5-part series on Brown admissions

<p>Brown Daily Herald ran part one today: [The</a> Brown Daily Herald - Shedding light on the surge in apps](<a href=“http://www.browndailyherald.com/shedding-light-on-the-surge-in-apps-1.2213792]The”>http://www.browndailyherald.com/shedding-light-on-the-surge-in-apps-1.2213792)</p>

<p>Nothing earth-shattering: </p>

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<p>I do think this is reason for concern:</p>

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<p>I wonder with the ability to be more selective, admissions is more interested in impressive applicants who end up at Harvard, for whom Brown is not their number one choice.</p>

<p>I am also taking this opportunity to say, as a long-term alumni interviewer, this year’s admissions season was very tough on us, too. I interviewed 10 students, and not one was accepted. In some cases I was not surprised, even quite glad. But a few of the kids I interviewed, I am shocked and disappointed that they weren’t accepted. I know at least one would have gone had s/he been accepted, and this was an amazing kid. So applicants, take pity on your alumni interviewer – we spend a lot of time interviewing students only to be very disappointed in the end.</p>

<p>I had 1/8 get in, very interesting to see how it played out after all that time.</p>

<p>I actually have a fair idea as to why this kid was different from all the others and I’m curious to see the patterns over the next couple of years.</p>

<p>The yield drop is not super concerning because we’re not doing any worse than we used to on cross-admit battles, we just have more cross-admits because more people are throwing in their name everywhere. I do wish we’d do a better job than the, “Why Brown?” essay of assessing whether Brown is a student’s top choice. I personally wouldn’t mind moving to something in between where we are and where UPenn is in terms of using early decision, to be honest.</p>

<p>I’m surprised that the adoption of the Common App is rarely mentioned as contributing to the increase in number of apps all around–it’s got to be a factor.</p>

<p>One person cited in the article applied to 26 colleges–you’ve got to be kidding me.</p>