Centre’s Brown Fellows Scholarship - My Experience

Archive Other Major Scholarships and Competitions
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<p>I applied to Centre this past cycle and ended up winning the Brown. I turned it down though, for the following reasons:</p>

<p>1)Though the scholarship opportunity in itself is great, I couldn’t help but feel that it was making up for the deficiencies of the college. This is a fairly new program and it showed that the school was only beginning to figure out how to handle prospective students, how to interview them, how to organize the weekend... </p>

<p>2)Centre’s location. </p>

<p>3)The fellows that had already won. Truly, they weren’t all that impressive.</p>

<p>4)The scholarship is set up to make the fellows ‘global citizens’. Yet, they haven’t actually experienced anything globally. And traveling or living for a few months in foreign countries doesn’t make you a global citizen. </p>

<p>5)The homogenous nature of the student body (70% are from Kentucky). That was the deal breaker for me. </p>

<p>--</p>

<p>As for the entire scholarship application, I applied to Centre and after I had gotten accepted, I realized there was no chance I’d get the Brown and decided not to write the 500 word leadership proposal required for consideration for the scholarship. So, I missed the January 15th deadline. Come January 26th, I get an email telling me that they’d chosen to extend the deadline for certain early action applicants. At the time, I was working on the three essays for another school’s scholarships and decided to apply for Centre’s full ride only after I had finished the other school’s. Exactly one day before the deadline, I wrote a leadership proposal. Early March I was told I was a finalist. Then I had to attend a competition weekend early April. The weekend consisted of an interview with the foundation granting the scholarship, an interview with a professor, and an interview exercise.
Two days after the weekend, I was told that I had gotten the Brown.</p>

<p>The interviews were fairly easy and consisted of standard interview questions. The interview exercise went like this: the applicants are split into groups of 5 or 6. They sit in a circle of chairs with a professor/dean of admissions/Brown Foundation Member. A question is asked (I’ll post the ones I remember below) and each applicant has one minute to answer. After everyone in the circle has answered the question, the professor/dean of admissions/Brown Foundation Member rotates. And so it goes for ten questions.</p>

<p>After, each group is assigned a problem to solve and then present in front of the other groups and the evaluators. </p>

<p>The questions for the interview exercise were (sorry, I can’t remember all of them):
1)What’s the biggest problem facing the US today?
2)What sets you apart from your peers?
3)What do you want to change about the world?
4)What is a way in which people perceive you incorrectly? Why?</p>

<p>--</p>

<p>Ten students were selected as fellows. Five were chosen as alternates. I know of two students other than myself who turned down the scholarship so if you end up an alternate, there’s a strong chance you’ll win. </p>

<p>Overall, for the right type of student, this scholarship would be a once in a lifetime opportunity - it just wasn’t for me.</p>

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<p>IfIKnewThen,</p>

<p>I’m sorry that you decided to turn down the scholarship, but still wish you the best for wherever you are headed. However, I would quickly like to address several of your points:</p>

<p>1). Centre College was founded in 1819, and thus has had almost 2 centuries worth of experience recruiting and handling prospective students (with a strong international reputation as a record of that experience). Furthermore, the Brown Fellows program is executed at Centre and UofL, but the program itself is actually run by the James Graham Brown Foundation. Yes, the program is still new and therefore is still in a development phase, but you shouldn’t attribute that to Centre, which again, isn’t struggling to figure out what it’s doing.</p>

<p>2). I’m not sure what your definition of impressive students is, or what a global citizen should be at 19 and 20 years old. Maybe you should take a look at this thread I started some time ago, especially the most recent post: <a href=“Brown Fellows Scholarship - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>Brown Fellows Scholarship - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums;

<p>3). Yes, most of the students are from Kentucky, although if you had taken a look at the profiles of us on the website, you may have noticed that most of the out of state students attend Centre (6 of last year’s chosen Centre fellows were from out of state, and 6 of this year’s were from out of state as well). Because the program is still new, it’s relatively unknown on a national scale, though that ushers in an entirely different discussion.</p>

