<p>i’m not sure, i mean, i don’t want to burst your bubble, but your ECs, while they suggest success within the narrow world of your high school, don’t come across as interesting. meaning, i seriously don’t think you have EVERYTHING else. in fact, i don’t think you quite know, really, what the thing you need IS to begin with. the things you’ve done, and done well, sound rather typical of applicants at top schools. and as an applicant to these schools you’ll need to be atypical in some respect (your friend who’s failing chem - what did she write for her essay? does she have provocative ideas about a hobby she’s interested in? is her mom an alumna?, etc.). admissions officers are human, and practiced at their jobs. they’ll likely be attracted to an applicant with a secret passion before they would an applicant who checked every box of what good students and citizens do. it’s a strange thing. your ECs look good, but that’s a NECESSARY condition to your acceptance, not a sufficient one. your SATs, i fear, given what i can understand from your post is your demographic background, are not strong enough to warrant acceptance at brown and dartmouth, because your ECs aren’t different enough. brown certainly looks beyond the test more than dartmouth, but looks to find students who are truly different. i’d say you’re SATs put you in the middle of the pack of submitters at bowdoin, but that’s a small comfort, when they accept so few people.</p>
<p>hopefully your essay will be a window into who you are, but i get the feeling that you’ve spent many years succeeding at what’s been put in front of you, that you may not have a good sense of who you are. but there are ways to understand a bit of yourself, still, and put that kernel in your essay. it will be better, i assure you, than any bland reason you can think of for doing what you’ve already done in high school. (don’t have bland reasons? good! i hope so. prove me wrong. but most reasons for those things you’ve done are bland.). </p>
<p>that said: what will you do this summer? what is your passion? (i know that’s a hard question to answer; maybe: what do you dream about? OTHER THAN going to brown? what did you dream about as a kid?). can you begin the process of thinking critically and deeply about your dreams and wants? are you adventurous? can you do something adventurous this summer? will your parents let you take a trip? have you ever been to nepal / el savador / south africa? do you engage in the world? are you political? do you have a faith? have you thought critically and deeply about your faith? have you read books outside of what you’re required to read? have you spent whole nights awake, engaged by an idea? do you do art? etc. </p>
<p>i understand the temptation to ‘find’ a perfect fit school but disagree deeply with the idea that it should happen BEFORE you’re admitted, particularly at these three schools. try to ease yourself down off the ivy / top LAC or bust bandwagon, see where you get in, THEN decide. there is no perfect fit until you get in. </p>
<p>i don’t mean this to come across as harsh, but i think there are a lot of students similar to you with identical dreams out there. and none of you will get into brown et. al. because you’ve been protected in life, to mean, you don’t know yourselves. this isn’t your fault, but if you can find a bit of agency to say to your parents: look, i need to do something outside my town or state, something outside the metrics of standardized testing and resume building, something that has nothing to do with getting into college but has everything to do with who i am. i think, then, if you can do one or two of those things, you’ll stand a better chance. </p>
<p>good luck.</p>
it looks like you’re on the right track, ECs could demonstrate some leadership but you’re a strong applicant.</p>