Brown University Top Questions

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There isn't really popular groups on campus but many people are involved in the arts, mainly through singing and dancing, and these performances are highly attended. Students at Brown often care more about guest speakers than athletic events, often lining up in the mail room 2 hours before tickets are released. The weekend at Brown often starts on Wednesday and continues to Saturday night. Fraternities and Sororities do exist, but the frat parties often have lines onto the quad most nights and these parties are often not free.

Typically at Brown, the two most popular types of activities are the arts and political activism. Brown has the most a capella groups per capita than any other University in the US, and it shares a very close relationship with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), which gives students access to courses at the design school. There are also many dance groups on campus that are all student-run, and the new Granoff Center for the creative arts has opened the way for students interested in acting and performance to further cultivate their interests. With regard to political activism, there are frequent protests on the main green that make a student sometimes feel like they are at Berkeley in the 1960's. Greek life does not have a very strong presence on campus, with only eight fraternities and two sororities on campus.

The largest student group by numbers on campus is probably the Queer Alliance, because it's composed of quite a few smaller groups. Other popular ones are the Brown Daily Herald (our newspaper) and all the sports teams and fraternities/literary societies/houses.

The largest student group by numbers on campus is probably the Queer Alliance, because it's composed of quite a few smaller groups. Other popular ones are the Brown Daily Herald (our newspaper) and all the sports teams and fraternities/literary societies/houses.

Brown students drink a lot and most of the social scene is dorm related. There is a definite campus bubble and it is easy to spend most of your time on college hill.

There are so many clubs that there will be one that will interest you. The dorms on campus are generally good for first years (all doubles, no bunk beds), but don't get much better. Most seniors live off-campus. Some of our dorms are in desperate need of renovation. The housing lottery will screw over a small part of the rising sophomore class into summer waitlist limbo where they won't know where they live until a week before the fall semester. The social life is what you make of it, you can party all you want if you want, or you can not. Greek organizations make up only 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body and don't drive the social life here, except on Spring Weekend and for first-years for the first few weeks of school.

House parties dominate the scene. The greek scene exists and can be fun, but is a joke compared to what greek life is like at "greek" schools. Athletic events are exciting when we're in the playoffs, but I never went to a single homecoming football game. Guest speakers are people like Gorbechev, Clinton, Nader, Scorsese--basically huge names and amazing learning opportunities. The dating scene is... non-existent. Everyone just sorta hooks up or ends up in relationships, but dating is doable if you put effort into it. 2am on a Tuesday I'm at the falafel truck, if it still exists, or hanging out with friends and chewing the fat, shooting pool at Phi Psi, or studying if there's an exam coming up. We party pretty much every weekend in some way shape or form, many events don't involve drinking. Saturday nights without drinking would be snacking on Thayer street, wandering downtown, laying around with friends in the dorm, playing intramural sports, or supporting friends at shows/concerts. Off campus has very good food and a great music scene. Most people spend the majority of their time on campus--for good reason. There's always something to do.

There are TONS of clubs/organizations on campus, and most first years are exposed to this either during the Activities Fair during ADOCH (A Day on College Hill) or their freshman orientation. This doesn't mean that you HAVE To choose what you want to do at those points, I'm going to be a sophomore in hte fall and I'm still trying to find a few activities that I'd really want to stick with. It's really easy to meet new people, especially during orientation, but it doesn't just stop there -- there's are just so many activities during the school year that you're bound to meet new people, which is great. I personally met my closest friends on the second day of school when I moved in and was finding someone's room. I looked inside one room and commented on the nice windows, haha, aaand now the people who live in that room are some of my best friends! I'm not so much into the party-scene, and didn't drink so much my freshman year. Frat parties are genreally held every weekend, but start dwindling during exam weeks, but then they go into full bloom especially when the frats are doing their rushing events during spring semester. I'd usually hang out with my friends on Friday / Saturday nights in their dorms, play board games, watch a movie, or just hang out. It's very possible and easy to find soemthing to do on a Saturday night that doesn't involve drinking. Other partying options include Fishco and Kurrents (both clubs) near Wickenden street. It's a bit of a walk but people usually go there on Thursday / Fridays. The biggest party weekend at Brown is definitely Spring Weekend-- for some people it's just an excuse to drink from Thurs-Sun and totally kill their liver, but usually a few bands come and perform, and it's just a whole lot of fun, especially when the weather is nice. Then everyone is so just laid back and chill :)

On weekend nights, lots of students (underclassmen in particular) go to events thrown by student groups (a cappella, improv, sketch comedy, theater....it's endless). Frats comprise only 10 percent of the student body, but their parties are also very important in the underclassmen social scene, even though the big parties charge an entrance fee.

I love Habitat, it's something I always wanted to do and the trips are a lot of fun and great experience, in Keeney doors were always open and it is an extremely sociable dorm where you could always wander around and find someone looking for company or time to kill, loved loved loved going to soccer games- men's team was awesome this past year and lots of school spirit, went to a few other games (football, tennis, hockey, etc.) which were fun but not as much, always concerts or lectures going on that are interesting and fun, downtown is great, bars are really lax with id's and where most of the weekend nights end and every wednesday at fish co is a good time, greek life if there but not prominent- def not necessary to join if its not your thing, they have parties that are usually ok, sports houses have better and are free entry and drinks unlike frats, themed parties=awesome

Campus life is active, although parties are relatively tame. There are plenty of clubs and teams to participate in that provide an outlet for boredom. Greek life is slightly unconventional, being less rowdy than most schools.

