Ask a Brown Student

Colleges & Universities Brown University
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<p>A FYS is a seminar of 15 - 20 students – all of them freshmen – taught by a professor who is devoted to the topic. My son (a rising sophomore) took one each semester and really enjoyed them – the professors, the intense focus and discussion, the being with all first year students in an intellectual setting that involved lots of interaction. Both FYS’s required a lot of reading and a lot of writing, but that was fine by him. They were a great way to meet other first years, and he test drove the S/NC (Satisfactory/No Credit – essentially Brown’s Pass/Fail) option while taking his fall FYS.</p>

<p>CAP courses can be any size and anyone can enroll in them. We were told last year (by CC’ers) that it is very uncool to apply for a CAP course and then change your mind about taking it. So, if you do not want the prof to be your advisor, just sign up for the course as a regular course in the fall.</p>

<p>I will leave it to others to explain how you sign up for each, how the lottery works, the deadlines, and so forth.</p>

<p>I will add that it’s useful to have a sense of which courses you want to “shop” at the beginning of the semester. (I’m sure you’re all absolutely devouring the Brown course catalog – isn’t it great?) What’s “shop,” you ask? It’s the opportunity you’ll have to check out courses and profs before you actually register for them. Chances are you will “shop” many more courses than you’ll take each semester. Each semester begins with a shopping period.</p>

<p>Finally, I’ll say something about UCAAP, which has nothing to do with courses, but a lot to do with first-year (and second-year, at least for the rising sophomores in the program) advising. If you apply for UCAAP and get in, then your first-year advisor will be someone connected with UCAAP. Thus you will not need to take a CAP course. (I assume the timing of deadlines and notification is such that you find out about UCAAP acceptance before the final deadline for the CAP course lottery? I think I remember it working that way last year.)</p>

<p>But what is UCAAP? It’s a special advising program for students interested in community action and service. It does not involve required courses or required much of anything, for that matter, though there is an expectation that UCAAP students share an interest in community work/involvement and will appreciate the guidance and support they will receive as UCAAPers to integrate their studies with involvement in Providence. There are also topic-specific programs that occur throughout the year. I assume there is a special UCAAP pre-orientation again this year? If so, that was a GREAT way for my son to meet a small group of like-minded freshmen BEFORE the rest of the freshman class arrived on campus. They spent a lot of time exploring Providence and learning about the different projects and programs older UCAAPers have been involved with. Last year’s group got together regularly for the UCAAP programs and additional potlucks. It was another important way in which my son found a smaller community within the larger one.</p>

<p>I definitely think my son’s first year experience was hugely enhanced by his being in FYS’s and UCAAP – which is not to say it wouldn’t have been a phenomenal first year without them. Brown is an incredible place.</p>

262

<p>how many FYS are you limited to??? can i take more than one a semester??</p>

263

<p>Your only limit is your ability to get into them because they have low caps, which is indeed a hurdle, but definitely do-able if you’re determined. </p>

<p>“If I don’t want the professor of a CAP course to be my advisor, should I still enter the lottery for that course? Or should I sign up for it like a normal class?”
Just sign up for it like a normal class if you don’t want the professor to be your advisor. </p>

<p>"but could somebody be really specific about the differences between FYS, CAP, and regular courses?</p>

<p>is life at brown very different with or without FYS/CAP? "
wolrab specified it, but I suppose I’ll repeat.</p>

<p>FYS are small seminar courses that are limited to freshman only that are meant to give freshman a chance to experience the seminar settings early, since most seminars are in most dept.(though certainly not all) are upper-level courses that you might not get to until later in your career or at all in dept.'s that you don’t intend to really look into. </p>

<p>CAP is just a choice you can make to have the professor of a course you want to take be your advisor since it might be easier to get to know him/her as your advisor if he/she is also your professor. </p>

<p>And no, life at Brown is not very different with our without. I actually ended up hating my FYS because the professor was a visiting professor from Stanford who was insane, though friends I’ve made who were in the course and I often bond over how miserable our experience was. And I backed out of my CAP course because I took another of my advisor/professor’s courses first semester and didn’t really like how he structured his courses and lectures.</p>

264

<p>justbreathe, can i get ur opinion on ur favorite professors?
(i highly admire your opinion)</p>

265

<p>Aw thanks!</p>

<p>I really like Professor Elena Martino…she’s teaching PSYC0470 Brain Damage & The Mind in the Fall. She’s really friendly and approachable during office hours.</p>

<p>Theresa Didanato…though I think she might have left…</p>

<p>Sheila Blumstein is a really good lecturer if you sit at the front of her lectures(she’s older, so her voice doesn’t carry her speech as well over long distances anymore). She teaches COGS0010 in the fall.</p>

<p>Steven Sloman can be kind of interesting in terms of his mood…but I think is generally a nice guy and I like the way he teaches.</p>

266

<p>I’m going to be coming to Brown this fall from California. I am currently on Verizon’s cell phone plan with a CA phone number.</p>

<p>Do current students suggest changing to a number within Providence’s local area code? Would this be less expensive in terms of making local calls or would this be unnecessary?</p>

