2012-2013 Brown University Application Thread

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potentially a silly question, but what would be considered a "good" or "competitive" fin aid package? a high scholarship-to-COA ratio? if so, what sort of ratio would it be?

Just got my award package but really not clear on how to interpret it 😳
 
Thanks guys.

I'll be frank: nearly half scholarship, institutions loans that chip away a little of the unsubsidized loan.
 
1stmeds said:
potentially a silly question, but what would be considered a "good" or "competitive" fin aid package? A high scholarship-to-coa ratio? If so, what sort of ratio would it be?

Just got my award package but really not clear on how to interpret it 😳
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+1. Can't tell what's good, great, average, below average...
 
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1stmeds said:
potentially a silly question, but what would be considered a "good" or "competitive" fin aid package? a high scholarship-to-COA ratio? if so, what sort of ratio would it be?

Just got my award package but really not clear on how to interpret it 😳
Click to expand...

Bearstronaut said:
+1. Can't tell what's good, great, average, below average...
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Not really sure myself, but they say the average scholarship amount is 25k, so I guess anything below that isn't so great, and anything above it is considered "good".... Maybe lol but I definitely didn't receive that average amount so I guess my package isn't so good compared to others.
 
JubJub603 said:
For the first year there are very few books you actually need. Those that you do (or are just really helpful) can be bought used. I spent less than $100 on books the entire first year. People are constantly selling their books at really low prices. Talk with a 2nd year in depth before you buy any books (feel free to PM me if you want my take on what to get).

iPad is up to you. They "require" it but it's not mandatory by any means. Done again there's no way I would have bought one. A large portion of my class ended up selling theirs or now only use it simply because they already have it. If you have a decent laptop or even like taking notes on paper (they supply you with paper packets of all the lecture slides) then an iPad is not going to help you out. It's inability to multitask made it too cumbersome for me to effectively take notes on.

Housing highly varies. I'd say all things considered, 8k is probably a pretty accurate amount. Most people pay between $450-700/month in rent depending on how many people you share your house with and the are you live in. Protip: Rent gets cheaper the further north you go on college hill. Federal hill can also be very cheap but I'd highly discourage it if you're a light sleeper (it can get very loud at night).

Hope this helps
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I'm trying to figure out how much of these loans I actually want to keep. Of course, if you're on your parents' health insurance, you don't need coverage. How much of the Diagnostic Kit and iPad ($1600) is necessary? If we don't want an iPad, does that mean the diagnostic kit is $1000?
 
ChaoticTheory said:
Not really sure myself, but they say the average scholarship amount is 25k, so I guess anything below that isn't so great, and anything above it is considered "good".... Maybe lol but I definitely didn't receive that average amount so I guess my package isn't so good compared to others.
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I don't know of many people who got that much without a pretty low family contribution.

Seems like everyone gets the same base loan package, then the rest of your loans come from however much the numbers say your parents can pay. The scholarships fill in the rest.
 
Bearstronaut said:
Seems like everyone gets the same base loan package, then the rest of your loans come from however much the numbers say your parents can pay. The scholarships fill in the rest.
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Base loan package being Stafford loans? And how much on average would you say that base package is?
 
doorner said:
Base loan package being Stafford loans? And how much on average would you say that base package is?
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The financial website lists it:

Base loan for everyone is 28,500, jumping to 31,000 or 33,000 for the following years. They try to keep this low. I assume this is built up of both Stafford and Brown Loans.

The formula the financial aid website lists then is COA (71,000) - Base loan (28,500) = Need. Need - Family Contribution = "Brown Scholarships."

I don't know if they do merit scholarships, but I haven't heard of anyone whose package doesn't follow this formula.
 
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The only thing that raises a question for me about Brown is research opportunities. Can any student comment on how easy it is to land a substantial research position, i.e. where you are personally responsible for a project? I'm sure there are such opportunities but how hard are they to get?
 
BurghStudent said:
The only thing that raises a question for me about Brown is research opportunities. Can any student comment on how easy it is to land a substantial research position, i.e. where you are personally responsible for a project? I'm sure there are such opportunities but how hard are they to get?
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No student at Brown has gone to another medical school. Honestly, if that's a serious concern for you, would it not be better to lean toward a school that has a research heavy reputation?
 
Bearstronaut said:
No student at Brown has gone to another medical school. Honestly, if that's a serious concern for you, would it not be better to lean toward a school that has a research heavy reputation?
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Of course. I guess I felt a strong public/global health research vibe. But research alone wouldn't persuade me. On the whole, Brown is awesome.
 
