A Bit of Advice

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>So, after talking with modestmelody on AIM, I’m almost sold on Brown. However, I just got my test scores back, and honestly, I’m not all that thrilled. I’m looking for a little bit of advice here.</p>

<p>ACT: 29 (personally the real deal was so much harder than any practice test I had taken, and a 28 in science, I thought I had nailed that, anyway)
SAT II Bio: 630 → 660 (I put so much time into this, this is absurd, I might have this rescored cause if the chem works out in my favor)
SAT II Math II C: 720 (this I expected, due to time issues)
SAT II Chemistry: 680 (waiting on rescore of May one which I’m almost sure I did better on) → 730
SAT II Math I: 680 (ran out of time back in Nov)
SAT: 720M, 700WR, 580CR (bubbling mistake)</p>

<p>How are my subject tests? What would you do for these? I have my AP tests as well. Could I make up for some of that there?</p>

<p>What should I do for the SAT and ACT? [Honestly, right now, I think I have a better chance at the SAT than I do at the ACT. The ACT was just to try it out, you know. I was planning on taking the SAT again anyway.] What score should I aim for to be in the running for those schools?</p>

<p>For some reason, I’m just not good at these tests.</p>

<p>[As for other things that may weigh out these things on my application, I have around 300 total volunteer hours between my mosque and the local hospital. I’m also interested in publications, even though I don’t want to make a career out of that, so my extracurriculars are heavily focused around that. I’ve been editor of the school newspaper for two years, section head for my yearbook, i’m doing the index senior year for the yearbook, and i’m one of the editors of the yearbook as well. I’ll probably have three rock-solid recommendations and I think I’m a good writer, so I think my essays will be good. My high school unweighted GPA is a 3.89/3.9. Weighted, it will probably be a 4.27. I’ve taken the toughest classes offered at school. I will be taking four more APs next year. My rank is somewhere in the top-15 students, that’s top 4% or so.]</p>

2

<p>I think all of your scores are fine except for the SAT I writing which hopefully you can prove your skills at writing based on the ACT, recommendations or some other way but really the Writing stands out as problematic otherwise I think you're okay</p>

3

<p>You mean SAT I CR right, the 580? I think I can bump this up. I know Brown will accept November scores, so long as I rush them. Supposedly the October test has a better curve. So, if I were to register for that, I'd have around 3 months and 1 week to prepare for the test, which I think would be enough to bump the scores up to a 2250. Really, I'd like an 800M, 700CR, and a 750WR. Would that be good enough?</p>

4

<p>The 580. I think it is unfortunate you'll have to sit for the SAT again rather than just the writing part if you want to show an increase. Is there a writing equivalent section on the ACT? I think trying to game the curve is not worth your time. Similarly, I think really your scores are fine save for the writing.</p>

5

<p>If you are applying from New Jersey and you are set on Brown, definitely try to apply early if you are free to do so financially</p>

6

<p>That's what I plan to do. I'm happy with the subject test scores, and I think my APs will actually boost my perceived proficiency in certain subjects. It's just that the main test scores are not very good. </p>

<p>The 580 is the critical reading. The thing is there is a writing section on the ACT, but it's really not counted towards anything. On top of that, I've been reading that ACT and Brown don't really jive. Could you given me like rough goals to go for for the different SAT sections?</p>

<p>Why does applying from NJ play a role in all of this? Is it that demographically, NJ is poorly represented in the Brown student body?</p>

7

<p>NJ is one of the most competitive states to get in from and applying early may help your cause [But only do it if you are set on Brown]. Again, I don't think there's any magic number on these tests. Like I said I think the others are fine. If you have a good score on the AP English Lit maybe the 580 doesn't matter too much. I'm a bit puzzled re Brown and the ACT not jiving? Please explain.... So long as you can improve your writing score I wouldn't sweat the rest of it. It won't be the reason you get admitted, denied or deferred. Spend more time on the rest of your app than worrying about these tests.</p>

8

<p>fred, do you go to Brown?</p>

9

<p>I do indeed</p>

10

<p>Again, don't take my comments as gospel but that's how I see it</p>

11

<p>For the SAT I CR, I honestly think the only way to effectively study is to buy the big blue collegeboard book and do practice tests. That, and reading a paragraph at a time on the passages, reallly helped me. Don't waste your money on a course unless you are absolutely convinced you have found one that is worth it.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, those courses are wicked expensive. Maybe worth it for something like the MCATs or LSATs when there's more at stake, but you really need to be desperate (and those scores don't merit that) to hemorrage money into the SATs like that.</p>

13

<p>Brown takes people with lower SAT's if you have other things to offer. Not always but there were people who had perfect SAT's that got rejected as transfers and I got in on my mediocre scores.</p>

14

<p>a little off topic, but is there anyone who can tell me what a "good" SAT II score is? i got a 700 in USH and a 690 in lit (without having taken a lit course). i think this is solid, but i have no way of sizing this up... schools never list "average" SAT II scores, and aside from the sidenote on SAT I scores that SAT IIs are required, they aren't brought up very much.</p>

<p>any help?</p>

15

<p>daveb, you answered your own question. You wrote, "schools never list 'average' SAT II scores." That basically tells you how important they are. Apart from being required, they are probably just used for placement. They probably don't have much weight in the admissions process anyway. If other aspects can heavily weigh out poor SAT scores, then your SAT II scores really aren't important at all. I think that having some 650+ scores and some 700+ scores is enough if everything else on your application is fine.</p>

<p>You also have to understand that adcoms know that some people are just not good test-takers. I can hold on my own on any school test, but I absolutely hate anything that CB comes up with.</p>

16

<p>What does Brown do with AP scores besides placement? Do they factor them into the admissions process, maybe to weigh out a poor grade or to weigh out a an SAT II in the same subject?</p>

17

<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/resources/?id=505%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/resources/?id=505&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I don't think you submit AP scores to colleges until after you've gotten in... unless it's like Middlebury, which allows for students to submit either ACT with writing, SAT and SAT IIs, or two AP test scores.</p>

18

<p>Well, no. You can submit them for the admissions process as well. That's what I'm asking what role do they play in all of this.</p>

<p>Also, I'm not really too happy with my subject test scores. I'm waiting on chem May rescore, so hopefully that'll be higher than 730. And, I could've done better on Math II had it been the only test I was taking that day. I'm also going to get bio rescored. </p>

<p>Should I take the Math II (720) and Math I (680) over again in November and try to bring the scores up to 750+?</p>

19

<p>I might be alone in this opinion, but SAT II scores are kind of worthless. I managed to get in when mine were a 770, 750, 720, 670, and 660. Not horrible, but no need to retake for above 750 on all of them.</p>

20

<p>Then, I hope that after rescoring mine can be, 750 (730), 720, 700 (630), 680. And, I hope that That's enough for them.</p>