Brown University Top Questions

Partially. There are some people who are hippies, liberals, love the trees, and are lazy. But there are also people who are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Thats the best thing about Brown; that there are so many different people and different groups of people here that an incoming freshman will definitely be able to find at least one person/group of people to hang out with. And its great that people can constantly meet new people who have different cultures, beliefs and ideas every day. And about the partying stereotype...we probably throw down more and harder then most state schools

Well, we're all smart. But Brown is not as liberal or drug addicted as you might think. There is much more diversity of opinion than you might expect and the conservative population is active and vocal. People definitely smoke, but doing drugs is by no means a social requisite. On the other hand, skill at beirut is pretty important. It's our school sport and we take it pretty seriously.

not very many hippies just many cultured students, many students are liberal but not super liberal, and there are some rich/snobby new england prep school kids but not many and most NE prep school kids are not snobby or rude.

Two contrasting definitions under "Brown University" at Urbandictionary.com reveal the dichotomy: "These students are often tree-hugging, liberal hippies who take their classes pass/fail," versus " Much to the chagrin of the public, Brown students do not typically misuse the Open Curriculum and are not tree-hugging, pot smoking hippies." To be honest, Brown is almost "officially" liberal. Here, Republicans are heavily criticized and wooed at every occasion. Once I saw an inflated plastic Bush doll hung with a +++ down someone's window. This goes hand in hand with the school's liberal approach towards shaping one's own education - thus the "no curriculum" and "take as many classes pass/fail as you wish." However, most students take very few classes pass/fail. The University encourages students to try out different courses in fields that are outside their concentration and comfort zone. An Economics student may choose to take a poetry class pass/fail if s/he wants to not worry about dropping his/her GPA. Keep in mind that Brown is a very selective school. Students here, even though they don't seem like it, care a lot about their GPAs and most students put as much work into classes they're taking pass/fail. One of my Art History professors once noted that he was always surprised when he learned which students in his class were taking the class pass/fail, because he never noticed a difference. Most students take courses within their concentration for a grade. Personally, I have never taken a class pass/fail, except for some writing classes that are mandatory pass/fail. At the end of the day, we all know that Brown will end one day and we will have to get a job with our transcripts. And employers can see which classes you have taken for a grade and which ones pass/fail pretty easily. We are not going to take all out classes pass fail unless we have a pretty fat trust fund waiting for us - which some of us do have. Let's move on to some other aspects of the stereotype - pot smoking. Yes, we do smoke quite a bit. On 4/20, the offical "pot smoking day," students all go to the Main Green at 4:20PM and smoke up on the grass. Pot is a huge part of socialization, but that is not to say everyone smokes up. I'm sure there are certain social groups who socialize in other ways, but it's pretty common. About being "lazy" : I always say Brown gives you the freedom to get what you want out of your education. You can get straight-A's by choosing the easiest classes and doing only what's necessary. Some people obviously do this, but some people honestly do work their asses off. It all depends on your own personal goals. However, when compared with some schools such as Harvard, the academic environment at Brown is way more relaxed. There is not much competition and people are willing to help each other.

Though its true that the freedom ingrained in our unique curriculum does attract a student body that embraces independence, this does not necessarily translate to the hippie lifestyle many believe. Brown students share a love of learning without restrictions yet when it comes to personality, interests, or academic pursuits, they share little else. Our campus places popped collared Wallstreet hopefuls with dreadlock wearing Thespians, substance-free Christians with alcohol imbibing frat boys. And though Sexuality Studies and Art Semiotics have an avid following, our three most popular majors are the more societly accepted History, Biology and International Relations.

Not really. There are tons of different types of people here. Yes, there are liberals and "hippies" here, but you'd be surprised at how many conservative preppy people are here as well.