Chances at brown?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I am currently a Junior
Ethnicity: gonna leave it blank. (would it be assumed I’m white or Asian if I did this)
UW GPA: 3.94ish
-school doesn’t rank, but I got an award for being the junior with the highest weighted GPA, meaning I’m a would-be valedictorian.</p>

<p>SAT I’s (I’m retaking this October or November. I will aim for getting as close to perfect as possible.)</p>

<p>Math: 800
CR: 730
Writing:710</p>

<p>SAT II’s
Math II: 800
U.S. History: 710
Chemistry: 690
(we weren’t quite done with the AP Chem and APUSH curriculums by the time I took the May subject tests, so I took them again on June 5. I expect a 730ish in U.S. and a 750+ in chemistry.)</p>

<p>Past AP’s: US Gov and Politics-5
Projected AP scores for this year:
APUSH: 5
AP Chem: 4/5
AP Eng. Lang: 4/5</p>

<p>Senior Load

  1. AP Calculus BC
  2. AP Statistics (is it true stats is not really math, but is more like reading?)
  3. AP Biology
  4. AP Physics C
  5. AP Literature
  6. Economics
  7. (maybe) Band (if I can fit it in my schedule)</p>

<p>-school doesn’t offer honors classes, but mentions “due to the rigorous curriculum of the school, no classes are designated as honors” in school description.</p>

<p>My only B’s have been graphic design freshman year and AP Gov last year(will a 5 on the exam atone for this)? I got straight A’s last semester, but will probably get a B this semester in AP English language and A’s in everything else.</p>

<p>-will mention Math, Economics, and Chemistry respectively as my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice majors. I want to be an investment banker or hedge fund manager when I grow up. </p>

<p>EC’s:</p>

<p>Boy Scouts
-Eagle Scout (just did my board of review). My project was building benches, pressure-washing old ones, and putting sealant.
-Senior Patrol Leader during 10th grade, Patrol Leader during 9th
-broke a national record for hiking. I hiked the Bartram Trail (100 miles/5 days, has a lot of elevation): honored by Governor Sonny Purdue and national head of boy scouts for this feat
-LOTS of community service projects
-raised money for inner-city kids to buy scout uniforms</p>

<p>Tennis (all 4 years)
-private lesons
-varsity tennis</p>

<p>Academic Quiz Bowl team (10-12)</p>

<p>I founded and am president of our school’s food critic club. We go to restaurants about once a month and write critiques about them, which are published in the school newspaper.</p>

<p>Trumpet
-private lessons
-Superior Rating (9,10,11) at Solo Ensemble Festival
-Community Jazz Band (9-12)
-GISA all-select band member (11th grade) (top band members of private schools in GA)
-played for church on Sundays
-invited to play at school’s open house 10th grade</p>

<p>Piano
-lessons
-invited to play at several concerts</p>

<p>Young Republicans (should i say this? i know prestigious colleges, especially Brown, are very liberal?)
-helped a bake sale to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
-helped campaign for John Mccain and senator Saxby Chambliss</p>

<p>Duke TIP summer program (summers after 9th and 10th grade, I respectively studied macroecon. and robotics)</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
-Georgia Certificate of Merit
-Phi Beta Kappa Award (given to Junior with the highest weighted GPA in class)</p>

<p>Hobbies:
-food-trying at restaurants (and even cooking some by myself)
-camping/backpacking</p>

<p>Miscellaneous:
I also volunteer at the library during the summer.
-Traveled around Europe.
-I’m almost certain my PSAT score will qualify me for semifinalist standing in the NMS search.</p>

<p>Recommendations: I know several teachers at my school who like me and will probably write well about me.
Essay: 1) talk about perseverance, about how I thought I could accomplish anything after my national record hike (would this sound too trite?)
2) talk about how certain adversity in a trumpet competition didn’t kill my trumpet passions.</p>

2

<p>You sound like a strong applicant, certainly more than qualified to excel at Brown; B. is highly unpredictable, however, whether it’s “Tuft’s syndrome” (i.e. snubbing students who they predict will go elsewhere) or being tough on certain high schools and being cozy with others depending on historic yield, etc.</p>

3

<p>I’m going to be completely honest with you. It’s never easy because I was also a run-of-the-mill applicant, but there are tons of people like you and me. Really. We have grades and generic ECs yes, but other than that we just followed through the motions and completed life’s checklist. We’re not special - we did not grow up in Kenya, invent the next google, or do pioneering research - maybe later in life? Leaving the ethnicity field blank only furthers that impression in the adcom’s mind - that we are people ashamed of who we are. Also, adcoms LOVE people like us with perfect math and lackluster CR and writing scores. But I guess that’s just who we are - rejectees.</p>

4

<p>I agree with Dad2 that you’re a strong applicant. Your EC’s show your dedication and commitment, but maybe you could better convey exactly what your passions are.</p>

5

<p>

Real statistics are math (admittedly, a bit different than what you’d get in calculus or an advanced algebra course). AP Statistics are supposedly not particularly mathematically challenging or rigorous, since you can’t prove much of anything without using calculus or real analysis. Skimming over the syllabus, I wouldn’t call it a reading course, but a large part of it appears to be understanding, creating, and analyzing surveys and experiments, which may seem like humanities rather than math.</p>

6

<p>I THINK I convey my passions through my essays. One is on how an unfair trumpet competition didn’t make me still love trumpet. Another one is on how I persisted through a 100-mile hike (the Bartram Trail) in Boy Scouts.</p>