<p>just curious? i have absolutely no idea right now</p>
<p>4.0s possible? rare?<br>
how’s the math/science grading</p>
<p>what is brown REALLY strong in… i dont’ hear anything that brown absolutely
specializes in…</p>
<p>I feel Brown specializes in its students.</p>
<p>Brown is very well known for Bio, Classics, and IR (if i recall properly) just read the Fiske’s guide to colleges, they tell you what each school is known for.</p>
<p>No one can answer your question about grading really, because no one knows what you’re used to. I can tell you that last semester (my first semester) i got a 4.0 taking 2 science/math courses and 2 classics courses. Keep in mind we have no +/-, so 2 of those might have been A-. I also worked less and partied more than I ever did in high school, and I never had a single straight A range grade semester in high school.</p>
<p>What classics courses did you take?</p>
<p>I think it’s pretty easy to do well here. I think I do more work here than in high school, but it’s more focused and more enjoyable.</p>
<p>I would say that you can challenge yourself as much as you would like to. I don’t think it is easy to do well though</p>
<p>two of brown’s strongest departments</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.watsoninstitute.org%5B/url%5D”>www.watsoninstitute.org</a>
(prof’s that teach undergrads include former presidents, political prisoners, etc.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://neuroscience.brown.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://neuroscience.brown.edu</a>
(prof’s that teach undergrads include a nobel laureate, the authors of the first ever undergrad neuro textbook, the inventor of braingate, etc.)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s easy to get a 4.0 consistently (one semester is certainly not a reasonable yardstick to measure with). I was more saying that very few people get C’s and most people keep up just fine.</p>
<p>It’s very dependent upon the individual class, how you learn, what other classes you are taking, and other factors. In high school, if you were smart, you can get the A without too much sweat. That’s not always true here. It takes a little more than being smart to get that A. I’ve found that it’s hard to really get a C (you have to ignore the fact that you need to put in serious work to let yourself slide there) and not that easy, but within reasonable reach to get an A. If I wanted to work for an A, felt it was worthwhile, enjoyed the material, it wasn’t hard to reach out for it. If I didnt have that motivation, it’d be easy to slip to the B. Getting the C requires essentially ignoring what you have to do to be successful.</p>
<p>As with most schools, it takes your own motivation to get there, or taking easy courses on purpose.</p>
<p>Better question-- why does it matter that much to you? If it does, Brown may not be the right place. THe environment here is anti-grade and pro-learning. Not to say that you shouldn’t strive to do well and get that 4.0, it’s just that there is a prevailing sense that doing it for the mark isn’t the right motivation. People come to Brown to explore things they have a genuine interest in and are willing to spend the time on. If your concern is a 4.0 for med school, Brown’s not a great place. If you love chemistry/biology/religion/classics/econ/whatever and work hard and do well and decide you want to be a doctor, you’ll get placed into great programs. Same for pre-law and business school. We have excellent post-undergraduate placement both for jobs and schools, but that’s not because students are focused on squeaking out that 4.0, it’s because of a genuine interest to learn, a collaborative and not competative sentiment amongst students, and most of all, the type of person that stives in/is created by that learning environment as a desirable candidate for success in a program.</p>
<p>The question shouldn’t be can I get a 4.0, will I get As, the question should be, are you the type of person willing to explore the course book and drive yourself to learn for no other satisfaction than your education and the fulfillment of personal academic interest?</p>
<p>Brown’s two strongest departments are probably comp sci and neuroscience. It’s unnecessary to get caught up in whether a school is known for a specific department, unless you’re some sort of genius who’ll be taking graduate level courses as an undergrad. Undergrad courses at all good colleges are pretty much equal (this may not be the case with a place like MIT or Caltech when it comes to math and physics, though).</p>