<p>I got a letter in the mail today from Ruth J. Simmons, Brown’s president. It opens by her talking about how she’s the first African American president of an Ivy League school. And then it goes on to talk about diversity. It mentions the word “diversity” about ten times, in fact. And it says how Brown wishes to attract the most “diverse” student body, racially, culturally, etc.</p>
<p>I’m a URM (Latino, to be specific). Is this part of a diversity recruitment program? I wasn’t aware that Ivies had those.</p>
<p>I got one too, and I’m Puerto Rican. Maybe it’s just one of those, “Oooh look what we have to offer you!” things you get if you’re on their mailing list? I’m being considered for NHRP and NM so maybe they pulled my info from that program? <em>shrugs</em></p>
<p>^Oooh, Puerto Rican. I’m Venezuelan, lol. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean, it was probably PSAT scores + my ethnicity that I put on the PSAT. Still though, I was curious as to whether it was an indicator that my chances were good. But I highly doubt it is, looking back now. Lol. Oh well!</p>
<p>But I’m only a junior! Lol. I took the PSAT last year, as a sophomore, and got a 211. So I guess that was why. I’ll probably make NMF this year; the cutoff in my state was around 207 last year, I believe.</p>
<p>Top colleges use many, many recruitment and marketing tools. It says that you’ve matched some broad parameters for the target audience. In no way, does it correlate with your final chances of being admitted or not. It is marketing: don’t forget that. Best of luck to you</p>
<p>Make no mistake about it - being a URM can be a big leg up as far as admissions is concerned. If ethnicity can be genuinely worked into compelling essays, you might be pleasantly surprised where you end up.</p>