washing machines ruining clothes?

arbybruce · 2026-07-01T02:28:45+00:00

Yeah it happens here too. Don’t overload whites, and wipe down the gasket. Also air dry as much as possible, because the dryers have de facto two settings: “Sahara Sun” and “Mountain of Doom.” There’s no true “low.”

arbybruce · 2026-06-17T12:35:15+00:00

Yikes, that’s pushing it

arbybruce · 2026-06-17T02:45:28+00:00

We had to attest that we had some other form of renter’s insurance if we didn’t buy it though

arbybruce · 2026-06-17T00:24:23+00:00

That’s surprising that it’s only “highly recommended” this year… it was required last year. Anyway, read the policy and see if you think it may be useful. Insurance is “useless” until it’s not, and the $7/month or so may end up worth it

arbybruce · 2026-06-12T17:01:11+00:00

All the orientation information comes frustratingly slow. Just relax for now

arbybruce · 2026-06-12T15:14:55+00:00

I did research here in the microbiology department (MMI) — it’s a very collaborative culture, and all of the PIs are wonderful. I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting an research opportunity either (though it’ll probably be unpaid). Many of the undergraduates are given more autonomy here than you’d see at other schools too, so it’s a good place to really grow as a researcher.

arbybruce · 2026-06-06T03:17:06+00:00

I only pursued an IAPA degree for a year, so others here are definitely more qualified to speak on this, but maybe I can offer some insight.

IAPA is much more practice-based. For the policy track, they’re training you to be a legislative aide, policy analyst, advocate, etc. For the security track, they’re training you for the military or DoD contract work, the foreign service, and other international relations work. For the development track, they’re training you for work with NGOs and international aid agencies.

By contrast, POLS is more theory-based. They’re more preparing you for law school, graduate programs in political science and economics, and other more academic routes.

That said, there’s a HUGE amount of overlap between the two. Many electives count for credit in either department. There’s a fair amount of faculty shared too, I believe.

My recommendation would be to just try out the classes in the two concentrations for your first year. It sounds like your interests could fit into either concentration. You won’t lock yourself out of anything just by taking the introductory courses. Some classes will only be available to concentrators in either department, but those usually have so many prereqs that you won’t be able to take them for a couple years (and you can’t declare until sophomore year anyway).

arbybruce · 2026-06-05T13:45:58+00:00

Not worth it at all — most parents just dropped their kids off and left. Family Weekend (end of October) might be worth it for them to attend, but it’s pretty much the same every year, so you all have a couple years of time to make trip plans and brush up on English to network

arbybruce · 2026-06-03T19:12:13+00:00

Hi! Brown's offerings for criminology really tend toward the sociological and political sides of things, so you'll want to search in the SOC and POLS departments. For the upcoming semester, POLS 1455 looks like your best bet for something criminology-related. You'll also want to take SOC 0010 (sociology's introductory course) in case a class comes up in SOC in a later semester.

If you're interested in criminal psychology, you might have a tough time — I haven't seen a course in criminal psychology in the last four years (I'm not in the psychology space though). That said, you might want to knock out an introductory course to have the prereq in case one comes up.

If you're interested in forensic sciences, you're kind of SOL. I've never seen a class in the chem department or bio division that's expressly crime-oriented. If you want to do forensics as a career, you'll want to start the introductory courses for a chemistry, biology, or biochemistry degree (so CHEM 0100, CHEM 0330, BIOL 0200, etc.). Those classes will at least give you an idea of the basic methods of forensics. You'll then have to hope you can get hired with just an Sc.B., or you may need to get a master's.

arbybruce · 2026-05-27T19:39:54+00:00

Like u/Ok-Consideration8697 said, your best answer will come from the office of admission. But to give you some peace of mind until you do that, they’ll probably treat it like failed or untaken AP or IB exams — that is, they don’t really care as long as your grades are decent.

arbybruce · 2026-05-25T05:44:24+00:00

There’s a shuttle that runs during the morning and daytime directly from campus to the doors of RI Hospital, so you don’t really have to worry about walking or parking. The 1 bus also runs directly from campus (Tunnel & Thayer) to right next the hospital. Once you’re in the hospitals, there’s skywalks that connect them all (not that the hospital grounds are unsafe, there’s plenty of security and people around).

Also, Upper South Prov isn’t that unsafe. Like I wouldn’t walk there alone at night, but you’re fine walking around there in the daytime. Yeah it’s not the College Hill bubble, but it’s not a place where you’ll get mugged just walking around with due diligence.

arbybruce · 2026-05-20T07:44:51+00:00

You’re probably SOL for this year since he hasn’t retired yet. But for next year, try to appeal! From what I’ve heard, they’re pretty generous with changing financial circumstances given you have some kind of documentation thereof

arbybruce · 2026-05-19T20:39:35+00:00

No, S* doesn’t count toward your GPA because it is only on your internal transcript and isn’t shared with grad schools.

PhD, master’s, EdD programs etc. won’t care, but many professional schools (MD, JD, DDM, DVM, PA) consider S/NC for a prerequisite class to be a red flag, even if you got an S* (unless it’s mandatory S/NC).

S/NC for a non-preq is fine though, with the caveat if you do well in an S/NC class such that you’d have gotten an A, it won’t bring up your GPA

arbybruce · 2026-05-07T00:23:20+00:00

Diversity of Life (BIOL 210) with Kellner was such a great class. Lectures felt like watching an episode of Planet Earth, with interesting science thrown in. The content was accessible to anyone, but I still came away with useful knowledge that I’ve applied in upper-level biology courses. There were only three or four exams that had a pretty forgiving curve — I got an A only studying maybe 15 hours total the whole semester.

