<p><em>As you approach the post, a sign creaks as it swings on it’s hinges</em>
Caution: Incredibly long post ahead, read at your own risk!</p>
<p>Hiya everyone! I was contemplating making this another cliche “Chance me!” post, but I think I’ll spare everyone the groans. Anyways, my name is Brooke and I’m applying to Brown U for Fall 2010. To be completely honest, I don’t know that much about it. I went to an info session of Brown U, Columbia, UofC, Rice and Cornell, but I had originally gone for another school. Needless to say, I was extremely impressed with Brown’s presentation. The speaker really reflected what I could see myself accomplishing in my college years, and had similar interests as I do. Unfortunately, that was a few months ago and my brain turned into mush over the summer (Hey, it happens :p)</p>
<p>Then I got an email from my regional application person, telling me about another info session in Philly (The closest metro area for me). I’m not 100% sure that I’ll be able to attend, but I’m definitely going to try. I’ve heard from a lot of people that Brown U especially wants students who are passionate about the school and show an extreme interest in going. Although I do have another school that I’m extremely passionate about, I could definitely see myself showing some love for Brown from what I’ve heard so far. If you have read this far, I commend you, because I must warn you- I like to ramble on sometimes. I’ll try to get to the point, but I apologize in advance if I go off on a tangent at times!</p>
<p>Can someone tell me their personal experiences at Brown? What is the relationship like between students and their professors? (Ie. Is it coddling like a LAC, or is ‘These are my office hours, don’t bug me at any other time’ or somewhat in between? I realize that it varies from prof to prof ofcourse, but just in general) I’m very fuzzy on specific details about the school, but I had heard that Brown U has a pretty open curriculum. That’s great, because I have a ton of different interests that I really want to explore. What are the dorms like? Is the campus wireless? What are some traditions at the University? What’s O-week like? </p>
<p>Sorry I’m throwing all these at you at once! I -don’t- know anything about Brown, but I want to. I can’t explain it, but it has this special vibe. Ahh, you guys are going to absolutely kill me, I’m sorry! I just can’t hold off the urge anymore. I’m going to leave you now with some of my stats/ecs/dreams/hobbies etc etc, so that you can get to know me a little better. I do it not so much for the “OMG do I have a chance?!” but rather for the “Do I seem like someone who would fit a typical Brown student profile, but at the same time standout?” type of inquiry. If you have any questions about me or anything that pops out of your head, feel free to ask; I’m an open book! :p</p>
<p>My gpa : 3.97/4.0 uw<br>
I took AP Euro in 10th grade, received a 3 on the exam
Took AP Lang and Comp and AP US History this year, 5 on both
I’m taking AP Physics, AP Chem, AP GovPo, and AP Lit this year.
I took a college Mandarin Chinese class this summer which will go on my transcript. (91% which is a B+ for my district)
I’m taking a college class on World War Two, 3 hours every Thursday.
I am currently 7th out of 274 students, and I hope to move up this year.</p>
<p>Dun da dun dun!
My Sats:
Verbal : 650
Math : 670
Composite : 1320/1600
Composite : 1970/2400</p>
<p>My ACT:
Composite : 29</p>
<p>Sat II :
US history : 720/800
(I’m taking Math and maybe a few other subjects at the next testing)</p>
<p>EC:
I have been involved in Motif for the last three years and plan to return senior year. It is a literary magazine for creative authors. We do publications in little booklets every month, and then at the end of the year we have a large book printed in color of all the works that students can buy for $10. The money we raise every year goes into paying for a coffeehouse held around Christmas time for students to come, drink coffee, listen to local bands play, and we always have a few creative outlets to entertain them with.</p>
<p>I’m very involved in Theatre. I was in my 10th grade production of The Wizard of Oz (As a flying monkey, which I’m not ashamed to say. In fact, it was extremely fun, because we got to run down the aisles and scare all the audience members) and then last year I was a part of Anything Goes. I will also be involved in my senior musical, Bye Bye Birdie. There are about 12-14 weeks of rehearsal, and we spend roughly about 3-4 hours a day, 4-5 days every school week practicing, and then the final week, we are there all day sunday before opening week.</p>
<p>I’m in the National Honor Society and the National Honor Society of Secondary Schools. I have aided in numerous drives and collections, as well as running the famous volleyball tournament at my school. It’s a very popular event, where students come and “Sleep” over (But no one really sleeps) at the school. You can form teams and play volleyball in a tournament, or you can bring videogames, a guitar, anything your heart desires to entertain you and your friends. It’s a great time. We also have a large project coming up for Senior Year in which those who enjoy creative writing, such as myself, will go and interview a Senior citizen at the local home and create a novel for that person about their life. I think that’s so awesome…I get to write a novel, and to be involved in making someone happy.</p>
