I’ll never forget my experience during “A Day on College Hill.” As I stepped off the plane, I felt a mix of excitement and uncertainty as I navigated the city on my own for the first time. When I arrived on College Hill, that uncertainty began to fade. I had the opportunity to stay with a sophomore that weekend who had attended the same high school as me in St. Louis. Thanks to this connection, I got to live like a Brown student — eating in the dining halls, awaiting the Spring Weekend lineup reveal and lounging on the Main Green.
However, my experience was unique — since 2022, official ADOCH programming only takes place during one day from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The opportunity to connect with current Brown students and stay on campus is made available only to those who are lucky enough to have the appropriate connections. But all prospective Brunonians should have the ability to get a real taste of student life: Brown should bring back an overnight ADOCH.
ADOCH was, at its peak, an immersive, student-driven program that stretched over two days and one night. During the 2000s and 2010s, prospective students slept over in first-year dorms throughout the weekend. This version of ADOCH became a defining part of the Brown experience, showing how committed the University was to immersing prospective students into life on College Hill. In 2019, the University introduced a one-day option in addition to the overnight experience before the COVID-19 pandemic paused the program completely for two years. Since 2022, ADOCH has returned, but only as a single-day experience with no overnight option.
The current version of ADOCH offers curated programming, institutional messaging and structured exposure to the Open Curriculum, mock classes, affinity group meetings, department open houses and performances from student groups. These sessions explain Brown in an institutional, admissions-office-brochure way. The experience is informative, but ultimately limited in what it can actually convey about student life beyond classes and clubs.
No mock class or panel can replicate sitting in a dorm after midnight and chatting with a group of current students. In those informal moments, dialogue can be more honest and unfiltered than in university-led settings. Prospective students would have the opportunity to ask the burning questions they might hesitate to raise in front of a panel, and current students can answer honestly and personally, offering a clearer picture of both the challenges and the rewards of going to Brown. What better way to show what Brown is really like than to have prospective students stay, eat, socialize and experience College Hill after sundown?
By the time April comes, accepted students have had enough of day-long, ear-numbing info sessions. By this point, most students have already attended numerous college tours, and potentially many accepted student programs, including ADOCH. Still, 68% of young adults in a National Association for College Admission Counseling commissioned poll said they found it hard to find unbiased information about colleges. To combat this, more immersive, honest experiences, like an overnight ADOCH, would not only be a fun way to showcase the true Bruno experience, but it could potentially increase yield from regular decision applicants, who could be convinced to choose Brown after seeing what life is really like on College Hill.
Additionally, pairing ADOCHers with current students for an overnight stay could give incoming first-year students an older student they already know when they arrive for orientation. Not only could this help integrate the incoming class with the older students, but it would also help the hosts warm up to the new students and make a few new connections toward the end of their first year.
There are valid concerns about the logistics, safety, scale and planning of an overnight stay for hundreds of prospective Brunonians. While these concerns are real, they are not new — Brown successfully managed them for decades. In the past, first-years volunteered in large numbers to host ADOCHers, and a student-led committee spent the year organizing the program. Other schools, including Dartmouth and Yale, continue to offer overnight programs.
ADOCH exists to give admitted students “a taste of life as a Brown undergraduate.” It should therefore reflect the University as it actually is — not just in presentations and pamphlets. My ADOCH experience was defined by the fact that I could stay the night with a current student and spend time with their friends — it was actually the thing that convinced me to come to Brown. Bringing back an overnight ADOCH option would provide this same opportunity to every prospective Brunonian: not just to learn more about Brown, but to live it.
Clay Edelson ’29 can be reached at clayton_edelson@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Clay Edelson is an Opinions Columnist. He is from St. Louis, Missouri and plans on concentrating in Political Science. In his free time, Clay loves playing with his band, attending Brown Athletics events, and hiking.
