Brown University

Hannah Yang ‘20 recently interviewed Patrick Rounds, Assistant Director of Admission at Brown University. In addition, she spoke with two OHS alumni who currently attend Brown University: Jake Polatty ‘18 and Calder Hansen ‘19.

PJ: Can you tell us about what makes Brown unique?

Brown University: There are many things that make Brown unique. Perhaps the first one that comes to mind is our Open Curriculum. I would encourage you to browse the following sites to find out more: Undergraduate Admissions and the Open Curriculum.

“Brown’s Open Curriculum is based on three principles. The first is that students ought to take an active role in their education by assuming responsibility for the direction of their learning. Secondly, an undergraduate education is seen as a process of individual and intellectual development, rather than simply a way to transmit a set body of information. Finally, the curriculum should encourage individuality, experimentation, and the integration and synthesis of different disciplines.”

PJ: How are online schools such as OHS evaluated in the admissions process? Are there any questions or concerns about students from online school that we should address in our applications?

Brown: Online high schools are considered in the exact same manner as other high schools in the United States.

PJ: What’s one piece of advice on the admissions process at your university for prospective students?

Brown: Taking time to polish your essays and application is noticed and appreciated!

PJ: Does Brown offer opportunities for undergraduate students to take advantage of graduate school classes and resources?

Brown: Students are able to attend graduate courses. This, of course, happens on a case-by-case basis based on the student's prior coursework.

PJ: For students who might be interested in Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education or the Brown|RISD Dual Degree programs, can you share a bit about these two programs and the additional application materials required for them?

Brown: The Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) is an eight-year program that enables students of medicine to pursue their varied interests in depth even as they prepare for careers as physicians or medical scholars. Approximately 50 freshmen will spend their first four years in Brown’s undergraduate program, and the last four years at the Warren Alpert Medical School, culminating in the MD degree. The PLME is the only combined baccalaureate-MD program in the Ivy League. The program requires two additional supplemental essays.

The Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program is a five-year program where students choose a concentration at Brown and a major at RISD. A minimum of one year in residence at each school is expected of the students. They will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts or Science from Brown and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from RISD. There is one additional supplemental essay for admission to the program, and prospective students must apply and be accepted to both institutions as well as a separate Brown|RISD Dual Degree admissions committee.

PJ: Can you talk about your academic experience at Brown so far?

Jake Polatty: The Open Curriculum is great, both for people who have a lot of different interests to narrow down and for people who really know what they want to do. Another thing that’s nice about Brown is that the first two weeks of a semester are a shopping period, where you can visit any class that you might be interested in. I haven’t used shopping period yet because I’ve had a good idea of which courses I want to take, but it’s a great option for exploring courses. Also, it’s generally possible to get into the classes you’re interested in. Even if a class is full, you can always tell the professor that you’d really like to take it, and ask if you can get an “override code” to let you enroll.

Calder Hansen: It has been very good so far! My major is Computer Science (CS), so I’m taking a CS course, but because Brown has no distribution requirements, I’m able to try out all sorts of other things right away. Aside from CS, I’m taking geology, philosophy, and comparative literature this semester. All my professors are great teachers and cool people, and all the course material is interesting — my philosophy class is one that Dr. Hicks took when she attended Brown, which I think is fun. For the courses that have them, class discussions have been about as good as OHS class discussions. I haven’t yet had anything matching my best experiences at OHS, but I’m only one semester in. I think I have a bit more free time than I did at OHS, although I might just have a light-ish load this semester.

PJ: Did you feel like OHS prepared you for college academically and socially? How do other students at Brown view online school? 

Jake: Academically, I could not have been better prepared. I had the chance to take university-level math and science courses at OHS, and now that I’m at Brown, I feel like these set me up wonderfully to succeed in my STEM classes. The OHS core curriculum and English courses also prepared me incredibly well for writing papers and engaging in discussions in humanities courses.

Calder: Yes, in many ways! Taking challenging courses at OHS has prepared me well for the courses I’m taking here. Nothing has felt like a big jump up in difficulty, and taking the OHS Core sequence made me comfortable approaching papers for my philosophy class. In addition, because OHS has a college-style schedule, I am already well accustomed to managing that type of schedule; having only a few hours of class per day and a lot of unstructured time is not an adjustment for me like it is for other students.

Going to Summer @ Stanford five times prepared me well for dorm life. I guess the lack of a defined curfew changes things a bit, but I’ve never had a problem with other students. I’ve found it pretty easy to meet people and make friends here. In a physical campus, interactions don’t have to be intentional all the time; you can just run into someone without planning anything. So, as long as I get out of my room and am open to interaction, it’s easy to meet people. Whenever I mention that I went to online school, people are always curious to hear how it works and what it was like, and I’m happy to explain it to them. I’ve even met a few people who happen to be friends with other OHS students!

Thank you Mr. Rounds, Jake, and Calder for sharing!