From: Admission
Officer
To: Sonia (by way of
Admission Undergraduate)
Subject: Re: a few questions
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 14:49:09 -0400
Dear Sonia,
Thank you for your interest in Brown University. Unfortunately, the scope of your questions and the complexity of the answers is far too broad for us to reasonably respond by email. If you call us at (401) 863-2378, we will be happy to address your questions, or, you may stay on the lookout for our visit to your area this fall.
Sincerely,
The Admission Office
Sonia had a phone interview with an admissions officer at Brown named Jess Lord, Assistant Director of Admissions at Brown.
Dujari: What is campus life like at Brown?
Lord: I think things are very busy at Brown, in a very
positive way. I think people's lives are very balanced here at
Brown. Academics are very hard and take up a lot of time and so
on, but they are only a part of the whole picture . . . there's a
big music scene, the theater is really big here at Brown, and a
lot of parties and events sponsored by a lot of different
extracurricular clubs. I think there might not be a lot of time
for sleeping, but people are doing a lot of stuff and it's fun
and challenging and exciting.
Dujari: What sets this college apart from the rest of
the pack?
Lord: First and foremost what sets Brown apart is the
curriculum system that we have. There are no freshman
requirements, no distribution requirements, no core requirements,
nothing. In order to graduate from Brown, you do have to declare
your major and when you do that, you will have some requirements
in that department. But what you do beyond your program is your
choice, and that is usually about twelve to fifteen courses. The
final choice is yours. Brown is a University college, and it's
really a college in it's undergraduate focus. So there is a lot
of special time given to undergraduates . . .
Dujari: What about research opportunities?
Lord: There are two main grants out there only for
undergraduates, for both humanities and sciences. The acceptance
rate is about seventy percent. Somebody who doesn't do research
at Brown is in the minority. It is paid.
Dujari: What is your policy on affirmative action for
non-Asian minorities?
Lord: Our affirmative action policy is very general. We
believe in the goals of affirmative action; we look at people's
backgrounds, and look to see if you have made the most of the
resources available to you. We look at the different issues
people have to face because of their race, because of their sex,
sexual preference, etc. So that we don't penalize people who did
not have the advantage of the wealthiest schools. That doesn't
mean that they couldn't be good students at Brown. So that's how
we use affirmative action. We try to take each personality. We
might look at the fact that a person comes from a disadvantaged
background, even though they are white.
Dujari: Do you have a cap for Asians?
Lord: No, absolutely not.
Dujari: So you don't have any quotas for non-Asian
minorities?
Lord: We don't have any quotas at all.
Dujari: So do you have need-blind admissions? Do you
look at what their financial status is when you're evaluating
them as students?
Lord: We do NOT have need-blind admissions. We don't have
enough financial aid money to be need-blind, and that's because
we have a financial aid guarantee. If you're accepted to Brown,
we guarantee to meet 100% of your need, the whole time that you
are here. So whatever you qualify for, that's what you'll get for
the entire time you're here. And in order to have that policy, we
don't have enough money to be need-blind. But it's important to
know that we do evaluate every single application at Brown
without regard to financial aid.
Dujari: There is much criteria that it takes to get
into a top-notch college. Could you put the following criteria in
order from most important to least important?
SAT/other standardized test scores
grades/GPA
difficulty level of classes taken
participation in sports
leadership positions/ extracurricular activities
Lord: I would rate difficulty of course load and grades as
a combination of the most important factor. I don't think the
other factors take preference over the other. We try to get a
larger sense of who the applicant is, and what they have
accomplished, and what they will accomplish at Brown. We may
select students who are especially talented in one particular
area, and students who are just all-around talented in all areas
. . . but the academic studies are the most important.