Can some Brown University accepted students give us applicants some tips/ tricks for applying?

Hi again!

Just wondering if there are any current students/ alumni that could shed some light on ways to make applicants’ application more appealing and specific to Brown. Also, please share some tips/ tricks that would aid in admission! Thanks :slight_smile:

In response to your title question: no.

Not out of rudeness or anything – there just aren’t any tips that anyone here can offer that you aren’t already familiar with. I’m sure you know the average accepted GPAs, test scores, etc. Everything beyond that is kind of a craphshoot. The best advice I can give future applicants is to focus on making their applications accurately reflect themselves and their values.

Do your research, so you can write with specificity. Find professors whose classes you want to take, research you want to do. Scour the website, subscribe to the Brown Daily Herald, etc.

Authenticity and hope for the best.

Students have a very small sample by which to advise. They know what worked for them and maybe a few friends. But likely they were equally denied at other schools of equal or lesser selectivity. What does that tell you?

Crush your grades and scores, write authentic essays and get great LORs. You’re a senior right? Beyond this, there’s not much more you can control. There is no 11th hour magic formula.

I can’t disagree with all of these points, but I’d suggest, in high school, depending where you are, try to have activities and experiences that don’t necessarily make you ‘sound interesting,’ but genuinely broaden your perspectives or give you greater insight into existing interests. I know everyone says ‘be authentic,’ and that is not bad advice, but the more thoughtful and insightful the ‘authentic’ you is, the more chance you have of being an attractive candidate. One other point I have made in the past is that, in this effort, it is better to follow your own interests, etc. than just try to cram everything you can or everything you think might ‘appear’ interesting into your resume. If you follow your own path, but with some vigor, whether it is working a minimum wage job to help pay for college or family needs, or trekking the world to pursue some arcane interest, if it affects your perspective, that will be apparent in your application. And that is not to say to try to be ‘different’ for the sake of being different or unique. I just think that following genuine interest rather than working on ‘resume building’ bears more fruit. Good luck.