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<p>Bfellow15, I’m well aware Centre is a long standing institution. I’m also aware of the stellar opportunities it offers - if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have applied nor would I have considered it. However, I still stand with my previous statement about the college. I truly felt that the weekend was ill prepared.</p>

<p>As for the fellows, they are mostly from Kentucky and though some of the fellows are out of state, Centre still has a long way to go in attracting minority students or students with a diverse outlooks. My definition of a global citizen is irrelevant.</p>

<p>And keep in mind the title of the thread, all of this is from my experience and is undoubtedly biased. For certain students, Centre and the Brown Scholarship is an unparalleled opportunity.</p>

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<p>I wish my d and I had known of this opportunity. We are very happy with the college she will be attending in the fall, but had I known of this program, I think she would have applied.</p>

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<p>@ctinct, I found out about the scholarship via this website. Hopefully more people will also stumble upon a random post and decide to apply…</p>

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<p>IfIKnewThen: Thanks to you and others who turned down a Brown Fellowship at Centre, my daughter was offered (and accepted) one. I assume you did some research before applying to Centre, and thus knew of its size, location, student body makeup, curriculum offerings, etc. If so, why did you bother to apply?? It sounds like the U. of Louisville, which also offers 10 Brown Fellowships each year, and is definitely a larger, urban, more diverse campus than Centre, would have been a better choice.</p>

<p>When attending the interview weekend, I was blown away by what many of the finalists have already accomplished in their lives. I’m not sure what it would take for a Brown applicant to impress you. Also, one purpose of the Fellowship is to create a global citizen, not necessarily attract applicants who are already well-traveled.</p>

<p>Reading your post, I get the impression (maybe it’s wrong) that you condescended to apply to Centre & for the B.F., and that somehow they are not worthy of your talents. Well, your loss is my daughter’s gain. She will graduate debt-free from a great school that would cost over $182,000 after 4 years (without any financial aid), and have great prospects for employment. Meanwhile, she is right now having the time of her life in Italy.</p>

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<p>Susiepoco, I’m glad your daughter is having the time of her life and I wish her a wonderful four years. If my post regarding the Brown made it seem as though I ‘condescended to apply’ and don’t feel ‘they are worthy of my talents’ then know that wasn’t at all my intention. I posted regarding the Brown fellows scholarship so that future applicants could get a feel for the interview weekend and some information from someone who was once in their shoes. </p>

<p>There’s a multitude of wonderful schools with to die for scholarship opportunities, not every school is the best fit for every successful applicant.</p>

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<p>Just for the record… My daughter is a Brown Fellow at Centre College, and I am deeply impressed by the program, the other Fellows, and the school. She has not yet completed her sophomore year, and she has already had the chance to travel in Asia, mix–in a private party–with the members of the Vienna Philharmonic, do historical research with a professor at Cambridge, meet with James Watson (the Nobel laureate), spend a week at a remarkably creative and well-planned leadership workshop, and make the most extraordinary friends. </p>

<p>These friends come from overseas, from Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, and, yes, from Kentucky. But I haven’t been able to detect any deficiencies in intelligence, curiosity, originality, spirit, humor, creativity, and imagination among the Kentuckians. They appear to be just as interesting, fun, remarkable, fascinating, and delightful as the students from other states and other countries.</p>

<p>How about the faculty, though? Are they held accountable to the highest standards for teaching and for research? As far as I can tell, yes! Emphatically yes! </p>

<p>I am a faculty member at a state university, and my wife is a faculty member at a private liberal arts college. Both of us know a bit about assessing academic programs and evaluating faculty members, and we are overwhelmed with gratitude for the teachers our daughter has encountered at Centre. </p>

<p>The college has earned our highest respect and deepest admiration. It may not be for everybody, but it has been “spot on” for our child. It is welcoming and affirming on the one hand, and enormously demanding and challenging on the other. </p>

<p>To the president, the faculty, and the Brown Fellows program, we say, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”</p>

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<p>Dear “IfI KnewThen”:</p>

<p>I’m reading this thread two years later. I’m curious, if you’re still reading, what college did you end up selecting?</p>

<p>Centre College alumna, Class of 1977</p>