I know this will seem ambitious and probably a bit presumptuous but I am a freshman in high school and it is my dream to go to brown. I so far after 1 semester have a 3.8 to a, i got a 1200 out of 1440 on my past, I do ballet 6 days a week, I am on the debate team, and I plan on get involved in some youth local political programs. (I want to study political science). I also pride myself in writing and would love to be published. I know all of this sounds like a kid with a very bug dream but I’m just wondering if it is possible. Thanks to anyone who helps. Seriously.
If you are a freshman in high school, it is too soon to be worrying about Brown. Study hard, get involved in ECs, find some good summer activities and get off CC
This is one of my favorite, favorite admissions blogs. It is from MIT, but it applies to any of the super-selective schools, including Brown:
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
Read it, believe it, do it.
And while you are doing it, work really hard to find your #2 and #3 choices just in case you (like 90+% of applicants) don’t get an offer from Brown.
Work on learning more about you and specifically what it is about Brown that resonates for you. There are other academically strong colleges with many of the same elements at 1 and 2 degrees less selectivity. By working on learning about you and what you like, and finding other choices that meet a high % of those elements you will be setting yourself up for success: your ‘why Brown’ essay will be much stronger; your ‘why choice 2/3’ essays will have the ring of truth to them, and (if you have chosen #2 & #3 well) you will be very likely to come away with a college that makes you genuinely happy.
One more thing: be prepared to change your mind. You are 14?15? you will be 17/18 when you are applying to college. You will (or rather, you should) change a lot over the next couple of years. Hold on to the dream of Brown as long as it makes sense, don’t be blinkered, and don’t be so ‘Brown or bust’ that you squash any doubts b/c you would be embarrassed to climb off the Brown bandwagon and on to a different one.
Anecdotal evidence: one of my collegekids started college shopping early and very enthusiastically. By May of junior year she had a carefully curated list, with an ED choice (which she had visited three times, including an overnight and sitting in on a class) and a selection of reaches, matches and safeties. By October she had a 100% new list, including an ED school that she hadn’t even considered before the summer (very randomly she went to a cousin’s wedding at the college- and fell in love).