BurghStudent said:
Of course. I guess I felt a strong public/global health research vibe. But research alone wouldn't persuade me. On the whole, Brown is awesome.
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I got the same impression. For what it's worth, seems like there's plenty of research to go around, but you may have to find a project you're interested in, instead of finding professors already working on your interests (if that makes sense) - just a matter of size
 
BurghStudent said:
Of course. I guess I felt a strong public/global health research vibe. But research alone wouldn't persuade me. On the whole, Brown is awesome.
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For an n=1 I'll give my experience.

I did 4 years of wet-lab biochem research undergrad, then decided after I did my thesis I never wanted to touch another pipette. Halfwar through first year I started emailing around my resume to a few PIs in Gen Surg and Ortho who had published papers I thought were cool, and after making sure I was really sure that I didn't want to keep a basic science slant going (and offering first-author type projects for me to do on that front), they all had great projects for me to start on with varying degrees of autonomy. I wound up working with the one who gave me my own project from the start, then helped mentor me as my focus shifted from clinical research to public health, outcomes, and cost effectiveness work. When my career interests shifted, the new department I went to (Urology) had a number of attendings who were more than happy to tell me ideas and research questions they've had and set me loose. My research CV is a huge part of why I got interviews where I did (and no, I did not have an advanced degree coming in -- I came straight from undergrad).

tl;dr:
There's plenty of autonomy, first-author worthy work, etc available, but also plenty of support for you to learn and add to your skill set.
 
aloepathic said:
For an n=1 I'll give my experience.

I did 4 years of wet-lab biochem research undergrad, then decided after I did my thesis I never wanted to touch another pipette. Halfwar through first year I started emailing around my resume to a few PIs in Gen Surg and Ortho who had published papers I thought were cool, and after making sure I was really sure that I didn't want to keep a basic science slant going (and offering first-author type projects for me to do on that front), they all had great projects for me to start on with varying degrees of autonomy. I wound up working with the one who gave me my own project from the start, then helped mentor me as my focus shifted from clinical research to public health, outcomes, and cost effectiveness work. When my career interests shifted, the new department I went to (Urology) had a number of attendings who were more than happy to tell me ideas and research questions they've had and set me loose. My research CV is a huge part of why I got interviews where I did (and no, I did not have an advanced degree coming in -- I came straight from undergrad).

tl;dr:
There's plenty of autonomy, first-author worthy work, etc available, but also plenty of support for you to learn and add to your skill set.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the information. I guess something I have to really think about is what I am interested in eventually researching. All in good time.
 
aloepathic said:
For an n=1 I'll give my experience.

I did 4 years of wet-lab biochem research undergrad, then decided after I did my thesis I never wanted to touch another pipette. Halfwar through first year I started emailing around my resume to a few PIs in Gen Surg and Ortho who had published papers I thought were cool, and after making sure I was really sure that I didn't want to keep a basic science slant going (and offering first-author type projects for me to do on that front), they all had great projects for me to start on with varying degrees of autonomy. I wound up working with the one who gave me my own project from the start, then helped mentor me as my focus shifted from clinical research to public health, outcomes, and cost effectiveness work. When my career interests shifted, the new department I went to (Urology) had a number of attendings who were more than happy to tell me ideas and research questions they've had and set me loose. My research CV is a huge part of why I got interviews where I did (and no, I did not have an advanced degree coming in -- I came straight from undergrad).

tl;dr:
There's plenty of autonomy, first-author worthy work, etc available, but also plenty of support for you to learn and add to your skill set.
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Awesome info. I would've loved an M3 or M4 panel at second look.
 
Bearstronaut said:
Awesome info. I would've loved an M3 or M4 panel at second look.
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Are there any specific things you would want to know? I know 5/15 is coming up quick but I can send out an email to some of my friends in the class and see if we can get an e-panel answer (as well as my own personal answers). The timing of second look is always really unfortunate as third years are mostly in clerkships and fourth years are usually away finding and setting up their new homes for residency before returning for graduation (or off on a group camping trip with other MS4s in my case).
 
aloepathic said:
Are there any specific things you would want to know? I know 5/15 is coming up quick but I can send out an email to some of my friends in the class and see if we can get an e-panel answer (as well as my own personal answers). The timing of second look is always really unfortunate as third years are mostly in clerkships and fourth years are usually away finding and setting up their new homes for residency before returning for graduation (or off on a group camping trip with other MS4s in my case).
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It was more a general statement - I've decided already. Thank you though!
 
