specific thing or stands out in some way that creates a compelling narrative. Lots and lots of kids with non-genius processing speed get great grades and can ace the SAT.

Many who apply to Brown also apply to Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Cognitively there's a difference between 99th percentile and 97 percentile. Even if you have no idea, I think you'll agree Einstein and Newton are on a different level than the run-of-the-mill geniuses.

This is poorly reasoned. Newton and Einstein were once in several-lifetime geniuses. The top 1% at the tippy top schools are NOT going to consist of Einsteins and Newtons. You're talking about tens of thousands of kids who scored very well on SATs, and probably more, since scores can easily waver by 30-50 points from test to test. (I.e., some kids might get 1580 on on sitting but 1530 on another.) There is no substantive overall difference in the student body between the kids who end up at Harvard and those who end up at Brown.

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

I was thinking more of general culture on campus or throughout the student body and less about raw intelligence. Many kids I know applied to Brown and also LACs like Wesleyan, Amherst, and Carleton, etc. Several elite LACs have had their acceptance rates drop below 15 percent and even single digits though, so the caliber of the student body is still high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Cognitively there's a difference between 99th percentile and 97 percentile. Even if you have no idea, I think you'll agree Einstein and Newton are on a different level than the run-of-the-mill geniuses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

No idea if that’s true or not. Top 1% of what? And how do you know that difference is present between Brown and the other schools? I’m extremely skeptical that Brown or any other Ivy makes admissions decisions based on information processing speed. Students don’t submit a battery of psych-ed tests with their applications, and neither SAT nor GPA tests that.

Hamilton is also open curriculum, think it’s less preppy than it once was

Anonymous wrote:For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Brown has more in common with other ivy pluses such as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT than wesleyan's, Smith, or grinnel. In terms of information processing, there's a big difference between top 1% and top 3%.

For Brown, consider other colleges with an open curriculum - Wesleyan, Vassar, Smith, Grinnell, etc.

Which schools share similar culture?
For e.g. which schools share the same culture as Brown?
For e.g. Duke shares somewhat of a similar culture like NU.
U Chicago with Caltech?
UT with Upitt?