2019 Brown ED Numbers Released

[fenwaypark]

<p>No, but it was an easy search to find what is publicly disclosed.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/information-prospective-students/admissions-facts-and-figures”>http://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/information-prospective-students/admissions-facts-and-figures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[fenwaypark]

<p>

~30% who apply are just as good as that group and could have gotten in if their application had been read on a different day or by a different person or if the reader’s kid made a different comment at breakfast, or if Lorenz’s butterfly flapped its wings 4 times instead of 5 the week before.

</p>

<p>Would it be fair to conclude from this that at Brown, a single reader may deny an application? I would have thought there would be an escalation process and a committee system to try to avoid or minimize individual bias, inconsistency, mood swings and other arbitrary factors from affecting the evaluation process. I think this reflects very poorly on Brown… if it is really true…compared to Harvard, for example, based on the following description:</p>

<p><a href=“Stairway to Harvard | News | The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/7/7/stairway-to-harvard-span-stylefont-style-italicthis/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In fact, Brown describes its process this way:</p>

<p>

We read each applicant’s file in its entirety. Every component of the application conveys important information, but your accomplishments as a high school student will have the most influence on our admission decision. The process is holistic: we want to see what you have accomplished, as well as evaluate your potential to thrive within the unique offerings of Brown University. Each application will be reviewed by more than one member of our admission committee, and then all decisions will be made collectively by the Board of Admission.

</p>

<p><a href=“Frequently Asked Questions | Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Frequently Asked Questions | Undergraduate Admission | Brown University;

[arwarw]

<p>Hernandez’s book describes the process as follows:</p>

<p>

“At Brown it is the regional officer’s job to present all applicants from each school in his region to the entire committee for a vote. The officer might briefly summarize the five applicants from one school and then say, “I recommend we take the valedictorian and the chess player and reject the other three.” This process… includes very little debate among committee members since they rely on the regional officer’s summary.”

</p>

<p>According to this clip you get a read from the regional officer and one other officer, and then your file is presented to committee: <a href=“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKLQnheUUk”>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKLQnheUUk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I get the impression that support from your regional officer is vital.</p>

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

<p>In full disclosure, I’m much more versed in MD/PhD admissions than undergrad but I don’t think the process itself is all that different. This admissions game is so tight these days that committees are usually splitting hairs among applicants. 2, 3, 4, 5 however many readers you have, even the smallest dings can come back to haunt you.</p>

<p>Every accepted student should feel proud that they got in, but recognize that they’re no better than many rejected applicants and that they weren’t far at all from being on the other side.</p>

<p>To address Harvard, they write:

The evaluation begins with the regional admissions officer, who is responsible for reading and presenting the applicants under their jurisdiction and evaluating the academic, extracurricular, and personal qualities of each to create a composite score. The application is then reviewed by another officer and in two committees, but the regional officer remains the expert on the region and school from which an applicant hails.

So if the regional admissions person does a poor presentation, it will color the rest of the committee’s views of the applicant. Definitely not any less fickle than Brown.</p>

[fenwaypark]

<p>

Definitely not any less fickle than Brown.

Agreed. </p>

<p>And a lot less fickle than this, from a previous poster. </p>

<p>

…could have gotten in if their application had been read on a different day or by a different person or if the reader’s kid made a different comment at breakfast, or if Lorenz’s butterfly flapped its wings 4 times instead of 5 the week before.

</p>

<p>Brown, it is hoped…and Harvard, and I expect most schools…hire Admissions Officers who have the professional training to compartmentalize daily mood swings and other arbitrary influences which may unfairly color their assessment of applicants, or otherwise adversely affect their ability to do their jobs. Many professionals in many other walks of life, including doctors, are also trained to do this on a daily basis.</p>

<p>In addition, as a check and balance, we have seen from several citations that Brown and Harvard, at least, have mechanisms in place, such as multiple readers and Committee-level decisions, to minimize whatever small possibility there might be that any single Admissions Officer’s transitory mood swings or other arbitrary emotional issues might affect the decision-making process. </p>

<p>So, to all you impressionable youngsters out there who are under stress to complete your Brown applications by the January 1 deadline, I think you can be confident that your application will receive a thorough, fair, and objective reading by the Brown Board of Admission. </p>

<p>Is it a subjective process? Yes, of course. </p>

<p>Is it worth the effort to make your application as compelling and persuasive as possible, in the expectation that it will get a fair reading?</p>

<p>I expect so.</p>

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

<p>

to minimize whatever small possibility there might be that any single Admissions Officer’s transitory mood swings or other arbitrary emotional issues might affect the decision-making process.

Minimize? Yes. Eliminate? No.</p>

<p>I have no doubt that applications get the fairest read possible - but don’t think that if we could MIB style wipe the memory of an admissions committee and have them read all the apps again they’d end up with the same exact class again.</p>

[jonri]

<p>Unless things have changed recently, Brown does a “docket review.” After all decisions are made, but before they are sent out, someone goes through the decisions school by high school. Rarely–but sometimes–results are changed. In other words, Brown might look at 5 students who applied ED from the same high school. It looks at the results. Then there is a “gut” review as to “fairness.” If it seems unfair that student X was admitted but Y was not because Y seems to be the stronger candidate, Y may be admitted…or X’s yes will be changed to a no. </p>

<p>As I said, changes are rare, but happen…or at least did a decade ago when I followed this type of thing more closely. The docket review is NOT done by the regional admissions officer and is designed to be a check against personal bias.</p>

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

<p>

After all decisions are made, but before they are sent out,

^That happened to me at Johns Hopkins back in the 04-05 application cycle. My high school’s guidance counselor was well connected so he would call schools a few days before the decisions came out to find out who was in/who wasn’t. My JHU thing came - I was wait listed. He had a policy that we call him as soon as results came in so I did, told him everything, thought nothing of the JHU wait list but he made me repeat that one, asked me if I was sure, then told me he would call me back and hung up. I was totally confused. He later tells me that he had been told a few days earlier that I was accepted but that someone the day before the letters went out decided that there were too many potential biology majors and 100 students were bumped from accepted to wait list (I was obviously one of them).</p>

<p>Using his power, he was able to get them to offer me an acceptance but it was under the condition that I commit to hopkins - no waiting on my other wait lists. Brown was one of those wait lists and in his finding out where people got in they told him I was wait listed but to “not give up on Brown.” Decided to turn down JHU for the chance at Brown. I had acceptances at WUSTL and Emory, but if I had been sitting there with no acceptances I absolutely would have taken the offer. My parents told me after the fact that they would never have made the decision I did but obviously I’m super glad I did!</p>