<p>im only able to visit amherst so im spending much of my time focusing on brown to balance this out</p>
<p>Sorry, that makes no sense. The schools are less than two hours apart, and there is public transit available between the two. If the decision is that important, visit them both.</p>
<p>People in the know will consider Brown and Amherst academic equals. I know some people that really look down on Brown though (but they shouldn’t b/c it’s a great school!)</p>
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<p>I disagree with this. I’m a Californian, and I haven’t met anyone who has kids who hasn’t heard of Amherst. It’s very famous!</p>
<p>Sorry but do I have reasons that make my inability to visit Brown make sense.
I have visited Brown this past summer but I didnt get to go to the info tour and i never stayed overnight. I have also visited Amherst the past summer but Im going to the overnight open house only because it’s all -expenses paid and I mean everything, Im not spending a buck when I visit. My parents arent paying for a flight over there and since Brown isn’t providing an all-expenses paid overnight trip, I can’t go there, and as for public transportation? Well, there is a schedule in place for the overnight Open House so unless I decide to ditch my host and all the events the school has arranged, no I won’t be able to visit Brown. It is an important decision but I dont have the means or luxury to visit Brown but I would if I could.</p>
<p>If I were in your position I would choose Brown. My kids went to LAcs and found their small size to be constraining, academically and socially.</p>
<p>I did some checking on CC when D2 was considering Amherst for transfer, I
found that the gender ratio of the 5-colleges excluding U mass is 6.7 to 1. and Smith & Mt. Holyoke women routinely swarm Amherst parties. As she was transferring from a women’s college this did not seem appealing from a social perspective. Of course there are bigger considerations.</p>
<p>alright!</p>
<p>Brown: 5
Amherst: 3</p>
<p>Brown is starting to make some headway…</p>
<p>Please don’t tell me you are going to make one of the most important decisions of your life relying on one word responses from faceless strangers on the internet.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what we want. What do you want? Why did you apply to these two schools in the first place? What qualities are you looking for in a college? What are your wants and needs?</p>
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<p>Amherst students that I know do not suffer that fate, thanks to the Five College Consortium.</p>
<p>Does the presence of fraternities at Brown seem like a positive or negative to you? Amherst has no fraternities.</p>
<p>Name recognition = Brown. </p>
<p>I love Amherst, but most folks have no idea what it is.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong, but Brown is def more preftigious.</p>
<p>hey wait a minute…there is a college called “Brown”?</p>
<p>I thought that the Brown name was representing the colors of a school, such as Lehigh’s brown and whilte…or Cornell’s Big Red…or Syracuse’s big Orange</p>
<p>
^ totally disagree.</p>
<p>Equally prestigious. One is an Ivy. The other has been ranked #1 or #2 LAC in the nation (playing tag with Williams) for nearly a decade. </p>
<p>“Most folks” don’t determine a person’s life or key decisions.</p>
<p>My S went to Amherst; my future SIL went to Brown, so obviously they are equally good. :p</p>
<p>OP, listen to kwu. Search you heart and soul for what it was you were seeking in a college, and read more to see if you find one or the other satisfies. If you can’t visit, see the CC section on College Visits in case those reviews are helpful. Also, read a lot of the student voices – campus newspapers, threads here on CC, and so forth. See what seems to preoccupy the student body at large and if that seems to fit with you. Look at a “typical day” on each campus calendar (remember to compare the Five College Consortium calendar, not just Amherst’s) and imagine if you could find the right range of activities in a given day, week or month.</p>
<p>“Amherst students that I know do not suffer that fate, thanks to the Five College Consortium”</p>
<p>forgot about that, the consortium does have utility, however it is limited due to travel time between campuses.</p>
<p>“375 students from Amherst (about 1 in 4) took a 5 college course during the 05-06 year.
40% of the class of '06 took at least one 5 college course in their time at Amherst.”</p>
<p>So: much better than nothing, but I still vote Brown.</p>
<p>BTW, Brown has fraternities, but IIRC they aren’t that big a deal/ prominent there. Certainly not to the extent that it should drive a matriculation decision.
