Brown vs Dartmouth

BrownAlumParent
Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:59:33 +0000

From what I gather from a admittedly small sample of recent and current premeds at both schools, there are a few things different:
Orgo at Brown is notoriously hard. So much so, that some Brown premeds choose to take it in the summer at Cornell or Standford if they live there because it is easier there!! BUT, counteracting that is that with the open curriculum you can take it “early” starting second semester of freshman year and see how you do. Apparently many of the class drops the course if they are not doing well, even up to the point of just walking out of the final, so then they fail and it doesn’t show up on their transcript! (and then take again the next year when they have already learned 3/4 or the material.) Okay, it is a quirk that the grading system perpetuates, but part of why the final etc is so hard. (selecting out the most prepared students.)
At Dartmouth my recent premed grad contact says a lot of students also take orgo study before they actually take the class, but there isn’t “second chance” retaking.
Also my impression is that at Brown there is much more of a camaraderie of Orgo students forming study groups etc. IE premed at Brown seems to be a bit more “Us against the hard classes, pulling together” than the premed competition you hear so much about elsewhere.

Another difference: to my knowledge, most Dartmouth premeds have one science related major. At Brown, many premeds have a science related “concentration”=major, and often a second major in something different (econ, int relations, classics, etc.)

I think both schools have plenty of opportunities for undergrad research from the students I know, but I would ask more Dartmouth ppl as my contact there is less.
Hope this helps!