hello, anyone can advise if resume should be attached to the application when given an option?
IMO only submit it if it has different or more detailed info (that is necessary to understand the activity) than your Common App. Don’t regurgitate your Common App on it.
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Hi! I am a student who applied ED to Brown this year. I applied for the PLME program and was accepted to the school (yay!) but was deferred from the program. Is there anything that I should do (such as following up with the PLME staff with an email confirming my continued interest) that could increase my chances of getting in? Thank you!
I’d recommend contacting Admissions and asking if you need to send your LOCI (Letter of Continued Interest, you can find examples online) to the PLME email for it to be reviewed or if it’s fine to just upload it to your applicant portal.
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Another aspect to your situation is “Do I really want PLME after all, as opposed to the traditional premed route to med school?” This Brown Daily Herald article reports on a study which compared the academic and career success of students taking one path or the other to medical school:
IMO the above article understated the differences found in the study, at least by a bit. I would recommend reading the study itself:
It’s tougher reading, but should be decipherable by anyone with medical school aspirations. So read the above, plus anything else you can find on the subject, and take a fresh look at whether PLME makes the most sense for your situation and goals. Congratulations on your admission, and good luck!
The main advantage of the PLME program is that students have a lot more freedom than traditional pre-meds like me in choosing their courses: there are less pre-med requirements to complete, no expected healthcare extracurriculars, and no MCAT down the road that requires all of the pre-med requirements to have been taken. I’d assume most of the PLME students can take the MCAT but Brown wants them to focus on something else that they’re interested in for the next four years (for example, one PLME admit I know of from my HS was admitted into another T30 med school BS/MD and into a HYPSM school.)
If you get into PLME, take it and run. Most pre-med students at Brown, according to the pre-health website, aren’t PLME though (~150 regular vs. ~50 PLME), and Brown does have more freedom than most other schools for pre-med students + RI is small enough that it’s been relatively straightforward so far to get involved with ECs and research.
is the video portfolio necessary? I know that it’s optional but I was wondering if anyone gets in without a vp…
No, but I’d recommend it if you have the time. It doesn’t need to be super fancy.
Here’s some guidance: Video Introduction | Undergraduate Admission | Brown University
The PLME website describes it as “strongly recommended”. Those words are printed in bold lettering – the only use of bold in their guidance regarding PLME application elements. Even though a video portfolio is not required, there’s no reason why you would not include one assuming that your goal is to maximize your chance of admission.
Keep in mind that this year a video portfolio is the universal stand-in for an interview. One thing Admissions always wants to know from me, even for recruited athletes, is whether an applicant refused an interview offer. 'Nuf said?
thank u!!! i’m not plme but i guess i’ll have to film one tonight 
Question for all of you that applied ED:
My kid just submitted a RD application. Brown was the only school without (as far as we noticed) a question asking: Do you want your SAT scores considered?
My kid does want SAT scores considered so, of course, listed them on the common app in the standardized test section.
We assumed that when Brown gave access to the portal, we’d see a line item checked off for standardized test scores. But, upon reviewing the portal, there is no such line item and absolutely no indication that SAT scores were received or will be considered. Maybe we are missing it??
Anyway, my kid send an email to Brown to confirm scores were received and mentioned there didn’t seem to be a line item in the portal.
Their response was a one line sentence saying that due to volume of correspondence they can not confirm receipt of standardized test scores.
Anyone know what’s going on here? Did you guys ever see a question on the Brown specific questions asking if you wanted test scores considered??
I see S21’s test scores on his Brown CA app that we downloaded before submitting. I do not see a line item re tests but do see this in the portal: “You may use your Brown Applicant Portal to [self-report] test scores that were not included on your Common Application.” Includes a link. So I’d do that if you are unsure.
@cyftltn “i’m not plme”
Yes, I did still have “PLME on the brain” from a previous post, and so my answer was targeted to a PLME applicant. But I would say the answer still applies to other applicants, if with a bit less certitude. 30k apps makes it is hard to stand out. While your video portfolio probably won’t end up being a factor, at least you won’t stand out in the wrong way (didn’t submit one).
Same thing with an in-person or phone interview: They don’t seem to count for much based on what I see in the subsequent admit decisions, but they give Admissions one more thing to glance at, and indicate some level of interest from the applicant. It may not be apparent to someone who is B for B – Burning for Brown – but there are lots (and lots) of HS students who apply but don’t particularly care about going there. “Applying to all the Ivys”, etc. So if nothing else, you want to distance yourself from that category. I’m not suggesting anything as to the content of the video (though speaking as a long-time interviewer, a relaxed/friendly tone says “Brown” to me more than intense/big-performance does), merely that you “show up”.
Story told to me by a Brown AO: The neatly-done application arrived at Admissions (this was back in the paper app/mailed-in days). Everything looked good about it… except along the top margin, where someone had scrawled in the few seconds before it went in the envelope when a parent wasn’t watching “Please don’t admit me!” (or words to that effect – my best recall of something I heard in the '80’s). Maybe a Legacy who wasn’t keen on repeating their parent’s life for said parent? Anyway, they got their wish : )
Thank you!!
We saw the self-report tab in the portal but didn’t want to annoy them by possibly double reporting what they already had on file.
I’d go ahead and submit since there is some uncertainty. Duplication isn’t that big of a deal.
You’re probably right 
Thanks!
If it’s reported in the common app section, should students assume Brown would have access to those self-reported scores? Thx!
@MommaLue and @DoingOurBest, if you go into the common app and click on Brown, then review and submit, there will be a download pdf app option. You can see there if the test scores are included. They are for my son, but there is no line item in the Brown portal for scores. So yes @MommaLue if they are in the CA, then you can assume the school got them.
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Awesome thanks!
Brown was the only school that didn’t specifically ask the question so I presumed we were missing something. It’s in the common app pdf so I’m going to assume it’s received.
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I’d assume so, since I didn’t have to submit official score reports till I enroll. However, I think test scores used to be part of the application checklist.