Brown Class of 2025 RD

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263

Folks - I need some help in the form of perspective so that I can help my son, who’s a overwhelmed by all of this. I’ll share his stats. I guess i need a read - do these outcomes make sense?

QUESTION - Did he do less well than one would expect?

He was willing to apply to some some LAC’s but really wanted schools that offered the opportunity to dig into engineering, either as a major or in some form of study. He indicated that he was interested in studying Physics and/or engineering. He’s focused ultimately on being a nuclear engineer. That said, his coursework was diverse, highly rigorous, and deep by any standard (AP’s since 9th grade at least 3-4 each semester through 12th grade). Here’s where it nets out.

ACT - took it once, 36; also had a 780 for chem SAT but didn’t get to take others due to COVID.
GPA - 3.9 UW (weighted about 4.5)
AP scores - 3 x 5’s, 4 x 4’s, 2 x 3’s
Activities - VP Rocketry, Leadership team Robotics, founded a community service club; did robotics research for a Professor for almost 1 year;
Location - applying from PNW
No other hooks (except 2 foreign languages); he’s a white male and didn’t apply for financial aid;
LOC - from a CS and English teacher, each of whom asked if they could write it for him (he doesn’t know what it says but we were told by counselor they were stellar);
Essays - we read them; they were quite strong in showing who he was; he also submitted portfolios of extensive independent engineering and science work he’s done on his own for years (e.g., coding a game in 9th grade that still sells on Steam, doing extensive CS-based robotics work for professor, creating a drone from scratch).

Admitted - Berkeley engineering, Tufts engineering, UW engineering/Honors; Vassar, Trinity;
Waitlisted - Brown, Harvard, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Rice
Rejected - MIT, Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell, Princeton

I’m happy for him, and he’s an even-keeled person, but it just feels like less than one would expect.

  1. Perspective?
  2. Thoughts on what he might consider doing as a next step - especially as to Waitlist status? (He’s most interested in Brown and Harvard - the other schools weren’t as important to him and it seems possible they could discern that.)

Thanks in advance,
Parent Trying to Support Her Son

264

Definitely write a LOCI for the schools he’s on the waitlist for! You can find more info on what to include online.

265

Not a parent, but a student in a similar situation also trying pursue nuclear engineering. The only real perspective I can offer is for Tufts engineering. I was also accepted and I don’t know if he has attended any of the admitted students events, but I would highly recommend he does. It’s an already small group of engineers (about 200 a class and 25-40 per major) and for something a little more niche like nuclear engineering, he would certainly find a great crowd. If he’s looking to do more interdisciplinary studies, (which I will presume is true from his applications to Tufts, Brown, and LACs) I would definitely recommend Tufts. I got into Brown but the admitted student events and more I have learned about their engineering school for Tufts are making me leaning towards it.

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266

First, congrats to your son on his HS achievements and his acceptances thus far! No doubt this is a hyper-competitive year and that, in the end, any applicant to any program is a crap shoot with no guarantees of acceptance - esp as one gets to the most elite of schools. I’ll defer to others re: engineering & physics, but being here in the Northeast I’d say congrats on the Tufts acceptance! My son was rejected from Tufts as were peers who were admitted to UVA and Columbia. Every school is looking to build their own class profile and that may include or exclude any of our kids for whatever reasons. Here’s where I’ve ended up: I want my kid to go where he’s wanted, period. I want a school to accept him for who is he, his achievements, his interests, etc… If our kids made it through HS being their authentic selves then I of course only want him going to schools he’s been accepted to. My kid will likely be off to Vassar and I know the school and he will be a perfect fit.

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267

Thanks so much for your thoughtful insights as a parent. Very helpful and congrats to your son on Vassar - it’s a fantastic college with an excellent culture and tradition.

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Thanks so much for sharing your experience and congrats to you on some excellent choices. Tufts and Brown! That’s enviable. It’s very valuable to hear that you’ve seen both and are leaning towards Tufts. In the PNW the view may be skewed so that the assumption is Brown would pre-empt Tufts, but I’m getting the message from multiple people that that’s a mistaken view and assumption. Thanks for clarifying and my best to you as you graduate and embark on your college adventure.

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PickachuRocks15- what if there literally has been no new developments, accomplishments etc- what would LOCI entail?

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My main reasoning is that I think the vibe is much more for me, and I just love the college I got into. I’m really passionate about my chosen subject and am excited to go deep into it. Not to mention how much more affordable it is (especially for me as a UK citizen). With all that said, Brown is amazing in different ways. Maybe for grad school!

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Hi is there a group chat for accepted students?

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Does anyone know if we can walk around the campus, or is it closed to visitors due to Covid?

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273

@MMRose I asked this question on multiple platforms and all have said you can definitely walk around campus. You just can’t go into the buildings. They shared that there may be students walking around, too. Just mask up. I’m glad for this because my son and his dad will be flying in a week from now to tour around the campus before locking in.

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Great question. I’d welcome hearing the answer too, as well as any other advice for the LOCI and whether anyone does it for more than 1 school.

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I think lots of people write a LOCI for multiple schools – but of course you should only tell your top one that it is your top choice.

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Sounds great! Have an amazing time!

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277

You are not alone. Go over to the parents of the class of 2021 thread and you will find many parents with extremely high performing children who did not get the results they were hoping for and are wondering why. In a few years, people who study these dynamics will probably have some answers. The short version that we have now is that COVID-19 and the shift to TO disrupted everything. There were so many more applicants in the system and it may be that your child fell into a category (white male, STEM/CS) that was overrepresented and there were only so many they would let in. Additionally, CS/engineering are notoriously difficult majors for admission. So take a reach school’s acceptance rate and divide by 5-10 or thereabouts to arrive at a likely acceptance rate for those majors.

While the WL/Rejection results hurt, remember that Cal, Tufts, and UW are superb outcomes.

My impression is that Brown WL comparatively few students compared to Harvard. If he’s still interested in either or both, have him reach out to his admissions officer with a LOCI. His HS college counselor might also be willing to reach out to a WL school if your son has a top favorite.

Good luck and hang in there.

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278

Very helpful - appreciate the support and the advice. Warm regards.

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I don’t think this is good advise. You should tell every school that it is your top choice. not just tell them, but make them believe it.

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Harvard does not care if it’s your top choice. Or more accurately, it arrogantly assumes it’s your top choice. :sweat_smile:

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281

Great choices. An excellent example of the random nature of this process.

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282

I was in a similar position last year, but what I talked about was my classes (I was taking a class at the local cc and tried to tie that into exploring other interests) as well as stating that I was continuing this EC and this is what I learned. I know a lot of activities have been cancelled due to COVID, so Admissions will probably understand if your letter isn’t super long: provide any updates that you can and reiterate your interest in attending Brown and maybe a sentence or two about wha stood out to you about Brown. You can find multiple examples online that are good for figuring out how to format your letter.

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