<p>you mentioned that Emery Wooley has private bathrooms. do all other dorms have communal bathrooms?</p>
<p>and how does first year housing work? is it assigned randomly or do freshmen get some say?</p>
<p>You’re randomly assigned. Em-Wool (and I thought Mo-Champ too, though I’m not a Pembroke person) have “semi-private” bathrooms that about 4 people share.</p>
<p>As far as I know, all other freshman housing locations are communal bathrooms.</p>
<p>The differences in housing for freshman when it comes to housing are slight, with the exception of Perkins, which definitely has some “culture” things going on.</p>
<p>New Pembroke’s have semi-private baths.</p>
<p>SoWhat?: I am 25 coming on 26, about to graduate but don’t club much. I prefer bars. But I saw a new club down the Hill within walking distance that looked swanky. I will tell you right now that you’re going to be the odd man out with your classmates and may not identify with them after you’ve left the initial “We’re new at Brown” phase. Also they will peg you as the go-to guy for getting alcohol. Don’t go for that crap.</p>
<p>Re:
"Well, how do you like the parties at brown? Are there any decent clubbing opportunities in Providence and what kind of music do they play in your clubs? (Im gonna be 21 when I start studying
)
Ohh, yeah, and are there many students who are that old as a freshman?</p>
<p>Do you guys often drive to Boston to party?"</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the quality of the parties here, since I tend to bypass most typical college parties and favor parties such as ADPhi’s cocktail instead. </p>
<p>There aren’t too many students that are that old when they start. I think they might have a 21+ floor for freshmen. The only 21 year old freshman I’ve ever met personally was an international student who had to serve in his country’s army for three years prior to college. </p>
<p>I don’t know anybody who drives (or takes public transportation) to party. Boston is something I think people usually only do on longer weekends. The typical person I think averages Boston once a semester–and that’s usually for visiting a friend, or going to a show, etc. The only people who go frequently either have a boyfriend/girlfriend there or are from there. </p>
<p>re: Bathrooms
For some reason, MoChamp is the only dorm I know nothing about. I think it’s the only one I haven’t been inside. It is possible they have the same set-up as EmWool, though. I’m just not sure.</p>
<p>MoChamp does have the same bathroom setup as EmWool.</p>
<p>And party-wise, it really depends on your scene… the frats have parties, the sports houses have parties, people have their own in dorms, upperclassmen have house parties, etc.</p>
<p>How preppy is Brown? I’m from the Midwest so everyone here thinks every single person on the East Coast wears Chanel and Tommy Bahamas all the time (Gossip Girl has not helped this image).</p>
<p>Also, this is a really odd question but I joined the facebook group for class of 2013 and everyone seems so…amazing. Lol, I knew what I was getting into when I applied to the Ivy League but I guess I didn’t think it through all the way. Am I doomed to feel like an unqualified idiot for four years?</p>
<p>Brown is not preppy.</p>
<p>As someone from what most people call the midwest but really isn’t (Kansas) I will say Brown is pretty stylish. Not ivy-league tweed from the 50’s preppy but I will call it some kind errr… .fashion conscious. Most people don’t walk around in sweats all the time, but you’ll still see them. If you are not used to being around people from New York, New England, and California all the time then you may not be used to the dress. If you are from a city like Chicago it might not be as odd as coming from the farmlands (aka myself).</p>
<p>That being said, I’ve worn jeans and a tshirt every day I’m about Brown and most of my friends do that as well.</p>
<p>But it’s not a pressure to conform to stylishness thing. </p>
<p>People dress however they want to dress. I think a fair number of individuals here come from “stylish” regions, as wolfmanjack pointed out, such as New York, some parts of Cali, etc. and therefore dress accordingly. But it’s a far cry from Gossip Girl. </p>
<p>I dress somewhat “stylishly” and receive comments from others about it frequently–(“You’re always so well put-together”, “How do you manage to dress so nicely at 9 in the morning?” “I like your shirt/skirt/shoes/scarf/purse/pants”)–and I come from a region that really is truly preppy. Growing up in prep-ville has influenced by clothing tastes. Brown is definitely not preppy.
