I Didn't Choose the Brown Life, the Brown Life Chose Me

Back when I was a freshman and Don went to Richmond High talking about the Ivy League Connection, he named a bunch of schools I had never heard of before. One of them was Brown University. He told so many impressive stories about previous ILCers who fell in love with Brown. In just a matter of days, I'm going there to create my own journey and story. To make myself more familiar with Brown, I'm listing some interesting key points about it.

Brown University (Source: Wikipedia)

Brown is an Ivy League research university founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1764 and is the seventh-oldest college in the United States. It consists of the programs Alpert Medical School, School of Engineering, School of Professional Studies and School of Public Health. The students are also very diverse, coming from all around the world all year long. The 6,200 undergraduates have 70 choices of bachelor degrees to pursue, giving them a lot of freedom, especially reflected through the Brown Curriculum. This removes the core requirements for students. For graduates, there are 51 doctoral programs and 28 master's programs. High school students like me attend either the Undergraduate Summer Session or the Pre-College Program. People can even take courses online. Brown centers and institutes include those of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities, which are all areas of my interest. I can't wait to meet different people from different places!

The Brown Logo (Source: http://www.brown.edu.)

The admission as an undergraduate is highly selective, with only 9% being accepted. The number is quite low, but you never know what will happen if you don't apply! If I were to apply for Brown and be accepted, I'd be interested in pursuing a focus in their Humanities department, such as Literary Arts, Health & Human Biology, Music, or Visual Arts.

Van Wickle Gates (Source: Wikipedia)

The campus has 235 buildings. Some notable sites on campus are the Van Wickle Gates, John Hay Library, Haffenreffer Museum and Pembroke College. One interesting myth about the Van Wickle Gates is that if a student walks through the gate a second time prematurely, they will not graduate. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't ever happen. There is also a street, Thayer Street, which runs through the campus center. Along with the beautiful campus, the campus or student life is great as well. It never gets boring. There are many various student organizations, events, sports and performances that liven the place up. Even the city is full of opportunities. Providence has a ton of shopping centers, galleries and restaurants. Even though Rhode Island is small, it is packed with energy.

Waterfire: An event done in Providence (Source: waterfire.org)

Now that I'm more familiar with Brown University, I hope I'll be able to make the most out of my time there. Perhaps one day one of us will become notable alumni from Brown like Emma Watson, John F. Kennedy Jr., Horace Mann or John Jay.