Brown University Top Questions

Brown academics are very apealing because of the pass fail choice. Another important aspect of brown is being able to be in small classes, from between 3-20.

Professors are wonderful, a lot know me by name, i have taken wonderfully unique classes about race and ethnicity.

Everyone takes academics seriously for the most part becuase they are taking classes that they are legitimately interested in, not just trying to meet some core requirement. Education definitely isn't geared towards getting a job, but expanding your general range of knowledge.

The professors all want to teach, and the students want to learn. Because students are never forced to take a class, and there is heavy emphasis on undergraduate teaching, the learning is often for learning's sake.

My favorite classes are smaller classes with a lot of different kinds of informational representation. I like mixed media classes, utilizing movies as well as readings. I'm concentrating in International Relations, which is one of the most popular concentrations at Brown and extremely interdisciplinary.

For the most part ive only taken pretty small classes at brown which has allowed me to get to know the majority of my professors. as far as my experience has gone, the professors for the most part seem very eager and open to interacting with the students and helping us when necessary. The modern culture and media department, especially, is very small and intimate and therefore everyone knows eachother and is really eager to help everyone have a great learning experience.

Students are not that competitive. For serious, Brown students do have intellectual conversations outside of class, but they're usually high.

No core curriculum, professors are incredible, class participation is awesome, best international relations department in the country.

Academics are great because you can take whatever class you want. You can even take it pass/fail.

Brown education is geared towards acquiring a sense of academic responsibility. Brown boasts an "open curriculum" -- there are no core requirements aside from your major, which gives you a lot of freedom. Students take their classes because they want to -- therefore, class participation is high and interaction between students and professors is rampant. In fact, professors are quite open towards spending time with their students outside of class. Unfortunately, the responsibility that comes with an open curriculum also has its downsides -- many Brown students are downright self-righteous.

Professors of classes 60 or smaller seem to know my name (about 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes I've taken at Brown). I've enjoyed most of my classes at Brown, but I'd have to say my favorite class was Politics of the Post-Soviet States. The professor was really knowledgeable about the region and its affairs, and was able to lead dynamic discussion. Students study quite frequently, even for "easier" majors, and participate regularly. Intellectual conversations outside of class was one of the first things I noticed about Brown. Education at Brown is definitely geared toward learning for its own sake. I especially enjoy this aspect about Brown, but it does make things harder when trying to get a job/internship.

Students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. At a recent 21st birthday party, my night ended with a discussion about Middle Eastern geography. Another party was capped off with a debate with many friends about the merits of chivalry! An education at Brown is geared simply towards allowing the student to pursue that which he or she finds most important.

Classes can be small and you can get to know any professor if you want to-they're very accessible. People study if they want to survive, so it's not an uncool thing to do. We're competitive, but not to the point where we don't want to help each other. Human bio has lots of guidelines in different departments, so it's not very streamlined because professors will cancel classes some years without telling the bio people and then we think we can take classes that we can't. Requirements are appropriate though, encourages a variety of learning in different subjects.

Most of the professors know my name. My favorite class is cell-molecular bio because the teacher is an amazing lecturer and I just love biology. The least favorite, organic chemistry, enough said. Students overall seem to study hard but it's not overwhelming and there is frequently class participation and teachers here really encourage questions. The students have a lot of intellectual and social conversations outside of class but they aren't competitive. In fact, everybody is willing to help each other because it is really under the mentality that we are all going somewhere so let's help each other get there. The Brown academic open curriculum is the most amazing thing in the world and the education is really geared toward learning for its own sake although if you can get through the classes, you are set for any job that you want to do.

most professors know my name. brown students do have intellectual conversations outside of class.

some of my professors know my name. my favorite class was egw (en1930f) or ta22. students study at library or homes, sometimes together in groups. class participation is pretty common. students aren't that competitive, some are. egw is the most unique class i've taken-it really focuses on like after brown with regards to core values, etc. my major was sociology, by process of elimination. i wish brown had a communications dept or a business major.

Some classes are small enough that my professors know my name, but in my larger classes the professor usually only knows the names of the most vocal students. My favorite classes are ones with engaging professors. Many of my friends have told me about professors that did not know the material or simply hated teaching the class, but I have been fond of almost all my professors. Brown students study a lot, which is good because no one feels silly saying they're studying rather than partying. Class participation is very common. Most students have intellectual conversations outside of class. Sometimes this gets annoying when you want to relax and not think too hard, but I would much rather be around intellectuals than not. I know only a handful of competitive students. Professors, advisers, and students themselves, strive for a competitive-free environment. The biology department is phenomenal and is expanding every year. Some of the top minds in the field are at Brown or close by in Boston and New York. There are classes on every aspect of biology and many, many people to help you choose which ones are right for you. The education at Brown is totally for learning, rather than getting a job, which is why there are no academic requirements. Even in the biology classes I've taken the professors want me to find something that appeals to me and enjoy it rather than driving myself crazy trying to learn all the nuances.

