The Yearly: Brown student taking questions thread - Page 21

justbreathe · 06-01-2008, 12:47 PM

hey my tour guide training coming in handy here---

Brown ranks in the top 5 for colleges who send a large chunk of their students abroad. It's really common here. A decent number of my friends are going abroad next year

and it makes me sad.

We have a building dedicated to it on the Main Green and I think there's prolly more info online. It's not too difficult to get into the program of your choice from what I hear anecdotally. The most I've heard of in terms of studying abroad is people going abroad for both semesters junior year, but I do know that we have an incredibly wide selection of options.(At least, that's what my tour guide packet told me.)

roamorse · 06-01-2008, 09:46 PM

hey justbreathe; a question about tour guiding --is that a paid job for work study kids, or a volunteering thing? i got a hefty work study from brown so i was looking into what type of work i could do. does brown have an extensive interview process for their tour guides?

Sungchul · 06-01-2008, 10:15 PM

I want to add onto roamorse's question. How does working at the admissions office fare? My interviewer also told me library work was the best. How common are the two jobs mentioned in this post and roamorse's and how's the money?

wolfmanjack · 06-01-2008, 10:27 PM

I think the tour guides are volunteers from the Bruin Club. I know someone who worked in the admissions office for a couple of years then went to work for a sports team. I don't remember his sentiments but he did quit. I don't know a thing about library jobs but there are other departments that hire on campus and are pretty good jobs.

Min wage is 7.95

justbreathe · 06-02-2008, 01:32 AM

Heh I just volunteered over Spring Break because they were short and desperate and they were like okay we're desperate go ahead.

In general, you have to join the Bruin Club and there's an interview process---they make you get up in front of the hundreds of other kids there trying to be tour guides and give a spiel. Yep, audition in front of a huge audience right off to bat. Have fun! Then you're obligated to work at least one tour a week(maybe two?) and you don't get paid anything, though you do get paid if you want to work for Spring Break or Winter Break---but you have to be part of the Bruin Club to get picked for that. I didn't get paid.

Summer tour guides are paid. It's called being a Summer Ambassador. I think the pay is $8/hr, but I'm not sure. You're obligated to work from 9 to 4(or was it 8 to 4?) everyday for the summer. It's a competitive process requiring both a group and individual interview. You do not have to be part of the Bruin Club to qualify for that.

I know a guy who worked for the Admissions Office. He liked it. When it was slow, he basically messed around on the computer or did work or whatever. He got to know the Admissons Office and the officers pretty decently and enjoyed it. Don't now what it paid though.

Library jobs are hard to get, but excellent if you do, especially at specific libraries that don't get a lot of traffic because all you do is sit there and do your homework. The kids I know who do it love it, but it's hard to get. Shelving books isn't quite as fun as the desk job of course(you want the desk job), but the time commitment is pretty low and it's easy work.

CherryBlossom · 06-08-2008, 05:23 PM

To those who transferred in the past, can any of u guys explain how the whole credit transfer process works?
I'm a little concerned because my preliminary credit evaluation says that i'll only receive credits for two classes. Will this be resolved once i meet with my adviser and have my credits formally evaluated? Thanks

P.S. This is only an issue for Brown. My credits will transfer without a problem at UPenn, Columbia, and Northwestern.

BK22889 · 06-08-2008, 10:08 PM

Call the deans office (specifically Maitrayee Bhattacharyya, (401) 863-1784). I am a transfer this year, coming from a school on the quarter system, and was only given two credits. When I called though, I was informed that that was only for the first quarter, because that was the only quarter I had completed/had grades for when I applied. I was worried too, and was thinking to attend somewhere else, but now I'm getting the full credit for a year's work.

ToastWomble · 06-12-2008, 01:58 PM

For the Theory of Tonal Music classes, how much keyboard skill does one need to have? I'm interested in the class, but I'm concerned that my keyboard skills won't be up to par. Also, if anyone here has experience with orchestra (or knows someone who does), then I'd be greatly appreciated if I could ask some questions about that.

Sungchul · 06-22-2008, 04:55 PM

How many classes does one normally enter the shopping period with? What's realistic especially for a freshman (considering socializing, etc.)? Do professors give out normal amounts of work during this time period or do they wait until the shopping period is over?

wolfmanjack · 06-22-2008, 05:40 PM

I started with 5-7 in mind. They usually just assign readings since people will drop and add and it wouldn't be fair to give assignments and not have people in the class who would be there at a later time.

franglish · 06-22-2008, 06:38 PM

I don't think you can register for more than 5. But you certainly wouldn't want to take that many in your first semester. Later, many students do take 5 each semester. But you should definitely think about more than 5 because some classes close and you won't be able to get in through the registration process. Students do say, though, that even if you are closed out, if you go to the classes during shopping and you talk to the profs, they will often make room for you in the class. Follow your dreams!

wolfmanjack · 06-22-2008, 07:06 PM

I'm not sure that's as easy with the caps imposed by Banner. Also, you don't have to register for a class to go and try it out. Even if there is no space you can camp on the Banner page and wait for 1 person to drop. Can someone write a macro to do that?

ClaySoul · 06-23-2008, 09:16 AM

7 of my8 8 classes transferred, and you can always appeal. yo ushould be fine. they just won't take straight up biz classes like accounting or finance.

Sungchul · 07-05-2008, 08:14 PM

Is it reasonable to get from one class to another in 10 minutes? Even if classes are right next to each other, is it wise? Especially when procrastination comes into play concerning papers and such and studying for big tests.

jenz129 · 07-05-2008, 09:41 PM

Yeah, people do it all the time. Most semesters, I've had 3 classes in a row MWF mornings. If you're worried about procrastinating, there's always the option of skipping an earlier class to study for a later exam or finish up that last paper but that's a very bad habit to get into.