• TRUE Communications Series & Interactions: Starting June 10th, our office will distribute weekly video updates featuring important deadlines and tasks for you to complete. Keeping up with these deadlines is crucial for maintaining smooth operations as the semester begins.

  The TRUE Leadership team is eager to connect with you and will share weekly newsletters, webinars, and various engagement opportunities. These sessions will cover a variety of topics, including tips for adapting to Brown, insights on course expectations, and guidance for navigating campus life.

• Pre-Orientation Opportunities Brown offers various Pre-Orientation programs that may help you further acclimate to college life. These free, optional programs have limited space and require application or pre-registration.

  Pre-Orientation Programs

• Housing: Following your admission acceptance, incoming TRUE students must complete the Incoming Student Housing Questionnaire online. The information you provide on the Housing Questionnaire is used to create your housing assignment, match you with roommates, and provide us with details to best support your first year at Brown. Once admitted, the Office of Residential Life will send the housing questionnaire.

  While RUE and veteran students are not required to live on campus, they are more than welcome to. Just be sure to complete the housing questionnaire.

  TRUEs are assigned to available vacant rooms on campus, with efforts to place students in residence halls with other students of similar semester levels based on housing availability.

  Midyear transfer and visiting housing assignments are made during December, and students receive notification of their assignment and room/suitemate information in January.

  Fall Housing Process

• Dining: Brown offers meal plans to all students, regardless of whether they live on or off campus. Meal plan balances are available at the beginning of each term and gradually deplete throughout the semester. Take a look at the meal plan options to determine which plans you are eligible for and which one best suits your needs.

  Dining & Meal Plan Options

1. 32 Enrollment Units: All Brown students are required to fulfill eight semesters of enrollment. Students need to understand that at least 16 out of 32 total enrollment units must be completed through Brown (in Providence). This corresponds to four full-time fall and spring semesters. Enrollment units obtained through semesters abroad do not count toward the four semesters mandated for attendance at Brown.

   Students are permitted to take a maximum of four courses during the winter and summer terms while at Brown. While both summer and winter courses provide enrollment units and contribute to graduation requirements, they do not affect your semester standing. This means you cannot shorten your total semesters of enrollment by taking summer or winter courses. Your semester standing, along with your enrollment units and course credits, will be noted on your internal academic transcript.

2. Complete One Concentration: Students must formally declare and complete the requirements of at least one concentration. TRUE students entering Brown as second-semester sophomores or juniors must declare a concentration during their first semester at Brown. Students complete their declaration in the Advising Sidekick (ASK) and must meet published deadlines to avoid a registration hold. Second concentrations cannot be declared after the student’s penultimate semester of enrollment.
3. 30 Course Credits: All students must have a minimum of 30 course credits to graduate. In semester credit hours, this represents 120 semester credit hours in courses. In quarter units, this means 180 quarter units in courses. TRUE students should note that 15 minimum 30-course credits must be earned in residence at Brown itself.
4. Complete Two Writing Courses*:  TRUE students may fulfill the first half of Brown’s Writing Requirement with an ENGL (English), LITR (Literary Arts), or COLT (Comparative Literature) transfer credit only. Alternatively, you may fulfill the first half of the requirement by taking a Brown course in these same subject areas or with the “WRIT” designation during your first two semesters at Brown. All students must complete the second half of Brown’s Writing Requirement at Brown before the second semester of their senior year (that is to say, before they reach semester level 8 standing and when in semester level 5, 6, or 7).
5. Course Load Reductions (CLR): Students enrolled full-time may take three, four, or five courses in a single term, but four courses per semester is considered normal full-time study at Brown. Students need 30 credits to graduate, and thus, an average of four courses each term will keep you on track to graduate “on time.” Students may opt for a CLR, if doing so will help manage your academic, personal, and health obligations. A CLR allows you to take fewer than four course credits per semester:

             For personal (non-medical) issues, or a new or short term medical concern:                           Student Support Services

             For ongoing medical conditions, documented disabilities, or for a CLR which may              span multiple semesters: Student Accessibility Services

             For degree completion and enrollment unit strategies, and substance-abuse/recov                  ery-related support needs: The College

• The Academic Code is something all Brown students are responsible for understanding and following. Academic achievement is ordinarily evaluated based on work that a student produces independently.

  Being part of the Brown community means we all share the important responsibility of upholding the University’s values. We encourage everyone to act with integrity in all aspects of learning, teaching, research, and writing. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you know or suspect someone may have violated Brown’s academic code, we kindly ask that you share your concerns with the appropriate University authorities. Dishonesty hurts everyone; it’s all about looking out for one another!

  The Academic Code

• Choosing courses involves balancing the number of semesters to sample Brown’s course offerings, complete a concentration, and fulfill all other Brown degree requirements. If you already have a good idea of the area(s) you wish to concentrate on, familiarize yourself with the requirements and take one or two related courses.

  Specific concentrations like engineering and computer science require many courses. Students who intend to concentrate in such areas are advised to discuss their course plans with a concentration advisor before Brown’s course shopping period ends.

  You will get more information in future communications, but you will be able to register for courses during Orientation once you are on campus. Meanwhile, we encourage you to review course options using Courses@Brown before arrival.

  First-year seminars are restricted to students entering with a semester level of 1; however, students entering as sophomores also have opportunities to participate in more miniature, seminar-style courses with other students of similar semester standing through sophomore seminars. It is highly recommended that a sophomore consider taking a seminar designed to facilitate engaged discussion and active participation.

  Visiting students must complete at least three courses to maintain full-time enrollment status. However, visiting students should consult their home institution regarding course selections and transfer credit guidelines for degree completion planning.

