Brown ED 2022 Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

a much needed thread for a much awaited decision!! good luck everyone!!!

Please replace the “[a” below with just “[” before posting.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
This thread is for results only. Posts without results will be deleted.

2

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34C: 36E, 33R, 30M, 36S
SAT II: 720 Math II, 720 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% (482 students)
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), Gov (5), Lang (4) (we aren’t allowed to take APs until junior year at my school)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP French, AP Physics C
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model Congress (President), human rights club, HS dems
Job/Work Experience: Interned with a state representative over the summer. The internship focused on graphic design for constituent mailings.
Volunteer/Community service: A fair amount through my church youth group
Summer Activities: Architecture summer academy at Boston Architectural College
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
My common app essay is my pride and joy. 10/10. It was an anecdotal essay about my relationship with words in the context of my experience coming out to my sister, with whom I am extremely close.
Brown essays:
Areas of study 8/10: Very personal and introspective. Focused on the development of my interest in the built environment ever since I was very young. Probably wasn’t my absolute best writing quality due to how much I wanted to fit and how little space they give.
Why Brown 9/10: Well-written but perhaps a little cliche (I talked about the open curriculum). However, I made it personal by talking about how my multidisciplinary interests are a good match for the flexibility Brown offers.
Places you’ve lived 8/10: I was a little stumped by this prompt. I ended up talking about how my town is extremely diverse, multilingual, and proud of it, yet there is still a lot of disunity in my high school on the basis of language.
Community 9/10: Talked about my church community (super liberal creedless hippie church in MA) and how I’ve attained so many of the values that I try to embody in my life from the role models I had/have there.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Gov teacher. I’m her TA this year, and she loves me. I didn’t read it, but it was probably very personal. 9/10.
Teacher Rec #2: Honors physics teacher. We didn’t connect on a very personal basis, but I felt like he just understood me as a learner. We had a great relationship on an academic level, and I did super well in his class. I didn’t read it, but he’s also an author, so it was probably very well-written. 9/10.
Counselor Rec: My school is very large, so I didn’t get to know her very well. I gave her a lot of info to include in my rec, though. It was probably decent, I’ll guess 7/10.
Additional Rec: Church youth group advisor. She really likes me and was able to talk about me from a service-oriented perspective. I read it. 9/10
Interview: Went pretty well. Nothing extraordinary, but in no way bad. We talked for an hour. 7/10.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Architecture / Urban Studies
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, large
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, ACT, probably recs too but I didn’t read all of them.
Weaknesses: SAT IIs (good but not great), not that many ECs (they are focused, however, and I am very passionate about them)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m probably pretty much average in terms of their applicant pool. No hooks. Not that many ECs. It might have helped a little that I have a sibling who is a current student?
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere yet. Applied to USC. Going to apply to CMU, Northeastern, Rice, Vassar, Yale, Tulane, and RPI

General Comments: I have a slim chance at RD (like most people), but I’m keeping my fingers crossed just in case :slight_smile:

3

[b][size=4][color=#008000]Decision: Accepted - ED[/color][/size]*

[b]Objective:*

SAT I (breakdown): 750 Math, 740 Writing, 23 overall essay
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 780 math II, 730 English
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t report rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), English (5), Chem (4), Human Geography (5),
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Econ, AP Latin, AP Studio Art, AP English, AP Physics 1 & 2, Wind Ensemble
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Pittsburgh World Affairs Council Global Leadership Certificate, AP Scholar with distinction, National Latin Exam Gold Keys, National Merit Semifinalist, and NHS admittance. (This is just what I put on the common app, I know they aren’t major awards, I’ve never even heard of USAMO or Intel lmao. I’ve also won a bunch of awards for my clubs that I was able to put in my activities section)

[b]Subjective:*

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Key Club (pres. sophomore year, lieutenant governor junior year, and state executive editor senior year), Junior Classical League (Vice President sophomore year, secretary senior year), Marching band (section leader junior year, drum major senior year), student council (secretary sophomore year, treasurer junior year), National English Honors Society (treasurer senior year), I’m on the council for my local government too (junior Councilperson), DECA, Summer Camp volunteer, Jazz Band, Cross Country
Job/Work Experience: never got a job whoops
Volunteer/Community service: Over 1,400 hours, summer camp volunteer, local hospital volunteer, volunteered on the Appalachian trail for two weeks, made dozens of fundraisers for several things,
Summer Activities: summer camp volunteer, drum major camp, key club international convention, marching band camp,
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Well, there were like 6 for Brown, so I’ll break them down: Common App Essay (10), elaborate on extra curricular (8, talked about local gov’t.), Why Brown (7 this one was bad), Why your concentration (9, talked about my global leadership certificate), where have you lived (10, heartbreaking story about dog being about to die), what community have you been in (9, talked about Latin Club)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I don’t know how we are supposed to know about how good our recommendations are, I’m assuming they were good though

