I’ve been to Brown a few times but this is my second college tour. If anyone is considering the dual degree Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program, you are in luck! My daughter and her friend Annie shed insight into this program.
Tour of Brown University by Zac, a Senior originally from Hawaii
He is a double major in Economics and Human Behavior/Psychology. His extracurriculars include Ultimate Frisbee (he is a captain), working in admissions doing tours, TA for a psychology class, plus one other job. He worked in the dining hall printing menus as a freshman. He was a DJ with two friends with a talk show that also played music before Brown sold their radio signal. He lives off-campus. He is not writing a thesis.
Takeaways from the tour:
– Freshmen live in doubles. They can not request a roommate. The tour guide who is a senior describes it as a “character-building” exercise.
– 90% of seniors live off-campus.
– Open curriculum which means no general education requirements/no core curriculum. There are class requirements within your major.
– Grading system is letter grades but no pluses or minuses. You can also take classes pass/fail.
– You can take 2 classes at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design). And vice versa. Still, there isn’t much interaction between Brown and RISD. They do have some jointly run clubs. RISD has access to Brown’s gym facilities.
– On-campus housing is guaranteed for four years. Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus. Need permission to live off-campus as a Junior.
– 5 libraries.
– Two dining halls plus other dining options. The food is described as pretty good.
– Computer Science is the most popular major. STEM has its own section of the campus including its own library.
– The main selling point of the school is the Open Curriculum (which is the opposite of Columbia University).
– Undergraduates get lots of research opportunities because there are not very many graduate students and professors need undergrads to staff their labs.
– Most of the internship opportunities happen over the summer in other cities nearby such as Boston or NYC (and that is because there are not very many large companies located in Providence). You can’t really intern during the school year like you could at other Ivy League colleges based in Boston or NYC.
This is just such a difficult Ivy League to get into. Brown’s open curriculum makes it the coolest kid in the Ivy League, attracting a ton of applicants. Providence is also a really great small city.
I would say that the only downside to Brown is the lack of jobs for Brown students in Providence, particularly internships during the school year. That’s where bigger cities have an advantage. But, this is easily remedied with summer opportunities. It’s by no means a deal breaker!
How about you? Do you have any interest in Brown University?
p.s. Related posts:
Learn to Network: Harvard’s Networking 101
How to Prepare for the College Admissions Interview
Everyone Can Afford Harvard: Financial Aid Programs
Harvard’s Schlesinger Library Documenting #MeToo in KidLit
Reflections from my 25th Harvard Reunion
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
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