<p>I’m a current junior and recently did some college touring. I loved Brown and everything about it. It’s tied for my top school right now and I will definitely apply come fall. Now, every admissions rep I spoke to, listened to, ran into, talked about the importance of the essay in the application process. So, I looked at the Brown supplementary, and sure enough, the first question is essentially ‘Why Brown?’ I obviously have not written my essay yet, but am sure that I would like to convey that I would go insane if I got in and would definitely love to go.</p>
<p>BUT. I don’t think I could ever apply ED. I completely understand the concept of a binding decision and know that if I truly loved Brown and ranked it miles ahead of my second favorite school, I would apply ED. Personally, I cannot apply ED. The concept of a binding admissions, even at a school I love, does not appeal to me. College admissions is a game and I’d like to play the full 90. I’ve worked hard for the past three years and I’d like to have the oppurtunity to compare schools where I’ve been admitted. Seems only fair.</p>
<p>So, herein lies the dilemma. Is there anyway I can claim that I love Brown with all my heart and soul in my essays and interview without the adcoms sitting there questioning why I didn’t apply early decision? </p>
<p>I understand much of the incoming class is accepted from the regular decision pool, so they’re bound to take kids like me, but I’d still like to tell Brown how much I love them without sounding phony. </p>
<p>I think that Brown and similarly selective schools tend not to track students’ interest. They just assume you’re interested.</p>
<p>In your “Why Brown?” essay, you want to say something about why you and Brown are right for each other, and to be as specific as possible. Being specific is easier if you have a narrow, somewhat offbeat academic interest that Brown can meet, and harder if you want to major in biology and go to medical school. Do a little digging. Scour the web site; talk to people who have current information about Brown. Find something academic or extracurricular at Brown that you can both contribute to and draw from, and talk about that.</p>
<p>I think it’s fine not to apply ED, even though that goes a little bit against the conventional wisdom. My daughter (who is now in the watching-the-mailbox phase of the application process) just plain didn’t have a favorite. She applied to five universities, each of which had strengths and weaknesses, and each of which, she thought, offered her a very reasonable chance of being happy and successful in college. If you are in a similar situation, I think it’s OK to apply to them all and see what happens.</p>
<p>“The concept of a binding admissions, even at a school I love, does not appeal to me. College admissions is a game and I’d like to play the full 90. I’ve worked hard for the past three years and I’d like to have the oppurtunity to compare schools where I’ve been admitted. Seems only fair.”</p>
<p>I don’t know how to read this. Are there schools that you know you might want to go to over Brown, if admitted? Are you worried that you won’t have done enough research by the time the ED application deadline rolls around to be certain that Brown is your first choice? Are you worried that you might change your own mind once you’ve been accepted?</p>
<p>If you can be absolutely certain that a school is your first choice, then not applying ED because “[c]ollege admissions is a game and I’d like to play the full 90” doesn’t really make sense; in fact, applying ED is part of “the full 90.” If you can’t be absolutely certain that a school is your first choice then, as a practical matter, you have a higher I-love-you hurdle to jump over than all of the ED applicants – but that’s the way it should be. Thousands of people were able to say “I love more than anyone else,” but you were only able to say “I love you.” Love is great, but exclusive love is better.</p>
<p>Will you have any problem convincing the admissions office that you love Brown? No! Can you get in RD? Sure! Are both of those things gonna be harder than if you had applied ED? Of course. That’s the nature of the game.</p>
<p>Paraphrasing the words of a Brown admissions guy, ED gives regular non-athelete applicants absolutely no advantage in any way. The relatively large number of athletes they recruit through ED however, does skew the statistics. The only valid reason for applying ED is if you cannot wait the extra 4 months for your decision. Just make sure you write a stunner of an essay and cross your fingers and hope for the best!</p>
<p>I think you can still write a convincing supplement without applying ED. I don’t think even top schools can afford to assume that people who don’t apply ED aren’t interested, nor can they expect every applicant to have the school as his or her #1 choice. The “Why Brown?” doesn’t have to be answered with a “because I love it more than anything!!” Like others have said, what does it offer (that’s somewhat unique from other schools–particularly other elite schools of the same caliber) that you want?</p>