• Deciding on a Concentration as students entering Brown with advanced standing from previous college studies, some of you may have to declare a concentration soon after you arrive.

  Here are some helpful tips:

  • Attend the Academic Expo during Orientation to learn more about concentrations from faculty and concentrators.
  • Talk to faculty, academic advisors, deans, and upperclass students.
  • Review departmental requirements for the concentrations you are considering.
  • Visit or write a concentration advisor
  • When choosing courses each semester, consider some of them as possible “trial runs” for a concentration
  • Visit Focal Point for a complete list of concentrations, requirements, and advisors for each concentration area at Brown.

• Ninth Semester Enrollment at Brown ordinarily ends once a student has reached and completed semester level 8. However, students may petition for an extra semester of enrollment for various academic reasons. This is called petitioning for “an optional ninth semester.”

  TRUE students considering an optional ninth semester should speak to the TRUE Program Advisor or an Academic Dean during their first semester at Brown after matriculation to explore whether or not an extra semester would support their academic pursuits and degree completion plans.

  Ninth Semester

   

Study Away TRUE students who have standing as juniors are restricted from semester-long Study Abroad in the fall or spring terms because they must be enrolled for at least four semesters at Brown.

After matriculating to Brown, juniors may apply to participate in off-campus courses offered through Brown in Washington or Brown Semester Internship Programs or can consider Brown faculty-led study abroad programs in the Wintersession, spring semester, or summer, as long as they will not exceed any applicable credit limits.

Spring-admit transfer students who have standing as sophomores and who study abroad in the fall before their matriculation at Brown should note that their total pre-Brown course credits, including their transfer credits from their previous institution and any study abroad credits from the fall, may not exceed 15 Brown course credits.

You received a semester standing and transfer credit estimate in your acceptance letter. We are in the process of conducting a formal review to finalize both. In July, you will receive additional information on interpreting this standing and credits and applying them toward degree requirements. If you have any concerns or questions about transfer credit in advance, don't hesitate to contact us at transfercredit@brown.edu. Final transcripts are due on June 16, 2025.

• Articulation and Transcription of Your Transfer Credits:

  TRUE students must accumulate at least four semesters in residence at Brown through enrollment in fall or spring terms only. Brown will not award more than four semesters of advanced standing in transfer credit. Brown does not grant partial semesters of enrollment credit via transfer.

  Transfer students can usually expect their semester level to be advanced at Brown by the number of semesters completed full-time in regular terms (non-January and non-summer terms) at their previous institution(s), subject to Brown’s transfer credit guidelines and receipt of official transcripts.

• For Transfer Students Only (Non-RUE or Vet):

  Provided Brown has received an official final transcript from your previous institution(s) for the work you have completed, your transfer credits and semester standing will be posted to your internal Brown record by the first week of August. The credits will be unassigned (UASGN) course credits in various subject areas. Only if needed can you request course equivalencies to specific Brown courses through the Equivalency Review feature in ASK for placement, registration, and other purposes once UASGN credits are posted. You don't need to request equivalencies for all of your courses. Please note: Credit systems vary between colleges and universities. One Brown course credit (cc) equals four semester credit hours or six quarter units. Therefore, most courses will grant students .75cc to 1.0cc. The number of transfer credits you receive will depend on your transcript, which officially indicates the credit value for courses at your previous school.

• Incoming Mid-Year Transfers: Your transfer credits and semester standing will be updated based on any additional work you complete in the fall, subject to receipt of an updated final transcript beginning in January. Because it takes several weeks to process transfer credits, we urge you to request that your transcript be sent to the Brown Admission Office as soon as it becomes available. 

• Exploratory Advisor: An exploratory advisor is a staff/faculty member, dean, or director assigned to each student from matriculation at Brown until you declare your concentration.

  Your exploratory advisor is a great person to ask questions and build relationships with at Brown. Feel free to ask any question about academics at Brown; if they don’t know the answer, they can point you in the direction of someone who does!

• Concentration Advisor After you declare a concentration, a faculty member from the respective department will be assigned as your concentration advisor. Their contact information is on the department website; they are always available to speak with you. It might also be helpful to consult with them before declaring a concentration.

• TRUE Peer Advisor Peer Advisors serve as informed and knowledgeable academic resources for Transfer, RUE, Veteran, and Visiting Students throughout the academic year, enhancing ‘students' access to academic support services and the community. 

  Peer Advisors will share valuable tips from their experience navigating the process of registering for classes, declaring a concentration, using campus resources, joining co-curricular and extracurricular activities, navigating the housing lottery, etc. Peer Advisors participate fully during the Fall and Spring TRUE Orientations by supporting new students transitioning to life at Brown.

  TRUE Peer Advisors

• Meiklejohn Peer Advisor Meiklejohn Peer Advisors are trained student advisors assigned to provide new first-year, transfer, and Resumed Undergraduate Education (RUE) students with advice and counsel on the academic, extracurricular, and social transitions that come with attending college for the first time.

  Meiklejohn Peer Advisors

• Matched Advising Program for Sophomores (MAPS) Through the Curricular Resource Center at Brown, MAPS intends to provide second-year students a continuous support system by pairing sophomores with junior and senior peer mentors for one-on-one and group-advising support around navigating concentration declarations, research opportunities, internships, “sophomore slump” and general academic counseling.

  Matched Advising

• Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships (MMUF) Students apply for MMUF in their sophomore year. MMUF encourages individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities and those committed to eradicating racial disparities in higher education to pursue doctoral degrees and join college faculties. Each MMUF recipient conducts research under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

  MMUF

• A Departmental Undergraduate Group (DUG) is a group of concentrators that plans events and activities to build a sense of community within the concentration.

  DUGs