Ever since middle school, I’ve dreamed of going Ivy. Today, I finally got the chance to visit one first hand. There’s no denying that it wasn’t beautiful and spectacular and any other adjective synonymous for amazing but in retrospect, it might not be the best fit for me. Some highlights:
1. Size -Brown is larger than I expected and perhaps larger than I would like in a college. with 6,000 undergrad and 1,700 grad, Brown is quite a bit larger than say Bates. This puts their student-to-teacher ration at 9:1 and their average class size at 19 or less. Then again, it is an Ivy, what was I expecting haha!
2. Location - Now this was a spectacular aspect! Free transport through Rhode Island supplied by Brown and then a short walk to the train station that will, for $20 and a couple hours of your time, take you to Boston, New York or anywhere up North. Located on top of College Hill, Brown has the best location with easy access to pretty much everything.
3. Accommodation/Dining - We didn’t actually get to see inside any of the dorms so I’m not entirely sure what to say. There are dorms, not houses like Bennington. As for dining, there are several facilities which seem nice (though we didn’t get to see those either.
4. Student Life - This seemed incredibly vibrant. Students host club events, the school organizes spring concerts on the green, and there’s even an organ player! Brown has tons of quirky little rituals that seem like they would be fun to be a part of.
5. Admission - I attended a brief information session after my tour and got a basic run-down of the happenings at Brown. Among some of the hings discussed was the admissions process. Most of the things I’d heard before: be relaxed at the interview, be yourself in the essays, etc. But what I was a little confused on was their take on standardized testing.While the admissions counselor kept insisting that Brown has no minimum/maximum, score wise, I’ve spent my entire life seeing the Ivy’s as unattainable schools because of their top scores. Even college websites puts Browns ACT scores within the 29-33 range. Yet, the guy kept insisting that scores aren’t that important. This is the part that makaes me hesitant about being able to come to Brown.
6. Open Curriculum - At Brown, there are no class requirements for wha tclasses to take. This means that I can focus solely on English and not take any Science/Math/Lab classes which I find amazing! However, each concentration has their own class requirements within the major but those seem easy enough to handle.
As a whole, I unfortunately don’t think I know Brown better than I did before coming. The only thing is that I just saw what the campus actually looks like in person. In terms of organization, I think Brown’s lacked. Where other schools give you information packets/letters/papers etc., Brown gave me nothing. Plus, we didn’t even get to see Emma Watson! (Not gonna lie, her attendance was the reason I first looked at Brown.) Being so liberally minded, I think I could fit in at Brown but then I also feel like I wouldn’t fit in as well…But first,I need to raise my test scores before I even consider whether or not I would fit in at Brown!
~Here’s to good vibes for Saturday’s ACT~
However, I could definitely see myself living at Brown and going down to Rhode Island every now and then. Stepping onto campus through those gates just felt like going back in time-back to 1764 when the school was originally founded. Everything just feels so old and full of rich history. Plus, I found a friend from back home on my tour - what a coincidence!
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