Chance a Junior

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I’ve loved Brown since freshman year of high school and want to know if I’m on the right track.</p>

<p>White
Male
Conneticut
Best high school in state</p>

<p>SAT 2240 770 CR 680 Math 790 Writing
GPA: 3.8 but im worried that 1. thats not high enough 2. my courseload is not demanding enough
fresh: all honors soph all honors junior: 2 ap’s (lit +history)
senior (most likely): honors statistics, AP micro econ, AP language AP euro AP psych, honors spanish 4</p>

<p>Awards: presidential award for 250 + tutoring hours
National Scholastic Writing Awards 2x
National Entrepreneurship Award Bronze DECA
State/regional journalism awards</p>

<p>Leadership:
Editor School newspaper and magazine
President DECA
NHS
SHS</p>

<p>Extra curric’s:
Reading Tutor for kumon
reading education/curiculum development internship for princeton review
concert choir</p>

<p>please let me know what im doing right/wrong and if im on the right track for brown</p>

<p>what can i do to impress the brown adcoms?</p>

2

<p>bump…please i would love someone’s opiniion</p>

3

<p>See #9</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/499152-brown-frequently-asked-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/499152-brown-frequently-asked-questions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>that was a little harsh</p>

5

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6

<p>you need to get your math score on sat up into the 700s and take the hardest classes you can handle senior year to beef up your courseload. you have a chance but its definately reach</p>

7

<p>i agree about the mat score…id really like to hit 2300</p>

<p>so 4 ap’s is not enough…what if i made it 5 with AP stats</p>

8

<p>Ok, since I just helped you out on recs, why not chance you as well, you know? </p>

<p>Anyways, you have done pretty well in high school. A 3.8 UW GPA is nothing to be ashamed of, even though it’s not the best GPA ever - it won’t make anyone’s jaws drop, but it also won’t cause admission officers so throw your app out on the spot. (If they did I totally wasted 4 months writing my admission essays) </p>

<p>Your courseload is pretty challenging, with a good mixture of Honors and 6 APs in total. Again, this is nothing to be ashamed of, but considering that your high school is “best in the state,” I would think that your HS probably offers more in terms of AP classes. Again, this is nothing that will put you out of the running. However, I do know that some high schools do limit the number of APs you can take … so if that’s true for you, you should mention it in your app. </p>

<p>Your SAT score of 2240 is great and DOES NOT WARRANT RETAKING. Keep in mind that the majority of people who get into Brown has an SAT score of less than that. SAT scores do not make or break you. They’re just a measure of how well you can do in college and gives a perspective of the academic environment in your HS … once you’ve fulfilled that it comes down to what kind of match you are for Brown. Otherwise, the average SAT at Brown would be something like 2380, and that would be a little freakish, don’t you think? (I have an SAT score higher than yours and I still got deferred from Chicago EA … so my point is that SAT scores don’t count for THAT much) I will note that Brown recommends 3 SAT Subjects, so you should take them some time soon. </p>

<p>Your ECs are decent but nothing special … that’s also nothing to be ashamed of because the majority of people applying to Brown are active in HS ECs. You also demonstrate some leadership in your work. </p>

<p>What’s more important when the time comes for you to apply is that you need to be passionate about something. What do you enjoy doing? It can be something like what you do at school … helping other kids read, singing in a choir, or as simple as baking cookies. We all have something in our lives that we enjoy doing and that kind of passion makes us unique, interesting, and human. That’s what admission officers look for when they build a class of students. </p>

<p>Overall, you’re a pretty good student who has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. You come across in my mind as someone who is more artsy and creative. That’s okay. Not everyone can be interested in medicine or engineering. You are who you are. You’re definitely on the right track. I would recommend, however, that you take a summer program of some sort this year just to experience college life … plus it shows up well that you like to learn outside of school. I highly encourage you to apply to Summer@Brown, because it will help convey your interest in Brown. </p>