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just making sure but there is no real way to figure out the chances of getting off the wait-list right? Brown doesn't do any sort of top half/bottom half or ranking system (at least not one that the disclose) do they?
 
Hi all, I am putting together my school list for the upcoming cycle, and Brown is a consideration. But I saw a thread a few weeks ago "Schools not to apply to" and Brown was listed as one of the schools for the following reasons: strong preference for Ivy UGs, prefers post-bac students.

Anyone know if this is true or not? The Brown secondary is pretty killer and I don't want to fill it out if I really have no chance. I am sorta trad non-ivy student with 2 gap years research, LizzyM score ~71.7.
 
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I think I just got off the waitlist!!!! Got a financial aid email saying I was accepted and was offered a package!! Does this mean I am accepted?!?!?! I tried calling but the office is closed!
 
fourhumours said:
just making sure but there is no real way to figure out the chances of getting off the wait-list right? Brown doesn't do any sort of top half/bottom half or ranking system (at least not one that the disclose) do they?
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Nope, but be on alert. Brown has been accepting people all week.

rudziutki said:
Hi all, I am putting together my school list for the upcoming cycle, and I think I would love to go to Brown. But I saw a thread a few weeks ago "Schools not to apply to" and Brown was listed as one of the schools for the following reasons: strong preference for Ivy UGs, prefers post-bac students.
.
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I could see how people would come to that conclusion, but I think they care more about diversity of experience than the Ivy name. They do accept a lot of folks from the Ivys though.

ksun91 said:
I think I just got off the waitlist!!!! Got a financial aid email saying I was accepted and was offered a package!! Does this mean I am accepted?!?!?! I tried calling but the office is closed!
Click to expand...

Congrats! You're most likely accepted.
 
rudziutki said:
Hi all, I am putting together my school list for the upcoming cycle, and I think I would love to go to Brown. But I saw a thread a few weeks ago "Schools not to apply to" and Brown was listed as one of the schools for the following reasons: strong preference for Ivy UGs, prefers post-bac students.

Anyone know if this is true or not? The Brown secondary is pretty killer and I don't want to fill it out if I really have no chance. I am sorta trad non-ivy student with 2 gap years research, LizzyM score ~71.7.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for Brown Admissions, but I am an accepted (and matriculating wooo!) student in the class of 2017. I did not graduate from an Ivy League UG.

At this time last year, I had similar concerns. The secondary is quite long, and AMCAS applicants are vying for only ~60 spots (~120 initial acceptances). Brown wants, like all mid and upper tier schools, a diverse class. It is probably true that Brown, compared to similar quality schools, screens less for numbers than for "uniqueness" of application. Now my CV is not super unique. I've done a good deal of research and a moderate amount of volunteering. No first author Nature papers, no peace core, and no NGO startups.

The length of Brown's secondary is both a curse and a blessing. The question, "where do you see your career in 10 years," offered the opportunity to exhibit my qualities that are unique. Sure, it took a long time to write, but I felt as though I had the space and the freedom to express my personality and my "medical vision." I'm fairly certain that Brown's long ass secondary and my long ass answers got me my interview.

My advice is this: Apply if you have numbers competitive with Brown's averages and, most importantly, if you have something compelling to say.

Hope that helps.
 
Insomniyack said:
"where do you see your career in 10 years," offered the opportunity to exhibit my qualities that are unique. Sure, it took a long time to write, but I felt as though I had the space and the freedom to express my personality and my "medical vision." I'm fairly certain that Brown's long ass secondary and my long ass answers got me my interview.
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Yeah, this question is the one that sorta gives me the most pause. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Uhhh, working as a doctor...? And hopefully not in a ton of debt 😛
 
rudziutki said:
Yeah, this question is the one that sorta gives me the most pause. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Uhhh, working as a doctor...? And hopefully not in a ton of debt 😛
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That question is critical. You really need a good, genuine answer to that. Numbers, Ivy-status - far more I think than other places, that all falls away in the face of the secondary, that question in particular.
 
Bearstronaut said:
That question is critical. You really need a good, genuine answer to that. Numbers, Ivy-status - far more I think than other places, that all falls away in the face of the secondary, that question in particular.
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I don't want to question your credibility, but how do you know this with such certainty?
 
rudziutki said:
Yeah, this question is the one that sorta gives me the most pause. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Uhhh, working as a doctor...? And hopefully not in a ton of debt 😛
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As an accepted and matriculating applicant as well, I think Brown is interested in people who will positively contribute to advancing the field of medicine. Research, policy, advocacy/activism, global medicine, etc.

