Hi! Brown has been my dream school since I was three, but I am really really nervous about my chances of actually being accepted. Please let me know what you think:
Bio:
I am a legacy at Brown (my mom went there, but she’s not involved, and we don’t give money).
I am not first generation, I am white, and I am female.
I am applying ED (does that help?)
I go to a really competitive public high school (65 kids from the class of 2016 applied to Brown, and only 7 were accepted).
I have a 4.8 weighted GPA from junior year. But for first term senior year I have a 4.96 weighted GPA.
I take 6 honors/AP courses (honors are weighted the same as AP at my school). I do AP Spanish, AP Physics Mechancis, AP Statistics, and AP BC Calculus, and I do an Honors Civil Rights course for history and an Honors Women in Lit course for English.
Testing:
I earned a 1520 composite on the new SAT (790 Math and 730 English). I only received a 19 on the essay (I really wanted to retake to improve my essay score, but I never had time, and I think that will hold me back).
I earned a 790 on the US history Subject Test and an 800 on the Math II SAT Subject Test.
Extracurriculars:
I am an editor on my school’s national award winning newspaper, I am president and founder of video game design club, I tutor students in the math center at my school, I tutor young girls in mathematics to help bridge the gender gap in STEM, I work with kids with disabilities at a community center, and I am a paid graphic design intern for the college division of a national company.
Summer extracurriculars:
I had two internships this past summer. The first was a neurological clinical research internship at a really prestigious hospital (I think it’s ranked number 1 or 2 in the world). This internship was 42.5 hours a week and paid. I indicated on my application that a paper I wrote for this internship will be submitted for publication. My second internship was an epidemiological internship at the school of public health at a nearby decent University. This internship was also a research one, it was unpaid, and it was 10 hours a week.
Last summer, I also had two internships. I had an internship at the same national company for which I am now a paid intern for, and I had an internship at a video game design company that was planning a conference.
Other information:
My supplement essays are good, but my common app is only okay. One of recommendations will be really good, and the other two will be decent (I think they know that I am a good student, but they don’t really know me that well).
So what are my chances??? Please be brutally honest
Applying ED definitely can raise your chances slighty, but not significantly. That being said, Brown is a “lottery” type school, as the Ivies usually are, meaning a bunch of kids are submitting perfect SAT/ACT scores and perfect GPAs—at that point they will randomly select people. My advice is to pick what you are really passionate about on your extra circculars (one to three things) and amp those up. If an Ivy wants perfect scores and a well rounded kid they can easily get access to him or her—that want kids with a spike, and kids who are passionate and will be success later in life (so Brown can brag about them attending their school). But remember, they will only predict your future achievements on past achievements. I like your internship with the hospital—I’d like a name if it’s that prestigious to be 1 or 2 in the world—like that should be the main focus if it’s that amazing of a hospital—do not downplay that. And I like the STEM gap idea, schools love that type of stuff— female empowerment. My final advice is work on your common app essay! “Okay” won’t cut it. You have to open up with a moment and then explain how it impacted you then circle back to the beginning. If you’d like, send me your theme of your essay or you can send it—I help and read tons of essays from students! And calm down girl, you’ve worked way too hard so take a deep breath, you’ve got this. And remember it’s not where you go it’s what you do when you get there.