Brown University Top Questions

I love this place. Brown was the perfect fit for me. I wanted a school in a city-ish area with no core curriculum. And, plus, the east coast is great. I like the amount of students here. It's enough to see familiar faces, but now know everyone. Controversy: SexPowerGod Brown is pretty damn unique. I consider all 24 hours in my day as counting toward tuition money. There are a million things around to compliment my academic work. Plus, I love the Classics and CompLit departments here. Brown is very undergraduate focuesd.

Best thing about Brown: open curriculum, size of the school. I really love Brown. I think the student body is awesome, the professors I ahve been able to work with have been great. I like Providence, and have had the occassion to get off College Hill a bit, but not as much as I probably should. Most people just stay around campus and Thayer St area which is dope, because its a nice fun area. Lots of restaurants and movie theaters. Probably not a great bar/club scene, but that's not what I am into. Brown administration is fine. I personally thing that alot of the student life, student activities stuff is silly, so I don't have to get in too seriously with that stuff. I live off campus and just generally do my own thing. Frequent student complaints are about the food and sometimes Providence (boring, bad weather etc).

The school is very nicely situated because it has its own campus, but is in the City of Providence and close to Boston. The best part is how relaxed the authorities are. Whereas some schools crack down on drinking and parties and even have undercover cops to catch students, which seems very dishonest to me, Brown authorities know that students drink and know that they are going to smoke no matter if they crack down or not and thus just try to make it as safe for them as possible.

Brown has a pretty good sized campus. It is about the size of a small small city which is pretty nice. Students can walk anywhere they need to be which is great for exercise and in the fall and spring and at times in winter the scenery is amazing. You don't always see the same people every day which is good too but there are only 6000 kids here so its not to big. The social life here is petty good. There is almost always something going on at night and during the day there are exhibits, art shows and other cool things like that going on. The main problem that I have about the nightlife is only a few local bars on campus so going out downtown is more fun and a little more of a hassel but worth it. The administration at Brown is really relaxed and help the students out a lot whether it be with getting grades dealt with, unfair teachers or dorm problems. They understand that we work hard here (and pay them lots of money to be here) and they respect that fact.

The best part of Brown is definitely the trust it has in its students and the freedom it consequently affords us. Brown's curriculum is all about trusting students to make educated choices and this ethic runs throughout every aspect of the school. Sure, some procedures and paperwork are involved from time to time, but on the whole, Brown trusts its students. With respect to size, I think Brown is perfect. I can go into the Ratty and know that I will know at least a few people, even at 3:30 on a Tuesday, but I won't know everybody. Moreover, in the unlikely event that I get tired of my Brown friends, there is always Providence to explore. Brown doesn't really have traditional school pride. We don't have pep rallies and football games, though fun, are sparsely attended. However, I think Brown has its own unique form of school spirit. We truly love Brown. In fact, there is a facebook group entitled "I fucking love Brown" with something like 2000 members. We love Brown, we love it's ethic of freedom and embracing the individual.

the college town is great. thayer st encompasses everything you may need. a few more bars would be nice

