Brown University Class of 2019 RD Applicants

@Hawkace well there was a lot of stuff that didn’t fit on the activities section of my common app so I submitted my resume which includes everything. really don’t think it will count against me nor be the reason why I would get rejected anywhere.

@justinn76‌ I never said that it will count against you or will cause you to get rejected. It’s just a pet peeve.

Here is what Brown says publicly about submitting a resume in the form of supplementary information. It would be real tricky of them to say this and then non-publicly “hate” it or consider it a “pet peeve” when people follow their instructions, wouldn’t it?

I’d like to submit an update to my application or other supplementary information, may I and if so, how?

Applicants to Brown are neither required nor expected to provide additional materials as part of the admission process, but the opportunity to do so is available to any candidate. You may use the Application Summary Page if you have updates or additional materials that you would like to share with Brown. Examples include a resume, poetry or a brief writing sample, abstract of scientific research or an independent research project, and any additional information that you were unable to include in your Common Application.

http://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/ask?faq_category=17

Sheesh. Use Addl Info any way you want- but make it a wise decision since your judgment skills matter. And remember this is a college app, so keep it relevant to college admit decisions. And brief. They have a very limited time for each app.

You can send a resume. What adcoms anywhere don’t like is when it takes their time and is just a re-run of what you already wrote. Or when a really great (relevant) EC is mentioned there…but NOT in the activities section.

Whatever you do, don’t leave an Ivy reader scratching his or hear head about you. That applies to all sections of the CA. k? And never assume common mis-perceptions on CC are valid. (That should go without saying.) Best wishes, all.

Just my personal opinion, but I think when applying to a school like Brown it’s important to use the application as a focused narrative, and it may dilute your message to include extra stuff. What you decide to leave out could be as important as what you include, IMHO. Best of luck to everyone here applying!

Just had my phone interview- I was lucky to get an incredibly kind interviewer! I say interviewer lightly, though, because he didn’t ask me any questions about myself- he only wanted me to ask questions about Brown. Certainly out of the box and unexpected! I suppose there is a lot that can be extrapolated out of the questions someone asks.

Thats nice to hear! i just got ‘why brown’ literally thats it…and wat do u like to do in ur free time…

wat is everyone’s safety schools? just wondering…

@chihuahua1‌ aw, I’m sorry your interview was lame. I’m guessing they’re just desperate to get through as many applicants as possible at this point. Do you mean safety or match schools? My only true safeties were UMass Amherst and Fordham. I had about 5 matches and 5 reaches. At this point it’s really between 4 schools ( admittedly I applied to too many schools that, looking back, I don’t really want to attend).

I got a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Alabama, so that’s one of my safety schools. The only other is CSUN, because it’s like 20 minutes from my house.

I got into University of Toronto and Purdue, waiting for Waterloo in terms of safeties(im canadian)

Harvard, Yale ,and Stanford… :)) nah jk my top safety is Bentley University and then hoping for Northeastern and UMiami as solid matches

My state school and Northeastern, I guess since I already got in.

Wait, so is the following worth putting in an update letter?

-4.0 unweighted (4.58 weighted) GPA so far through senior year, taking most rigorous courses
-Completed Bio 101 at a CC (received an A), and am now taking Bio 102.

  • Quick mention of the American Literature from 1865 and Astronomy community college courses that I took over the summer - I didn’t get to mention them anywhere in the common app, and I got A’s in the courses
    -The research abstract that I worked on over the summer (I’m a co-author on it) is being presented at a medical conference this year.
    -National Merit Finalist
    -I’m not sure if this is worth mentioning, but I received Honorable Mention in the Northeast Region for the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition in the Northeast at Large writing region
    -Ranked in the top five at a debate tournament and am now competing at the state level

Yay or nay to an update letter?

Why in the world wouldn’t you put summer college classes in your application? Didn’t you send the transcripts at least? Yes of course scholastic awards are worth mention. The least mentionable in your list are the first 2, I wouldn’t update for just that but the rest, if never mentioned yes, although it may be too late to influence your decision likely is made. And they should know your are NMF. But I would say to do it.

I already got into Fordham and Clark university so i guess they’re my safeties. I applied to a bunch of high matches and reaches so I’m taking a gamble.

@BrownParent‌ The CommonApp has a place to indicate that you have attended another school (in my case, two different CCs), and a box for you to check off if transcripts are available. It never asks students to specify classes taken at those other schools or grades received. I’m also a bit of an idiot, and didn’t realize I could’ve put that info in the additional information section (shame on me, I know). I guess I’ll just mention it in my update letter.
Should I send transcripts from the CCs to my colleges? I just worry that it’ll take too long and won’t be worth it in the end.

I’M HAVING THE WORST PANIC ATTACKS

@marshmallowpop‌ I ended up sending transcripts from CCs to colleges. If you think it’ll boost you in any way, go for it.

And a quick general question: for the supplementary materials, when colleges suggest “writing samples”, do they usually mean strictly creative writing? I have a few pieces that are more journalistic essays than anything else, and I was thinking about submitting those.

@thevictorianera‌ did you have the CCs themselves send official transcripts or send them through Parchment?
And did you send them to all your schools? My list is pretty lengthy, and my CC is pretty lazy haha.
Regarding the essays - it doesn’t specify creative writing, so my guess is any sort of sample should be okay. Remember what everyone on this site says though, and only submit it if it’s really really really good.