Chances, (I know)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>Basically, I incredibly underperformed in high school, didn’t do my homework, but sat home and taught myself french and german to the point of near fluency (fluent in reading and writing, certainly), and spent hours writing literary and philosophical essays. I intend to major in french.</p>

<p>GPA (weighted), 93.03
Top 25 percent, but not top 20 percent
SAT I; Math 680, English 660, Writing 630
Woodcock-Johnson rendered IQ of 147 (average)
ACT Composite: 36
SAT II’s will be taken in october, in English Lit, Bio, and French
AP scores
AP World-5 (failed class), APUSH-3, Bio-3, English-4 (on both), Env. Science-5 (didn’t take class or study, used as a test of my skills in deductive reasoning), Euro-5 (didn’t take class), German-3, Econ-4 (on both, but only took macro in school), French-4, Human Geo-4 (didnt take class), Govt US-5, Govt comp-4, Psychology-5</p>

<p>Senior Course load
AP German IV
AP French IV
Ap stats
Ap US govt
AP comp govt
AP macro economics
Speech
Theatre
AP psychology
AP English IV</p>

<p>Things of note;
skipped German II, went from german I to German III pre-ap
Skipped from French I to French IV AP with a year off in between
AP scholar with distinction
Held highest grades and honors in all foreign language classes i’ve been in since 10th grade.
Two glowing recommendation letters from my German Teacher and My senior french teacher, a haitian national who thought i was a native speaker when he first met me.
President of German club
President of French Club
Founder of Guitar Club
Also contributed and helped organise a monthly DIY art collective </p>

<p>three well written samples of writing, one on the methods of Oscar Wilde, one a reflection on my high school career (the reasons for blowing it off in pursuit of my extracurricular studies), and one as an example of the extracurricular essays I would write for myself while not caring about school, a 5 page and sourced comparison of the Tragic Hero’s archetype and endearing traits, using House of Leaves and Moby Dick.</p>

<p>Also included was a list of works that influenced me, including multiple works from well known authors in English, French, German, and Latin (I read De Re Publica by cicero as a translation excersize). All works were read in their original tongue, and I wrote papers on most of them for my own review. Also included in this list were my music Preferences and artists (Free jazz and 60s electric blues), my visual art inspirations (Basquiat, Matisse, and Haring), and my prefered Poetry (auden for english, Rimbaud and Verlaine for french)</p>

<p>I am happy to post my essays to anyone interested, as they will play a large part in my admissions.</p>

<p>(please excuse my spelling and grammar, I’ve spent the better part of today knee-deep in studying portuguese, Catalan, and French. Sometimes my english gets a bit funky after intensive foreign language study.)</p>

2

<p>I would say that you want to apply to schools where they have personal interviews, because once they learn all the things you just recited, you will be a good candidate, but they won’t know about all your outside of school learning by just looking at your transcript.</p>

<p>Your narrative would be that you are bored with subjects you have no interest in, and therefore do not get top grades in those subjects, but if it is a subject you have a real interest in, you are a star.</p>

3

<p>given your affinity for languages, perhaps you should consider Middlebury.</p>

4

<p>Essays can be found here
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1193053-chances-harvard-wesleyan-ct-brown.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1193053-chances-harvard-wesleyan-ct-brown.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Your grades and SAT scores, unfortunately, don’t make you a competitive applicant in this really numbers-driven process. However, I think Brown looks at the whole person more than do many other comparable schools. Brown likes people who are really passionate about what they do, and it sounds like you’re really passionate about languages. So show them that. It will set you apart. Also, explain why Brown is the best place for you to explore this passion. With that said, it still might not change the end result, but it’s the best you can do.</p>