Brown University-- I'm stressing about it constantly

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Brown is absolutely my top school-- I love everything about it. I’ve sent in my application and I can’t stop obsessing over whether I’ll get in. Feel free to just skim this for key words because I tend to ramble. A lot.

I have a 2380 SAT and 3.89/4.0 GPA. By the end of my senior year I will have taken 9 AP courses, with all others being honors. My AP scores soph/junior year haven’t been exceptional-- I got three 4s and two 3s. I’m hoping my SAT will make up for that. I’m applying for Biomedical Engineering and I’m a white LGBT female.

I have pretty good extracurriculars. Four years of theater, both performing and set design. Leadership position in student council. My strongest one, however, is “human rights club,” AKA my school’s nod to Amnesty International. I’m the president of it, and I wrote my Common App essay about it. Holding fundraisers for charities, going to protests/rallies in NYC, etc. Seems like the kind of thing that Brown likes to see.

My teacher recommendations should be good. One is a prior history teacher/my human rights club advisor, he wrote me a letter for a scholarship last year and it was great. The second was my AP Chem teacher, who knows me incredibly well-- hell, I had dinner at her house the other night. She’s one of the smartest people I’ve met (she got into Harvard) and I’m confident that she’ll know exactly what to write. The third one was my AP Lit teacher, so he has seen my writing as well as my discussion skills, and I’m also pretty personally friendly with him.

I’m also going to submit an art portfolio (not due until Jan. 30) that includes a collage (don’t roll your eyes, it’s a damn impressive collage), two drawings, a painting, a print, a mural (obscurity points?) and anything else worth sending that I happen to do by the time the deadline rolls around. I’m pretty confident about the quality.

My supplements were solid. I’ve done my research. Mentioned the fact that I visited the school, namedropped the Sciences Library and the open curriculum, said the Physical Sciences tour I took there was part of what helped me decide my major, etc. My interview skills are pretty strong, and I’m really just hoping that I get a good interviewer.

If you read all of that, thank you, because it’s probably a lot more than I needed to write.

2

Believe it or not I followed up with all of that lol. Let me reply to you paragraph by paragraph.

  1. I have a friend who works for Brown's admissions office, so anything I say is either from him or to be confirmed by him
  2. No college in the nation looks at your AP scores before you enroll. AP scores are specifically to give you credit. They only take a look at those once you're deciding on your course work for your freshman year.
  3. Those are some pretty strong extracurriculars, especially that last one! It sends off a strong message that you're very involved with this. The only thing to hope is that you communicated it well in your essay!
  4. Strong teacher recommendations are an important component, especially since they give off a personality that isn't exactly visible in your transcript (most of the time).
  5. Did you mention that you plan on majoring in Physical science? If you're not majoring in anything of the theatre and performance, then it won't help much submitting that art portfolio. Especially if there's a fee to it (I recall them saying that there's a $10 fee to submit them. If you didn't mention that you plan on majoring in anything of the arts, theatre, or performance, then it's a huge waste even considering submitting them). This comes from my friend
  6. In all honesty "solid" is subjective. I'm hoping you had at least one person review your supplements? Because the content sounds nice but I'm not sure how you phrased everything. And definitely do the interview! It'll help you out!

Long story short: don’t stress. If you still want to submit your portfolio, then by all means go ahead and do so. I’m just saying that according to my friend, they might not consider it due to your major.

Good luck, and hopefully you get accepted! And hopefully your financial aid package doesn’t ruin your dreams!

3

You’ve covered your bases, I’ll give you that. Let’s get into the chances. SAT is obviously impressive and on the high end even for Ivies. GPA could be better, but that isn’t the make or breaker. It’s good that you’ve taken the toughest courses available… the AP scores could hurt a little, but those aren’t really that big of a deal for college apps. Although it would have helped to get at least one 5. The one thing that I’m not sure about is the human rights club. I assume that you’re devoted to it, but I’d refrain from saying “Seems like the kind of thing that Brown likes to see.” Even though I’m sure you don’t mean it this way, that sounds like you’re checking checkmarks off the list… something an admissions counselor (and many lurk on these forums) hates to see. If you are truly devoted and wrote a passionate essay about it, then I’m sure it’ll be a plus. However, the EC’s are lacking. One solid club doesn’t solidify them. These could be the difference sadly. I suggest also to take some SAT Subject Tests to make up for the AP’s. With all that being said, you’re an applicant to Brown. It isn’t easy for anyone. I would rank your application higher than the large majority of Brown applicants, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. Ivies are known for just being peculiar in their admissions… I wish the best of luck to you on this journey!

4

What kind of art supplement can you send as a Theatre major applicant?? @EgyptianFlame98

5

I think anything in the arts would work just fine then, because they’re pretty much in the same category. So I think your portfolio would work. I’ll confirm with my friend however and I’ll get back to you by Tuesday!

6

What did you do during your summers? Did you do anything that would support your desire to study Biomedical engineering?

7

You seem like a strong candidate for Brown.

8

You are in the hunt. Neither your test scores or GPA disqualify you. But they don’t admit you either.

what three words describe you that illustrate why the admissions committee should select you?

9

FYI

Brown’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies does not review or consider artistic supplements. Artistic submissions are for music and visual art.

At Brown, students do not declare a concentration (Brownspeak for Major) until sophomore year, so I presume applicants are not reviewed solely by their intended field of study , but as a whole person.

Plenty of Brown STEM concentrators create art and music and contribute to the Brown community in that way. STEM concentrators sometimes switch to the arts and vice versa. Some double concentrate in both fields.

Some Brown STEM concentrators take studio art classes down the hill at the Rhode Island School of Design - which all Brown students are free to do.

If your art is meaningful to you and good, I wouldn’t hesitate to submit it regardless of your intended field of study.

If you have any questions about what to submit, that can’t be answered by the Brown web site, I would not hesitate to email your Brown regional admissions rep., but I would allow some time for a response, because I’m sure they’re very busy right now.

Best of luck

10

I warn you against speaking too much about the open curriculum…many Brown alum I’ve spoken to have told me that nearly all students reference this and that it doesn’t show any actual research you’ve done about the school. Avoid mentioning it in an interview, seriously. However, you did say you mentioned the other things, which should be fine.
Best of luck!!! :slight_smile:

11

I’d say you have a pretty good chance. Impressive stats, but unless you didn’t emphasize the heck out of your protest/fundraiser thing (which I assume is your main EC), then you could possible come off as a jumbled mix. But since you did mention that you wrote your essay about it, you should be in good shape.

Chance back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1847372-final-chance-thread-ivies-stanford-ucb.html#latest