Brown University Top Questions

yes

Like all stereotypes they are wrong since all type of political views exist in Brown and I have never smoked marijuana in my live.

somewhat

there is a wide range of types of people, including artsy, preppy, athletes, etc.

somewhat but there is definitely a great diversity. those steretypes exist to some extent but there are also many other types of people

mostly yes

well pretty much, everyone seems to be liberal except for a few people, and there are numerous gay students, and if students aren't nerds, they are jocks

Mostly liberal, yes. Hippies, not that many.

Somewhat. I think Brown students are much more conservative, at least economically conservative. They are hard workers, smart and preppy. But there are some students that fit the stereotype completely.

for some

Some yes, some no. We are not all hippies. We are rather laid-back.

Well you know. Shit happens when you party naked.

No they are all apathetic.

for the most part

Relative to other schools, there is some truth to them. But the biggest truth about Brown is that it is diverse: ethnically, politically, and just in terms of what a given person will do on a typical Friday night. There is something for everyone -- you just have to get yourself out there and find it. And putting yourself out there is something that Brown students indeed do.

I transferred to Brown from UCLA, and I would say as a whole Brown students seem to exemplify most of the stereotypes. However, there are sad, hypercompetitive, ugly people around too, and quite a few of them. So you can't always believe the stereotypes.

Traditional structure may not be forced upon us, but this does not mean that a Brown education is undirected. Most Brown students take a broad, carefully chosen set of courses and only make use of the S/NC option when it is truly beneficial.

Courses are very challenging-some professors will regrade assignments until they find enough mistakes to get the averages they want Not as liberal as you would think, it's liberal in the sense that everyone's very tolerant of one another and you're allowed to speak your mind We're not lazy, we just have to be very responsible with our four years and that 50K for tuition!

A majority of us aren't hippies but the rest is true.

very

there's this mix anywhere... accurate to the extent that this stereotype fits other colleges as well

While we are as a campus very earth-conscience, a friend once described Brown as more "hipster" than "hippie". I think this term is much more accurate.

We do like to wear sandals when it's warm, but it rains a lot in Providence. Like any school, people dabble in the ganja, and as an ivy league school, there are many intellectuals. Yes, we are a liberal school and the vast majority of the people here are liberal, and very liberal about sharing their opinions towards conservatives. I think that there's a nice selection of students from all different backgrounds to hang out with.

yes

No, though it is a very liberal campus.

Not really... there's a lot of different social circles to choose from, and we study a lot. Don't be fooled by this stereotype... pass/fail classes or no, there is a large amount of work involved in most classes.

At first I was surprised at how extremely modest people were. Most people do not flaunt what they have or how brilliant they are. However, most students are very well-off, but only some of them show it. I would say only half of the stereotype is accurate.

For some people.

Some of them for sure. Brown students are super liberal. They are also fairly politically active (not as much as they used to be, I think). There are definitely some pretentious hipsters here, and also some athletes, and some wealthy NYC kids /famous people's kids who bought their way in, but for the most part, students are just students. And let me tell you, plenty of Brown students do a TON of work.

People at Brown on the whole are exceptionally smart, but they tend not to be philosophers about it and the people I find obnoxious are not so because they think too highly of their own intellect, ie there is not an I am smarter than you stigma.

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.