<p>I’m currently a freshman at Brown University, and honestly I think you need to take a moment and breathe. Like the poster above me said, you don’t need a rigid formula to get into these schools. When I was in early high school, I looked at these universities as some sort of enigma that you needed to be perfect for to achieve admission for. Now that I’m here I’ve realized that it’s simply a university-- a place where you continue the life you’d built for yourself during high school, just in a different place and with (more) amazing people. So just follow your interests and your heart; let those guide you. You don’t have to push every interest into every conventional/tangible club or activity that exists so you can stack your resume. In terms of advice for Brown, if you manifest your interests into a way that is unique it will catch more attention. For example, taking photographs and using them in unique projects that you find/create is more impressive and may get you farther than just listing Photography club on your activities list. Brown wants innovators, creators, ground breakers-- passion. My point is that you cannot bottle yourself into a high school resume that you solely plan to use for a reward of an admission letter four years later. It’ll make you a robot and what these schools are searching so hard for now is the exact opposite of that. They want soul, passion, and creativity. Don’t let this college game run you into the ground through carefully calculated pastimes and ways to show that you are absolutely baller at everything. It’s not about that. Take these years to build yourself into an interesting person with fascinating interests who genuinely cares about what they do on a daily basis. If you are genuine and passionate, those admission letters will come naturally when it comes time (about early junior year) for you to think about them.</p>