Teacher Rec #1: Calc teacher, probably fine
Teacher Rec #2: English teacher, probably really good
Counselor Rec: had a good relationship, probably good
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: Really good, just chatted with this alum in Starbucks for like an hour and a half

[b]Other:*

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: international politics
State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public, very large
Ethnicity: White, Native American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): probably Native American helped me a lot, but I also submitted a music supplement for trumpet, and an art supplement.

[b]Reflection:*

Strengths: My extra curriculars were probably what put me over the edge, because academically there’s a lot of people around my scores and grades.
Weaknesses: SAT isn’t super duper high, not very major awards
Why you think you were accepted: I have no idea, but I think my essays were really genuine
Where else were you accepted: Penn State lol, didn’t apply anywhere else.

4

**Decision: Accepted **

Intended Major: Linguistics

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500 (770 R/730 M)
SAT II: 710 Spanish, 720 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank or do percentiles. Estimated top 15%?
AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish (4), APUSH (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP World History, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus AB, Adv. English XII, Modern Chinese History, Bioethics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Awarded the Drama Prize in 11th grade for performance as Jesus Christ (Godspell)
Awarded the Music Prize in 11th grade for leadership in A Capella group

Not really an award, but…I was part of an accelerated Spanish program that only takes 2 students every year. Essentially, I started freshman year in a 10th grade Spanish class, meaning I was a year ahead for the rest of high school. As a result, I sort of ran out of Spanish classes to take my Senior Year, which is why I don’t have a foreign language on my transcript this year.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars/Activities:
1.Leader of our school’s selective A Capella group, 9-12
2.Founder/Leader of Linguistics Club, 12
3.Leader of Creative Writing Club 11-12
4.Captain of Varsity Track and Field in senior year, member 9-12
-1st place in Triple Jump at both local and state relays 2 years in a row, our team won the 2017 PAISAA State
Championships.
5.Self-taught in Swahili for the past year, took a self-guided online French course from Middlebury College over this past summer
6.Internship as teaching assistant in ESL (English as a Second Language) night classes for immigrant workers in Philadelphia this past summer
7.Lead role in every theatre production since freshman year, for a total of 7 shows, counting senior year. 9-12
8.Senior Member of Performing Arts Council, 11-12
-Oversees miscellaneous performing arts related events throughout the year. As part of my duties, I help host bi-monthly
open-mic nights for students to perform for each other, and write/record/star in silly music videos to advertise said events, which are sent out to the entire school.
9.Main Anchor for Weekly Student Newscast, 12
-Totally student-run, films on weekends, writes scripts during the week. I’m a writer and one of the two main anchors. We give announcements, interview teachers and students in Student Life segments, cover sports news, etc.
10. Volunteer storybook character at local children’s museum, 9-12
-This is one of my personal favorites. I dress up as prince charming/peter pan/shiny knight/pirate and entertain children for like 5 hours at this annual event called the Storybook Ball. It’s not the most intense EC but man do I love making the kids smile.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
For Personal Statement I chose the prompt about challenging an idea or belief. I talked about a time my best friend (1st generation African) and I had a falling out over my decision to learn Swahili. Long story short, by the end of it my views on racial/cultural identity, which were pretty toxic before, were radically changed for the better. (10/10)

My Brown supplements were pretty solid, I made a really dope analogy in my “Why Brown?” essay where I compared Brown to the English language, which tied into my Linguistics major and all. (9/10)

I really, REALLY think my essays are what made it, guys.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:Spanish teacher who I’ve had 9th-11th, I came up with the idea for Linguistics club with her over the summer and created it in collaboration with her, so I think it was good. My only worry was I slacked off a little in AP Spanish Junior year, ended up getting a B (86.9%) – she likes me so I know she didn’t badmouth me, but she probably mentioned it. (9/10)

Teacher Rec #2: APUSH teacher in 11th grade, wonderful woman, we’ve had many laughs together and she likes watching me perform. I did really well in her class and never slipped up, so I have faith in this one too. (8/10)
Counselor Rec: I dunno, wasn’t too close with my counselor and I obviously waived so, this was probably pretty good (7/10)

Interview: My interview went REALLY well, the guy I talked to went to a high school right next to mine and he knew all about my school. We got along really well and had similar interests, and it was in a Starbucks so everything was pretty casual. (9/10)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Linguistics
State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Black/African-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Err, upper middle class? I dunno tbh.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, possibly athletics but I wasn’t recruited or anything.

