#Brown (APMA/Econ + potential double in music or cog sci) vs Princeton (Econ)

37 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

north pumice
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I was super commited to Brown for their APMA/Econ program on a pre-PhD route for economics (for context I rejected UChicago for them despite UChicago being the place to be for econ). Just got off of the Princeton waitlist and ngl im still really in love with Brown, but I just wanted to hear other opinions. Price is negligible.

Brown
Pros:

  • OPEN CURRICULUM (I love exploring different subjects like linguists/neuro/music etc)
  • Campus culture/General Happiness
  • PhD placements are literally the exact same as Princeton/UChicago/Harvard etc to top programs so im in a good position regardless.
  • Seemed easier to have connections with professors (on average like 1/2 grad students per professor for my department)
  • Stronger alumni network??? Tho this might be biased from my experience
  • APMA/ECON at Brown is like the dream major for me so I can do math and economics at the same time
  • EXTREMELY reputable APMA program

Cons:

  • Campus is a lil worse?
  • Amenities (the dorms are meh and there are like no libraries)
  • Brown has the smallest endowment in the ivies so it feels like they budget a lot and arent spending on their students as much as they should be for their status as an Ivy. So less funding for travel, research, you name it
  • Worse placements if I decide that I dont want to go to grad school?
  • Anything else I missed?

Princeton
Pros:

  • Prestige/Name Brand
  • Marginally better music program (could minor easily)
  • Research focused ethos
  • Better study abroad/language learning institute
  • Anything else I missed?
    Cons:
  • Cant double major (have to choose between math/econ so very bad)
  • I dont mess with the pre professional vibes (less finance bros the better) I want to go to a school where learning > future earnings

In short: is it valid to choose Brown over Princeton

silver spoke
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Imo completely valid to choose brown. Since it's pre-PhD the name brand don't really matter but it's better to have as much research done during undergrad for PhD placements. IIRC brown has more focus towards their undergrad so imo better to choose brown.

Also from what u said it seems like I like brown better

remote vapor
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I’m not sure about the rest of these points, but I feel endowment per student is sort of an odd metric?

https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/EndowmentPerStudent/

#2 on the list is Soka University of America??

There’s no guarantee that that money is actually being spent like that per student, and Brown’s overall endowment is still $8bil which is plenty!

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It’s probably more productive to look into the actual resources available than the theoretical amount of resources based on endowment

thorny lake
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I think in comparing brown to Princeton endowment wise it does give somewhat of an idea of budget, I think it is fair that it isn’t guaranteed you will see that money

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But I think it is fair to say that Princeton even just on that figure probably has some more resources than brown

short sedge
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If you go to brown APMA - econ will not be enough - you will want real analysis through the math department (math 1010) and maybe the theoretical calc 3 and linear algebra courses if appropriate / necessary.

If I was in your shoes at Brown, I would just major in the applied mathematics - econ concentration (or the math - econ or CS - econ concentrations) and take supplementary stats/math/APMA/CS/econ courses on the side along with whatever courses in whatever other subjects you find interesting (taken P/F to minimize stress)

short sedge
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What's your math / econ / CS / stats background?

short sedge
vestal vector
# north pumice I was super commited to Brown for their APMA/Econ program on a pre-PhD route for...

for ur brown cons

  • campus is most definitely NOT worse. it's absolutely gorgeous and it screams happy vibes too if that's your thing—i've never seen so many ppl smiling and laughing in the same place
  • amenities 🤔 i feel like it's very dependent on the building and room you get. some ppl have amazing dorms with beautiful kitchens and semi-private bathrooms and whatnot. also i dont really know how much better it'd really be at princeton
  • the endowment thing isn't a real reason imo, you're just speaking hypothetically
  • worse placements? i mean are you factoring in the fact that youre still getting an ivy league degree which puts you ahead of 99% of college grads?
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also

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a princeton con is how depressed everyone there is from what ive seen 😭

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i mean not depressed but like

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extreeeemely overworekd

vestal vector
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btw princeton study abroad isn't necessarily better than brown's

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it's generally the same i think??

north pumice
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Thank you guys all for your comments I ended up commiting to Brown!

vestal vector
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DM ME UR IG (if u want ofc)

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i didnt mention it but im also brown’30 ahahah

north pumice
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lol bet where are u from btw

vestal vector
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morocco! 🇲🇦

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international applicant

north pumice
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YO AFRICAN BROTHERS!

vestal vector
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WAIT RLY?

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WHERE R U FROM

north pumice
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🇪🇷 🇪🇷 🇪🇷

vestal vector
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omgg i love eritrean food

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im assuming u dont live there tho

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tons of censorship unfortunately

north pumice
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yea lol im from america

short sedge
north pumice
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i finished calc 3 alr and i specialize in analytics

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my passion project was doing financial analytics for small buisnesses and writing models to use this data to suggest better buisnesses strategy

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in terms of what to take im on a PhD track so A LOT OF ANALYSIS lol

short sedge