Liberal Education At Brown

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>Hey, I’m a junior in HS, just got a letter from Brown asking me to consider them, yes i know it doesn’t mean anything but still. I have a question about their curriculum. Is it possible for me to create my own major, ie. i want to major in leadership so can I just get it approved by the office and BAM, have it on my diploma? Yes i know its kind of a stupid question to ask but ive never really looking into brown in much depth because it is almost impossible to get in from NY. </p>

<p>Also, does being Indian help at brown considering its not as quant as the other ivy’s, thus having less south-asian applicants? Also how much weight would a hook of living on 4 continents hold at brown? more than any other college? Once again, I know its pretty much a stupid question but I just had to ask considering brown’s stress on global issues. </p>

<p>thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>never really looked at brown* </p>

<p>sry typo</p>

3

<p>You can definitely design your own concentration. I know someone who concentrated in "Love." You just need to find an adviser, design the concentration, and fill out some paperwork. </p>

<p>No idea about your chances, but it seems like tons of people here are from NY.</p>

4

<p>yes unfortunately living in NY makes it very discouraging to apply ED to brown, due to non-super-stellar grades and EC's. I should just move across the street into greenwich, ct and apply..haha </p>

<p>thanks for your input.</p>

5

<p>being indian will not give you an advantage in admissions. Only underrepresented minorities (hispanic, african-american, native american) get the affirmative action advantage. If you are indian, chinese, japanese, or korean, you are not an underrepresented minority. Sorry.</p>

6

<p>Rabo, designing your own concentration is not as easy as you make it sound. it's actually more difficult than concentrating in something that already is established because you have to design it, justify it by demonstrating its rigor and prooving that existing concentrations won't meet your needs, and then get it approved by a formal process.</p>

<p>axman, if you want to concentrate in "leadership" you'd have to make an academic study of it--which is completely different from being explicitly trained as a leader (just FYI)</p>

7

<p>^^^Ok, yeah, so that paperwork was oversimplified...but it is a feasible option. I didn't get the impression that, if you actually had good reasons, there was a lot of red tape.</p>

8

<p>Yes, you could potentially major in "leadership" but as dcircle says, it's a lot harder than just thinking it up and then putting it on your diploma. You'd have to convince the administration that majors like COE (Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship), Politial Science, Public Policy, International Relations, Psychology, and Sociology don't meet your needs.</p>

<p>Living on 4 continents is pretty neat, but being Indian and from New York won't help much.</p>

9

<p>Thanks, i actually visited brown today and had a long chat with one of the members of the admissions comittee. I absolutely love the school and it could possibly replace dartmouth as my #1 school (im hs class of '07). I figured maybe I could get some of your opinions by posting some of my stats to see if you guys think I have even a shot, or whether I'm just thinking unrealistically. I understand that I have not taken any of hte collegeboard exams (AP's only offered this year and next, and SAT I's are in april, SAT 2's (math 2c, american hist in may, and physics in either june or october), but since brown, at least from my understanding is not very quantified when considering applications at least i could find out if im on the right track w/ my scores that im aiming for based on practice exams.</p>

<p>Note: We have no honors courses at my school, we're only 320 students in the HS. I would say we're about 95% white and >50% jewish.</p>

<p>8th grade (2 HS courses): 3.85</p>

<p>Math 1 Accel
Spanish 1</p>

<p>9th Grade: 3.9something</p>

<p>Earth Science
Gym
Math 2 Accel
Global History 1
Photography 1
Health 1
Spanish 2
Creative Writing
English 9</p>

<p>10th Grade:3.74</p>

<p>Spanish 3
Gym
Composition
Math 3 Accel
English 10
Health 2
Global Hist 2
Biology
Science Research</p>

<p>11th Grade: Overall will be about a 3.85 uw </p>

<p>AP USH
Gym
Physics (I skipped chem, took it at the johns hopkins center for talented youth over the summer)
Math 4 Accel
AP English Lit
AP Statistics
TV/Film
Spanish 4
Science Research</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:</p>

<p>AP Macro Economics
AP Physics B (No C available)
AP Calc AB (No BC available)
AP English Language
Spanish 5
LAB - some sort of engineering elective, its new
Gym
College Accounting
Science Research</p>

<p>..final schedules are given out in may, where i will most likely add in other courses, but no more ap's. we have 9 periods a day and science research after sophmore year is out-of-school</p>

<p>This is probably the second most rigorous courseload at my school. There is one other student who is in 4 ap's; ap macro, ap ush, ap calc ab, and ap english lit, but he skipped a year of math at jhu. In terms of APs, there are only about 5 or 6 of us taking 3 ap's in the grade (95 kids) junior year.</p>