Academics are great. There are a lot of classes that many other schools don't offer and many of the liberal arts classes are small enough that if you don't talk in them, they'll be boring.

some profs. know my name. there's a range of studying going on, from a couple hours a day on avg. to half the day. students are def. NOT competitive. most unique class-Judaic studies dept.: God and Poetry-a look at Hebrew poetry from the Bible, midievil and current time periods. my major is civil engineering-it requires a lot of work, but can be done in 4 years unlike many other places. there's more of a concentration in the structural side, and less in the environmental side. all in all, it's a very theoretical major here, but def. helpful in terms of developing engineering skills.

Students study a fair amount, though certainly not to the extent that it prohibits them from being actively involved in things outside of the classroom. My experience to date has mostly been with large lecture classes, many of which have been over 200 students. Even in these situations, however, it is possible to get to know the professors if you make an effort. I haven't found the students particularly competitive and intellectual discussion plays a minor role outside of classes. I find Brown's academic requirements terrific. The freedom to pursue whatever academic interests you want to makes the classes a great deal more interesting. I would say that the vast majority of people at Brown are studying topics that they find interesting and for the most part are not particularly concerned with how it will figure into their future careers.

I've mostly taken large lecture classes, but in my smaller conferences my professors are fabulous. My favorite class would have to be my Spanish language class. Students here generally spend a lot of outside time doing work; ample sleep is rare, especially around midterms and finals. Probably the most unique class I've taken was a seminar on Sports in American History (fabulous!). My concentration is International Relations, which is a tough major, and honestly, there could be more support within the department (which is largely understaffed for concentrators). I'd say the education is balanced between education for the love of learning and education towards getting a job. People here are really self-motivated.

I would say alot of professors know my name. My favorite class is "The American Presidency". It's so interesting to study past presidency administrations and compare it to the general election. The class I least enjoyed was "Intro to International Politics". The teacher was so dull and I hated the essay questions. Students study alot. It is an ivy league after all. Class participation is very common in class sizes that allow it. Brown students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Most of the time it's exciting to talk to people as engaged as you are, but sometimes it can get annoying. Students are not very competitive. They compete against themselves in order to do well, but students are always willing to help others. They are not sly nor do they do anything to lower others' grades. It is a very friendly environment. The most unique class I've taken would probably be Engine 0009. Even though it's an Engineering class, it teaches you about the business world. I am a double major in Economics and Political Science. I do not spend time outside of the classroom with professors. Even though they are very willing to do so, I am not yet comfortable going to office hours. I am very satisfied with Brown's open curriculum. Its lack of general academic requirements gives us more room to explore classes we are actually interested in. The education at Brown is definitely geared towards learning for its own sake.

This TOTALLY depends on your major. Brown, in my opinion, focuses on learning as a process. Certainly, there's the goal of getting a degree, but that's not the most important thing. It's really flexible and allows exploration of many different academic interests. I couldn't be happier with it. My classes are mostly small, because I take dead languages (Latin and Greek). This also generally makes professors available. Because there are no core requirements, all (99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}) of the students take classes solely because they're interested. It really frees things up. Also the pass/fail option is a really great way to decrease stress.

Brown academics are great, but you do need to be a bit self motivated here, because no one will necessarily hand you anything. Best thing about Brown is that there are many small majors that end up with small classes where you know all the students and the professors. There are 4 students total in my major (geophysics) and only 20 doing geology overall. I know many of the geology professors by first names, and they are always eager to sit and talk about whatever. Class participation is super common and I expect even moreso in humanities classes. My favorite class has been a philosophy class on moral issues that I picked at random. It was taught by a grad student who was fantastic. Second favorite was my physics class on relativity and quantam mechanics--great professor, great material. Least favorite class was Intro to Environmetnal Studies. Terrible. Terrible. Students study time varies. It seems that the pre-med kids and engineers do the most straight up studying--and they will never let you forget it, but most kids do a fair amount of work. The lit/comp lit/history kids are forever reading. And seriously, the art/film kids spend alot of time in the studio. You can definitely get away with doing very little work here, but for the most part people take their classes seriously. Most unique Brown class I have taken: I would probably go with Objectivity and Its Loss; it was a class about objectivity in science and in clincal settings. Brown education is definitely about learning for learning sake. My two majors geophysics and science and society are both fantastic in terms of the classes I have taken. I love the geology department because it is small and everyone is so nice. I am friendly with many of the grad students and professors and at every geo event there is always beer and food.

Freshman professors often make a special effort to know your name, but as I am in Engineering and my classes are often larger than 50, it is usually up to the students to make contact with the professors. On how competitive brown is: Students are very intent on doing very well in their classes but no one *no one* feels like they are competing against other students. Some friends at other colleges say that they would never take a class with a friend just because they would be competing against that friend and jeopardize that friendship. At Brown there is nothing better than taking a class with a friend.

Academics is awesome. The pass fail option is great especially senior year and freshman first semester. There are also so many different classes and majors that it is usually hard to narrow down your schedule once you have found classes that you want to take. There are some great professors here who know your name and are very friendly but depending on departments, there are a lot of grad students who teach classes and TA classes that are foreign and really hard to understand and don't explain things well. I am an economics concentrator and have had to try and deal with this problem alot.