Reflection

Strengths: EC’s, Teacher Recs, E S S A Y S
Weaknesses: GPA for sure. I thought I would be deferred because of this.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I really worked those essays, and I honestly think I was just a good fit for Brown. I dunno, I need to come down from the excitement before I can really reflect.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere, this was my first (and last) result!

5

Decision : Accepted

SAT I : 1550
ACT : 34
SAT II: 780 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics (4) US History (4) GOV
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 2, APLang, AP Economics, AP Calculus, Honors French 5
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NHS, National Merit Semifinalist, National Language Honors Society

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: NSHSS ambassador, VP of BSU, Executive Director of school-wide mental health week, Tennis team, toddler ministry leader (BSU is black student union for those who dont know)
Job/Work Experience: Target cashier, OBGYN clinic aid, do focus groups (and get paid)
Volunteer/Community service: Tutor at local school, Created a tutoring organization for students in underprivileged area
Summer Activities: summer program at Clemson, another at Tulane, another at Xavier
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’d give my essays a 9. Knowing Brown was such a liberal school, I felt like I could truly show who I was in my essays without fear of sounding too “pro-black” or bs like that. I wrote my essay about going to the BLM march in downtown ATL after the Alton Sterling and Philando Castille murders and how that was a moving experience. Talked about how it felt to be part of large protest- something blacks have been doing for decades in order to be heard. My brown essays also showed a lot of my personality. I think the main thing I did was stick true to who I was instead of trying to make myself sound better/robotic.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9. My teacher has a lot of experiencing writing (published author and worked at Emory in admissions so she knwos what a good rec letter looks like). She was my English teacher and she was the sponsor of a book club I was in and BSU.
Teacher Rec #2: 8. Pre-Calc and AP Calc teacher. Since I’ve had her for 2 years she probably talked about how she’s seen me “grow.” She’s vocalized that I’m one of her favorites so I think she wrote me a good one.
Counselor Rec:9. Used to work at John Hopkins so she also knows what a good rec letter looks like. We’re pretty close and she knows me well.
Additional Rec:
Interview: 7. Went pretty well, but I dont think anything really stood out

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Cognitive Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): minority

Reflection

Strengths: I think my various test scores were consistently good. Also, for all the few classes I got B’s in, I always pulled them up second semester to an A - they like to see that you pushed yourself and “improved.” I have
Weaknesses: Only had 2 letters of rec
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Intended major, test scores, essays
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere

6

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1440 (Did not send)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (35 Science, 35 English, 30 Math, 33 Reading), I also sent in a 32 ACT (because of a 33 in math)
SAT II: 680 Chemistry and 780 Spanish (Did not send scores)
Weighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.22
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Spanish (5) AP Government (5) AP Literature (4) AP Chemistry (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP English Lang, AP Statistics, AP Physics, AP Biology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, First Honors, AP Scholar with Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
(President/Founder) Young Authors Club (Freshman to Senior)
(President) Culinary Club (Freshman to Senior)
Peer Tutoring in Chemistry, Government, Math, and Spanish (Junior to Senior)
National Honor Society (Scholarship committee from Junior to Senior)
LGBT Alliance (Junior to Senior)
Pre-Law Society (Junior to Senior)
Student Senate (Junior to Senior)

Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Cleveland Clinic volunteering (did not put on application)
Summer Activities: Brown Pre-College (Stem Cell Biology) and Harvard Pre-College (Freedom of Speech)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 11/10 I honestly think this essay is one of the main reasons I pulled through. It was a perfect representation of who I am and I described my coming out story and tied it into the story of my parents being illegal immigrants.