Just the other day I wandered through the streets from my dorm to health services in pajamas at 1 in the afternoon without an odd look from anybody.</p>
<p>intellectual conversation at Brown…? </p>
<p>are there a lot of people who just dont care?? like high school i.e. unmotivated</p>
<p>“Am I doomed to feel like an unqualified idiot for four years?”</p>
<p>Right there with you!</p>
<p>Intellectual conversations are ubiquitous, in my experience.</p>
<p>People here are extremely dedicated to their priorities, that I’ve seen. Sometimes that’s something most other people would view as an EC (I prefer co-curricular), sometimes that’s class work. The last thing I’d say is that Brown students are unmotivated, however, equally unlikely would be to hear me say that Brown students are motivated by the same things to achieve the same goals.</p>
<p>People like to share their opinions about whatever, sometimes a bit TOO excited to share their opinions at times.</p>
<p>To Jason, were they skinny jeans?? jk I’m aware of your jeans taste. Lots of people including myself wear jeans frequently but people also jeans with lots of other stylish stuff on. ie scarves, hip sunglasses, peacoats, etc. I think more people dress up than dress down here but then again many of my classes are in the humanities… don’t me started on the VA people and their crazy clothing.</p>
<p>My daughter is about as far from preppy as one could get, and doesn’t have a designer outfit in her closet. She feels very comfortable wandering around Brown in her jeans and T-shirts. </p>
<p>She went to a small high school, with few AP classes and not a very rigorous curriculum. She also worried whether she could handle the work and also wondered if she would be lost among all the geniuses. She was a little overwhelmed her first semester, but has settled in nicely. She’s not getting straight As, but doing just fine and certainly doesn’t feel inadequate intellectually.</p>
<p>"intellectual conversation at Brown…?</p>
<p>are there a lot of people who just dont care?? like high school i.e. unmotivated"</p>
<p>Yes.
No.</p>
<p>I think that the degree to which people seek out intellectual conversation at Brown varies. It definitely exists. For example, I spent one night playing an intense game of Boggle with someone and then, upon my insistence that I was catching up to her late in the game, graphed our scores in precise detail. I can’t really see my roommate, say, doing something like this. This was something I was really looking for in a school, and after almost a year here I think that the baseline level of intellectual discussion/curiosity at Brown is much higher than in high school, and there is enough variety that you’ll find a sizeable group of people like that.</p>
<p>People absolutely care. One of the most amazing things my first semester was the few group projects I had. In one of my classes, we were randomly assigned groups of ten for a project. By that evening, we had scheduled a first meeting over email; many people put in countless hours over the next week getting it done. Much nicer than the common “oh so-and-so-will-do-it” mentality endemic to high school group work.</p>
<p>I guess you’ve never heard the “I can’t meet at 9am, that’s way too early” excuse then. I have. I’m being honest, there are good experiences like people above talk about, but then there are some lazy and whiny people around- just like evvvverywhere else.</p>
<p>Jason, I guess I should realize, my areas of studies all have professors who need huge blocks of time dedicated to other work (Ed people doing research or getting into high school classrooms and chemistry needing long periods of time for lab work), so we’re all about getting here at 8 or 9 am and having classes at those hours and needing to be in the office at certain times.</p>
<p>That being said, I can imagine when your work does not really require you to be around that it’s harder to pin down those professors.</p>
<p>I was referring to group projects, maybe I should have clarified. I know a RUE who had issues with two students when she had to get up at 4am to get her kids ready as well as herself, drive here from Fall River…and some whiney turd complained about waking up in time to get there at 9am to meet her for a group project.</p>
<p>To be fair though, a lot of students here are on sleep schedules where waking up at 9am is painful. My roommate freshman year usually went to sleep at 6am and got up at noon and then did it again, day after day. While it was insensitive for these hypothetical individuals to not have sympathy for the RUE student, I wouldn’t consider an unwillingness to get up at 9am lazy. 9am really is early if you’re going to bed around 4am. </p>
<p>And are you doomed to feel like an unqualified idiot for four years?
I assure you that you’re not an unqualified idiot—but there are definitely people here who struggle, especially those who come in with weaker high school backgrounds and without good study skills and time management. “Intelligence” is not what will determine your success here–your ability to manage your time and take care of yourself will. </p>
<p>I had a strong high school background, fair study skills, and didn’t pay attention enough to time manage my freshman year and due to a series of events, including an illness, finished off the year on Academic Warning after only completing 2 classes my 2nd semester. 3rd semester, I took 5 classes and aced 4 of them and got a B in the fifth. The difference? I finally started putting time management systems into place in my life—To-Do Lists, Google Calendar(saves my life), etc. </p>
<p>If you find yourself struggling your freshman year and feeling like an idiot, please go and talk to your Residential Counselor. We know what resources are available to help you and we can help get you on back on track. Some include getting a peer tutor, going to office hours galore, etc.</p>