My best classes have been those that emphasize experiential learning and on the whole, classes embrace learning that occurs outside of the classroom setting. As I said before, we're all smart kids. I think the thing I'll miss the most are the "Brown conversations", the nickname my friends and I use for conversations that you'd never hear when you leave. Where else can you discuss Nietzsche, The Big Lebowski, theoretical physics, national politics, the history of India's independence, and proper Beirut technique in one lunchtime conversation? Students are not competitive and neither professors nor the administration try to foster competition. Professors are accessible and it's fairly common for undergrads to do research with professors.

most professors make the effort to get to know your name. my least favorite class was SO164: Social Exclusion. Brown students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class and are competitive but no always with each other but themselves.

Depends on the type of classes you take. If it's a huge lecture class, the professor won't usually know your name unless you make the time to go to his/her office hours. Because I take a lot of small classes in Art History and Creative Nonfiction, almost all my professors know my name. I have pretty close relationships with all of them, and I will go to their office hours even years after I've taken a class with them just to chat. They are all so amazing, and they love talking with students. I have so many favorite professors - one of them is in the Art History department, he teaches introduction to Art History along with many other Art History classes. I decided to major in Art History after taking his class - I fell in love with the subject. I would always go and sit in the front row and forget about the outside world listening to him. His lectures would take me to another world where I forgot about all my worries. It was almost therapeutic. He is really funny, he makes these jokes that nobody really understands and he laughs by himself. He had these funny gestures and sometimes trips on the cords on the stage. He is the funniest person!!! He is also pretty awkward outside class, but that makes him a wonderful character. Another favorite professor is in the Creative Nonfiction department, he teaches a cultural criticism class. He is a book reviewer for the NY Times and he's won a Pulitzer. He's this really old, gentle and sweet guy - and he breathes out metaphors. My hands would ache after leaving his class because I couldn't stop writing down his beautiful sentences. It was a very challenging class, and it taught me a lot. My professor now invites me over to Boston to have lunch with him! My least favorite class was Experimental Psychology. I thought I was going to major in Psychology when I first came to Brown, and I fulfilled a lot of the requirements - and I loved most of them- until that class. The professor was very sweet, but we had to sit in lab with a rat for three hours and code every single thing the damn animal did. One day I walked out of that class and I knew that I was going to drop Psychology. I loved Social Psychology, but Neuro and Cognitive Psychology were not my thing. Brown students have nothing but intellectual conversations outside of class. Sometimes we sit in the Ratty literally for hours and discuss whether there should be trans gendered bathrooms on campus, or the Bush government, or the Kurds in Turkey, or cultural differences between France and the States... Sometimes we get so into arguments we end up staying up all night and forgetting about work. It is awesome..One thing that sucks is that because most students are liberal here, there is really not much tolerance for conservative ideas. People tend to get pretty hostile at times and most students know if the Republicans on campus by name. I don't think we are competitive here. We challenge ourselves, and do not weigh successes against others. However, because there are no pluses and minuses, getting a B is pretty much the worst you can do in most courses and obviously nobody wants to get a B. But it's not the end of the day when you get one, and by the end of your fourth year your transcript is pretty much sprinkled with them. The liberal arts education at Brown is geared mostly towards learning for its own sake, but it all depends on what major you choose.

With the lack of requirements and the opportunity to take all classes pass/fail, Brown students approach academics with a laid-back, collaborative attitude that should nonetheless never be confused with laziness. Brown students see their university’s flexible academic guidelines as a means of while also pursuing their own passions without the unnecessary pressure that many times clouds college students’ academic experience. It also allows them to explore new subjects without repercussions on their grade point average, making intriguing classes like “Human Sacrifice” and “Contemplative Studies” popular even among Business concentrators or Engineering students. Brown students have a recognizable enthusiasm about learning and though they often suppress it by trying not to discuss academic matters outside of class, their hidden “nerdiness” and overachieving sides of their personalities eventually leaks out.

Most professors make an effort to know your name, even in large classes, but it is hard unless you make an effort as well. That means going to office hours or raising your hand in class. Students study when they have to. Most students know what they have to do to do well, so you'll see a variety of techniques and dedication. A lot of students study in the libraries, especially during exam time. Brown students are not competitive. It's one of the best qualities of students here. They are competitive with themselves, but there is a bond of camaraderie between students. Education at Brown is definitely geared toward learning for its own sake. Clearly people are concerned with jobs for after graduation or summer internships but the freedom Brown always with NO REQUIREMENTS and pass/fail (called S/NC) classes allows people to explore topics they never could consider at other schools. Brown students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Either sharing with their friends about their specific classes or just talking about the world in general. Brown also offers a great "Shopping" opportunity. We have at least a week and a half at the beginning of each semester to check out as many classes as possible without penalty, so you're really given the opportunity to explore new academic interests. Even after shopping period is done you're given another 2 weeks or so to change your grade option for a class and something that i think is uniquely Brown is that you can drop a class at any point in the semester, until the last day of classes before exams.