<p>Chances: Reach (hey the same holds true for anyone applying to Brown or any other Ivies)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

9

<p>thank you very much for your help! that was an awesome response!
i was considering doing summer@brown except its on the expensive side which is why i am doing a paid internship instead for the summer </p>

<p>im probably going to do a third SATII lit, ush, world history altho that will make me seem like uber humanity student but thats because i fail at math/science
i didnt realize they wanted three</p>

<p>im definitely not expecting to get in but i really love it there so i guess i have to show a lot of interest in the next few months</p>

10

<p>as someone who lives and goes to school in providence, i have seen dozens of kids apply to brown every year and have realized that these people who think they’re giving an accurate “chance” at admission don’t know their asses from their elbows. not to mention most of them don’t even attend brown, which makes their predictions rather dubious.</p>

<p>you cannot “chance” someone at a school like brown, and basing someone’s prospects solely on academic merit is arbitrary at best. there will be tens of thousands of applicants more qualified than you academically that will get REJECTED from brown simply because they aren’t a “good fit.”</p>

<p>in fact at my school in particular, in two of the four years that i have been there brown has passed up people in the top ten students for people who were ranked in the 20’s. my sophomore year they flat out rejected the salutatorian for someone who was in the late teens. brown could easily create a new freshman classed filled with valedictorians and people with perfect SATs. fortunately for us, they don’t. </p>

<p>if ab2013 gave you any helpful advice it would be to find something you are passionate about, and convey that in your application to the best of your ability. don’t worry about having to be member of everything and the president of everything else. brown likes to see dedication and commitment, because not only is it indicative of how you will perform in college but it helps them paint a picture of what YOU can offer to the brown community.</p>

<p>and for the record, 4 ap classes can be “enough” if that’s all your school offers. mine only offers 4, and brown usually accepts 3-4 of our students a year.</p>

<p>and you only have to take two sat IIs to apply. they’re used more as placement exams than anything else, but they also help show your expertise in a subject that you enjoy/are passionate about.</p>

<p>/rant</p>

11

<p>thank you that was quite an interesting perspective
hopefully i will be able to capture things i am passionate about on my essays and in my interview</p>

<p>im worried b/c 40 students from my school apply to brown every year and only 6-8 get admitted so i feel hopeless competing against so many of my peers with much better scores + much harder courseloads</p>

<p>can interest be a way of distinguising myself from my peers? sitting in on class, attending info sessions, interview, etc</p>

12

<p>well sure it can. i mean, adcoms are pretty apt at distinguishing between genuinely interested applicants and those who just want to stroke their egos, but how many of those 40 kids would state brown as their first choice?</p>

<p>applying ed helps.</p>

<p>summer at brown is probably the most substantial, but sitting in on classes to see if brown is really where you want to go can’t do anything but help. i’m not at admissions counselor, but i would hope that an applicant with a viable, genuine interest in brown would be desirable.</p>

13

<p>tlowell91 — </p>

<p>I’m more than aware that you cannot give any accurate chances for a school like Brown … that’s why I usually put “Reach” anyways. Academic merit can only go so far.</p>

<p>And excuse me … “if I gave you ANY helpful advice” … I just do my best to help others. I’m just doing this in my spare time because I’ve gotten that kind of care when I applied to schools and to some extent it helped so I’m just returning the favor by helping out the next class. It’s not like I had to have dropped any advice. I could have just said, "Oh you’re gonna be rejected,’ like some other posters. </p>

<p>And plus, not all of my advice is “unhelpful.” I use what I know from talking to admission officers (I personally went to Summer@Brown) and I pass it on to people like you. And that’s because I care. </p>

<p>^^AND You only apply to ED if you’re bent on going to Brown … it’s your absolute first choice and you absolutely want to spend 4 years there. It won’t make your admission easier … admission officers have said that they use the same standards for ED as RD. </p>

