@sqzhyg I will PM you!! Thank you! I’m all over the UCs but this is all new to this immigrant!!
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D waitlisted… Brown was the only Ivy League school she wanted to attend and the only one she applied to.
Accepted: UCLA, UCSD, UCI, UCSB, UT Austin, UW.
I’m happy to help in any way I can. I am a So CA native (but now living in MA) and went to UCSB, so I have some understanding of the comparison. My son’s top two picks were Brown and UCLA. Once we learned that UCs were test blind and didn’t take letters of REC (for out of state), which were two strengths in his application, it made the decision to ED at Brown an easy one.
Accepted as a Cali resident!
Stats
Background:
SAT/ACT (or TO): 1380 (was scared to send but ended up doing so because the average SAT in my area is like 1000)
GPA (clarify if UW or W): 4.0 UW
APs: 11 & 2 Dual Enrollment
Course Rigor: Picked every AP & Honors class, except for my music electives, school has about 24 AP Classes
Class Rank: 2/456 (because of my music classes lmao)
Activites/Awards
ECs: Music (state level), LGBT Volunteering throughout community, Taking care of siblings, President/VP of a few academic clubs
Awards: Nothing international or anything cool lol; typical school level awards
Essays:
Basically my overall theme was music, community, & health-promotion within the LGBT community; all my essays kinda talked about the same ideas because I wanted them to connect with my activities & common app
LoRs:
These are very subjective and I don’t believe there’s really any way to predict how they are unless you see them
Supplements
Video Portfolio: Just me talking to the camera with background music & no cool editing whatsoever; topic was video games but I tried to connect the goal of the video games to my life
Arts Supplement: I did an instrumental solo but tbh I feel that it didn’t help that much because my instrument broke a few days before the deadline so I literally had to submit my best practice run. I checked youtube for other people who did instrument solos and it didn’t sound as good as them.
Other Schools:
Accepted: Chapman , UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UCLA, University of Southern California, Tufts
Waitlisted: Johns Hopkins, Pomona College
Rejected: Claremont McKenna
Reflection:
I think that the next class of seniors should try and make their essays have a really cohesive theme. I believe this is what put my application together. Even though my test score was a bit below/on the 25th percentile, I still sent it. In my take, if you know that your high school/community has low SAT scores and you score well above, I believe you should still send it. I’ve been reading around that AOs potentially have access to the average SAT score of your high school, through the high school profile. As you can tell, I didn’t have any eye opening ECs (music & lgbt volunteering). I didn’t win any solo concertos or fundraise hundreds of $$$$ for a good cause. I’m actually not even sure how I got picked over other people but nevertheless, I am grateful. I have no idea what the AOs saw in me, but I hope that my profile gives applicants who don’t have crazy awards, the courage to apply. I thought that I wouldn’t really stand a chance against the other applicants who have international awards, 1500+ SATs, medals from competitions, fundraising projects, personal businesses, etc… but here I am lol.
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Accepted. Deferred ED.
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Rejected :((( post-rejection ice cream, anyone? 
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That’s so funny I did the same thing.
lactose intolerance can’t stop me. I’m still trying to process the rejections haha I haven’t been accepted to any school I’m actually excited about ://
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withdrewww will never knoww:sob:
Waitlisted 
Is it worth writing a LOCI and really trying to get off it? I love Brown but am happy with my other options and not sure if I want to waste my time and get my hopes up if they barely let anyone in ultimately.
Accepted: Northwestern, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Colby, Northeastern, Richmond, McGill
Waitlisted: Brown, Cornell
Rejected: Vanderbilt, Penn
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Not a fit. That is it. Thankful for many opportunities. Good luck to all on the path ahead.
Congratulations on your admission to such great schools! For what it’s worth, here’s a link below to Parchment data showing which school most students who were accepted to both Brown and Georgetown chose, assuming they went to one or the other. My D was accepted to both, as well as some other great schools like Northwestern, and she would’ve likely been super happy at most of them. That said, she loves being a freshman at Brown, even in this pandemic year.
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I considered Oxford, but have happily decided on Brown (got in ED). Oxbridge is great if you are happy to study one subject for 4 years, and the tutorial system is superb, but not ideal if you want the traditional American experience of exploring several subjects and opportunities, and spending more time on campus (plus I didn’t like the short UK terms and long reading period at home). The end result of a Cambridge degree is indeed more prestigious, but I wanted to enjoy and grow over the next four years. At Brown I’m hoping to do a double concentration in chemistry and classics, and continue my French studies, whereas Oxford was 4 years of French literature (there’s only so much one can take of Camus and Voltaire). Anyway, both are great options so good luck on whatever you decide – a great position to be in!
Waitlisted, DC Resident
UW GPA: 3.66 W GPA: 4.0
No test scores
Tons of ECs
Good supplementals
Lacrosse (three years)
I think Brown is a bit more choosy with who they waitlist, and they’re known to admit a good handful from their WL every year. My plan is to commit to Amherst and accept the WL (thought I’m not sure if I’d rather go to Amherst or Brown tbh).
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Does anyone know if legacy has an impact on how high you are on the waitlist
D21 Rejected. She’s sad as it has always been her #1 (ED Deferred) but has other great options.
Accepted: Colgate, Richmond, Holy Cross, Union, Wash & Lee, Bucknell, Conn College, PITT, Providence Honors, Fairfield Honors, Stonehill Honors
Waitlisted: Wesleyan, BC, Villanova, Hamilton
Rejected: Brown, Columbia, Amherst, Bowdoin, Tufts
Such as random process! Congrats to all that were accepted.
My daughter had her only rejection from Yale, too! She was deferred from EA. HUMPH! Good luck in the future!
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Thank you! To your daughter too! After getting deferred EA, I began to realize how not-special Yale was. I used to put it on this huge pedestal, but it’s really not that different from a lot of other great schools! Don’t get me wrong, Yale is great, but so are SO many others!
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Daughter waitlisted at Brown
Accepted at Dartmouth
Her list:
Accepted:
Dartmouth
Emory
U of Richmond
Florida State
Southern Methodist
College of Charleston
Waitlisted:
Brown
Northwestern
Northeastern
Boston College
Vanderbilt
no rejections
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