Don't sweat that question too much. I wrote about 200 words for that section (one paragraph). They just want to see where you would place yourself in the field of medicine (as leader or middle of the pack). Be honest and be creative. I think that was the easiest section to write because it's not asking what you did (which is set in stone), but what you want to do (which is only bound by your imagination).
 
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Insomniyack said:
At this time last year, I had similar concerns. The secondary is quite long, and AMCAS applicants are vying for only ~60 spots (~120 initial acceptances). Brown wants, like all mid and upper tier schools, a diverse class. It is probably true that Brown, compared to similar quality schools, screens less for numbers than for "uniqueness" of application. Now my CV is not super unique. I've done a good deal of research and a moderate amount of volunteering. No first author Nature papers, no peace corps, and no NGO startups.


Hope that helps.
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😀

As for the "where do you see yourself..." I would say that you don't need a highly specific description but as long as you explain why you see yourself where you do, particularly if it relates to some prior experience you have, then it will come across well thought out. I think that is the point of the question, to see how much forethought and reflection you have given to your future, which is a sign of maturity.
 
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Bearstronaut said:
That question is critical. You really need a good, genuine answer to that. Numbers, Ivy-status - far more I think than other places, that all falls away in the face of the secondary, that question in particular.
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I'll back Bearstronaut on that one (been on the admissions committee for 2 years, but leaving/graduating now). Brown's secondary is entirely designed to give you a chance to tell us why you're a great fit for our school. As previously mentioned, there aren't too many spots so we really want to interview people who actually are specifically interested in the school (nothing worse than the "why Brown" question in an interview followed by "ummm, I really like the feel here?").

On a completely separate note, the word limits are just that. Please don't fill the boxes just because you think you should. The essay that generated the most positive discussion this year was < 1/2 of the word limit.
 
rudziutki said:
Yeah, this question is the one that sorta gives me the most pause. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Uhhh, working as a doctor...? And hopefully not in a ton of debt 😛
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Can't tell if you're joking (so I'm sorry if it comes off as preachy) but regardless of whether or not you apply to Brown you should seriously give this question more thought before you go to an interview. It's pretty obvious you want to be a doctor. So does everyone else applying for medical school (literally). So what sets you apart?
 
DoctorInScrubs said:
How do students get to/from class? Is parking available near the school? Is it safe/convenient to walk there late at night? I wasn't able to get a feel for this during my interview day.
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I would like to know this too. I would appreciate it if any current students could comment on this!
 
Question for current students:

How many hours a day do you study? Do you do that on campus or at home? Basically, what time do you call it quits and go home on average?

Thanks
 
BurghStudent said:
Question for current students:

How many hours a day do you study? Do you do that on campus or at home? Basically, what time do you call it quits and go home on average?

Thanks
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Didn't you have to decide already by now...? This is a question that is going to vary wildly from person to person...
 
Current students: how easy is it to get apartments with leases that start on July or August 1st? I was looking at a couple places yesterday and everyone made it seem like the vast majority of places are taken after June 1st. Not sure if that was just the real estate agent trying to pressure me into signing or the reality of real estate on the east side.
 
doorner said:
Current students: how easy is it to get apartments with leases that start on July or August 1st? I was looking at a couple places yesterday and everyone made it seem like the vast majority of places are taken after June 1st. Not sure if that was just the real estate agent trying to pressure me into signing or the reality of real estate on the east side.
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I know I am not a current student but I went to Brown Undergrad. all Undergrad leases start in June. every single person I knew who was off campus either had to eat two months of rent or find a subletter. I can't imagine it is any different for graduate students.
 
fourhumours said:
I know I am not a current student but I went to Brown Undergrad. all Undergrad leases start in June. every single person I knew who was off campus either had to eat two months of rent or find a subletter. I can't imagine it is any different for graduate students.
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I didn't go to Brown undergrad so I can't comment on those leases, but I had no problems finding a lease that started 8/1 when I started as a first year. In order to maintain flexibility for my summer options I only ran a 9 month lease (Aug-May), so did I ultimately wound up on the June-June schedule.

The market you're looking at is totally different as the locations that are convenient for undergrads (as close to Thayer as possible) are totally different than the locations useful for medical students, plus many of the landlords grad/med students deal with won't rent to undergrads at all.
 
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