Chances for Brown? (or the other Ivies)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I know this is pretty weird to be doing this is in the summer, but it's been on my mind for a while. Basically, I messed up my junior year and I'm wondering if I can climb my way back to the top for a chance at Brown or should I just focus in on different things and settle for the standard public university. It's just I've always seen schooling and by extension the American university system as a bit of a prison of sorts; we are shackled to it, and it continues to try and box us in, stifle our creativity, and inundate our minds with facts for the sake of facts, not wisdom, until we close our eyes and dream of higher test scores instead of the people we want to be. Brown embodies everything I could ever want in college, and in life itself: the pursuit of knowledge not for the shiny A or the coveted grade point average, but for the pursuit of wisdom - and the freedom to concern myself not with what I want to be, but who. However, I understand that Brown is an Ivy League school, and passion alone will not cut it. That being said, what are my chances at Brown with these stats (so far)*?</p>

<p>*Note that these are my stats from my high school career thus far, and senior year calculations are just projected, as no one can tell what the future will hold.</p>

<p>Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Indian
Income Range: Middle class</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.6, projected 3.7**
Weighted: 3.95, projected 4.1
**I go to one of most competitive public schools in one of the most competitive counties in the nation, if that makes a difference</p>

<p>SAT: 2150 (740 CR; 700 M; 710 W)
SAT II: 790 World History, taking Lit in fall
ACT: taking in fall</p>

<p>AP: 5 World Hist, 5 Lang/Comp, 4 US Hist, 5 Psych
Senior course load: AP Physics B, AP Calc AB, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Studio Art, Political Science, Latin 4***
***Another thing that I heard is that colleges like upward trends, and I basically started freshman year with all regular classes, and have consistently been taking on harder and harder classes and doing well.</p>

<p>ECs:
Literary arts magazine (assistant editor sophomore/junior year; editor-in-chief senior year)
NAHS; NHS; EHS (Activities Chair); Writing Center (highly selective in-school tutoring program) tutor/board member; Art Club; Speech and Debate</p>

<p>Awards:
NCTE finalist; National Latin Exam silver medalist; Scholastic Silver Key/Gold Key Award in Visual Arts</p>

<p>Job Experience:
Honestly, I’ve never really held a “real” job, but I landed an internship on the Obama campaign, which is what I during this summer for 15+hours a week. My main gig is that I put myself out there as a freelance artist, and I busy myself with taking commissions and such. It’s not a big enough operation to require a business license or anything, but it’s something.</p>

<p>Community Service:
Summer camp counselor for at-risk youths; reading buddy every Friday with at-risk youths during the school year, tutoring 3rd graders every Thursday at feeder elementary school; volunteer at rape crisis center; volunteer for NARAL Pro-Choice – all in all I would estimate around 70+ hours per year</p>

<p>I guess my major hook would be that I’m an aspiring politician, and an flaming liberal feminist Indian woman at that. I plan on doing a Political Science and Fine Arts double major, or maybe Fine Arts as a minor – it doesn’t really matter; all I really want to do is immerse myself in as much of the knowledge of the world as I can and then get myself into law school, fight for women* in court and eventually in the political stratosphere. So basically, my hook is that I’m a little bit out of the ordinary (at least according to me). My weaknesses are obviously my grades (the main thing being my junior year suffered a dip as a result of some personal issues, which got me a nice shiny D in Physics), somewhat average test scores, and spotty credentials…so basically everything else. I guess I’m not exactly a well-rounded student; all I can say is that I dedicate myself to a select few things, and then I follow through completely. My recs will most likely be pretty good, and I consider myself a decent essay writer.</p>

<p>So all that being said,what are my chances at Brown? Also, I apologize for my daedalean digressions; I tend to get a little impassioned about these things :)</p>

2

<p>You have same great strengths. Really interesting passions. Don’t get so hung up on one school. You’ll get in somewhere great with your unique combo of art and politics and passionate feminism! You go</p>

3

<p>Thanks man :slight_smile: I promised myself I would never become one of those people who got her heart set on the Ivies as if it would make or break her, but unfortunately all of the other college campuses I’ve visited other than Brown had me surrounded with empty-eyed students that had their fire sucked out of them. It’s crazy, but I’ve become solely convinced that I will turn into one of them if I don’t get into Brown, or at least somewhere like it.</p>

4

<p>"***Another thing that I heard is that colleges like upward trends, and I basically started freshman year with all regular classes, and have consistently been taking on harder and harder classes and doing well."</p>

<p>" I messed up my junior year"</p>

<p>Seems to contradict itself, right?</p>

<p>How badly did you mess up junior year?</p>

5

<p>Heh, yeah I suppose it does…maybe I haven’t actually been doing so hot, but I guess what I meant to say is that I’ve been challenging myself more and more each year, and I haven’t exactly failed.</p>

<p>Junior year I encountered life rearing its ugly head and had a rough ride with some personal janx, then I fell off the wagon for a good portion of last year and basically never came to school, and ended up with two A minuses, a spattering of B+ here and there, a B, a B-, and a C+. Surprisingly the only classes I did well in were my APs.</p>

6

<p>Oh my god you sound so similar to me its actually kindof scary xD I’m a rising junior but your passions (Art + politics) and even trend (easier classes to harder classes) and particular interest in Brown for its philosophy in education are things I can relate to. Are you trying for the risd brown joint program? Does your school rank at all? Is Brown your ED? I hope you’ll let me know if you get in!</p>

7

<p>Naw, honestly art is a passion of mine that I pursue as a particular lens through which I can look at the world with different eyes than just my own. It allows me to look at the things around me as not only what they are, but what they could be - and I cherish that, but it’s not really something I can do when someone else is telling me what to do, you know? I’ve never really seen it as a career, so I probably wouldn’t do well in the RISD program, though I have considered it. Heh, I’m definitely not ED material for Brown, but if I had high enough stats I would definitely consider it! And my school doesn’t rank at all; they think it’s detrimental to the learning environment - which I agree with, but it would be nice to know :slight_smile: Good luck!</p>