<p>I’m a white, female rising senior at a competitive prep school in Houston.
Weighted GPA: 11.3 (12-point scale, where 12 is an A+, 11 is an A, etc)
Rank: Don’t officially rank, but somewhere in top 5-10%
SAT: 2300 (800 reading, 780 writing, 720 math)
ACT: 35 combined (w/ writing)
Subject tests: 800 Math II, 760 Physics, 770 US History
AP scores: 5 US History, 4 French, 5 English Language
Honors/AP: 5 AP classes, 1 “college level”, a ton of honors where AP wasn’t offered
EC: Cross country for all 4 years (captain+ possibly varsity senior year), lit mag (copy editor 2 years + co-editor in chief senior year), Habitat for Humanity steering committee (head of fundraising), exchange trip to France, school trip to China, community service (school committee, events, and club), summer work at Arboretum, junior camp counselor, Race for the Cure Top 100 fundraiser ($2000-$4000 every year), Language Honor Society, VP of environmental club, Model UN, + some kind of engineering internship next January
Awards: Freshman Academic Merit Award, Junior Physics Away, high scores on AMC 10 and 12, high scores on National French Contest, Cross Country Persistance award, Scholastic Gold Key
Possible major: Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, or Engineering Physics) with a minor in English
Sorry for that exhausting list. I know it’s always dicey at any Ivy League School, but do I stand a chance?
Also- would it really help my chances to apply ED?</p>
<p>Your chances will help if you apply ED. You stats look up to par with brown’s overall applicant pool. The only negative side of your application is the amount of AP courses. If your school only offers 7-10, you’re fine, but if it offers more than 15, you’re in trouble. You mentioned that you took 5 AP classes, but only put down three scores, did you cancel two tests or are you just taking 5 overall AP classes? </p>
<p>A huge ( and I’m talking 10-20% boost on admissions) plus is thy you are a female hoping to major in engineering. If that is still your major come admissions time, then I think you will have a great shot at getting in.</p>
<p>I took 2 AP classes junior year, so I took tests for those two plus English Lang (my school doesn’t offer Honors or AP English until senior year, but almost everyone takes the English AP). This year I’ll be taking 3 more AP classes. Sorry about the confusion.
My school offers a lot of APs but most of them aren’t applicable to me (other languages, histories I can’t fit into my schedule, etc). I’ve taken every possible honors/AP option and it shows up on my transcript when honors or AP wasn’t offered in a course for whatever reason.
Thank you so much for the advice, it actually does reassure me some. I’m just so nervous…</p>
<p>
No…your chances will be greatly helped if you demonstrate that Brown is a great fit for you and you’re a great fit for Brown. Applying ED itself really doesn’t do much - those numbers are heavily inflated because the recruited athletes, who are guaranteed admission, apply ED.</p>
<p>You’re score-wise within the range where fit and other factors matter heavily, so work hard to convey why you want to go to Brown and why Brown should want you.</p>
<p>Assuming that you write a great essay and show that you are interested in Brown and that you will contribute to Brown, I would say you have a fairly good chance.</p>
<p>Another CC member calculated the percent admittance at brown for ED applicants without hooked applications (athletes, legacy, etc.) that that figure came out to 24%, a much greater number compared to the normal percent. Now the people applying early know for a fact that brown is the only place they want to study, and you must get that across to the adcoms. </p>
<p>Everyone is nervous about college admission, you already did all the work, you just need to put all of it down on paper!</p>
<p>You need to show that you are passionate about something, anything! And also show that you belong at Brown because you … (insert reason here) I think you have a really good chance! Good luck!</p>
<p>EsotericalApp, that rate makes no sense. That’s <em>higher</em> than Brown’s ED accept rate has been the past 2 years (20% and 21%). Removing people with higher accept rates (i.e. athletes, since legacies’ advantage is not nearly as great) should yield a lower rate, not a higher one. The rate should still come out to be a little higher (in molding a class, it would make sense that one has more freedom at the beginning, before one has one’s metaphorical tuba player), but not substantially so. For these years, the number of recruited athletes were about 225 - Brown supports the most sports teams in the Ivy League, so this number is substantial, even if some of them don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. I’m hearing that a lot of it relies on your interest/passion in Brown so I hope that comes across in my app! I’m having a talk with my college counselor today about applying ED.
