Precisely because you will be responsible for your decisions, the University assumes a much greater role in offering advice and guidance to help you make your choices informed ones. Standing as it now does in distinct contrast to the more rigid programs of many other schools, Brown's curriculum has become increasingly attractive to many students. When all the elements influencing college choices are weighed, the freedom and flexibility of Brown's curriculum, the ability and encouragement to individualize one's education, and the emphasis of Brown's faculty on undergraduate teaching are most often cited as the major factors in choosing to attend Brown. Most Brown students agree. Additionally, in any course a more comprehensive and revealing system of evaluation is available in the form of a written Course Performance Report, which you can request of your professor to serve as a record of your achievement.
Academic standing is measured by the number of courses successfully completed.
Precisely because you will have the opportunity to shape your own academic career at Brown, the University assumes a much more active role in offering advice and guidance on the decision-making process. No one expects you, upon arrival at Brown, to sit down with the current course catalogue and make those decisions in a vacuum. The Brown curriculum is based on the premise that a liberal education can be truly liberal and still be tailored to the individual student's goals and interests. It is the responsibility of your teachers and advisors to help you pursue those goals in a coherent fashion, without scattering your energies or concentrating them too narrowly. All incoming first-year students are assigned an Academic Advisor, a faculty or administration member with whom they meet individually during Orientation Program, again in the second or third week of Semester I, and periodically throughout the year.