Even D1, who despised the idea of frats, applied to Brown.</p>
<p>@ Kwu Of course I’m not going to solely base my decision on this thread. If I was, I would be wondering how I got into these two schools. I’m just curious to see why people would choose one or the other and see how I feel about their reasoning. I am at a standstill in deciding and of course I’m not going to use one post and generalize it as a reason for going/not going to a school, but I want to see if i agree with people’s reasoning. I have been talking to people who go to both schools, my interviewer, everyone! In addition, I have been doing academic research, student life research, and all those details. So many factors are being taken into consideration and while I appreciate all input, one input isn’t going to make the decision for me – I’m still trying to figure out my feelings toward each school</p>
<p>@ paying3tutitions
When I reflect on my current situation, it’s quite ironic.</p>
<p>The moment I read about Amherst 4 years ago, I loved it and it became one of my top schools and thats how its been. Whereas, years ago, I immediately dismissed Brown because I did not want greek life at a college. However, this summer on a complete whim, my parents and I stopped by Brown on the way to Boston just for a few hours in order to just catch a tour of Brown. I definitely felt something when I was there and gradually, it became one of my top choices.<br>
However, the main concern I had with the greek system was it dominating the social scene and after many talks with people who go there, they assured me that was not true – especially since only 11% are in frats/sororities and that their parties are open to everyone. Greek life at Brown doesnt really bother me.</p>
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<p>It depends on who you know, though. If you go to a top prep school in California then everyone will have heard about Amherst. Seeing as you appear to be a parent on CC, then you are very likely to be someone who places education in high regard. But for the rest, when Stanford is commonly mistaken as an Ivy, it is more unlikely that they will have heard of Amherst. </p>
<p>By the way OP, if you haven’t counted me, my vote is for Brown. Not because of prestige, but because of their anthro department.</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks that Greek life at Brown is a) large b) exclusive is c) wrong.</p>
<p>It’s actually more like 9% of people involved in Greek life (11% would include program houses like Technology House, if I recall from my tour guide days). Not only is it not exclusive (any event I’ve ever known of except induction dances or whatever are open to the whole community), it’s also not a major player in social life post freshman year for most people.</p>
<p>I liked to party on weekends at Brown and went out fairly often, especially in my later years, and I think I’ve been to three or four frat sponsored parties my whole time here. It’s extremely easy to find yourself never interacting with the Greek system here. That said, if you want to spend ALL of your time involved in Greek social life, there are enough students on campus involved that you probably won’t have too hard a time. It’s all about balance-- the option is there and sufficiently robust for a community to exist, but it’s also small enough that ignoring it is quite easy.</p>
<p>I personally would not have gone to Amherst because as a science student I needed to learn from faculty members who were currently involved in high level research as well as being adept teachers and mentors. Brown provides 95%+ of the benefits of an LAC while maintaining a grad school which is just large enough to supply the funds and labor needed to keep a top notch lab running. This not only changes the activity of the professor (in a positive way, for me) but also changes the caliber of professor who is attracted to be tenured at Brown. Brown is one of the few places where I believe you can find stellar researchers who consciously chose to be on the faculty somewhere that values teaching without having to abandon productive scholarship.</p>
<p>bumpdabump</p>
<p>Anyways thanks to everyone who responded and yes I made my decision
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<p>I will be a Brown Bear next year!!!</p>
<p>Funnily enough, it was the Overnight Visit to Amherst that determined my decision. I realized that a small-school atmoshpere was not for me and since Amhersts’s Anthro and Environmental studies program did not compare at all to Brown’s the decision was much easier. Although, I loved each and every pre-frosh that I met at Amherst that weekend but I know that great people like that can be found anywhere and I am satisfied with my decision</p>
<p>Congrats on your choice-- I’m hoping to apply for Brown, come time. I love RI, and Brown’s definitely one of my top choices! I read through a bunch of posts and saw the Brown (Ivy) vs. Amherst (great LAC) debate. I suppose both are great schools, although I’ve definitely heard of Brown more growing up (Amherst crossed my line of sight as I got older and looked more at colleges, however). Good luck!</p>