I Am a rising senior and I am planning on applying early decision to brown. I know it is incredibly selective so I want to know if I have a shot
GPA: 4.24 weighted (straight As)
Class rank: top 5%
AP classes /scores:
-Biology (4)
-Language (5)
-Physics (next year)
-Statistics (next year)
-US Government (next year)
-Literature (next year)
Other classes:
I have completed many honors classes freshman and sophomore year , I took up to French 4 (as far as you can go at my school) , I doubled up in sciences junior year and took anatomy and physiology and AP bio.
As far as math goes , I have completed up to precalc
SAT Scores:
(Not so great, am retaking in the fall and taking ACTs as well)
-1240 out of 1600
Extracurriculars:
-Field Hockey (Varsity , league all star)
-Indoor Track ( Varsity Captain, league all star, MVP selection)
-Outdoor Track (Varsity Captain)
-Key Club
-Irish Cultural Club (took a trip to Ireland)
-National Honors Society (President)
Other activities:
-Part time job at local grocery store
-volunteer to help foster children at local non profit
planning on shadowing doctor or PA (very interested in medical field)
Leadership:
-NHS president
-indoor and outdoor track captain
Awards/recognition:
-“most outstanding student” honors English (grade 9)
-"most outstanding student"honors biology (grade 9)
-"most outstanding student"French 2 (grade 9)
-Science “Teacher Award” (grade 11)
-Elmira College Book award (grade 11)
Not necessarily. While your grades are great, you do not have many awards or things that make you stand out. As a freshman, my résumé includes Singing in the San Francisco Opera, being an eagle scout, starting and being president of the marine biology club, and being president of my class. I would do a lot next year.
The CC boards are possibly the worst place to get honest answers about your chances. You are not the sum or your stats. Try to calm down and speak with your school’s college guidance office, for a more realistic take on the matter.
I think if you improved your test scores you would have a good shot. Shoot for 1400+ on the SAT and a 32+ on the ACT. Are your track times good enough for you to be recruited? If so, your chances are MUCH better.
@Arman23
It appears the only reason you commented was to brag about yourself and stroke your own ego. You provided little to no useful information. If you write your essays in a similar tone, I guarantee you will be rejected from your chosen colleges. OP, please don’t listen to rude people like him.
(from an incoming Brown freshman) Aside from maybe test scores, you definitely have the markings of someone who could be admitted to Brown. With good essays, I think you definitely have a shot. At this point, your essays are your best bet at making yourself stand out. What Brown is looking for are people who would benefit most from their Open Curriculum - they need to see the diversity in your interests, and, perhaps most importantly, a strong sense of independence. Show them that you know how to do things for yourself and that you are self-motivated. That will let them know that you’re someone who’s ready to take advantage of what they have to offer.
Brown will be a reach, as it is for pretty much everyone else. You definitely want to pump up that SAT and/or do very well on the ACT. Figure out which ECs you are most passionate about and have done the most work in, and where applicable center on those.
If it is your clear #1 choice and you have run the NPC and (based on the results) you and your family can afford it, you might consider applying ED. It can only help.
Regardless, make sure you apply to at least some matches and safeties in addition to Brown, schools you like and can afford.
You don’t really have a chance unless you have some other hook. So many students are science/medicine focused and have done research that you appear very normal. Also your score is low.
See, @jesssssw — @dnstudent26 is a prime example of what I was talking about — a fellow student who has no actual knowledge. My best advice is to talk to YOUR high-school college guidance counselor. Asking total strangers, many of whom will be faking their credentials, for advice on your chances based solely on statistics, is a path to madness. Seriously. Stop doing it if you value your education and your sanity.
I never claimed to be anything. I’m just not being an idealistic idiot about it. If you go take a look at the Results page on Brown and look who got accepted and who got rejected you’ll see my advice isn’t unfounded. While I can’t say, obviously, whether or not the OP will or will not get accepted for sure I’m just giving the reasonable and frank truth. Research beyond CC is the best way to find out if you have a chance. Most guidance counselors at a public school won’t have a clue about specifics on Brown other than it’s an Ivy school so it’s hard to get in.
Another suggestion would be to consider taking calculus senior year. I attended an info session last year where a Brown admissions officer said that not having calculus was “the kiss of death” for an application.
@ciervo I’ll definitely consider taking calculus , however I’m not sure I have room in my schedule. Could regular calculus potentially look better than AP stats? That’s probably the only way I could fit it, if I get rid of AP stats
In my opinion, yes, regular calculus would be considered more rigorous than AP stats and will be better preparation for you since you will need to take calculus in college for premed and a lot of science majors.
@dnstudent26 you may not have claimed to be anything, but your username suggests you are a student. And though it’s likely only because there are more students in public than private school, the OP doesn’t say s/he is in public school. Even were that the case, you have no idea what OP’s school guidance counseling is like.
I agree with @AboutTheSame that pulling test scores up is a good idea; as for @ciervo saying s/he heard a Brown AO saying not having calculus was “the kiss of death” for an application, I am highly skeptical. My d, accepted to Brown in this year’s cycle (and with a likely letter to boot), did not take calculus. So it’s an N of 1 but it’s still not hearsay or speculation. Not every student, no matter how stellar, enters high school with sufficient math preparation to take calculus before college. If you look at the websites of ANY top school, you will NOT see in their preparation information a requirement or even a recommendation to take calculus in high school.