Kayak, Brown has posted pretty granular breakdowns of their admissions results (maybe not for last year but certainly within the last few years) and the best way to read them is to flip them- note the percentage of Vals who get rejected. That’s how to focus. The difference of 20 points on the SAT or a point or two on the ACT at Brown is relatively meaningless once you have cleared the bar on stats. That’s just not what they’re focused on. In all my years of interviewing at Brown I had exactly one kid who I knew was going to be admitted-- just one- that’s how outstanding he was in every possible way (and first generation college, had taken a Greyhound bus and then two other forms of public transportation to get to me because he didn’t want to “inconvenience me” by suggesting a better interview location). An outstanding young man- I badgered admissions for weeks until someone told me that he was on the admit list and I could stop hounding them!
But the dozens and dozens of others? I always knew who was getting rejected. I had a few surprises on admissions but not many. And the stats were never the issue.
Hopkins is harder and more subtle from what I have seen. I think a true scholar (extremely intellectual, the kind of kid where teacher’s write "this is the most curious student I have taught in 20 years) without any of the other stuff can get admitted and find a home at Hopkins. I’ve seen some of them. I think that’s less true at Brown. But I wouldn’t be encouraging a kid to demonstrate that extreme intellectualism in the way that kids think-- i.e. better grades, higher scores on standardized tests. It’s an intangible and definitely NOT captured in scores (but a kid with a 550 math score who allegedly a math prodigy is going to face a credibility gap for sure).
Are you asking with a particular kid in mind? Start a new thread- if the kid loves Brown, tell me why and maybe I can suggest some other places with more predictable admissions? I wrote a letter last year for a kid in my neighborhood who loved Brown (I knew he wasn’t getting in but he’s a nice kid so why not) but I suggested CMU, where he did get in, and which he LOVES.