<p>End rant. </p>

<p>Sorry about taking up space on your thread brown14. I hope you get in. I really do.</p>

14

<p>I’m more than aware that I’m not the only person in the world who’s talked to an admissions counselor. It’s just that not every single one of them is willing to share that info or comes to this site. </p>

<p>“Chance me” threads don’t mean anything. I just post comments so that nervous high school juniors don’t lose their sanity or get high blood pressure like I did. And I personally don’t have the time to give chances to every “Chance me” threads. I have better things to do. (I’m on Mid Winter Break so that’s a different story) </p>

<p>Even so, when I post, I don’t expect you to depend on everything I say. </p>

<p>And I am TOTALLY calm. I just hate it when people don’t appreciate help. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves ever.</p>

15

<p>had to delete; wouldn’t let me edit. </p>

<p>i wasn’t trying to come off as offensive, really. but, i should know better than to under esteem the opinion of someone who has attended <a href=“mailto:s@b”>s@b</a>. you’re obviously an expert. </p>

<p>i hate to break it to you, but you’re not the only person in the world that’s talked to an admissions counselor. if i may, don’t be so cocksure on the transparency of college admissions. early decision exists for a reason. it helps to identify and target the students who are “bent” on attending brown which weeds out all the trophy hunters that apply RD giving a good student like the op a statistically higher advantage. this is of course, assuming the op wants to go to brown since he’s “loved brown since freshman year” and is asking for his “chances” MONTHS in advance. just a thought.</p>

<p>people like fireandrain and modestmelody (who, if i have inferred correctly have either attended or attend brown currently) don’t comment on these “OMG PLZZZZZ CHANCE” threads for a reason. they don’t mean anything and exist only to ease the frazzled nerves that come with applying to college. </p>

<p>and for someone who is trying to help, telling someone it’s a “reach” doesn’t do much to ease the uncertainty. you’d be better off trying to offer some substantiated information on what brown is like, since you’ve completed the s@b program, and not wasting your time predicting the future.</p>

<p>unless of course, you can predict the lottery. then i’ll be knocking at your door :-P</p>

16

<p>Actually, I do comment on them every now and then, although I’ll never actually chance someone other than to say it’s about 11%, like everyone else who applies.</p>

<p>I say things like this:</p>

<p>Brown14, what Brown is looking for is a student who is challenging themselves academically and shows joy and enthusiasm for an extracurricular, or someone who brings a different perspective to campus. If there are students applying from your HS who have tougher schedules than you – if your guidance counselor can’t check off the box “most difficult schedule” – then that will hurt your chances for acceptance. I notice that you are not taking AP Calc, for example. </p>

<p>Being a guy will help you. And I can’t tell from your list if you’ve done anything special with your ECs. Take the journalism component – have you written any killer stories? Improved your paper significantly? Worked on your local newspaper, and written something impressive? What matters is not the title you hold, or the number of hours, but what you’ve done, what you’ve accomplished. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of newspaper editors applying – you need to do something with that job that will make them sit up and take notice of you.</p>

<p>Summer@Brown will not help you get accepted, BTW. </p>

<p>One way to show interest is to answer the short answers in a very specific way, that demonstrate you have done significant research into Brown and give detailed and personal evidence that is unique to you. Ask yourself, how will Brown be a better place if I go there?</p>

17

<p>thank you guys for entertaining my afternoon and thanks for the good info
im actually visiting brown tomorrow ironically so hopefully i can meet with some people and figure out how i can bring a unique perspective to brown</p>

18

<p>I don’t think everyone at Brown brings a really unique perspective. We have so many private school to private school white boys from New England already that you may run the risk of being another stack of paper in the admissions office.</p>

19

<p>thats definitely a problem since im sure my stats just blend in with all the qualified people</p>

<p>hopefully i can show my passion for writing/english plus i have a lot of interest in brown
perhaps that will make a difference
otherwise im obviously hook-less…i really need to win national writing competitions…badly</p>