Hello everyone! I am a rising senior in high school who is absolutely in love with Brown University and will be applying there Early Decision. I am hoping to get some feedback on my chances of admission!
Academics/Testing
- 4.33 GPA weighted overall with a 4.61 for junior year, projected 4.45 overall by end of senior year
- Ranked top 10%
- Out of 20 courses, 3 Bs and 17 As
- Out of 20 courses, 18 Honors and 2 APs (we are not allowed to take APs until junior year, and my school offers very few)
- AP Euro score of 4, AP Lang score of 5
- ACT combined 33, with 36 in both English and Reading (will be taking once more in September to hopefully raise a point or two)
- For senior year, I am enrolled in 4 APs (Stats, USH, Lit, Env. Science) and 4 Honors classes
- On track to earn a certificate on my transcript for global engagement through service, travel, research, etc.
Work Experience
- I have owned my own photography business since middle school and donate my profits to charity
Hopefully this is all the information you need; I know it’s a lot, but I’d greatly appreciate some feedback!
This post was edited for privacy.
I’m not really sure where to begin, but let me start with how I perceived the application journey we experienced, and what I (we) witnessed once my daughter was enrolled and completed her first year. His may be more of a ramble, but I’ll throw out what comes to mind at the moment.
First and foremost, we were often told that Ivy schools in general, and Brown in particular, spend an inordinate time curating a class from the application pool. Grades, scores, and rank are only the keys to unlock the door, but an honest picture into who you are via essays and expressions of your passion (activities and the evolution in those activities) are what makes the biggest impact on the admissions staff. Painting a picture of who you are and what motivates you, how your passion drives your search for growth, and how you give back to the community speaks volumes more than the simplistic quantifications associated with digits. Of all the things you listed, the very last, the work experience, stood out. That would be my .02.
When we moved our daughter in last year and met students that would make up her class, was an almost immediate shock at two distinct, opposite, but mutually connected facts. Here was a tangible juxtaposition between the heterogeneous make up of the backgrounds, experiences and interests, and the stark commonality of passion, love of learning, and intellectual curiosity. That’s not an easy thing to achieve, and it was clear the second you talked to a student, that they were MEANT to be a Brown student.