Brown University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Concentration: Biology – I’m on the pre-med track
Student Self Identifies as: Chinese, Asian Bisexual Female
Summary
I’m in Illustration club
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Chinese, Asian
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
High School Experience: Public school with a graduating class of about 300 students in New Port Richey, Florida. There was a culture of going to college in my class.
First-Generation College Student: No
Concentration: Biology – I’m on the pre-med track
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in Illustration club
Academic Experience
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think that at Brown there’s a lot of focus on collaboration. For Chemistry and Math, we had a weekly workshop where we’d get together in groups to solve problems. Besides that, there is a culture of forming study groups, but it’s also fine to study by yourself.
How accessible have your professors been?
For me, they’ve been very accessible. They have office hours or you can email them. If not them, you can email the TA’s.
Why did you choose Biology?
It was my favorite subject in high school and still is. I just think biology is a really cool subject and important in everyday life.
Reasons to Attend
1) The academic opportunities. We have very good medical and computer science departments. Pre-med students have PLME, which is a good opportunity.
2) If you’re interested in art, you can cross-register at RISD and you don’t have to pay extra tuition.
3) It’s a super welcoming atmosphere and student body. People like to brag that we’re the happiest students in the Ivy League.
4) You can travel to Boston pretty easily and New York City is pretty close by. Providence is cool too.
5) There is an open curriculum where there are no required classes, other than a couple of writing classes, so you can study whatever you want to.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you find a different school that is better for your major, like engineering.
2) If you want a bigger school because Brown is on the smaller side.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Andrews Hall with one roommate. I lived on the quiet floor, which was good for me.
Sophomore: I’m going to be in a program house called the Tech House. I just had to do a very casual interview to get in.
How was transitioning from Florida to Providence, RI?
It was pretty different for me because there are a couple of cultural changes and a big weather change that took me a while to get used to. It was hard, but it’s cool to be in a different place.
What is an example of a cultural change?
Just being surrounded by so many young, smart, and opinionated people. That was pretty different from where I lived in the suburbs of Florida.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Kabob and Curry
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Boston. I take the train. It’s not expensive and it’s only a one-hour ride.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you participate in?
For me, I don’t go out so much. Sometimes I hang out with friends in their dorm rooms or we go to dinner or a movie. Sometimes there are evening shows. I went to see the Brown Orchestra a couple of times, there are plenty of performance groups.
What have been some of your favorite times at Brown?
I really enjoyed the Illustration Club because it was on the smaller side and we hung out a lot. We went to Boston all together one time, which was really fun. Some of my favorite performance-related stuff has been the DAEBAK dance group and the Taiko drumming group both had outstanding performances. I have also done random club stuff, like rock climbing and bird watching.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I participated in a program right before I started being a student. It was a preorientation writing program called Excellence At Brown. We all got there early and got to bond together as a little group.
How would you describe the social scene?
Diverse. It’s pretty active and friendly.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think to a pretty big degree. I think for the most part people meet a lot of people from other races and sexual orientations. There are some groups where people can ban together, but I think, for the most part, everyone has a pretty diverse friend group.
How would you describe the student body?
Overall, everyone is extremely driven, really intelligent and ambitious, and also friendly and kind people.