Brown Supplements:
Why Brown (10/10): I described my experience at Summer@Brown and avoided the cliches when saying why an open curriculum would benefit me.
Why the Major (9/10): It was fairly unique and I mentioned that I maybe wanted to do an Independent Concentration in Bioethics.
Where you have lived (9/10): I described Cleveland and how the mixing of cultures impacted me.
Community (10/10): I talked about how being taught at a Jesuit school impacted my faith life.
Extracurricular essay (9/10): I explained why I made the Young Authors club and how it affected me.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
(I waived my right to read all of them so these are just guesses)
Teacher Rec #1: (10/10) My AP Spanish teacher who absolutely loved me wrote this! I was the only one to score a 5 in his class and I’m pretty sure he wrote a stellar essay.
Teacher Rec #2: (9/10) I always talked to him and I showed a lot of my colorful personality in his class.
Counselor Rec: (9/10) He moderates the LGBT Alliance and he knows that I’m a very dedicated student.
Additional Rec: (10/10) My Young Authors Club moderator who I’ve known for all 4 years of high school wrote this letter and I’m certain that it was stellar.

Interview (9/10): It was 1 hour and 30 minutes but it don’t really think I did much to stand out among the other hundreds of applicants interviewed. My interviewer was very nice but I was also super nervous that day.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology and International Relations (but I also mentioned an Independent Concentration in Bioethics)
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
School Type: Private and Catholic
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $80,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, First generation, LGBT, parents were illegal immigrants(?)

Reflection

Strengths: Essays and Hooks for sure
Weaknesses: Extracurricular focus
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I poured my heart out on the essays and the hooks definitely helped.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/a

General Comments :Try not to stress out too much on academics! Brown knows you are smart and they want to see your PERSONALITY. Focus on making amazing essays!

7

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1600 / 1600 (800 M; 800 E)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 (Math 2), 800 (Physics), 800 (Chemistry)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/372
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 (World History), 5 (Computer Science A), 5 (Calculus BC), 5 (Physics C: Mechanics), 5 (Physics C: Magnetism and Electricity)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Advanced Mathematics (~Calculus BC), Physics, Chemistry, and English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): IOI Gold (3), IMO Gold (2), IPhO [Gold (1) Silver (1)]

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swimming team captain of school (I think the equivalent is Varsity team or something like that)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Developed coding applications for major school groups around the world to teach Computer Science without a teacher to students (More than 3 million users - name not used to remain anonymous.
Summer Activities: ^^^
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CommonApp definitely a 9.5-10. Spoke about my passion for coding and using it to drive change in society; Why college (8) - seemed like a pretty standard why college essay for Brown; Other supplements (7)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:2 recommendations from my teachers - both were absolutely great. (Like a 8-9 or so)
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec: Pretty standard, I suppose, considering I had minimum a
Additional Rec: 1 recommendation from my IOI Coach(8), and an additional one from a family friend working with the IMF (9)
Interview: Went off pretty well. Guy in Bali. Spoke at length with him (8)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Computer Science / Astronomy / Applied Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Asia (not specifying to remain anonymous)
School Type: Local/Private
Ethnicity:
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Test Scores and essays. Don’t know how much the olympiad medals count.
Weaknesses: Extra-curriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ^^^
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

8

Please replace the “[a” below with just “[” before posting.

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1480 Writing:750 Math: 730
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: US History 780 Math 1: 720 Math 2: 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8( showed strong upward trend post-freshman year)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Government and Politics, AP Econ, AP Calc AB, AP Lit and Comp, Social Justice in Action, Independent Music tutorial
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Soccer Manager, Vice President of BSU, Retreat Team leader, Writer for school conservative political site dailywhig.com, Sons of Liberty(conservative politics club), played piano for 8 years,
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:150+ hours
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10: I wrote about how my ignorance about world politics during my sophomore year European history class inspired my passion for politics
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9.5/10: This was the moderation for Sons of Liberty club, my AP Gov teacher, and my APUSH teacher. I’ve done very well in her class
Teacher Rec #2: 9.5/10: My Honors Pre-calc teacher, she has seen me struggle to understand certain concepts and how I’ve overcome
Counselor Rec: 8/10: Didn’t know him too well, but I think he had some nice things to say about me
Additional Rec:
Interview: It went very well. She said at the end that she really liked me and that I would be great for Brown.( it also helped that we shared the same conservative political beliefs–she said that she appreciates those kinds of people to appeal to Brown’s diversity of thought)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major:Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Washington DC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African
Gender:Male
Income Bracket: 50k-100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Born in Nigeria, moved to England and lived there for 6 years before coming to US in 2008.

