leahinsc

Looking for some parental feedback...our 18 yr old is applying to Brown and ex-wife is taking her up there this weekend. Since we haven't been up to this area would like to hear what people think as far as safety, convenience to fly into/out of etc.

rkkwan

I worked at Brown for a couple of yearst. The area surrounding Brown is very safe, and downtown Providence is also okay. But there are certain some areas of Providence that aren't as nice, but your daughter has no reason to visit those areas anyways.

PVD is extremely easy to fly out of. There's a commercial shuttle service that picks up in Downtown and Brown, every 30 minutes, I believe. Airport is only about 15 minutes from Brown, and even taxi isn't that expensive. Around $20-25, I think.

PVD fare is also very competitive, as Southwest flies there. It pulls down airfare for all airlines, compared to say, Boston.

cmcfong

Leah, one of my godchildren graduated from Brown two years ago and a friend's oldest son is there now. rkkwan is right on the money about the environment. Providence has much to recommend it, the airport is a great resource, and there is really no reason to go into the unsavory areas. One word of warning, some commencement speeches were in Latin when I visited...and that made for one very long day!

capecodshanty

Growing up in Providence, and having a father who taught at Brown, I would say Providence is a small city, Brown a wonderful University for anyone to experience, and I hope she is accepted!! My grandson is a sophmore, and is very happy there, and doing well.

leahinsc

Thank you so much for your replies...it is a LONG way from us in NC. While we hope that she is accepted, we'd also prefer her to be a little closer to home at Chapel Hill.

katcad

Kind of late..just saw this..but I will echo that Brown and Providence are both wonderful. My son will be graduating in May. He was fortunate enough to have a number of geat choices when he was making his decision, and the overnight visit to Brown was the one that made up his mind...The students there are very happy with their school. We had them raving to us at a StarBucks when they saw the typical mother/18 yr old sitting with a Brown catalogue...and I'm in California, so it was quite a move for us as well!

Oh, and another possibility on flying, is to go into Boston. Cheap 45 min bus ride to Providence straight from the airport.

gail

Providence is not what it used to be (Thank God!). I graduated from Brown over 25 years ago and Providence was a gross, run down city with more scarey areas than not - although even then the area around campus was fine.

Wonderful things have happened to Providence in past years - it is actually an interesting and active city.

TF Green (actually in Warwick, but close enough) is now a real airport, with flights everywhere - but small enough not to be intimidating.

I understand the distance issue - we live in Boston and our son is in school in Savannah. But there is much to be said for exploring a different part of the country while in college. And, from a very practical point of view, flight time from NC to Providence will be less than drive time if your kid choses some place closer but with more difficult flight connections.

And with using FF miles, charging college to FF affinity credit card (if allowed by school), cost of tickets are not all that much.

Cali

I second Gail's thoughts on Providence. It was not that great 20 years ago when my brother attended Brown. However, we were back last year to see our niece who attends Brown and it had changed a lot and was wonderful. WE loved it. She does too.

laclaire

A close friend of mine started at RISD in summer 2004 and I used to go to PVD every weekend. Granted, it was to pick him up and bring him back to Boston, but we always had a great time. The mall is huge and not too interesting, but does have great shopping. There is a nice street for strolling near Brown, and lots of great antique shops.

He is still there and though I know he gets bored and goes to NYC and Boston a lot, he likes it. I drove by PVD yesterday and it brought back beautiful memories.

Claire