All i have to say is that there is something for eveyone and that if your house, your place does not yet exisit, there is plently of land to build upon.

My main involvement at Brown was with the Alpha Delta Phi society, a coed literary Greek organization. We have tea parties weekly, and charity auctions to support literacy . Everything closes at 2AM by law, which totally blows. Some people party more than others. Its not the only way to be involved in Social life. You can be a social person at Brown and still go to bed at midnight.

Brown has a lot of organizations, clubs, sports teams, and other group affiliations on campus, and they're always introduced to the students in the first week of school during orientation. The social life at Brown is extremely vibrant. In my first year, my whole floor and I got along really well, and all freshman dorms are broken up into units. These units are organized by a residential counselor, a womens peer counselor, and a minority peer counselor, whom are sophomores or above. They help you and keep the dorms organized, student-wise. Although theft was extant, it wasn't uncommon leaving your door open while in the room. Outside of dorms, it was hard not to meet new people every day, and cafeterias and events were prime for meeting new friends. Athletic events aren't as popular despite the huge school spirit, but like mentioned before, there's always something to do around campus, and you'll never really find yourself bored. There's a party essentially every weekend, and the dating scene is alive. I'd say it all depends on the person, but parties are great for meeting new people, haha! Fraternities and sororities, as well as the other themed houses, hold the majority of the parties. Going off-campus is also a popular decision, some 18+ clubs are open on Wednesdays and Fridays, and, of course, the weekend.

Greek life is not that big (about 10-15{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students join, I believe), but I decided to "go Greek" and I love it! The people all have diverse interests and talents, and aren't there to just sit around all day and party.

Theater is GREAT here. Some weekends there are 3+ shows going up and you have you to struggle to see them all. You will always have a way to be involved in whatever you want. You have plenty of opportunities to get good experience onstage or off. There is a little division between the musical theater/mainstage kids and the ones who do more student-produced stuff, but still... Whatever you're looking for, Brown's got it. You could be in 6+ shows a year. Granted, you'd be running yourself ragged, but it's for the sake of the art, right? If you're just into seeing shows, then you will have your pick. Most of it's free and the rest of it is cheap (under $10). Don't forget all the comedy groups on campus. Some of them are pretty darn good. A cappella is a big presence on campus, or at least it feels that way to me because I'm in a group. There are eight main groups, along with a few other specialty ones. They're hard to get into, even for talented singers. They provide great entertainment year-round, often a mix between music and comedy. Frats are minimal, but just enough for people who don't throw their own parties. There are multiple events going on any weekend. You can either pay cover or pay for drinks. It's usually a hit or miss kind of scene, and you'll want to hop from place to place as the night goes on. People mostly party Wednesday-Saturday. W & Th are more nights for the two main clubs (Kurrents and Fish Co). Drinking is not a must. I don't drink, but consider myself quite social. You can go out to parties / clubs, but probably will want to leave before people start falling over around you. There are all kinds of non-drinking events. The university has a "late night fund" that sponsors 'dry' events. Go to them! They are fun and a great way to meet people. Brown also has quite active ballroom and swing dancing clubs. Some people compete, and a lot more take lessons and go to weekly social dances.

I met one of my best friends at the activities fair the third or fourth day at Brown. It was orientation week and she said, "I like your purse," and then we started talking and we've been friends ever since. I usually meet good friends through other close friends. There are pretty much always the same people or familiar faces at the parties I go to. At 2 AM on a Tuesday night, if I were awake (which I probably would be), depending on my workload I'd either be drinking wine with 2 or 3 close friends, or writing a paper and studying. There are several activities at Brown. I am part of the Brown Relaxation Project (trained to give back rubs to students and faculty at organized events), Brown Concert Agency, and WORD! (Brown's spoken word group). You can definitely find something you like. There are also a lot of groups for your ethnicity/nationality. For example, there's a half asian club called "HAPA" and there's also the Filipino Alliance (FA). It's easy to get off campus. You can either walk, jump in a car, ride a bike, take a taxi... You can also use your Brown ID Card for free transportation via bus and trolly.

There is everything, everything, everything as far as the social scene goes at Brown. There are always frat parties, dorm parties, organizations or clubs throwing galas or parties. There is always a play or an a capella show. There are concerts almost all the time, especially downtown, and there are several bars basically on campus or within a 15 minute walk. And you can party any night of the week, although heaviest partying is from Wednesday (Fishco nights) through Sunday. While the partying probably doesnt reach the "wild" level of a state school, our parties never get broken up, no matter how big they get it seems. While my friends and I do drink, and I definitely partied very hard before coming to Brown, I've found that there is simply SO, so much to do around here at nights that I actually don't end up drinking every weekend and still have the best time. In the middle of the week there are always events going on - from guest lecturers to film screenings, from food festivals to self-help sessions - you'll never not have something to do.

There is a great array of extracuriculars open to all people. definitely important to have an interest in being engaged in the community to really get the most out of it. A large healthy portion of the campus drinks not at all or lightly on weekends, so numerous activities are always available from performances to dances to hanging out with friends. Greek life plays a small role, but is there and available for students who want it.