Reflection

Strengths: Essay, teacher recommendations, and interview.
Weaknesses: GPA and SATs scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly didn’t think I had a shot at this school. I knew I was smart, but I feared my stats didn’t really convey it at all. In fact, I spent the whole day on Thursday just begging not to get rejected. My advice to future applicants is to never doubt yourself. If you are confident in yourself then you have nothing to lose by applying. Also really spend time on your essay and make sure it shows who you are and/or where your passions lie. Don’t waste any time trying to compare your essay to anyone else’s just do you.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Rutgers and Fordham

9

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (M-800, RW-780, Essay-23)
SAT II: Chem-800, Math II-790, Bio-780, World History-780, US History-760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, unofficially 1/325
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem-5, USH-5, Physics 1-4
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP English Lit, AP Spanish Language, Gym
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not major awards, but: George Eastman Young Leaders Award, National Spanish Exam Gold Medalist, B1 Diploma of French Study (from French government), National Merit SF

Subjective: some details changed for privacy

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Ultimate Frisbee team (Founder/Captain)—5th in state division, organize everything from youth outreach to insurance to tournaments, takes more time than any of my other extracurriculars
Physics Club (President)
Boston University RISE—six weeks, microbiology research, poster session, paper submitted to competitions
Implemented virtual reality travel program at senior center (Founder and Activity Lead)
Generic anti-drug organization (Student Liaison)
(random tiny country)-American Cultural Center (Board Member)
Cross country (jv 9, 10; varsity 11, 12)
Tennis (jv 9, varsity 10, 11, 12)
Gifted & Talented Club (President)
Columbia Science Honors Program–competitive application process, equal to 4 college semesters, 10th and 11th
State interscholastic science competition—ranking competitor—Biology, Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2, soon Physics 2
Johns Hopkins CTY summer classes—every summer except for 2017, this doesn’t really add anything to my app, the classes were more fun than anything else
Random volunteering (small to moderate amount, nothing crazy)

Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: See extracurriculars
Summer Activities: Research @ BU and CTY
Essays (rating 1-10, details): THIS IS WHAT GOT ME IN. I’m the most stereotypical high-stat, no special extracurriculars college applicant, but I do write well. Speak from the heart, and let the prompt fit you.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Physics teacher: 7-8/10? I honestly have no idea, we had a great relationship and I was the president of her club, my friends and I ate lunch in her classroom half the time, sometimes we spoke French together. However English isn’t her first language, and she loves a lot of kids so not 10/10 probably.
Teacher Rec #2: Spanish teacher: 8-10/10? He loved me like a son, BUT English wasn’t his first language either.
Counselor Rec: 8/10? We were closer than the average counselor and student, but not best friends or anything. She knows how to write good recs though.
Additional Rec: Research mentor: 8/10? We worked well together. Nobody can really rate recommendations that they’ve never seen.

Interview: Pretty good, we had a nice half-hour conversation. Not spectacular, but I think I showed who I really was.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (But I didn’t receive any, even with a brother in college. Time to start looking for a job.)
Intended Major: Geology-Biology
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Reflection: ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS. I wrote about a small hobby I have, but spent a long time making it the best piece of writing it could be. What you write about doesn’t matter compared to how you write about it. On top of that, don’t do things for college. Truthfully, the only thing I somewhat did for college was the random volunteering at the end of my extracurricular list, which very likely didn’t add anything to my application. The AOs see through kids that have shaped their lives around college prestige.

Strengths: Essays
Weaknesses: Upper-middle class white kid from competitive area; no special extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Essays
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere! Brown 2022

General Comments: This has been a dream come true. Good luck to everyone applying RD, and to those of you deferred or rejected, you are all amazing people who will change the world. What college you go to is a footnote.

10

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (800 M, 780 R/W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II 800, World History 790, Chemistry 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/700
AP (place score in parenthesis): Environmental Science (4), Human Geography (5), Chemistry (4), World History (4), Calculus BC (5), Lang (5), Latin (5), Physics 1 (4), US History (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Latin V, AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics C, AP Psychology, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Latin Club (President 12, Academic Chair 11), some national orchestras (violin)
Job/Work Experience: Kumon tutor
Volunteer/Community service: Johns Creek Hope Volunteer Orchestra (President’s Award for Service)
Summer Activities: Governor’s Honors Program (violin)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 8, wrote about GHP and how it influenced me

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Latin, 10/10 – I had this teacher for 4 years, and he is the club sponsor for the organization that I am president of (so we had a lot of interaction). I used to be horrible in his class, but I matured a lot and we became super close.
Teacher Rec #2: Language Arts, 9/10 – I had this teacher for 2 years, and we got along really well because our senses of humor matched up. I participated a ton in her classes, so we had a great relationship.
Counselor Rec: No idea, I attend a public school and never really got close with her.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Pretty good.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: economics
State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100k +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection:
Strengths: GPA, test scores
Weaknesses: extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted: I tried to emphasize my passion for learning a lot, and I think that is something that Brown values.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: MIT deferred, waiting on UChicago

General Comments: I’m excited.