<p>EC's/Hooks: Lived on 4 continents, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, attended Johns Hopkins CTY program for three years, attended a People To People Ambassador Program, VP of Investment (P next year), Peer Tutor (Tutor 2 HS students, both in bio and one in global history. I also tutor 1 7th grader in math and science), Math Team, Model UN, BBTV (school TV channel, im the head producer of our main show), Junior State of America (I'll most prob be secretary next year, judging from the support others are giving me to run), Chess Club, Habitat for Humanity, co-headed a fund raiser freshman year to raise $18,000 for 2 charities in India and Pakistan ($15 G and 3 G respectively), Starting a publication to raise global awareness in the homoegenius community I live in. I am working with UNICEF to try and raise money to support those in need, Badger Swimming (famous team, but I'm no hotshot), Fed Challenge.</p>

<p>Recs: Probably from my AP USH and AP English Lit Teacher/ (AP) Physics and Science Research -- both will be really good, and show my diversity subjectwise
Essay: I've done some thinking, definitely going to involve my extensive travels
Fin Aid: Don't need aid, and I'm a citizen of the United Kingdom so my need for no aid is clear to the admissions comittee member reading my app.</p>

<p>Major: Read in my first post. </p>

<p>SAT predictiosn based on current practice scores:</p>

<p>760-800 M 740 CR 770 W
PSAT: 67 M 67 CR 71 W (I didnt prepare). I'm pretty sure its good enough for commendation</p>

<p>yeah, so tell me what you can, i understand my current stats arent teh usual CC stats and also dont have that much in terms of standarized testing scores. I also have a newfound passion for english and history and am losing my previous 'asian quant' mindset, hopefully that might set me apart from the rest of the asian applicants? </p>

<p>thanks again.</p>

10

<p>bump action?</p>

11

<p>Which countries did you live in?</p>

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<p>dubai, bahrain, nairobi, london and now new york. </p>

<p>do a lot of ppl have this trait? can it be considered a hook?</p>

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<p>I don't know. I think it depends. Why did you live in these countries? Did you attent American/international schools? Did you actually receive a legitimate amount from the experiences? Can you speak other languages?</p>

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<p>my dad's job is responsible for our moving a lot</p>

<p>I am using my multi-cultural experiences to help provide a base for my publication, which i predict should foster aroudn $10,000.00 by november. </p>

<p>I speak hindi, but i cannot write. I know bits and pieces of arabic and swahili, but i cannot speak them fluently, as i havent spoken them in about five years. </p>

<p>i have picked up traditions from all of these places, and the other dozen or so countries which i have visited, and incorporate that into my personality. my entire family, in effect, has done this. ie. in the house we dont wear shoes, we only eat in the kitchen, we never show anybody the soles of our feet, we never step on books, etc. </p>

<p>i attended british schools until kingergarden, where i switched into the american system (international schools). but international schools abroad are very differnt, people only expect to stay in the school for more than three or four years. people from all over hte world attend these schools, esp in nairobi which hosts hte second largest United Nations base. as a result many people's parents worked for the UN and various embassies.</p>

<p>i hope to discuss how ive blended these cultures together and the barriers i had to overcome when moving into the different societies in my essay. i havent decided yet but most probably either on the culture clash between the middle east and the US socially, or the social change when moving here b/c everybody here has grown up with each other and arent very welcoming to strangers, well at least inititially. </p>

<p>i hope that answers your question.</p>

15

<p>people dont expect to stay in the same school for more than three or four years. *</p>

<p>just for clarification of the last sentece: YES i do have friends, haha. its just that it wasnt as easy making them as in previous schools. but now im happy here - if you care ..haha</p>

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<p>I'm just wondering because I've done a lot of traveling and volunteering around third world countries over the past year, and my good friend used to live in Indonesia and attended an international school there, and I've found that a lot of the kids were very removed from the life of the natives of that country. I have met a lot of kids who have attended international schools and most of them were from very wealthy families with fathers acting as representatives for major corporations/more industrialized countries. They were extremely removed and sheltered from the circumstances in the countries they were inhabiting. They rarely spoke the language and most of their friends were similar wealthy kids who spoke to each other in English or French. I know that not all international schoolers were this way, however, and I hope that your experiences were different. Good luck!</p>

17

<p>yeah, i would say i was seperated from 'true' society while living in nairobi but this was only b/c it is one of the most dangerous places in the world, so it is not okay to go out and walk around, etc. but, i did visit the outskirts and various parts of the countryside to get a holisitic idea of the culture, etc. as a boyscout, we did a lot camping and first-and interaction with the native tribes and such. but, i never ever vetnured into the city (nairobi) itself; aka its a deathwish. but everhwere else i dont feel as though iw as in a seperate class; i made interactions with everyone.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I hear they call it Nairobbery. I've been traveling alone, and as an 18 year old female I was definitely warned against going to Nairobi when I expressed an interest in Kenya. Ehhh.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
we never step on books, etc

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That happens all the time if you don't try to avoid it. I can't imagine going a day without stepping on books. It's as American as apple pie.</p>

<p>In jest (If you get all P.C. on me then I shall rant that 'this is the reason i didn't go to brown),</p>

<p>:-D</p>

20

<p>I'm a bit confused with your intent to major in leadership. What exactly do you mean? What courses do you plan to take, and what career do you plan to pursue?</p>