Decision: Accepted
Objecttive:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): Superscore: English 35 Math 35 Reading 29 Science 34 Composite 33
SAT II:Math level 2: 800 Physics: 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1/77
AP (place score in parenthesis):Calculus AB, Calculus C (semester course) Both Online, None offered at school
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus C, Band, Cultures 1 and 2, Orchestra, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Genocide and Holocaust studies, Social Concerns
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): State finalist (math)WYSE academic challenge competition (advanced again this year with 1st overall at sectionals)
T-2nd physics regionals
IHSA solo and ensemble best of the day award tuba solo
semper fidelis award for musical excellence
other smaller things
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):Band: all grade levels, Tuba section leader
Orchestra:all 4, Cello section leader
Jazz band: all 4 years, Trombone section leader
Scholastic bowl: Captain 2 years
Politics club founder: 2 years
other more minor things
Job/Work Experience:Parents restaurant 6 hours a week since 2011 (not paid)
Volunteer/Community Service: tutoring after school ~3 hours/wk
Summer Experience: nothing major enough to type
Essays (rating 1-10, details):Common App- About Weight loss, overarching theme of the immorality of allowing my situation as I’m such a large influence to so many including my younger sister who has also lost weight with my assistance, I liked it a lot,
What field- Talked about what makes math great, (I liked all my essays)
Why Brown- Talked more broadly about why the people of brown are it’s best asset, not the open curriculum ( which I still praised, but wasn’t the focus) Very good
Where lived- I took a very literal view of this, I just told them about my 7 moves over my lifetime, but also talked about my summer trips to Syria to see family each year before the civil war and how that may be my most consistent home
Something interesting you’ve learned: talked about the sequence of the sum of the natural numbers 1+2+3+4… and cool things about it. the whole -1/12 deal, how that can be interpreted with things like the Madelbrot set and Cesaro summation, good stuff
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1:Can’t really rate it but I liked it a lot
Teacher Recommendation #2:not as good but still great (keep in mind i don’t really know how to rate these)
Counselor Rec:excellent
Additional Info/Rec:teacher from 6th grade, thought it would provide some different context, didn’t see though
Art Supplement: I really should have submitted a music supplement, it would have helped my app
Interview:It was really good, great conversations, prevailed through unexpected questions, young guy, recent graduate, he seemed to understand me near fully
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?:Affirmative
Intended Major:Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant):IL
Country (if international applicant):USA
School Type:Public, small, rural, cornfield territory
Ethnicity:Arab, Middle eastern
Gender:MALE
Income Bracket:30-35k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):First generation college student, rigor initiative in poor school, low opportunities in general and I’ve done well
Reflection
Strengths:Pursuit of academic rigor in poor school, good accomplishments in context, connection with what made Brown great and how I would fit in and how I understood their community of minds and valued it greatly, Interview was quite good.
Weaknesses:I wish I submitted a music supplement, I could have pursued more academic rigor, started math clubs/ teams, inspired more change, (not scores)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was a strong applicant, I showed that I could handle the work at brown and that I understood what made brown important and why I made sense at brown, brown seemed to agree, this is the main goal of your application, prove that you are academically qualified and then convince brown that you understand how you fit with them, how you can mutually benefit from a relationship
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Brown, Grinnell, URochester, UIUC
Waitlist: Carleton, Case Western, UChicago,
Rejected: Princeton, MIT, WashU
General Comments : If anyone has any extended questions I’m happy to answer just personal message me or respond to this post
I’m really happy. It’s great to get such a large opportunity to succeed. I almost fear that with this huge opportunity that I will abandon my pushing of the envelope, this I’ve made my goal, to strive for only the best even when my peers are the best
Some advice for prospects: It’s really hard to get in, really hard, you have to be very good, the word “crapshoot” I think is flawed, In building a balanced class, sometimes weird things happen, Why was I waitlisted at Case but admitted to Brown in RD (no ED 19% acceptance rates)? Well, It can be easy to dismiss and provide an easy crapshoot explanation, but that’s just an crutch for those who don’t understand the process (almost noone understands the process to be honest). This process has a lot of variables and to be honest I probably don’t have 20% of the reasoning of why I got in, I don’t think most admitted students or rejected students do. I’d just give it your best shot, and that means your best shot, not the shot that is a little bit worse than your best shot but you shot it because its about good enough to give you a chance at brown, but go for your best, if you do that you can have no regrets ( I know, hard thing to do, to shoot a “best shot”) Apply to lots of places because honestly you’ll probably be rejected, and I mean nothing ill in that statement, just a fair evaluation of the admissions process I think.
For Rejected Students: I lot of the same justification applies. If you shot your best shot, you gotta keep shooting it and see how far it takes you. If you didn’t, i cant sit here and tell you that it was all a crapshoot and that it was “no” judgement of you, In the end it was to some degree a judgment of you, assuming we are talking about you as a compilation of your accomplishments, intellectual prowess, and other things brown evaluates ( if we’re talking about some sort of intrinsic property of all humans, than yes, you are no less of a person for being rejected by Brown) I see it this way, the best thing to do is to take responsibility for this and try to hit it harder next go, you know “mission failed, we’ll get 'em next time” do that.
To admitted students: Don’t take your foot of the gas, continue to pursue your goals to the fullest degree, great job so far
! CC has helped me so much, and I would love to pay it forward.