11

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Accepted to Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1490
ACT (breakdown): 35 (E:35 M:36 R:33 S:36)
SAT II: Math II: 800 Physics 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 7.0– it’s the IB grading scale): 6.67
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): Predicted 45
Senior Year Course Load: HL Math HL Physics HL Chem SL Econ SL Literature SL Spanish B and TOK
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None. Won a couple not-so-prestigious school wide awards for academics and “Highest GPA Award” for middle school.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Ambassadors (co-President), Service club (co-President), another service club (head science mentor), Soccer JV/Varsity, Badminton JV (co-captain) Varsity, NHS, SHS, Forensics and Debate
Job/Work Experience: Intern at silicon valley tech company
Volunteer/Community service: probably 300 hours over high school?
Summer Activities: Yale young global scholars, learned to program and created 2 apps on the IOS app store,
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CA: 9/10
Engineering related: 8/10
Why Brown: 4/10… really bad lol

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Math
Teacher Rec #2: English… I never read them
Counselor Rec: probably pretty good
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went really well!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Philippines
School Type: International Private
Ethnicity: Indian American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none?

Reflection: woohoo!

Strengths:
Weaknesses: Why brown essay… it’s weird that I couldn’t write one I was happy with. I put that down to the 200 word limit
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: nothing wrong with my app, good numbers and well rounded extracurriculars
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: early decision so nowhere!

General Comments :

12

Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Biology 740 World History 700
Unweighted GPA: 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on AP World, Calc AB, and Spanish, 4 on AP Lang and Bio
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Stat, AP Physics 1, AP Spanish Literature, US Gov,
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2015 Regional NCSE Science Fair 1st Place, 2015 National NCSE Science Fair 1st Place, 2016 Regional Stem Fair 2nd place in Environmental Category, Published an article in IHSJS (Dec 2015), 2017 DC Stem Fair 1st Place, INTEL ISEF 2017, Science Fair Award from Society for In Vitro Biology, Best Student in AP Spanish, Seal of Biliteracy

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council Treasurer (Sophomore Junior and Senior),National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Senior member of a Jewish Philanthropist Organization, Founder/President of Marine Science Club, I intern at a biology lab at the local university
Job/Work Experience: Summer camp counselor
Volunteer/Community service: Started a nonprofit that provides technology tutoring to senior citizens in the neighborhood (Community service), we got an article in the local newspaper which I am attaching to my application,
Summer Activities: Shoals Marine Laboratory- Took a Marine Environmental Science Class for Cornell Credit, Spent three weeks in Ecuador, got 70 hrs of community service, Camp counselor this past summer at a sleepaway camp that I’ve gone to for seven years

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CA: 8/10, wrote about transition from camper to counselor
Why Brown: 9/10 I was proud of it, talked about open curriculum
Community: 7/10 talked about the scientific community
Where I’ve lived: 8/10, talked about how my family travels so it makes me appreciate being at home more
Extracurricular: 7/10, talked about my community service with senior citizens but because the word limit was so low couldn’t elaborate as much as I wanted to

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: History, person I am closest with at school, 11/10
Teacher Rec #2: Science, teacher I went to with to INTEL ISEF, probably pretty good but not as good as history teacher
Counselor Rec: probably pretty good
Additional Rec: I submitted a rec from a lady I do community service with, and also, at the last minute, my lab PI sent one in because he wanted to
Interview: Went really well!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): DC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none?

Reflection: At first I was really disappointed because all my friends got into college this week and I was so excited to be done with the process. Friday Night I got into Wisconsin which although isn’t my first choice, made me feel really relieved. I also am mostly done with RD essays, so luckily don’t have much to do to submit apps- just gotta wait til March!
Strengths: extracurriculars and recommendations
Weaknesses: test scores? essays?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: honestly everyone thought I would get in and so I started to believe it but I understand being deferred (glad I didn’t get rejected tbh). Probably was because my essays were not the best? maybe? idek. Honestly this whole process is a crapshoot.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at Wisco, waiting to hear back from Chicago and Michigan, and applying to Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Northwestern, Carleton, Macalester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Penn, and Yale

General Comments : Congrats to all those accepted! Those deferred- don’t lose hope. You will end up somewhere great!

