<p>so what. i know a smart kid who got into harvard and rejected from brown. </p>
<p>stats dont mean anything. brown is unique in that they want a match for their school, not numbers.</p>
<p>there's nothing "fishy"</p>
<p>things that could define character: the types of EC and how involved someone is, the letters, the essays, etc.</p>
<p>most of the people that i've met that go to brown have been asian. my sister's friend who got in 2 years ago was asian, and got into brown and rejected/wait listed/deferred from a few random schools</p>
<p>i got in and i'm paying the exact opposite of full tution...in fact, so far i'm paying $2,500 for my freshmen year (my parents dont have to pay anything)</p>
<p>Well,maybe it's the tuna that I had. Actually, maybe all the kids that applied to Brown that had been rejected didn't have the right essay or the right "personal factors" needed. However, if you check the graph from our school, there were a lot of top quality folks with SATs in the 1450+ that got rejected.</p>
<p>Colleges just don't like certian high schools. There's bias and self-interest. That's a reality.</p>
<p>My school is a predominately Asian private school in a very affluent community(overseas). About 10 students get in to Brown each year. Most acceptees have SAT I scores of 1400-1500, and are second or first decile. I think the OP's problem is that Brown has determined that many students who are accepted to Brown at her high school do not matriculate. Thus, they accept fewer students from the OP's school. My school has a similarly odd relationship with Princeton; although each year students get into HYS, the same students are often rejected from Princeton. Why? Because people at my school almost always choose HYS over P. </p>
<p>It's not economic, social, or racial bias. Brown probably doesn't like the OP's high school because the students at the OP's high school, by and large, don't like Brown. Brown likes my school because every year 2-3 students matriculate. </p>
<p>Brown has its yield to think about. Yield is its bottom line.</p>
<p>I wonder how much of this seeming discrimination has to do with Brown trying to do the geographical diversity thing. There just aren't that many spots in each class, and there are fifty states and a lot of other countries they may seek to drew students from: US News says "geographical residence considered." Just a thought, or maybe wishful thinking since we are from TN.</p>
<p>If your school requires 100 com serv hours, how is that a personal quality? Personal stuff is what you do for yourself, not what your school makes you do so it can have a better track record with colleges. Maybe students at your top public high school are too busy fulfilling the school's expectations to pursue their own interests fully. I've done fewer than 20 hours of com serv in my high school career. Frankly, it's not really my thing. There's not a whole lot in my community that really gets me going. Call me selfish, whatever. At least I'm genuine. SOme people really do get worked up about com serv, and usually, you can tell. But anyway, my school has a pretty good track record with Brown, and we're no high-end private or public. And two-thirds of the accepted students in the last three years are Asian.</p>
<p>I would like to think that Brown accepts students who genuinely enjoy challenging pursuits for reasons other than the appearance of their college application. Applying to school has become so formulaic; the assumption is that you lead this club, play this sport, get this score, and you're in. I love Brown because I am under the impression that they break this image. In a magnet program, there may be a lot of pressure the fit The Formula, with little emphasis placed on individuality and passion and interest.</p>
<p>tallyrand: same here. all the guidance counselors at my school know that Brown hates my school. that's why I had to apply early.</p>
<p>I think its so obvious when kids are formulaic. There are kids my school who are virtual prisoners kept at home to study and play violin. These kids arent allowed access to a tv, internet or most other things. And they think that by getting xyz they are guarnateed acceptance to an ivy</p>
<p>There is some truth to stating that some colleges like some schools and some colleges don't like some schools as much. From a small private school like mine about 6 or so apply to Harvard each year and normally between two and four get in. Yale on the other hand has only accepted one girl in the past two years of about 14 applicants and she was Yale's top tennis recruit. Brown accepts kids from my school that don't have to have amazing stats, just basically honor roll and 1400+ seem to be common amongst the acceptees. Not many kids from my school apply to Brown each year, probably 3 or so and normally about two of them get in. I guess it may be a good college counselor that tells us what schools would be good for us, but those are rather high rates for Harvard and Brown and comparatively low rates at Yale.</p>