<p>I’m also involved in a personal volunteer group, SHIP. It stands for Students Helping International Peace. We’ve been very busy this year with a number of projects. We have raised over 400 letters to send to the soldiers in Iraq. We had a massive book collection and raised about 1700 books to send to the children in Africa, sorted by age and genre. We are currently working on an Appalachia Project, collecting toothbrushes, shoes, clothing, and things of the sort for these people. We also have an International food festival planned for next April, the money raised will go to the Invisible Children fund in Uganda.</p>
<p>Hobbies:
I am currently learning/teaching myself Japanese. I’m in love with Japan and the culture, and I would love to study abroad there during college. I have Rosetta Stone, which is extremely helpful. My love for Japan took off from my love of Anime and Manga, which I still love to watch and read, respectively. This stems from a love of foreign languages. I’m drawn to them, and I don’t know why. Spanish wasn’t my favorite, but I want to someday master English (Ah the work is never finished), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, German, Russian, Hebrew, and Sign Language. I know a few words in sign language, because my mother used to teach it, but I really would love to learn how to communicate fully with a deaf person.</p>
<p>I recently got into video editing, and I fell in love. I like making music videos, using Windows Movie Maker (Hopefully I’ll upgrade to something better soon). I also make these things called AMVS, anime music videos. I take clips from an anime show or a video game, and I edit them and put a song to it all. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of hard work. </p>
<p>I love writing, if you guys couldn’t tell already 
Sorry if I’m a bit longwinded. I’ve always had a knack for creative writing. I’ve written a couple of short stories on a writing website that have won Gold Trophies in contests, and I’m currently working on two novels. I have more than one because it breaks up the tedium. If I get bored or frustrated with how one is turning out, I simply focus my attention to the other and my motivation is restored.</p>
<p>I’m a movie fanatic. I have my mom to thank for that. I’ll seriously watch atleast 2-5 movies during a week in the school year, in the summer I lose count. I love all genres, and I love, especially, getting lost in the story of a movie. My mom tells me I should be a screenwriter, but I’m not quite sure. I would love to be a director, to really paint a picture that only once existed in my mind. Regardless, I’ve seen way too many movies, and I love watching indie films and foreign films. I actually prefer reading subtitles, probably because my affinity for foreign languages.</p>
<p>Probably my biggest hobbie is music. I’m probably in love with music. I listen to it constantly, and I’m always on the search for new and unheard of artists. I’ve discovered a ton of underground artists who are more talented than the mainstream ones, and I’ve turned a ton of friends onto them as well. I listen to every genre, and I absolutely love to sing (Whether I can or cannot sing in a pleasing way, that is for you to decide ~ ) I actually discovered this Norweigan boy (You really should look him up btw!) named Sondre Lerche about 7 years ago. Since then, my mother and I have seen him in concert 5 times, and I met him on my birthday last year and got an autograph ^-^ Now that he’s starting to pick up, he created the soundtrack for Dan in Real Life and appeared in the last scene I almost fainted x_x Now instrumentally wise, I’m not the cat’s pajamas. I know how to play a total of two songs on the guitar, Yankee Doodle and Ode to Joy. I do, however, have an organ and a keyboard down in my basement. I wrote my own song on the keyboard, and mind you I have no knowledge of musical language so to speak, and I think it’s pretty darn decent! I’m taking a keyboarding class this year, so I’m excited to finally learn how to finetune my creations. I also would love to learn how to play the harmonica =D</p>
<p>I’m pretty big into reading. I love reading Russian authors especially, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nabakov, and Tolstoy. I recently finished reading The Brothers Karamazov, Lolita, and Anna Karenina respectively. I recently finished a report on Tolstoy’s Religious Anarchism for my AP Composition class. I suppose it is because I’m 50% Russian that I admire them so much <_< But no, really. I love the old fashioned sense of language that they implore. I’m not one for modern writers. It seems like these men really experimented with language and the plethora of adjectives and created a new way to write a novel. And that really inspires me. I try to avoid the common type of writing of the nowadays, and to really…go beyond that. The words escape me now even as I struggle to find a definition for what I mean, I apologize. I will say, however, that my favorite novel of all time is still For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. I was wary of the book that my teacher recommended, because I had read Old man and the Sea, and disliked it. Ernest Hemingway has definitely redeemed himself in my eyes. Also, if any of you would like to check it out…An author that is indeed strange…See if you can find Artaud Anthology. It is the workings of Antonin Artaud, a deeply disturbed but almost existential man. I love trying to find meaning in his jumbled up rants (Does that remind you of anyone, guys? lol) I must also say that I have fallen in love with Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. </p>
