<p>When should we arrive on campus? Orientation is 9/5/09, but should students move in on the 4th? When are the dorms open to students? How long do most of parents stay there? Where do parents stay? When should they leave? And for meal plans 5 days or 7 days? which is better?
When we book a flight to Boston, there are three airports in Boston, which one is best connect to Brown?
What about Health insurance, we have Pacific HMO, can my child use same insurance over there in Brown? Do we need to buy another medical insurance from Brown?</p>
<p>You can get a medical insurance waiver in pretty much all cases that I know of. You just have to send in proof of coverage to Brown and they’ll deduct the insurance fee.</p>
<p>Logan Airport, if you’re flying to Boston, TF Green if you’re flying to Providence.</p>
<p>Money wise, the 20 meal-a-week plan will always work out as the best bang for your buck. There is some convenience to the Flex plan, but if you’re willing to go daily, even if you’re not hungry, to pick up snacks or drinks on your swipes you’ll get far more purchasing power with the 20 meal a week plan than any other plan. Going less than the maximum makes no financial sense unless the pure dollars are 100% necessary to recover. You end up paying way more for the same food.</p>
<p>Typically the dorms are open to students the day before orientation. My parents dropped me off, stayed overnight after the move in, and left late the next day. That’s probably best-- orientation is a big social time for students to get to know their class and hovering parents, while we do love you guys, can make it difficult to get out and mingle. Plus, there are many events which are designed for students only to attend going on.</p>
<p>Parents stay in hotels.</p>
<p>I’d take issue with your meal plan recommendation, modest. The 20 meal per week plan is only ideal if you use 3 meal credits a day, every day - miss one and you can’t really make that up. The flex plan is more, well, flexible, and you have a bunch more points which you can use in e.g. the Blue Room or little library snack places.</p>
<p>
Awwww…</p>
<p>I would also respectfully disagree with MM about the meals. He’s a guy, maybe that’s his thinking. My D could never eat 3 meals a day on a consistent basis. So, she has done the nest step down, which is the Flex 460 (I believe that’s the number), which included a lot of meals each week, but also was very flexible for points in other places on campus. The points carry over to the second semester, and the meals are lost if they are not used. But either one is very common, and the kids don’t seem to go hungry!</p>
<p>franglish-- honestly, I rarely ate three meals, but I did stock up on Uncrustables, hummus, Powerade, etc with that third credit.</p>
<p>I recommend starting with the highest flex first semester. Then, at the end, see how much you have left and do the math on whether it’s worth dropping down. </p>
<p>My freshman year I did the highest flex first semester and dropped down to the lowest second semester (and go to to keep the rolled-over meals). </p>
<p>Btw, you should know: </p>
<p>Highest Flex 1st Semester + Lowest Flex 2nd Semester is
- Cheaper
and - Gives you more meals</p>
<p>than the Middle Flex plan both semesters. So the Middle Flex both semesters is a nonsensical choice.</p>
<p>Do you guys remember what incoming freshmen receive in the mail in August before they head to school? (i.e. health insurance forms, roommate matchings and residence housing) If I’m going to be traveling during the summer, do you know if there is some way I can get all my mail/forms through email?</p>
<p>jelloman: The website says: </p>
<p>Saturday, September 5
FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION BEGINS
[Brown</a> University Orientation](<a href=“Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University”>Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University)</p>
<p>FIRST YEAR MOVE-IN
First-year students are expected to move into their rooms between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on this, the first day of Orientation. No exceptions for earlier arrival will be made.</p>
<p>There are pre-orientation programs so some students come earlier: ([Pre-Orientation</a> Programs and Special Activities for New Students](<a href=“Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University”>Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University)). Most student don’t do orientation programs. </p>