13

Deferred

SAT I (breakdown): 1530- 780 Math, 750 CRW
GPA: 4.3 Weighted, around a 3.7 unweighted
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4) (lol i forgot to sign up for them my junior year rip)

Senior Year Course Load:
AP French
AP Statistics
AP Language & Comp
AP US Government
AP Environmental Science

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar, National Honor Society

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (President), Speech and Debate (Secretary/Extemp Captain-- finalist in my league), Mock Trial (VP), NHS, Guitarist/Vocalist at the School of Rock in FW, PA, Winter & Spring Track for all of HS (JV/Varsity)
Job/Work Experience: Free Lance Makeup Artist
Volunteer/Community service: I volunteer at my church and at a camp for people with disabilities called Joni & Friends

Essays:
-Personal: 9/10- well-written I guess (lots of edits from other people and I got some feedback from adults lol) and it says a lot about my personality and how I interact with people
-Supplementals: 8/10- I think they were consistent with what I had mentioned, and I had a funny one talking about my experiences as a Free Lance makeup artist

Teacher Recommendation:

  1. 8/10- I wasn’t his favorite, but he was mine, and I think he sees me pretty well.
  2. 9/10- I was one of his favorites last year and we bonded really well and he saw me interact w/people in the same ways I described in my personal essay (so it was consistent)
    Counselor Rec: 10/10- even told me it was glowing. I love my guidance counselor.
    Additional Rec: n/a
    Interview: pretty good, we had a nice hour-long chat about people w/ disabilities and books

Applying for Financial Aid?: no
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: $200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy

Reflection: I think the reasons for deferral and not rejection are that I’m a legacy, my SAT is aight, and my essays are solid and reflect who I am well.

Strengths: Essays, Recs, Extracurriculars
Weaknesses: Someone far more qualified than me applied ED from my school (and got accepted), and my scores are mediocre, especially for an Asian. My GPA is kinda trash for my school lol.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted EA to UMich!! Very excited about that!

14

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 26 composite
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): —
AP: Psychology (didn’t send score)
IB: ----
Senior Year Course Load: English IV, Anatomy and Physiology, AP Computer Science, AP Studio Art, Stem Capstone, Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NAHS, 2 Achievement Awards, NSHSS

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Jack and Jilll (Leadership position all 3 years), Ambassador (Leadership), Bullis Student Tutor (Leadership), Acolyte (Leadership - sr. crucifer)
Job/Work Experience: Kidginneer
Volunteer/Community service: ASP mission trip, Overland in New Orleans, Wider Circle, Jack and Jill
Summer Activities: Community Service Trip, GW Art Program, NSLC for medicine, Bucknell and UMD engineering program, Architecture at UPenn
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10

Teacher Rec #1: 10 loved me
Teacher Rec #2: 5 she didn’t really know me as well as my other recs
Counselor Rec: 8.5
Additional Rec: 10
Interview: 9

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major: Applied Math
State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: F
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Mother is an Alum

Reflection

Strengths: Showed grit and hard worker
Weaknesses: Test Scores?
Why you think you were deferred: Didn’t submit subject test, my math grade dropped to a B-, but my GPA at the end of senior year trimester weighted was an A… Brown probably wanted to see if I can maintain an A GPA
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Fordham, SMU, Wofford = Accepted
Waiting on = Duke, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Wash U

General Comments :
Brown is my number one school and anything is possible - you just have to believe

15

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 - E 34, M 33, R 31, S 33 (Writing 8)
SAT II: Maths 1 700, German 580
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Pre U Chinese and German, A Level Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Captain of school tennis, committee member of FemSoc and GlobalSoc, Editor of Language/culture magazine
Job/Work Experience: Content developer for TechSoup Global, Journalist for ClickZ Asia, Intern at Mother’s Choice
Volunteer/Community service: Assistant tennis coach, volunteer teacher grades 4-6, volunteer at nursery
Summer Activities: 2 foreign immersion courses (Shanghai and Berlin)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CA essay 8-9/10- wrote about my love for languages and how learning to break down barriers between cultures and people has influenced my life. Put loads of effort into supplements so probably 9/10. I write well and the questions allowed me to truly showcase my love for Brown.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I get on really well with both these teachers so was probably good.
Counselor Rec: Same ^ my counselor is my housemaster (as I go to boarding school) so he sees me every day and knows me well.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Good, no hiccups. Was really just a general chat, nothing to stress about.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: IR or MCM
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: Private boarding school
Ethnicity: White and Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not sure, probs safe to say upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Very international background, dad went to Brown

