@rahuilmars231 That phenomenon is called “Tufts Syndrome,” and I think Brown is prestigious enough not to need to worry much about it.
@rahuilmars231 the entire point of likely letters is that Brown (or any of the other schools) think that person is exceptional enough that all the schools will want them, so they try to convince them to choose them by sending out the LL.
Colleges want overqualified students who will go on to do great things, become a shining member of the alumni association, and can be added to their list of “notable alumni”. They’re going to fight other colleges for them, not reject them completely.
Besides, plenty of people choose Brown over Harvard for a myriad of reasons. “Good” is subjective.
Brown also has its own distinct personality, so it’s selective in regards to admitting students who adcoms believe will fit in with the overall culture of the school. That’s why Brown rejects many stellar and possibly “overqualified” applicants. In my opinion, once you reach a certain threshold for these types of schools, a lot of it may just come down to fit/essays/recs/other subjective parts of the application. It’s also important to keep in mind that Brown is building a class of students, and not everyone in the class can be star academic students. The diversity of the school is what makes it both a unique and budding intellectual environment.
I think it’s a melange of all the aforementioned components that factor into the rejection of an applicant. Think like 3 admissions officers on the same panel. One of them might want to reject an over qualified applicant because his personality doesn’t align with the school’s philosophy, one of them might want to reject him because he’s so qualified that he’ll end up attending an institution like Harvard or Stanford, so no point. And the other one might feel compelled to send out a likely because of the appliacnt’s incredible profile. Other than that, if the adcoms are truly pissed off because their children are super annoying or their spouses don’t stop harassing them, they’ll still reject over qualified applicants they want to vent out all that frustration.
That’s where Jesus comes in to help 
@rahuilmars231 Brown is definitely prestigious enough to not need to reject qualified applicants (I don’t think you can really be that overqualified).
Second-tier schools and state schools are more likely to reject overqualified applicants, since they would have reason to believe that these overqualified applicants are only applying to their schools as safeties. Brown has a low enough acceptance rate that it can’t really be a safety for anyone (except for sports, but that’s a different matter), although it could certainly be a target.
@smartypants57 of course. Plenty of people who get accepted to Harvard get rejected from Brown. Brown is prestigious. But still, different admissions officers might think in different ways.
Why ponder or worry about things outside of your control or your significant influence? It’s a fruitless endeavor.
@rahuilmars231 LOLLLLL YESSSS “That’s where Jesus comes in to help” <-- i love that line LOL.
@asiankid88 Haha I was kidding (or maybe I’m not). But luck is seriously one of the most defining factors in admissions decisions. So faith is essential I guess (not so that god will skew the admissions committee to favour us but because we need some peace of mind). Apologies If I got a little too pious or spiritual for your tastes.
Any worrying about too many people accepting Brown’s offer is silly. Can it happen? Sure. But they manage it, extrapolating yearly yield based on its own formulae. I’m sure there’s some extra space just in case. Also, if they get to that point, some schools have actively gone and tapped admitted students who mentioned they might take a gap year. They’ll pursue those people to take a deferred admittance in order to reduce the numbers/overcrowding. Two years ago, Harvard must have had unexpectedly high number of YESes. Anecdotally, they were tapping everyone who even hinted at a delayed start – asking them to delay matriculation for a year. Again, that hurt the numbers for the incoming class of 2019.
A few years ago, UMich did not manage its yield very well. Many freshman doubles became triples. Many dorm common rooms suddenly had walls and doors set up to create new bedrooms. Again, that hurt the numbers for the incoming class of 2019.
I just got a request for an alumni interview. Hasn’t the deadline for reports passed already?
A week ago I got a request for an alumni interview, but I already had one. I told the lady I had one already and she apologized for the misunderstanding. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but why would they think I didn’t have one yet? I really hope my interviewer submitted a report…
@ThatGirlCoder I got two requests accidentally, and it turns out that the person in charge of assigning interviews at Brown somehow didn’t notice she’d already assigned me one, so gave me another. Maybe it was something like that?
@wonderlanddd Ah, that could be it. I hope it is at least! I’ve heard horror stories of people’s interviewers forgetting to send reports and after declining a second interview they have no report at all… I think I should just stop overthinking it though. Thanks! 
Yep, telling from these last couple pages, the overthinking and insanity has arrived… looks like this will be a fun month for everyone! (thankfully I have my senior trip and spring break to keep me happy)
Do you think its a good sign if they sent the additional recommender a thank you letter? And if I email admissions about publishing a science journal , would they take it into consideration
@exl028 The thank-you letter may or may not mean anything. The publication, however, is VERY valuable; email admissions unless you have been notified not to do so.
@aBitOfLuck I will email them tomorrow since i am trying to work on how to structure the email especially with details; I hope it can help me get into the PLME program! I wonder when they have admissions decisions like done
@exl028 They likely have all of the obvious acceptances and rejections by now; at this point they are waiting on the committees to finish processing the majority of the applications.
PLME may have a different schedule, though.
@aBitOfLuck PLME is so competitive so IDK what chance i have at it but im hoping for the best