<p>One short correction: Isn’t it J’aime Brown? The reflexive factor makes it read “I love you Brown” while I think you mean “I love Brown” :P</p>
<p>I personally believe that if a person can get accepted in Early for Brown, the person can get accept in Regular for Brown. Usually, people who get accepted are the superb students that impressive the university enough to bind the person down. If the person is good, but the school is uncertain, then they do the whole deferred portion.</p>
<p>Thus, I think that it is acceptable for a person who, even though #1 school is Brown, doesn’t apply to Brown. (Many other factors can occur that a person doesn’t apply Early, such as SAT scores are not ready / essays are not ready etc.) so I don’t think that it will sound phony when you state that you REALLY want to go to Brown (while applying Regular)</p>
<p>I think it is very reasonable to love Brown or any school, and not apply ED. It might be assumed you would want to compare financial aid offers, although that is not the case with the OP.</p>
<p>I don’t agree that if you get accepted early at Brown, you could get accepted RD. Last year the early acceptance rate was close to 20%, but RD was 7%. At Brown, for now at least, there appears to be a significant edge with ED.</p>
<p>You have 8 months to make this decision. That’s a very long time. Everything might change in 8 months. Revisit this after you’ve looked at other colleges, enjoyed your summer, etc.</p>
<p>Admissions officers do not, under any circumstances, look at a regular decision applicant and wonder why they didn’t apply early decision and therefore decide to deny them admissions. It just doesn’t work that way. Don’t overthink this. If you offer something that Brown wants, you’ll get in.</p>
<p>broodjebakpao is correct, the higher acceptance rate for ED is partly due to athletic acceptances. There is an advantage to applying early, but it’s not as big as you think. (Admissions officers see ED as a way to ensure their matriculation rate and fill sports teams, not as a contest for who loves Brown more.)</p>
<p>On the other hand: If you want to apply to a bunch of top schools just so you can brag about how many Ivies you got into, or because your ego needs the boost of seeing acceptance letters – well, I’ll restrain myself from calling you names, but I generally think that is the wrong approach to college admissions.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses. To be honest, waiting until April to see where I’ve been accepted is not at all an ego booster. I simply know myself. I’m a 17 year old kid whose opinions and preferences will change in 8 months. It won’t occur due to lack of research or some information derived epiphany. I’ve got enough brain power to get through high school but don’t have nearly as much faith in my decision making. I hope that by waiting until my acceptance letters come in (hopefully), the reality of acceptances and rejections will sway my decision. I know that might not make sense to you guys, but trust me, it will change how I think about schools.</p>
<p>I do realize that the higher ED admissions rates are mostly athletic recruits, but I still think that applying ED, as a non-athletic prospect, will give you a better shot. Flatly admitting that you are 100% dedicated to Brown must have advantage over a RD applicant with similar stats. Even if deferred into the regular pool, Student A who applied ED and has demonstrated heavy interest in attending (by applying ED) is likely favored over Student B with about the same numbers. Brown wants kids who want to be there. Obviously, if you apply, you know you’d like to go, but mgsinc’s point on ‘exclusive love’ makes a lot of sense. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help with the ‘Why Brown’ prompt. It made a lot of sense.</p>
<p>And I did mean ‘Je t’aime Brown’. I’m hoping for a higher chance of reciprication if I address Brown as an entity whose favor I need to earn. :)</p>
<p>I would advise against applying ED. I was in this exact same position last year and still am (extremely eagerly!) awaiting Brown’s admission decisions. I decided not to apply ED only because I didn’t like the notion of being bound to something - I knew that I might have higher chances under ED but couldn’t get myself to do it. My interviewer did ask me briefly why I didn’t go ED since I loved it so much, but I answered him simply with “I just didn’t feel comfortable binding myself into such a strong agreement a year in advance.” He took it casually and didn’t seem to really care - otherwise, no one has asked me why I didn’t apply ED. </p>
<p>In the meantime, I just got accepted to Berkeley. I have never felt any desire to go to Berkeley, even though I’ve visited the campus several times and my dad went there. For some reason, though, I feel really excited about it all of a sudden, and I think I might go there even if I get accepted to Brown. I think this goes to show that you really might be happy with another acceptance, even if you love Brown and are dying to go there now. I never thought I would be happy unless I got into Brown, but somehow that all changed just within the past week. The same could happen to you!</p>