Reflection

Strengths: Academic transcript (almost all A*s in both GCSEs and A Levels), essays and recs
Weaknesses: Test scores weren’t amazing, particularly my subject tests (I guess it goes to show that sending a poor score is better than no scores at all?)
Why you think you were accepted: I think my profile is a good fit for Brown, and my essays definitely showed that, legacy
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere

General Comments : Because Brown is so unique (compared to the other top colleges), applicants are likely extremely passionate about Brown, and so particularly for ED I doubt there are many students who are applying just for the sake of it. So it is super important to put effort into the supplements (esp. “Why Brown”)!!! Try and distinguish yourself from the rest of the crowd in those short 100 or 200 word essays.

16

I’ve been lurking on the Brown thread for months, and looked at this particular thread a ton when applying, so I thought I’d share some data~

[asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (790 CR / 770 Math)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 750 US History, 780 Literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~93.5 average?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology (4), AP USH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: no AP courses (school doesn’t really offer)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic National Medals, Regional poetry stuff

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Literary Magazine (EIC), Peer Health Organization (President), Big Sibs Program, a ton of theatre, 6+ years playing the flute in wind ensemble
Job/Work Experience: interned at a local company
Volunteer/Community service: Did a music program with a local senior citizens home, volunteered at a local food pantry
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8, I think it captured my very unique voice but may have been too standard in format
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, an english teacher who adored me
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10, a history teacher who was writing a lot of recs at the time
Counselor Rec: 10/10 we’re super close!
Additional Rec:
Interview: We had opposite interests but I think I showed that I liked Brown a lot. Probably like a 7/10, it was a little awkward

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Psychology
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, very very competitive (a ton of kids go to Ivies)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

17

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34C
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A - IGCSE + IB Diploma Candidate
IB (place score in parenthesis): 45/45
Senior Year Course Load: IB Courses: English Language and Literatue HL, World History HL, Economics HL, French B SL, Maths SL, Biology SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:
Extracurriculars:

  • Conducted research alongside the National Government’s Investment promotion agency,
  • Published an interview complication about the issue of gender diversity in corporate workplaces (a journalistic compilation of the experiences of women in senior positions in the corporate world in the US and in India)
  • Model UN (Won several award internationally)
  • Editor and writer on the school magazine
  • Played lead roles in annual school theatre productions, and represented school and an international exchange theatre workshop
  • Bharatnatyam dancer for 7 years, performed on arts showcases etc.
  • Participated in exchange trips to Rome and Germany
  • Took a law course at Columbia summer before my Junior year, received a glowing recommendation from my professor

Job/Work Experience:

  • Interned at one of the leading private corporate law firms Law firms in the country

Volunteer/Community service (all leadership roles):

  • Led the designing and execution of educational workshops targeting children from NGOs and low-income state-schools with a leading museum in the country (docent/intern experience)
  • Co-founded a Women's Health and Sanitation Initiative working at my school and villages around my city to spread awareness about women's sanitation and increase accessibility to sanitation products (collaborated with two large NGOs)
  • Member of the core team of a village re-development initiative led by a national NGO, strategising infrastructural development and employment endeavours at local villages, mentoring younger high school groups
  • Core team member of an initiative to teach english to school housekeeping staff

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

CommonApp: 8.5/10

Brown Supplements: 10/10 (I really demonstrated my value for diversity and the manner in which I have engaged with the area, and the fact that I look forward to being part of a diverse community at Brown, showed how I 'fit’with the community at Brown)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Biology, 10/10 - Taught me for 2 years and has accompanied me on a Model UN trip. I have always been passionate about the subject and demonstrated my interest despite it being an SL class,
Teacher Rec #2: Economics, 8/10
Teacher rec #3: World History, 9/10
Counselor Rec: 8.5/10
Additional Rec:10/10 Recommendation from a major journalist have known for some time, who mentored me with my gender publication
Interview: Went really well

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Political Science and Economics
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Didn’t require aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection:
Strengths: IB score was at the top of Brown’s student profile, Extracurriculars were unique and focused upon my passion for gender equality, education and community service, Brown supplements were strong

Why you think you were accepted: I really tried to emphasise my passion in certain areas by showing incentive (leadership) and engaging with them consistently through community service and extracurriculars in unique ways, and I emphasised my my value for diversity which I think Brown prioritises.

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Brown ED, was waiting prior to sending RD applications

General Comments: I’m thrilled to be on college hill this fall!!