267

<p>I want to get started on my human bio requirements and wanted to know if I should take CHEM 0100 or CHEM 0330. My school didn’t offer AP Chem so I took Advanced in 11th grade–I did well and received a 90% average. Would it be possible to take 0100 first semester and 0330 second? Or is 0330 managable with only one full year of chem under my belt?</p>

268

<p>“Do current students suggest changing to a number within Providence’s local area code? Would this be less expensive in terms of making local calls or would this be unnecessary?”
No. There’s no need, really. One warning, though: AT&T/Cingular is the best in terms of service. Those on other services often complain about not getting any reception inside of buildings and of having to go outside to make/receive phone calls. So if you can switch now(as in, your contract is about to expire), I’d suggest switching over for that reason. Most ppl on campus are on AT&T/Cingular.</p>

<p>“I want to get started on my human bio requirements and wanted to know if I should take CHEM 0100 or CHEM 0330. My school didn’t offer AP Chem so I took Advanced in 11th grade–I did well and received a 90% average. Would it be possible to take 0100 first semester and 0330 second? Or is 0330 managable with only one full year of chem under my belt?”</p>

<p>There’s an online CHEM0100 course that you can take a look at. If you did well in Advanced, I’m inclined to say CHEM0330 might be for you, but I also didn’t go to your high school so I don’t know how rigorous it is. I’d say to sign up for CHEM0330 and see how you do and if it’s too difficult to drop down to CHEM0100.</p>

269

<p>Thanks for the advice! I vaguely remember something about that online CHEM0100 course, but I don’t remember where to access it. Could you please provide a link or direct me to where it is? Thanks again!</p>

270

<p>Verizon service got much, much better this winter, when it added another cell tower. I’m not sure it’s as good as AT&T, but it’s no longer useless.</p>

<p>Are you on your parents’ cell plan? It’s expensive to be on your own. I know most students keep their phones, but you might want to call some carriers to make sure.</p>

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<p>you can begin registering for chem 0010 next monday. There is not credit for it and no grade; plus its free.</p>

272

<p>

Sprint roams off of Verizon’s service, so Sprint service got much better this winter as well, according to my D. With most cell phone plans, I believe there is no difference between local calls and long distance any more. You can definitely keep your own phone number and whatever service you use should be fine. Maybe wait until you get there to see how it goes. But don’t necessarily change anything, unless the plan’s contract is up at the moment. Even then… it may not be necessary to make major changes.</p>

273

<p>What is Math 18 like? Some of the courses I’m considering are likely to be reading/writing-heavy, and so I want to make sure that I’ll be able to balance them with my math class.
(I took BC Calculus this past year at a high school with a good math program. I’m not taking Math 35 because I don’t think I’m sufficiently prepared/apt enough…) Does anyone have any thoughts?</p>

274

<p>In general I’ve heard that the teaching…leaves a bit to be desired in that course. So, depends on how you can deal with that. Or if they change who’s teaching it.</p>

275

<p>This seems like a dumb question, but do we have to actually move out during winter break? Or can we leave our stuff in the dorms?</p>

<p>Also – for international students (I’m technically not one, but since my parents are moving back to Korea this summer and I will be left homeless in the States, I might as well be, hahha), is there a place where students prefer to store their belongings?</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

276

<p>To mihan: You leave your stuff in the room. Here is a tip though, try not to bring back too much crap from home after winter break. You will regret it when school ends (since your parents are moving back to Krea).</p>

<p>As for storage this year our student board got a moving group to come to the dorms and move stuff out. They were priced really well… so storage isn’t that big of a deal.</p>

277

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>From current students’ point of view, is the “declining balance” account card thing very useful? Should I just get my own debit card, separate from Brown?</p>

<p>What airline do most students prefer? I know that Southwest <em>used to</em> have a college rapid rewards program, but they’re ending it soon (and not accepting new students into the program).</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

278

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<p>If you aced BC Calculus from a good math program, I suggest you stop by Math 35. Go to the first lecture, and get your scare from the Professor. Get psyched, and think about staying. Then, after the first homework, if you feel like you don’t like where this is going, hop out and go to 18. </p>

<p>Math 18 and Math 35 are both challenges. But 35 has a hype around it since it attracts some of the toughest CS/math kids in your year. Honestly, I think it would be a great experience, but it’s all up to you.</p>

279

<p>So, for a Physics student, is Math 35 or Math 20 better to try out? I mean, I’ll probably shop both anyways, but I wonder which would better prepare me for physics. And yeah, it’ll be fun being challenged in math. Hopefully some of the classes are as intensive as the IB HL Paper 1… (as I think back fondly of the challenge. Oh, and I took Calc BC too, so no worries about placement). </p>

<p>And how does Thanksgiving break work? Are there some people that stay at Brown for the break, or is it that everyone has to get up and find somewhere else to go for 4 days? I don’t wanna fly all the way back home for essentially a 2 or 3-day stay…</p>

280

<p>The physics department permits either, but Math 20 will be more relevant for physics (I believe it has an extra problem session during the week), while Math 35 is likely to be more challenging and abstract.</p>

<p>People can stay at Brown, but the dining halls close, so you need to find your own food.</p>