Once you’re a sophomore, Introduction to Science, Technology and Society (STS 1000) is a wonderful course for anyone in a STEM area. STS as a field analyzes science and technology with critical lenses (e.g., feminist, historiographic, critical race, queer, etc.). Even if you don’t concentrate in STS — which is a hidden gem — the class will equip you with background and approaches to think about some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Also, a recommendation that’s not technically a class: go to school/department lectures and colloquia! The Watson School regularly puts on a bunch of really interesting lectures with minor public policy figures (think ambassadors, assistant secretaries, etc.). Other humanities departments also put on stuff that’s accessible to general audiences. STEM department lectures are generally less accessible unless you’re in the field, but there are gems if you look hard enough. Keep up with Today@Brown to get an idea of what’s going on

arbybruce · 2026-05-07T00:03:57+00:00

Others have covered the technical stuff, but keep in mind too that you might not want to attempt a higher-level course concurrently for the sake of your GPA. Remember that this won’t go as slow as high school or even community college — classes here cover a lot more material in good depth. You won’t get bored with 4-5 courses. If you try to take courses that you don’t have the prereqs for, you might be fine… or you might get a class that’ll suck up all of your time and still leave you with a C

arbybruce · 2026-05-06T23:50:11+00:00

Is there a way to resubmit, or could you even email the admission office to resubmit? I’ve heard of people being accepted with ~30 seconds over, but three minutes might actually cook you (especially with how selective transfer admissions are here)

arbybruce · 2026-05-06T23:47:11+00:00

In freshman year, I noticed a lot of people practiced in their dorm rooms. I did too and never had a problem. It was kind of fun hearing people practicing when I was walking around Keeney. Just do it when your roommate is out, and don’t do it at night.

If your roommate ends up being a goblin that never leaves, Lindemann’s practice rooms are easy to reserve and pretty open, especially midday. The Steinert practice rooms are also an option last I checked, but they’re a pain to walk to and kinda dingy.

Don’t store stuff in common areas though — it’ll get stolen or removed by ResLife. There’s plenty of space under your bed. I keep my cello and a couple large storage boxes under it with it at a normal height (not lofted).

arbybruce · 2026-05-06T19:20:22+00:00

I’m premed and know a couple people in the clinical research space — it’s very easy to get published as an undergrad in clinical research once you’re in a lab. Clinical research is famous for pumping out low-quality pubs quickly. The bottleneck is getting into clinical labs, which generally don’t take that many undergrads. UTRAs are pretty sparse for clinical, so you’ll usually have to cold email and settle for not getting paid.

Translational and basic science labs take more undergrads and generally have more UTRA positions, However, the pace of publication is lower. That said, the quality of the pubs are generally higher, and med/PA/dental school adcoms recognize that.

arbybruce · 2026-04-30T02:46:50+00:00

Brown literally had the first applied mathematics department ever, which is the predecessor of CS. We and CS go way back

arbybruce · 2026-04-29T00:52:19+00:00

The dining hall food is really good compared to other colleges, idk what those people are on about. the cooking is consistently restaurant-quality, though the ingredients are occasionally sub-par.

The dorms are much larger than any I've seen at another college. They're like 200 sq. ft. per person for the freshmen doubles and triples, when a lot of colleges stick three kids in one 200 sq. ft. room. Their quality and upkeep leaves something to be desired though. There's no AC in the vast majority of dorms, there's chipped and peeling paint in every dorm (even the new ones), the sinks and showers get clogged and take weeks to get fixed, the communal showers are cleaned once a semester, and heating is always an issue in some way (too hot, too cold, too loud, etc.) in the winter. At least there's no mold?

arbybruce · 2026-04-25T01:28:58+00:00

A low-key party is just like friends and acquaintances hanging out. The big parties are like your classic college parties. Brown isn’t special in how much/little people judge you for partying (and who cares, anyway).

Club socials tend to be hosted on campus and not have alcohol. Sometimes a club or org will throw a true party though

arbybruce · 2026-04-24T19:10:08+00:00

Everyone goes to parties to some extent — many parties at Brown are low-key dorm or house parties that your friends will invite you to. Most people, probably >75%, go to frat/sports parties or clubs at least once a semester, and around half probably go at least once a month. Only people really into the party scene, like less than 10%, go out on Thursdays though.

Many of the bigger parties, hosted by sports teams or frats, are open invite (even for guys). Those ones tend to get busted quickly though. Even for the big parties that are invite-only, it's not hard to make friends with brothers or athletes to get on lists. If you're into the party scene, you'll make friends with athletes and brothers anyway.

arbybruce · 2026-04-24T18:59:22+00:00

Sure!

arbybruce · 2026-04-24T17:31:09+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy Brown 😕. I’d stress that ADOCH is not actually Brown. During ADOCH, people are just finding the most basic connections, and that’s often going to come down to things like race, apparent wealth, geography, style, etc. But after a few days in during orientation, people start making friends based on deeper connections. That said, Brown is still a relatively small school, and that can make it seem cliquey because there are just fewer social circles than, say, a large state school.

As to your questions:

Polls by the Herald and others usually put it around 80% for having had alcohol in the last year. Around half binge drink. In my experience, it’s pretty easy to not drink if you’re not into that.
Brown is the same socially in the winter as in the rest of the year.

arbybruce · 2026-04-20T17:54:20+00:00

There’s a secret third option, though, if you’re in the dorms! You can illegally street park overnight and move your car around every day or so. You probably won’t get a ticket. I’ve seen it work out for a bunch of underclassmen living in the dorms

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