One more question: would being a prospective female engineer be a real “hook”? Brown had 28% women graduates from the engineering school (in 2008)- certainly higher than the national average, so they must be putting some preference on it. But it doesn’t look like much. Will it have any sway at all?</p>
<p>I’m only quoting another CC member’s calculations, so he must have been wrong or use another data set. Sorry about the confusion. Needless to say though, ED will give you the piece of mind that many high schoolers will enjoy (knowing 4 months before your friends always helps)</p>
<p>^That’s definitely something we can agree on, and I did envy my peers who knew where they were going in advance (including one of my friends who got into Brown ED because of Crew). I can’t think of a disadvantage to applying early if you know it’s your top choice and the money isn’t an issue (comparing aid offers can be beneficial).</p>
<p>In general, demonstrating interest in an under-represented major helps. Applying as a minority in that field (i.e. a female/URM engineer or computer scientist, etc.) helps even more.</p>
<p>Note, though, that demonstrating interest is different than stating that you want to study X.</p>
<p>I say this because you can write down whatever you want in the intended concentration boxes. You only have 150 words to explain why Brown and why said intended concentration. It doesn’t mean much, especially because they ask you to do the best you can at selecting if you are actually undecided. You need to show them you actually want to be an engineer, whether it’s through courses you’ve taken, activities you’ve done, or a passion you can articulate through another part of your application (work it into your common app essay or any of the other supplementary essays for Brown).</p>
<p>(Bear in mind that I am not on the adcom, nor do I have any more insight into the current process than the general public does. And neither does anyone else on the board.)</p>
<p>Your high scores on Math II and Physics are good evidence, as is your engineering internship.</p>
<p>^IIRC there’s an extra essay if you’re interested in engineering, which should help</p>
<p>Your stats are awesome, no doubt. I had a mere 31 on my ACT (without any hooks) and was accepted. So I wouldn’t worry so much about your stats or number of extra-currics. After reading thousands upon thousands of applications, it all starts to sound the same.
What you really need to focus on now is tailoring your essays so the adcoms take an interest in you. Doing so may include, but is not limited to: highlighting your academic passion(s), possibly more than just engineering (as this would demonstrate how you might utilize the Open Curric more than someone else would), and I mean really dig deep so they are able to see how passionate you are; discussing your understanding of/interaction with diversity in your day-to-day life, as this demonstrates your ability to mesh with people of all colors from all walks of life (Brown prides itself on its diversity); writing creatively, as this will illustrate your creative and quirky sides (attributes Brown tends to like).
To give you an example: I wrote an essay asking me, “What don’t you know?” about not knowing how to hip-hop. (It was an extended metaphor, but that’s what I mean when I say you should write your essay(s) creatively.) Essentially, just try to write about something they don’t hear about every day.
Well, I hope this helps! While I’m no expert, I applied only a short eleven months ago, so I’d like to think everything I gathered is still pretty relevant.
Best of luck from someone of the Brown Class of 2015!</p>
<p>I never write on chance threads because it’s really a crap shoot that no one can predict, but if you really want a good chance of getting into Brown, I wouldn’t mention a minor in English. Why? Because Brown doesn’t have minors. You can only double major (which is very hard, but not impossible, if one of those majors is Engineering).</p>
<p>@thefunnything: Thanks! I’m hoping that comes out through the scores, my transcript, and the internship. I’m thinking about civil, specifically the environmental track, so hopefully the whole Environmental Club and Arboretum job will show interest in that too.
@Uroogla: Yup. Only 500 words to discuss “Why engineering” + outside experiences + what concentration and why. This is a little terrifying.
@ryrylovesbrown: Thanks so much for the advice. I’m actually interested in a lot of areas, but I want to study physics, engineering, environmental studies, comparative lit, and creative writing. I’m hoping I’ll be able to fit that into the 100 word answer for the open curriculum…
@anon345: Oh gosh, I’ll be sure not to write it like that. I know it’s pretty challenging to double major with engineering, but from what I’m remembering most of the humanities degrees took a lot less credits. Tbh, I wouldn’t mind staying five years to try everything, but I’m not sure if Brown frowns on that kind of thing.
Thanks again, everyone!</p>
<p>Update: I’m definitely applying ED, and going for the combined AB/ScB program (in Civil Engineering and Literary Arts) if possible.
Bumping myself in case anyone has any more chances/tips for me.</p>
<p>I will talk about the elpephant in the room. The acceptance rate at Brown for a white student without a hook is very very low. I believe it was 5-6% for last year’s class.</p>
<p>Brown has more hooks than other schools - athlete, minority, alumni and first generation college student.</p>
<p>I will bet the poster that got into Brown with a 31 on their ACT had a hook.</p>
<p>@onecot59: I still don’t think an applicant should let that be a deterrent. I had no hooks (none that you listed).
I’m not an athlete, I have no special racial heritage, my parents didn’t attend Brown, but they did attend college. So I guess you’ll never know what will happen until you try!</p>