It’s silly to suggest that Brown doesn’t offer the benefits of a city. Providence obviously isn’t Chicago, but it’s not East Podunk either. It’s a decent-sized city, with restaurants, clubs, stores, somewhat corrupt politicians, ethnic neighborhoods, urban challenges, and, yes, a river. There are banks, investment companies, and law firms. It’s the state capital. There’s no Art Institute, CSO, or Steppenwolf, and the skyscrapers aren’t much to talk about, but they do have a statue of a giant bug on top of some warehouse.
Brown, unlike UChicago, is not far at all from the central part of the city – less than a mile down the hill. And along the way, you pass RISD, where you can meet kids whose hair color, wardrobe, piercings and other accessories remind you that there is more than one way to be creative and productive.
@RenaissanceMom : My comment about contempt for classroom learning was (a) appropriately hedged by saying my kids’ friends were not a representative sample, but also (b) amply confirmed by personal conversations I have had with some of them. I did not misconstrue statements like, “What you do in class is completely useless. It has no bearing on anything, and I will be really glad when I don’t have to pretend to care anymore.” This from someone whom I have known since he was 5 years old, who is extremely intelligent, and who has always been successful academically, including at Brown and, more recently, at a top professional school (after three years at a top-three consulting firm). Yes, he was very involved in one particular extracurricular at Brown, but it would be very unusual to hear something similar from his counterpart at the University of Chicago.