Hi! I’m Hana and an applicant for the Class of 2023 at Brown ED. I’m aware that the decision will come out in less than week, and that’s why I kind of what to get a gauge for what I should expect come Friday, 5 PM ET.
So, I’ll start off with background information that might be pertinent to admissions:
- Race: Black/African-American
- Sex: Female
- Religion: Muslim
- Sexual orientation: Bisexual (??? Idk they asked in Common App so maybe it matters in "diversity")
- Residence: The D.C Metropolitan Area (specifically Northern VA)
- Income: $110,000
- Legacy: None from my parents, but my older sister applied to Brown RD and got in; she attended and graduated in 2016
- Submitted an art portfolio (10 pieces)
- Intended Concentration: Public Health + Visual Arts
Now, onto academics… sigh
SAT: 660 Math, 680 Reading = 1340 Superscored (I know it’s low ;
ACT: 28 (pretty much equivalent to my SAT)
GPA: 4.241, my school doesn’t do unweighted
Rank: School doesn’t do rank
Course load: First of all, I’m an IB Diploma candidate which makes me wanna die but LMAO
Freshman year:
Doesn’t matter, I didn’t take ANY hard classes except for Math 10 MYP which is one-year ahead of my expected math competency (this might explain why I suck at SAT math: cuz I never learned Algebra 2 properly and just skipped over). I got a 4.036 and had all A’s since all my classes were too easy for me.
Sophomore year:
AP US & Comp Govt B+ (Teacher was so strict, but I got a 5 on the exam??)
Digital Art and Design 1 A
Driver Ed Class A
English 10 HN A
Health & PE 10 A
IB Chemistry I B+ (This teacher hated anyone who asked questions and that’s why i never learned! :)))
IB Math I B- (Teacher hated me ? I also just sucked at math that year and that’s my fault lol)
Spanish 1 A
GPA at the end of the year: 4.2
Junior year:
IB Biology I B+
IB Lang & Lit HLI A
IB Math SL II A
IB Theory of Knowledge A
IB Visual Arts I A
Spanish 2 A-
US VA History A
GPA at the end of the year: 4.5
Senior year (first semester calculated):
IB Biology HL II B+/A-
IB Lang & Lit HL II A
AP Statistics A-
IB Visual Arts HL II A
IB Geography SL A
Spanish 3 (ab initio) A
Gourmet & Int Foods A
Digital Art & Design 3 A
GPA (hopefully) at the end of the year: 5.0 (jk)
I’d like to think I have a rigorous course work throughout highschool. ;; I also showed a positive trend up in rigor and in GPA throughout my highschool career so gooo meee yaaay.
EC’s:
- I work at a Taekwondo center and teach kids how to defend themselves (I tied that into my intended concentration essay thing because I specifically want to be a physical/occupational therapist and teaching children how to use their techniques for self-defense is an example of teaching individuals how to control their body and use it to achieve things that they need to in their everyday life). I should also mention I’m a 2nd Degree Black Belt, the highest rank among students in my studio!
- I also take classes there 2x a week, I thought that was worth mentioning. (I’ve been doing it since 2011 so it’s one of my largest time commitments)
- Joined a lot of boring National Honor Societies in 10th and 11th grade (National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Science National Honor Society specifically)
- MUN since freshman year
- Muslim Student Association since freshman year
- Black Student Union Officer senior year (my friend JUST made this club this year)
- Science Olympiad Officer junior and senior year
- Just general artsy stuff that don’t really matter like my school’s sponsored Art Show once a year, painting murals in the school for my teachers, Ceramics Club (not a huge time commitment at all, joined just for fun) etc.
Essays:
I worked so hard on them ;; I got the help of my sister who got accepted to Brown in 2012 so… Maybe that’ll help?
LORs:
I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THESE, THEY’RE GONNA BE BOMB ASF
Alumni Interview:
My interviewer was SO nice I loved him; we actually had a conversation rather than an interview which was really great and I remember his last words to me were : “I think you’re a wonderful, strong candidate for Brown University and I’ll be sure to write you a positive recommendation on your behalf”
Other than that, I think I said it all. I recognize one of my biggest turnoffs to the admission officers will be my SAT/ACT score… I hate standardized tests, I just generally suck at tests since I have SEVERE test anxiety but… I’d love to know what your thoughts are. I think I offer a lot of diversity (basically my whole hook is being black, muslim, and bi LMAO) but idk about the rest. Lmk! <3