<p>I’ve been really wondering if I have even the slightest chance of getting into Brown. </p>
<p>My freshman year was terrible. I had mostly awful teachers and because of that, I didn’t ask for help when I needed it, so I didn’t always understand the material. Fortunately, I didn’t completely slack off, but I got a B- in both Algebra II & the required freshman science class. </p>
<p>Over the summer, one of my closest friends told me that she was applying ED to Yale and that got me motivated. I began looking at colleges - mostly Ivy Leagues. Brown was the one that caught my eye. I knew that I had to re-dedicate myself to my studies.</p>
<p>So, now I’m half-way through my sophomore year. Things are going much, much better and I’m in the top ten of my class. Next year I’m planning on all AP classes and taking advantage of the little my school has to offer. </p>
<p>I understand that the essays play a major factor in the admissions process, but I’ve always loved writing and expressing myself, so hopefully writing them will be a breeze. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that this is so long; I had a lot to say. </p>
<p>Please give me any advice that you guys can think of. </p>
<p>Keep raising your grades and work on getting as high SAT/ACT scores as you can when the time comes for standardized tests. A B- freshman year won’t keep you out of Brown I know you might not even remember me saying this 2 years from now, but that B- won’t break you, so don’t stress yourself over it.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! I’m grateful for the encouragement.</p>
<p>I’m planning on taking the ACT in June so I can get a feel for it. Unless I do amazingly well, (ha!) I’ll re-take it in the spring of my junior year.</p>
<p>I fell in love with Brown my sophomore year, too.
If I were you, I would try very hard to keep straight As, which I’m sure you’re doing anyway. I don’t think two Bs, especially during freshman year, will hurt you too much IF they are your only weaknesses. </p>
<p>I was in the top ten of my sophomore class, too; I went from rank 10 to rank 2 over the course of one year, and then I left my high school for a program at a local state school that doesn’t rank its students. I definitely think that my final rank at my old high school helped my application. Bottom line: Go up as far as you can.</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re starting standardized testing early. If you need help, use Barron’s 36 and real ACT practice tests. You can find both on Amazon. I started with a 29 on my first practice test and ended up with a 34 with just Barron’s and lots of practice. </p>
<p>one more thing: I like writing, too, so I thought writing essays would be a piece of cake; it’s not. I don’t think I would have gotten in if I hadn’t started my essays the summer before senior year. I went through a lot of ideas to get to the common app essay I ended up submitting. If you’re serious about having good essays, I suggest starting early.</p>
<p>Sorry my post was so long! You remind me of myself a couple years ago and I wanted to give some advice based on my application process.
Good luck! Keep working.</p>
<p>No, you’re fine. I actually got quite a few B’s my freshman year (especially my first semester)…then I started trying my sophomore year and have gotten A’s since. They like to see an upward trend if you had lowish grades your freshman year.</p>
<p>I heard as long as your grades have an upward trend it shouldnt matter, as long as you didnt get below a B- in any of your classes or you didnt drop any with a failing grade. Just get a high SAT/ACT score and get 4-5s on your AP tests.</p>
<p>Thank you! I was wondering which ACT prep books I should get. Now I know! </p>
<p>One thing that I’m kind of concerned about is that my school isn’t really competitive at all. The only time we’ve ever made the news is for sports scandals (two have happened this year). Most of my class slacks off, but the ones who actually study are very intelligent, so I’m gonna have to work my butt off. </p>
<p>I had an essay idea a few days ago, but I’m sure that it’ll probably change before I actually I apply. All of my friends at school call me “the Mayor of Tiny Town”, so for Brown’s “What Don’t You Know” essay, I was considering writing about how I don’t know why I’m not five foot tall. Is that kind of what admissions officers are looking for?</p>
<p>I see where potterpie and JFVollegirl27 will be spending their next 4 years, so I still have hope.</p>
<p>I’ve had an A in every single class (although in my school a 90 is an A… sort of… we really just get percents but everyone calls 90’s "A"s) since freshman year and I got deferred lol. Don’t worry about it, just keep working really hard!</p>
<p>It’s not a bad idea to keep a record of essay ideas as you think of them. I kept a journal when I was visiting colleges during junior year and it was the most helpful thing ever when it came to writing “why X College?” supplements later on. Same idea with your essays!</p>
<p>When it comes to your other question, colleges very rarely pay much attention to freshman year grades - they realize that it was almost four years ago and that things may have changed a lot since then. They’ll be happy to see the improvement in your grades!</p>
<p>That’s a great idea! It would keep you organized!</p>
<p>That’s such a relief! I’m just trying to survive high school. The hardest class that my school offers is AP Bio, unfortunately. The AP English class didn’t even make this year because they didn’t have enough people interested in it, which is sad.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about AP classes. Brown won’t hold it against you that your school doesn’t offer many - I have friends whose schools didn’t have AP or IB. What they care about is seeing that you took a challenging courseload during high school.</p>
<p>Does Brown research different high schools? Do they know which students had a limited amount of courses available and which ones had an abundance?</p>
<p>On your transcript, your high school usually provides a list of courses available. If not, Brown will definitely know. That’s the whole point of having admissions officers in charge of certain regions.</p>
I know you might not even remember me saying this 2 years from now, but that B- won’t break you, so don’t stress yourself over it.</p>