Brown University

Date: Sep 20 2001
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
Brown is great because it has great people. The endowment is tiny compared to Harvard or Yale, so money issues play a huge role, from your financial aid package to how long it takes to fix a leaky showerhead. However, I think the quality of the faculty, students, and staff definitely outweigh these disadvantages. As a senior I have seen a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of problems that are not dealt with (the issue of need-blind admissions, for instance, or the current revolving door for university presidents), but disregarding the administration, Brown is a wonderful school. It has challenging and wide-ranging academic options, faculty that genuinely care about a) their subject and b) their students, tons of extracurricular activities which are very easy to become involved in, and a relatively interesting and entertaining location in Providence - not a huge city but certainly no cowtown, and close enough to Boston (1 hour by bus, $14 round trip) to make escape possible if you've had enough of Rhode Island. I'm so happy I came here.