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!