I think I set myself up to be deferred from Brown

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

Hello, this is my first post on here so I’m not really familiar with a lot of things; it’ll be really helpful if anyone could answer my questions.

So, I ED’ed to Brown. Here are some things about me:

I applied for a really unpopular major and provided a supplemental arts portfolio. I won’t say whether it’s good or not but I would like to think that it’s pretty good. I also submitted a video portfolio.

My GPA is around a 3.9 weighted. The thing is, at my school, the highest weighted GPA one can get is a 4.2, so mine sounds really low compared to students from other schools. (Note: I’m taking a total of 10 APs; 1 sophomore year, 3 last year, 6 this year. I got mostly As and A pluses, only 2 B+s in freshmen year.)

I didn’t submit an SAT score. This is mostly because I really just don’t have time to prepare for it. I was so busy throughout the pandemic with my extracurriculars and other initiatives that I just didn’t think it was worth my time. Plus, I didn’t think I can get a score that excels their average anyways.

For my extracurriculars, I listed my primary activity as “expected to be done in december 2020.” The reason why I did this was because it’s actually a manuscript that was approved but not yet officially published. I didn’t think it right for me to say it’s published already.

Other than that, I think my extracurriculars are pretty strong, especially for my major. Since this isn’t a chanceme post, I won’t list all of my activities; I’ll just say they’re mostly innovative passion projects, leadership roles, and internships that very much pertain to my concentration. I also won a few awards (3 national, 2 state) here and there, though they aren’t as impressive.

I don’t know if it’s okay to say this here but I think my essays are pretty good as well. I’ve read a bunch of other accepted essays and, while I can’t say mine are better, I do think mine are on par with most of them. My personal statement is also a bit more on the unique side, if I do say so myself.

I heard that colleges would want to defer students so they can take the december test, raise their GPA, or get more stuff done; doesn’t it kind of seem like I set myself up to be a perfect deferral (or maybe reject) applicant? I’m especially concerned with my book that I couldn’t get officially published on time.

Also, I’m currently doing very poorly in my classes. My school goes with the quartile system, so if I do get deferred, will RD schools see my 1st quarter grades? I’m hoping to raise it next quarter so it doesn’t look bad on my midyear report.

tl;dr: unpopular concentration, arts portfolio, main activity says “expected to be done in december” rather than already being done but other activities are pretty strong (imo) for my concentration, not the best grades, no scores, and doing really really bad senior year (so I’m very scared for my RD schools because I don’t want them to see my 1st quarter grades). I’m probably going to be deferred, aren’t I?

Sorry for the long text. I’ll be really thankful if anyone can answer my questions. if you want me to provide more context about my majors or activities, I will; I’m just not sure if it’s necessary.

2

Your intended concentration being a relatively less popular one and having applicable extracurricular activities to boot probably boosts your chances, if anything. There’s no point in worrying right now—your application’s been submitted and other than working hard in your classes for future quarters, there’s nothing that’ll meaningfully change your decision in any way.

You said your school grades by “quartiles.” Do you mean quarters? Or does your school only rank students by quartiles (top 20%, 20-40% etc?)

Do your first quarter grades show on your transcript? If so, yes, Brown and other schools will see them as part of your midyear report, but you’ll likely have 2nd quarter grades by February to help balance those-----focus on showing an upward trend during your senior year.

I am not familiar with manuscript publications, but if it has been accepted for publication but not yet published, then you’d be right in stating that it will be published in December—Admissions won’t hold that against you, I’d think, given how difficult it is to publish in HS to begin with.

A deferral is not the end of the world. I was deferred ED from Brown last year and I told myself it was because my 1st quarter “grades” (my school grades on semesters, so it was a progress report not an official transcript,) but honestly, no one but Admissions knows why I ended up being admitted RD. What was in my control was that I worked to bring up my grades from my “1st quarter,” reiterated my interest in being admitted to Brown RD (look-up what a LOCI for deferred/waitlisted students is, if you’re deferred,) and made sure that I had other options (safeties) that were affordable and where I would be, while not overjoyed, content with going to.

3

Hi, thank you so much! This really reassures me. Did you perhaps graduate from Brown or are you currently attending there? Or did you enroll somewhere else?

4

Pm’ed you! :smile: