<p>“I think you’ve got a firm hold on what is going on, but that final end conclusion comes out of bias, IMO.”</p>
<p>I won’t argue with you there. I’m only 17 and can’t help being obnoxious and overly opinionated.</p>
<p>Negru, if this is truly such a problem for you, go talk with people who can do something about it. Telling a bunch of prospective students about this won’t do you any good, but protesting to the administration might.</p>
<p>If the administration doesn’t want to listen, write to The Herald. Start a group. Have a meeting. Do SOMETHING to raise awareness about your perceived problem. You talk a lot about “complaining” to make change, but you do so in all of the wrong forums for free speech.</p>
<p>well too bad I don’t have time to do any of that</p>
<p>Hmmm, then I guess you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>If it mattered that much, you’d make time. Excuses are just masks for hidden apathy.</p>
<p>I should probably go on a hunger strike and sleep in a tent outside university hall too</p>
<p>So you don’t have time to do any of that but your classes are easy as hell?</p>
<p>What does one have to with the other? Did I ever say I lack work to do? Working doesn’t replace what I want</p>
<p>Don’t even get me started on the Columbia hunger strike. Absolutely ridiculous. Even though the strikers aren’t representative of the student body, between that, the racial issues on campus, and the calls for canceling Ahmadinejad’s visit, I have been totally turned off from the school.</p>
<p>Good thing no one is taking them seriously there…i wonder what’s the general brown opinion though. Actually, wait, I don’t need to wonder…I bet they’d be heroes here</p>
<p>I highly doubt that. And your suggestion otherwise makes me think you haven’t met enough people at Brown yet.</p>
<p>sorry, but the simple existence of all these “cultural” events at brown makes me think otherwise
what was the last one called, umpolompa something about black people?
asian awareness month? now, I’m very sure it isn’t a brown thing, but in a college which pretends to house such advanced intellectualists, these things should not happen. Not only are they degrading, but what is their purpose? Like, oh, I’m asian, this is asian awareness month, you’d better be aware of what I am? Jesus, like, yes I know your eyes look funny, I don’t have to be particularly attentive to things like that. I know asian people exist and have their countries which aren’t on the moon without having an asian awareness month.
If an Ivy league college needs events like that, then I am very entitled to these opinions I have about the general student body.
And I won’t even comment on the ACM comments. It’s very obvious to me that the gingerbread competition is infinitely more important to these people. What I derive from this I will refrain from stating, as there is no possible way to do it without getting another warning on CC which will leave me banned.</p>
<p>Wow, such a bitter, bitter individual.</p>
<p>oh i remember, it was bambani
like, seriously now</p>
<p>Besides many other well articulated and valid points I read that modestmelody posted, this one really relates to what negru should try to understand:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree wholeheartedly. Brown is a school where you can’t possibly say, “I don’t want to take these requirements; I want to take X!” Brown allows you to try out courses (in shopping period), create you own studies with a mentor, and have the flexibilty to tailor your curriculum to meet your own interests and needs. You are not required to take courses that don’t suit what you want. You have the flexibility to choose your courses. If there are prerequisites, go talk to whomever you need to if something is not suitable. You can do a supervised independent study. Please don’t say you are spending all this money not to learn on your own. My daughter did an independent study for one course that did not work into her schedule and she had one on one time weekly with a faculty member and completed the study. If anything, she got individual attention to focus on what she wanted to learn and that person is even writing a grad school rec for her. At a school like Brown, you have no excuse. The sky is the limit! You can make it happen and tailor your education to meet your own needs. There are opportunities for undergrad research if that is your thing, or to come up with your own curricululm. There are advisors, if you seek them out, who can help you find what you need to meet your learning needs. If anything, Brown is a place where you can really make your education what you want. </p>
<p>I also think that jerzeygrlsmom articulated a lot of very pertinent thoughts and if you are truly trying to solve your dilemma, you will take such advice and heed it. You can complain or you can be proactive. </p>
<p>Now, what truly baffles me of all the things you (Negru) have posted, is that you are now saying, in response to those who suggest you take the initiative and be proactive…that you “do not have the time.” Really now, this is very difficult for me to fathom. You have the time to post online but not the time to meet with someone to work out your educational needs??? You mentioned that you cut class. You mentioned that you enjoy going out to drink. You don’t have time to be proactive to initiate and meet with those who may be able to help you figure out a course plan to meet your learning needs? You are not in extracurriculars, right? You don’t have time??? Excuse me, but my own kid meets with advisors all the time and has a heavy duty extracurricular load daily for just her sport (actually twice a day and on weekends as well), is a TA, is a DUG leader, is applying to graduate schools which is lots of extra work, and has time to meet with advisors to do whatever she needs to do. I’m sorry, but I have a very hard time hearing that you don’t have time and all you do is take courses which you deem as too easy and are not in ECs and afterall, athletes are dumb, and you have time to cut class, party, and post on discussion forums, but you don’t have time to meet with the advisors and Deans who are there to help you create a fitting learning experience if you initiate that? No matter all the other stuff you post, it really matters not if you are unwilling to make the time to initiate and be proactive in your own education.</p>
<p>Brown is a school that promotes, encourages, and supports that type of learner. It may not be the place for you. If you are this dissatisfied and are unwilling to take the initiative to make it better, you should consider transferring to a school that has a curriculumn that is laid out for you that is exactly what you want. Brown may not be the place. It is not for all people. You can complain all you want but Brown doesn’t hold your hand. You have to have drive and initiative to create the challenges you seek. They are there. I hope you make the time. You have been at Brown for a very short time. It is fine by me if you don’t like it. Either do something about that and make the time to do so, or transfer. Those are your options. Good luck.</p>
<p>If soozie hadn’t already written her post, just above, I would have tried. I would not have been as eloquent as she was, however, Negru. You had been clear about disliking the math and science departments, but now you are also disliking the life outside of the classes. You have to do something to find your happiness. So far, in all of your posts, I have not read anything that makes you feel good about being at Brown. No school is perfect. No relationship is ever perfect. But we balance the bad with the good, and the way we live our lives is in trying to focus on the good, and to change the bad when we can, or accept it if we can’t change it. If the bad outweighs the good, then we need to find a different path. Surely someone as intelligent as you already knows this. You don’t like anything at Brown, and that is certainly your right. As a young person on a quest for the education you want, you need to get up and away from Brown, before you become too bitter to see the good in anything. You are probably this negative in much of your in-person life, not just here on CC, so you may be turning off any friends you have. You are headed for a great deal of unhappiness, in my opinion. Please do yourself a favor and find a place that can make you happy. No one at Brown or on CC will take it personally. Enough people love it there, and that is their right as well as it’s yours to dislike it.</p>
<p>Well tell me, how useful would it be if we all came here and only talked about “oh brown is so cool, classes are great, they’re nice and the proffs are incredible, and everything is so good, and life is so happy and perfect and blabla”
Talking about issues doesn’t require finding balance, that is for real life, where I do have balance. But when you talk about these things you don’t need balance, you need to take the extreme to make your point and find solutions. That is how you fix problems. Ignoring them or dismissing them as not that horrible will not lead to any improvement.
And everything needs improvement.</p>
<p>How do you attain balance by only ****ting on Brown, and not praising it for anything?</p>
<p>Or is your zealotry pointed toward balancing out everyone’s love for Brown on an overwhelmingly pro-Brown messageboard?</p>
<p>Making your point on an online message board that is primarily used by anxious prospective students is not going to bring the change you seek.</p>
<p>negru, I don’t think anyone here minds that you don’t like Brown. I know I certainly don’t mind! Brown is not for everyone. And it is also fine by me if someone describes some negative things and it need not all be positive about a school. No problemo! </p>
<p>That is not what is going on here. You are repeatedly describing what is not working for you and you are not attempting the solutions that exist. As others have described, Brown is a place where a student can take initiative and make their education whatever they want it to be. The resources are there. The advisors are there. The choices and options are there. What we don’t see is your making use of them but simply complaining. When suggestions have been made, you have been dismissive and then went on to say “I don’t have time.” Well, take the time you have devoted to message board posting and shoot off some emails and set up some appointments with advisors and professors to solve your dilemmas and to craft a better semester for yourself for next semester. OR…maybe Brown is not the place for you or the right fit. Picking a college is about fit. Perhaps what you are seeking is something that is better found elsewhere and you could start looking into other schools for transfer. I don’t get the “don’t have time” part as you are not involved in extracurriculars, is that right? Seriously, I have trouble with your “don’t have time” message given what I know both my kids have on their plate at college which is not only the demanding courses, but ECs that involve afternoons, early AM, evenings and weekends. Even they meet with advisors. </p>
<p>Also, some of your “beefs” about Brown are your unique feelings, which are fine but are not indicative of any Brown student I have yet to meet. Example is your statement that Brown students worship the athletes. This is one school where athletes and sports do NOT reign supreme. The fact is, that you are posting on a message board where prospective students want to learn more about a school. It helps for them to gain many perspectives. We welcome your perspectives. But people who also know Brown well and have been there longer than you, are welcome to share THEIR perspectives which happen to be more positive takes than yours, to balance out your posts. Many students ARE happy at Brown. My kid is deliriously happy there and I have heard NO complaints in 3 1/2 years of her time there. It is OK if another kid doesn’t like Brown or has complaints. Prospective students should ask a RANGE of students in order to glean a RANGE of perspectives. So, keep posting your negative experiences. That’s fine. But there are plenty of students who are happy at Brown who are going to ALSO post their experiences. Prospective students can weigh all the opinions they have gleaned. My understanding, having visited Brown many times and having met many Brown students, is that your opinions of the school are not indicative of the MAJORITY of students. But like at any college, you are going to find some students who are pleased with the experience and some who are not. You fall in the latter category and that’s fine. Brown, however, is notorious for having “happy students” who are content with the school. Brown is also notorious for having students who take initiative to create their own education to suit their learning needs. There is no prescribed curriculum. Most students have drive and initiative to create a challenging experience for themselves. There are advisors who can help you do this. Seek them out. That is, if you can make the time. </p>
<p>You mention “finding solutions.” What solutions are you seeking at the present time? I haven’t heard you mention any yet. And is there anything positive so far in your time at Brown? If nothing is yet positive…the environment, the professors, the classes, the peers, the activities, either make some changes (you haven’t been there that long to say you have tried), or look into transferring. Nobody should be THIS unhappy with ALL aspects of their college experience. Perhaps Brown is NOT the school for you and that is OK!</p>
<p>soozie is my hero</p>