The best thing about Brown is the people. Most of the learning here REALLY does take place outside the classroom. The first semester I came to Brown from Turkey, I was terribly sad to leave all my good friends behind. I counted the days left to go back and see them. Soon, the situation turned completely around. I now have a huge group of friends here and I prefer spending time with them than the ones back home. The time we are all at Brown is crucial in terms of becoming adults and maturing up, and the friends you make here are so different than the ones you make in high school. I have spent sleepless nights, having enlightening discussions with friends. One thing I would immediately change would be to bring need-blind financial aid for international students. The international student body is geographically very diverse but not so economically. I have even read articles claiming that Brown is the "mating ground" for Eurotrash jet-setters. The size is just right. Big enough that there is someone new to meet every day, and small enough that it's unavoidable to run into your drunken hookup the next day in the dining hall. When I'm walking to class, oftentimes I end up being late because I know so many people. And I'm not an exception. If you make a little bit of an effort, people are so open here that they will force their friendship on you. Well, most people in back home in Turkey only know "Harvirt","Yeyl" and "Prinstin." But people are starting to know Brown and more people seem impressed when I say I go to Brown every year. In the States, most people are impressed,but some think that Brown is a joke. Especially when they hear that I'm a History of Art major, they tend to roll their eyes and say, "Oh...". I spend most my time in Buxton International House, the dorm in which I live. It's pretty awesome, we have 60 people living here -half of them internationals, half of them Americans. Though people think we're all snobs - it is the friendliest dorm on campus if you're living in it. It's like my second home here. We throw parties, chill in each other's rooms, cook dinners in the kitchen, order wings and watch the Super Bowl together...It's awesome! College Town for sure. Even though there is Thayer Street which is amazing in the Spring and Summer, and there are a few clubs downtown, the city doesn't offer much. So people spend a lot of time on campus, and house parties are pretty popular. I'd say administration is pretty open-minded and care about our thoughts. Their biggest problem is that they don't have much money to do what we ask for - Brown has a tiny endowment compared to most Ivy Leagues. Gender neutral bathrooms were quite a huge deal recently. As far as I remember, "Sex Power God", when it was on The O'Reilly Factor" was the biggest public scandal. A reporter from Fox News sneaked into the Queer Alliance party with a camera and recorded semi- naked students dancing in a University Hall. Parents and administration freaked out, naturally. There is not a lot of school "pride" but there is a lot of school "love". Students here love their school, love president Ruth Simmons and love everything the school stands for. However, the school does not try to associate itself with its elitist ivy league background. Nobody knows the Alma Mater and we don't have special handshakes, but we all LOVE LOVE LOVE our school. One experience I'll always remember is one that I can't talk about in full detail, but it involved climbing a bell-tower on top of Andrews Hall. There's also the time when I was sitting with one of my closest girlfriends on her desk, our legs hanging down the window during summer. When we noticed that one of our professors was walking down the street below, we started shouting his name and shrieking like monkeys. We were hiding behind her curtains not to be seen - and we almost fell down the windows when we heard him reply back with a monkey sound! And the time when we had a Halloween Party in my dorm. Every single person dressed up and served a special drink with their roommate. We started drinking on the first floor, and by the time we reached the top floor suite, we were all drunk and dancing like crazy. And many more that I can't even remember right now. The most student complaints are about the food in the dining halls, namely the Ratty. It's not that bad really if you learn what's good and what's not. The food is always so deceptive - it looks amazing but most the time you don't even know what you're eating!

With around 6,000 undergraduates, Brown University is a comfortable medium between the small, intimate liberal arts school and the large, intimidating research university. Its location on College Hill isolates the campus from the main city, creating a greater sense of community among its students. At the same time, downtown Providence is only a ten minute walk away and provides several opportunities for jobs, internships, or just a city-feel whenever campus gets too suffocating. Though the attendance at our sporting events may suggest that Brown lacks school spirit, our students have a great pride in their university that resonates more from their involvement in activities that promote Brown. Brown has the benefit of carrying the prestigious Ivy League title while relieving its students of the stressful environment that often plagues competitive universities. With the known flexibility of its administration, Brown students find little difficulty in getting their academic goals accomplished on their own terms. Brown students may complain about mediocre dining hall food, somewhat unattractive housing, and poor financial aid but this does not sway their enthusiasm for the exciting, relaxed atmosphere that Brown creates.

The best thing about Brown is the freedom you're given here. You are respected as an adult to know what is best for you- in terms of what classes to take and when, how to do your work. Professors recognize that you probably worked hard to get here so you know what you're doing. I love the size of Brown. It is rare that you walk across campus and not run into at least someone you know. But there are enough people that you're constantly meeting new people, even as a senior. Providence is a great college town, especially College Hill, where Brown and RISD are located. Thayer St. & Wickenden St. offer tons of walkable restaurants and stores. Downtown is barely a 10 min walk, as is the train station and mall. Providence is a small city, but it has a lot to offer and it is super easy to go to Boston or NYC for a day or weekend, which people do sometimes. I wish there was a little more school pride at sporting events. When you talk to people they always say how much they love Brown, but it isn't always represented at games. This year BrownNation was started which gives students points for attending games, which has seemed to work to bring in more people. It was recently announced that Brown is taking away on campus student parking starting next year. Parking has always been a problem around campus and this certainly doesn't help but the Administration promises that parking will be available off-campus with shuttles. Watch out, because there is a lot of construction going on with even more projects being brought up. The swim center and a new student center/gym is being designed but won't be ready for years.