The Yearly: Brown student taking questions thread

[collegebond78]

How would you describe the workload? Is it manageable? How long are the problem sets for classes such as calculus? How are science labs in the intro classes?

[modestmelody]

Bump this thread. So many questions being asked in recent days have been thoroughly address in here and this is a great resource for people to read through.

[greatgirls]

UCAAP Pre-Orientation- Do the freshman who have signed up for this in previous years like it?
Is it extremely competitive to get into?

[modestmelody]

All I can say about UCAAP is that Roger Nagasaki at the Swearer Center is awesome and makes an awesome advisor and I know he is attached to some of the UCAAP kids. I've heard people who like it, people who don't care much about it. I don't think it's really a big deal post orientation.

[ru4real1666]

I read in one of the previous pages that Goldman-Sachs recruits students from Brown VERY heavily. Is that still true? I plan on majoring in something biology related but I also have an interest in economics and might double major. Also if i do not want to double major, can i minor in something? Or is there no such thing?

[modestmelody]

No such thing as minors for several very good reasons. I'm pretty sure it's easy to read up on that but if you want information on that at some point I can provide it.

Yes, we're still heavily recruited for various financial institutions. No, you don't need practically any experience with finance or even an economic degree to get involved in that kind of thing.

I have a friend graduating with a chemistry degree likely eventually going to get an MD who's working a really cool, interesting consulting job next year.

[icebox4]

Goldman Sachs recruits heavily at Brown, yeah -- but that just saying that in a good year they take 10-15 kids over all divisions. it's hardly the case that getting something with them is a second nature for most kids at brown; the cream of the crop of brown students still go neck-to-neck for these jobs.

i'd also like to make a point that financial institutions recruiting is a highly cyclical thing. they tend to overhire during good times, and cut jobs like crazy during expected recession. GS only hired 1-2 kids last fall recruiting season on top of their summer analyst class.

i wouldn't make those employment statistics a strong base for deciding which school to go. if you know what you really want, you can get it regardless of where you go to.

[EarlyRiser]

D was accepted to RISD, waitlisted at Brown, and not admitted to the Dual Degree Program. If she attends RISD, to what extent can she pursue a Brown concentration? The admissions officer said she may take four classes at Brown and by special request, possibly more. How feasable is this, after the RISD foundation year?

She will be a graphic design major at RISD, but wants to interact with Brown students as much as possible. Do the graphic design students have opportunity to collaborate much with Brown students?

[icebox4]

This is my casual observation, and I might be completely off about it. To my knowledge, RISD students are pretty much segregated from the Brown community (and vice versa) just because there are little overlapping activities.

I have a friend that goes to RISD, and they truly work their ass off for the projects and everything. When you're that intense into what you're doing, communing with the neighboring college takes a backseat, I guess.

On that note too, I think the time schedules between Brown/RISD courses are conflicting all over the place, making it by construction hard to take equal courses at both institutions.

Other posters might chime in with more details.

[wolfmanjack]

There was a girl who transferred from risd to Brown last fall. You could try that.

[Trustory13]

I read somewhere that if you wanted to double major and get a Science Bachelors and a Bachelors in the Arts your residency would last 5 years. Is this true?

[princessbell]

That sounds odd, especially since you can take whatever classes you want and there are no core courses to delay the completion of your concentration requirements.

[modestmelody]

To receive two separate degrees, yes, you will be here five years. It's possible to do both in four years but you will only receive a single degree, the Sc.B., though the transcript will reflect that you've completed both majors.

However, to do both in four years you'd take almost no courses outside of your two concentrations and would likely have to take 5 courses at least some semester, so it's rather difficult to do. Not anymore than most schools, but most schools don't tell you that upfront.

The truth is, almost every time there is a major which combines the two fields anyway, and those times that there isn't, it's more typical to take a bunch of courses in another subject and not complete a concentration. When it comes down to it, there is basically no difference between receiving the concentration and taking a bunch of courses in an area, especially if that second area is just for your own interest.

[doopmeister1]

As far as the Brown/RISD interactions, by and large the campuses are really segregated. I know I went with a group of friends on a tour for prospective RISD students because, after almost a full year at Brown, we weren't even quite sure exactly where it was. It actually seemed like a pretty cool place, from what I can tell. There are some ways for Brown and RISD students to interact, but it's pretty limited. Some clubs (Hillel and the Queer Alliance are coming to mind) are integrated to various degrees. I also know of a couple in an inter-campus relationship, so they must have met somehow.

As for taking classes, though, I think it's a bit difficult. The calendars don't really match up, so it is hard trying to do both on the different schedules. I don't know anyone who does it, but I know it can be done. Maybe it will get easier with the dual enroll program

[princessbell]

Is it common for straight kids to join the queer alliance? Because I do a good amount of stuff with it at my school, and I love the people involved, but the ratio of straight people to non-straight is like 50-50, which I'm pretty sure is quite uncommon.