<p>There are several parent workshops on Saturday and Sunday. According to the website: “The final Orientation event for families is the President’s Welcome at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 6. A short break follows the President’s Welcome, after which student orientation begins.” That’s when parents have to leave.</p>
<p>Book your hotel early. There are some cheaper hotels in Seekonk, Mass., which aren’t too far. Pricier ones are in downtown Providence. If you plan to come parents weekend, also book the hotel early.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Someone mentioned that brown has a discount plan for students to have cell phones – how can I find out about this? </p>
<p>Also (I’m an international student), I heard that Wall Mart lets you buy pre-paid minutes for your cellphone, and then you don’t have to have a monthly “plan,” and that this is cheaper. Would you recommend this?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>They sell special “phones” that you just buy minute cards or you buy a new phone each time you run out of minutes. Prepaid phones are okay but the service is NOWHERE as good as the service from an actual provider.</p>
<p>Why “phones”?</p>
<p>Brown Financial Aid office lists an annual “personal” budget of $1,636 for undergraduates. This amounts to about $200 per month, since the school year is 8 months. If you take into account the costs for toiletries, entertainment, club memberships, parties, a few trips to boston, etc, is $200 per month enough? (I have no idea since I’m an international student). What about if you include buying clothes sometimes? Do many people at Brown live on this? Thanks!</p>
<p>AT&T(Cingular? I dunno they keep changing their name. But it’s the same thing) has a deal with Brown so we get the plan slightly cheaper and they basically have the best service on campus. Plus, AT&T to AT&T doesn’t take any minutes, and most ppl here are on AT&T, so it works out. You’re going to be here 4 years…I think you might as well.</p>
<p>$200/mo is enough. You also probably won’t be up at Boston all that often. Buying clothing maybe not so much. Depends how much of a bargain shopper you are.</p>
<p>Most of you guys are looking for hotels in Providence, but definitely take a look at the bed and breakfasts that are around. It is a bit cheaper and you get a meal taken care of. </p>
<p>I stayed at the Mowry-Nicholson House when I visited during spring break and it was fabulous. Really charming architecture and a lot more personal than hotels. And free internet access on a house computer (I didn’t bring a laptop). </p>
<p>[Providence</a> Rhode Island Lodging - Rhode Island Bed and Breakfast](<a href=“http://www.providence-suites.com/]Providence”>http://www.providence-suites.com/) it has a sister bed and breakfast only a block down, so there are always rooms available. </p>
<p>It’s past the state house, but walkable to get to Brown. The only thing bad about the rooms are that the showers are confusing 
but just ask one of the innkeepers and they’ll help (really nice).</p>
<p>Verizon = bad? :(</p>
<p>Verizon works fine. ATT works best because they have the tower above the SciLi. TMobile has really good coverage in some parts of Providence, but really crappy in other parts.</p>
<p>My friends with ATT or Verizon have not had trouble, although I personally recommend ATT.</p>
<p>How good is undergraduate research in the sciences, especially Biology, at Brown? I was looking through a .pdf about the top research universities at Brown and I was disappointed that Brown was ranked relatively low.</p>
<p>Just go to the Brown research page (on the Brown site). You will be blown away, I guarantee that.</p>
<p>1) What building is for First Year Orientation?</p>
<p>2) Where to park the car? Is the parking lot free?</p>
<p>3) Any special orientation for PLME students?</p>
<p>3) Is this travel plan doable from Logan (arrival time: 7:40am on Friday 09/04/09) to PVD (to get the rental car @ PVD) and plan to stay at hotel near PVD to get the plane home from PVD (early plane at 7:10am on Monday 09/7/09) instead of from Logan</p>
<p>a) Logan –>South Station via Silver Line bus
b) South Station –> Providence Train Station via commuter rail (or via Peter Pan)
c) Providence Train Station => PVD via cab (because there 2 big suit cases & 2 carry-on)</p>
<p>1) The whole campus
2) No parking for students. For parents it’s a free-for-all although the cops pretty much don’t ticket during the day because of how crazy things are.
3) No idea, you’ll find out by mail.
4) Kind of… You can almost definitely rent a car from Logan and return it at PVD from the same company for a fee smaller than the cab fee + train/bus fee.</p>