Approximately 140 members of the class of 2015 arrived on College Hill yesterday for the first-ever admitted students event geared toward early decision applicants. Admitted students attended panels, toured a first-year residence hall and ate lunch with admissions officers and Bruin Club members at the one-day event sponsored by the Office of Admission and hosted by the Bruin Club.
Chris Belcher '11, president of the Bruin Club, said the club decided to plan the event after the University released early admission decisions in December. The club sent invitations to the students "a few weeks ago via e-mail," he said. Students accepted by early decision are not allowed to attend A Day on College Hill and are required to matriculate, so it was less of a priority to hold an event catering to these students. But the Bruin Club thought such an event would maintain excitement for early decision students after their December admittance, he said.
Though the event is modeled after ADOCH — which is held while regular decision students are still making college decisions — it began in the morning and lasted only through the afternoon. Students attended a panel on academic life at Brown with Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience John Stein, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology Bianca Dahl and Associate Dean of the College for First Year and Sophomore Studies Ann Gaylin. In lieu of an overnight stay, one of ADOCH's hallmarks, students were taken on a tour of a first-year residence hall.
Other events included a panel on student life at Brown and a lunch in Alumnae Hall during which Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73 gave a welcoming address. In his speech, Miller said he was "very excited about this class," adding that this class not only has the "opportunity to be one of the best classes of this institution," but it also has the "single best group of students I've ever seen in my life." Miller also said the admissions office is currently choosing from about 30,000 applicants to fill the additional spots comprising the class of 2015. Miller said his office will probably continue this event in the future.
Students at the event were predominantly from northeastern states. Leila Blatt '15, who attends Natick High School in Massachusetts, said she was attracted to the New Curriculum and hopes to explore both the neuroscience and Africana studies departments over the next four years. Abby Bunting '15, who goes to Wellesley High School in Massachusetts, will be playing on the women's lacrosse team.
Obi Onwuamaegbu '15 and Ifeoma Kamalu '15, both from Massachusetts, said they had only seen Brown's campus through pictures and were here to view it in person. Steven Meng '15, also from Massachusetts, said his main reason for attending was to "meet new people."
Students who applied early decision in previous years said they would have appreciated a similar event. Many early decision students last year flocked to Facebook group message boards in attempts to create smaller gatherings of early decision students, said Perri Katzman '14. Exclusion from ADOCH left her feeling as though "Brown doesn't care as much" about helping the students get to know each other, since they do not have to be "won over," she said. She said she considered herself lucky because she is from New York City, which had a large concentration of admitted students.
Andrew Kunas '12 also said he would have attended a similar event if it had occurred his senior year of high school. Although he said he initially did not feel left out, he began to feel excluded upon starting freshman year when "everyone knew each other" from ADOCH.
Both Katzman and Kunas said they would like to see ADOCH opened to early decision students because their input might help regular decision students decide whether or not to matriculate.
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