<p>Laurenemma, I am not sure that you can compare private vs. public high school admission rates. Private schools have had a major advantage in getting their kids into top private universities. I am not totally sure of the reason. It could be that they have established trusted relationships with certain private universities. It could be that because of the expensive tuition at private high schools, private colleges know that these kids won't need financial aid; a fact that I am sure isn't lost on admission's officers. </p>
<p>Bottom line is that I think that if a thorough study were conducted, private school kids do get a fairly big edge in admissions.</p>
<p>Another side to this is parents who take their kids OUT of private to put them in public in high school. I worked at Yale years ago and I knew of 3 people, one a doctor, one a lawyer and one was in insurance, that took their S/D out of a well respected private school and put them in a city public in their freshman year. It wasn't even a "good" public school, but had an honors program that had the kids take class's at Yale, etc. They thought they would have a better chance at a good college at a public. They told me that college's only take so many from prep/private schools and like to have smart kids from a public also. Of course looking at their transcripts, they really weren't "public" kids, but it seemed to work. I found it a little odd because one parent was alumni of Amherst, one of Wesleyan and one of Howard and Columbia (transfer) I guess they didn't think that was enough pull. Just another thought on the unpredicability of admissions.</p>
<p>A lot of prep school kids get fin aid though. Not everyone is rich at prep schools.</p>
<p>RaboKarabekian, Yes, there is some truth in what you say. However, many private schools assume ( and probably correctly) that if a kid attends a expensive private school, their parents are financially well off. Certainly,private schools have a higher percentage of wealthy parents than that of public schools.</p>
<p>Also, for what it's worth, I didn't come up with this thought myself. I met a trustee of Yale who noted this fact and noted that Ivy schools and particularly Yale likes taking kids from private schools for this reason. I have not verified her statement but I assume she told me the truth. However, if you check out the statistics of expensive, well- known private schools, they seem to have a higher percentage of their student body getting into the top expensive private schools. Just check out Chote, Exerter, Phillips Academy et al. Of course, I am sure that someone will argue that the private schools provide a superior education. However, I can only restate what the Yale trustee told me.</p>
<p>where do you see High School Rankings in US News? I could not find them.</p>
<p>You don't know how to spell those schools' names for one. Choate and Exeter.
They may not provide the best education possible but have a more selective group of students. The kids as many of the top private schools are on average smarter than most public schools kids. There are exceptions though. Also they schools are supposed to be harder and therefore more able to handle the change to college. From my school Freshman and Sophomore year at college are supposed to be comparatively easy.</p>
<p>Laurenemma, yes, you are right. I should have looked up the names of the school for proper spelling. (<em>taxguy looks down at ground ashamed</em>)</p>
<p>laurenemma: is that like how AP classes are supposed to be college-level, or is your school actually hard? My AP classes are a joke, and I shudder to think of what the regular classes are like.</p>
<p>one reason i can find why colleges may not like ur school, as someone said, you have admit rates of like 1/7 for pton and penn, is that i found kids with much lower SAT scores and very high GPAs. Now i know that the SAT is not a very accurate test, but when a kid has a 4.3 weighted GPA with a 1230 SAT, i have to say that looks like an inflated grade. 4.3 with a 1430, ok, i buy that that kid has some trouble with a dumb test like the SAT, but a 1230 with a 4.3, i'm sorry, but that looks extremely sketchy.</p>
<p>i agree pyrrhus. keep in mind i'm slightly biased; i have a bit of difficulty with high school (the tedium) and i have a 3.3u. pretty ugly against my 1540 and screws me for admissions. i just don't see the point in busywork. don't get me wrong, i learn the material.. my ap and sat ii scores show that. but, man ... too bad there isn't more grade inflation/too bad i wasn't inclined to go through the motions necessary to get those As</p>