Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I want to major in CS at Brown to do video game design. I’d like it if you could evaluate my chances.</p>

<p>Basic Info</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Race: White/None - I’m considering not leaving a race; my reasons for this are personal and not limited to, “woe is me; blacks and Hispanics get into college so easily”</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<p>GPA: 3.73 - If I get straight A’s this coming term, I’ll have roughly a 3.8
GPA (weighted): 4.4 - I’ll have roughly a 4.6
Rank: ~110/870 - lackluster, I know, but my school is highly competitive and sends many kids to top universities; many people have 4.0s here. However, my rank will likely enter the top 10% as my grades improve and students fall victim to senioritis
Classes: honors/AP options whenever available
Senior Schedule: AP English Lit; AP Physics; AP Gov; AP Comp Sci; either AP Calc BC or Calc III honors (depending on how I do on a placement test); fourth-year Japanese honors; being a teacher’s assistant for Video Game Development class (isn’t it cool that my school has that?)</p>

<p>Standardized Tests</p>

<p>ACT 1: 34 composite; 35 E; 36 M; 32 R; 31 S; 10 W
ACT 2: 34 composite; 35 E; 34 M; 32 R; 35 S
SAT: 2230; 710 M; 740 CR; 780 W - I’ll probably retake this so that I can do better in math. Hey, btw, does Brown superscore?
PSAT: 219; 80 M; 69 CR; 70 W
APs: took 4 this past year but have no results yet (I’m too nervous and poor to spend the $8 and call for them); taking about 6 next year if that matters at all
SAT Subject Tests: will be taking Math II, Japanese, and Physics, with the possible addition of Literature</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (Formal)</p>

<p>Vegetarian Club - 4 years by application time; no official position though I help out a lot; contrary to what you might expect, we actually do stuff rather than just basking in our own self-satisfaction
Psychology Club - 3 years b.a.t.; Co-President
Video Game Development Club - 2 years b.a.t.; President and founded the club; will be leading school to inter-school game design competitions this coming year
Gay-Straight Alliance - 2 years b.a.t.; may not end up mentioning this
Enviro/Biology Club - 1 year; probably won’t mention this
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Club - 3 years b.a.t.; probably won’t mention this
Cross-Country - 2 years; started as a total beginner at running and ended up one of the top few on my team at State (I still run, just not formally)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (Informal)</p>

<p>Have been developing games since I was 11 and attended camp at Northwestern University; have given them out to friends via email and CD-ROMs
Am developing a game for the iPhone; it should be out within a couple of months; I need to get around to forming my own company
Have been in two bands; will release an EP before too long with current band
Have taken guitar lessons since 8th grade; while this might otherwise not be notable, I’ve played recitals at a fairly famous local nightclub
Have studied Japanese apart from school; took AP test as a junior whereas few even take it as seniors
Am also teaching myself Czech; I can relate this to my application by saying that I want to continue my studies in the language at Brown, which is true. Hell, I’d start a Czech club at my high school if I thought anyone would actually join
Have also been active in the Lojban community (an obscure constructed language); yes, it’s weird, but I’ve helped coin new words and translated short stories and children’s books
Have taken CS 101 at local community college</p>

<p>Jobs</p>

<p>Paperboy - only for 3 months; being laid off wasn’t my fault, though
Taught Google SketchUp to elementary school kids during a summer architecture camp
Tutored one student in Japanese for money over about 7 months; will probably get more students this coming year</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>Some BS for international leadership, blah blah blah, because I’m going to Japan; the award was a big deal, though
National Merit Finalist, if my PSAT score ends up being good enough (it probably will)
Japanese Honor Society
Continuous Dean’s List awardee since I started high school (basically just the Honor Roll)</p>

<p>Recs</p>

<p>They’ll be really good; trust me.</p>

<p>Essays</p>

<p>I think they’ll also be quite good. I’ve started outlining topics.</p>

<p>So… what do you think? Where do you think I can best (and, frankly, with the least amount of effort) improve my application? Where is it the most important to? Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Like most of the posters here, I don’t do chance threads because we simply can’t know close to as much about you as the admissions officers will, nor do we know exactly what they’re looking for.</p>

<p>Brown superscores the SAT, certainly. I’ve heard it both ways about the ACT - not convinced they do for that because it was an admissions officer who told me they don’t.</p>

<p>Taking 4 SAT IIs seems just a little silly to me - I don’t know of a school that requires more than 3, and 3 is the most you can take in 1 test sitting.</p>

<p>Probably not a great idea to assume that your peers’ work will drop off senior fall due to senioritis.</p>

<p>Brown cares immensely about fit, so it’s incredibly important to make it clear in your application why you’re a good fit for Brown and why Brown’s a good fit for you.</p>

3

<p>Huh. Well, I’m aiming for a 750+ in math and, if possible, 2300+ when superscored. I wasn’t planning to retake the ACT, though.</p>

<p>I think you’re right, actually. It’s just that I want to get the best possible mix of SAT Subject Test scores - all in the high 700s if not 800 if possible. I don’t have much choice but to continue using standardized tests to make up for my less-than-stellar GPA and rank.</p>

<p>I know it’s not a great idea to assume that, but most of my hope of entering the top 10%, a benchmark that seems important, rides on that chance.</p>

<p>Believe me, I will make that clear. I want a well-rounded university in a decent-sized city (frankly, one that’s far from home) that can give me a good CS education while also having good humanities and art programs. Tech schools just wouldn’t do the job.</p>

<p>Your having responded without telling me to give up does indicate to me that Brown isn’t totally out of my reach, even if you can’t indicate something like that directly. Thanks for the info you have given me.</p>

4

<p>Ultimately, I don’t know your school (I was just inside the top 10% with a 3.6 unweighted GPA and was admitted to Brown, but I attended a school where 30% or so of students went to an Ivy) and lots of other information that the admissions officers would see - those stats could really correspond to nearly any likelihood, depending on many other factors (which is why we find it hard to give chances here, and those who do give chances tend to be high school students who are also applying).</p>

<p>It may be worth your time to look into the CS department and see if it does have what you want, though. Game design has grown as a subfield in the department the past couple years, but the most prominent students in that area just graduated. As I mentioned on the other thread, there are some somewhat-related courses (especially in graphics) for you to consider, but you will really need to give thought to whether or not you want a program with a more-direct focus on game design. The department seems to be going the route of AI and large data systems right now, based on the recent hirings (away, incidentally, from both of my interests of algorithms and systems).</p>