<p>I think maybe with what I lack academically, perhaps I can make up with personality. I’m very polite to my teachers, and I’m really a student who wants to achieve. I’m at school to learn, and sometimes I do socialize, but I really look forward to actually learning. For me, knowledge was always something endless, always something that I longed to gather more of. I’ve seriously asked the weirdest, offbeat questions you could ever imagine, simply because my mind drifted away. I’m also always asking hypothetical questions, because I’m always curious of how the world around me works. </p>
<p>As for teacher recommendations, I’m getting one from my 10th grade english teacher, who was very helpful for me, school-wise and personal-wise. He really got to know me through some of the drama (Hey, it happens). We talked about the grateful dead (My mom’s a big dead head, our sirius radio is programmed to the dead station :P) and about Mcfly and all types of things. I loved reading whatever he had to recommend, and he even let my date at the coffeehouse play his guitar (Which was a really expensive heirloom, so I was like O_O ) We’ve had a ton of really nice conversations about this and that, and I feel like I was very down to earth, very open and personable, and that I was always polite. I love my teachers (Yuck, I know what you’re thinking, teachers pet) but no, not like that. I just like learning, and if they’re good at teaching, I like them. </p>
<p>I’m also getting the other one from my 11th grade Chem teacher who is my 12th grade AP Chem teacher. We get along very well, and she loves how many questions I ask, which are a little out of the ballpark. I volunteered to be the tester for the safety shower this year, which will be pretty fun :P</p>
<p>Dreams:
I have had so many fleeting dreams in my short, or long depending on how you want to look at it, 17 years. There are a few that stick with me, no matter how much I evolve over time.</p>
<p>I’ve always had an affinity for nature. I love the wilderness, and I become lost in it all the time. I’ve seen the movie Into the Wild (And I still need to read the book), as well as a few other selections from Henry David Thoreau (Walden, ofcourse) which have really inspired (Don’t mind if I have a few outlandish dreams) to go live in the wild for a little bit. I doubt I could survive even a month, but to know that I lived, truly lived, for even a week on survival mode…That would really change everything that I know about living. And I’m always looking for those kinds of changes and adventures.</p>
<p>Going along with Alaskan wilderness, I’ve always loved the Iditarod. In elementary school, every year in math class, we would track the Iditarod race as a part of some project. And every year I would watch, and wonder…Would that ever be me? I’m no stranger to the cold - In fact, I love it. I love the snow…And I love the sledding dogs. Again, I probably wouldn’t be able to even finish the race, but to just reach the first post in such an event…It’s been something that I’ve always dreamed of doing. </p>
<p>Haha, I’m pretty big into crime and what not. My mother reads True Crime, and I’ve read a lot of her old books, as well as watched a lot of nonfictional movies detailing crimes and the criminals, including some of the most infamous serial killers. I’ve always had a passion for CSI, and I even went to a CSI camp at Penn State main campus one summer. It was awesome; They set up a (Fake) murder, with real crime scenes, and real suspects. Then you had to go looking for clues, establish a motive, interview the suspects and then present your case at “Court” at the end of the camp. Not only did it ignite the flame within me for such a career, but it also showed me a little bit into college living. We stayed in the dorms, ate in the cafeteria etc along with real Penn State students.</p>
<p>Anyways, that’s my shpiel (I also want to randomly point out that I have no idea how to even spell that word, so my apologies :P) So…is anyone still out there? <em>Crickets</em> I scare them away again, tsk tsk <em>Snaps fingers</em> </p>
<p>Again, feel free to ask anything you wish :P</p>
Secondly, thanks for that. Common sense would lend itself to doing that, but I don’t have very much common sense 
Brown keeps sounding better and better! I really wish I could visit campus before applying v.v</p>
USC is one of my very top choices, though; Brown is up at the top too. Like you, I’m interested in a lot of different subjects (though my passion is for TV/film/screenwriting), so Brown’s open curriculum really appeals to me. On the other hand, USC has the best film school/screenwriting program in the nation. So…yeah, it’s all so confusing! So many great things about each school I’m applying to! :D</p>