confused

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I dunno if Brown is a reach or not… my guidance counselor’s one of those overy peppy and encouraging types who stinks at objective criticism, so maybe somebody here’ll help…</p>

<p>GPA: about an A student; weighted average on 100-point scale is 102 but my school is generous in curving for APs and honors classed (I took mostly honors & AP courses in HS)</p>

<p>RANK: 24th out of 700, top 3%</p>

<p>SAT: 2000 (780 M, 670 V, 550 W); the writing was bad because I’m a slow and methodical writer who found the time limit for the writing section too short for my liking, although I guess the admissions people only see the 550 so my explanation here is pointless</p>

<p>APs: 5 (Calc BC, English Lang., Comp. Sci., Comp. Politics, US History); I got a 5 on all but Eng. and US History</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS: not much - briefly joined a creative writing club (briefly = about 3 months), played in a local hockey league for 9 years; I did no community service, did not apply to National Honor Society, no major awards aside from some award for being a high-scoring Hispanic on the SAT</p>

<p>OTHER: I’m Puerto Rican; I intend on majoring in Comp. Sci. but am looking into Political Science, creative writing, maybe even math (and it isn’t just BS; I’m good at them all, but C.S. is my favorite and my primary recommendation letter is coming from my C.S. teacher); not a legacy; have no ties to the school or anything</p>

<p>For financial reasons, I did not apply early (I don’t wanna get stuck with a bad financial aid package and be forced to apply), but Brown’s definitely my first choice.</p>

<p>I don’t wanna get my hopes up if the chances aren’t realistic. But I’m not sure; do I have a shot?</p>

2

<p>You certainly have a fair shot, but you are leaving a lot to your ethnicity to be completely straight forward. Having no extracurriculars to evidence that you have passion and commitment to the things you love is definitely going to hinder your shot. NHS is not a big deal, but the fact that you never had the ambition to apply for such a standard run-of-the-mill resume builder definitely says something.</p>

<p>Think back on high school, I am sure there is something you really cared about and got involved in at one point that you may be overlooking as a strong point to bring up. Are you involved with your religion or family in someway that is beyond the everyday New York applicant?</p>

3

<p>I think you have a chance.</p>

4

<p>you have a chance but your SATs are low and your ECs are nonexistent. having no real ECs is really going to hurt your app. there are more qualified hispanics. brown is a reach.</p>

5

<p>Wow. It never fully hit me until I started the application process just how pathetic my 3+ years of high school have been. I haven't had any special incidents that would make for a killer application essay topic. I was just a ho-hum dude, doing school work but little else. I guess I could try to clean up on the recommendations and the essay, but maybe I got too much riding against me. </p>

<p>Well, thanks for the critique.</p>