<p>So I’ve been debating on whether to apply to Brown or not. Honestly, I probably don’t have the stats and ecs for acceptance. Since I don’t know much about Brown, could you tell me what you think the average prospective freshman has on his/her app? Not 2400 SAT 36 ACT, 5.0 W… just the average, normal applicant. After compiling all your knowledge after the many Brown threads, what is your honest opinion?</p>
<p>It's unimportant. If you don't know much about Brown then you probably shouldn't apply.</p>
<p>Only apply places you're pretty sure you'd love to be.</p>
<p>yeah, i'm applying anyway. thanks for the useless comment.</p>
<p>It's unimportant. There is no such thing as an average student. Every application is read individually and judged individually on its merits. There are as many exceptions as there are rules and any one applicant can be accepted for any one of a million reasons that are not summed up in an average GPA or SAT. Everyone applying has relatively good scores-- its what differentiates an individual that determines if they get in our not.</p>
<p>And you shouldn't apply anywhere that you don't know much about.</p>
<p>I plan to apply and see where it gets me. </p>
<p>No need for back-and-forth posts.</p>
<p>Well if you want to see the stats of the accepted students from here, check out the Official ED results thread. It will give you an idea of some of the student who got rejected/deferred/accepted, but I think that modestmelody is right. If you don't know much about a school, you shouldn't apply in the first place.</p>
<p>thanks. yeah, i realize where you guys are coming from, but I just wanted to check out my chances. Like I said, I'm still applying and again I'll see how it goes.</p>
<p>we can't evaluate your chances because 1. you haven't given us any information, 2. we won't be reading your essays and your recommendations and so many other key parts of the application, and 3. we don't actually make the decisions. </p>
<p>i do recommend applying even if you don't know that much about a school. i ended up attending a school i knew little about for a year. it's 50 bucks compared to upwards to 200k</p>
<p>This is where Rachel and I always disagree.</p>
<p>My attitude is that you should find a few schools which are aligned with what it is you're looking for out of college and focus on learning about them and make an informed choice after you get in places. I think that with the huge assortments of universities there are often multiple places that would work well for any particular student. You should find a few that you'd be completely happy with if you only got into that single place and nowhere else and apply to those places.</p>
<p>I just think it's too hard to truly research and manage 14 applications to 14 different places with disparate focuses and I'm not convinced that we change so much as people in the 4 months from application to acceptance in senior year of high school that the appropriate environment for college changes.</p>
<p>Identifying where you want to be and how you want to experience college should be the goal, and then you should learn about 4-6 places that can provide you with that environment and go from there. It's hard to figure out what it is you're seeking from school as a senior in high school, and you may get to college and desire something totally different.</p>
<p>I think that's what gap years and transferring is all about-- finding, or adjusting the environment you're in because of uncertainty about where you want to be (in terms of total-environment). There's nothing wrong with either.</p>
<p>But I just don't feel that shooting a lot of rounds in the general direction of the target and then figuring out how you did a few months later works well with college admissions.</p>
<p>Many disagree, it's just my personal feeling on approach.</p>
<p>@ A91: Why would you post a thread asking a question, get some replies addressing your question, and reply to each of them saying that you don't want any advice?! >:[ Seems kinda tactless. </p>
<p>I agree with modestmelody in that when applying to schools, one shouldn't just throw out applications all over the place. Nothing frustrates me more than the people on CC who post threads like, "Which is better, HP or Y? I want to apply to one of them but I don't know which one!!!" I mean, the whole college application process is about finding "fits" -- finding schools that YOU, PERSONALLY, would be happy at. There's nothing wrong with posting "Which school is better for [Major X], [School X] or [School Y]?" Also, A91, there's nothing wrong with posting a thread if you are genuinely unsure as to whether or not it would be worth your time and effort to apply to a certain school -- although this is quite naive, because if you paid enough attention to this process, you would know that virtually anyone has "a chance" and that if you really want to go to a school and don't have a 1.0 GPA, you might as well give it a shot. </p>
<p>Also, A91, even though you don't want anyone's opinion (:rolleyes:), I'll give you mine just to spite you: based on my observations of this board (see <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/484147-official-2008-regular-decision-results-thread.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/484147-official-2008-regular-decision-results-thread.html</a>), Brown seems far less numbers-oriented than most other schools of its caliber. Every school claims that admissions is a "holistic process," and Brown really seems to demonstrate this. Therefore, even if your numbers are "average" (which on CC probably means that you're outstanding), if you prove yourself an interesting, passionate person who would thrive in the Brown environment, of course you've got a shot! </p>
<p>
Although I agree with your outlook in general, I'm applying to nine different schools. Each of them has an environment in which I could see myself, and each has a great program in the field that I'm interested in. I mean, with admissions so competitive this year, I wouldn't be comfortable not applying to a large number of schools. :/</p>
<p>My general approach was 4 schools, all accomplishing the same goals somewhat differently-- one large, two small liberal arts, one medium technical. 1 super safety, 2 that I was fairly confident I'd get into with at least half scholarship, and one that anyone in their right mind would consider a reach that was my clear top choice.</p>
<p>In general, I think this approach works really well. There are actually a few schools I wish I had known more about now that may have been better for me to apply to instead of the three I applied to instead of Brown. The thing is, I'm confident that had I not gone to Brown and went elsewhere, the list of schools I wish I knew about would be different and changed based upon the environment I ended up in and what my experiences, positive and negative, were there.</p>
<p>So in short, apply where you know. I think you're more likely to get in when you truly care about a place and more likely to go if they accept you. It simplifies your choices in the 30 days you get from March 30th until May 1st to make final decisions and if you play it out right, you'll be happy no matter the results.</p>
<p>I suppose part of the problem for me is identifying safeties/matches. Schools that I would consider "matches" for me based on statistics are, simultaneously, schools from which I could easily be rejected due to their competitiveness. Maybe I'm just too uninformed to be able to accurately assess my chances at schools -- but I think that given the competitive climate, it's difficult for ANYONE to comfortably identify safeties/matches/reaches. :/</p>
<p>edit: Or maybe I'm just flattering myself by considering such competitive schools "matches," lol -- but aren't these judgments supposed to be made based on the numbers? :[ fkldjslkg</p>
<p>then you need to learn not the statistics of the entering class, but the statistics related to competitiveness. You may have the same statistics as an average matriculator to brown but that by no means makes it a match due to the uncertainty of college admissions.</p>
<p>here's my strategy in picking schools to which to apply </p>
<p>identify all the characteristics you want in the school and apply to up to 10 that fit that. don't apply to schools that are all over the map in their qualities (i.e. 1000 students and 30,000 students). pick what you want and find it prestige aside. pick 2 solid safeties that aren't just state u</p>
<p>
So you mean that I should judge my matches based on acceptance rates? Like, a school with an acceptance rate of 40% == a match? Fair enough. </p>
<p>
That's exactly what I did! But I still have NO IDEA what most of my schools are in terms of my chances. I know that I have one safety (a state school that I love) and two low matches (my parents' schools)... but of the rest, I have no idea what any of them are. o__O They're all either "high matches" or "reaches." </p>
<p>I mean, I have nine schools that I love, so I'm fine. I just... I dunno, it's intimidating to think that I have NO IDEA whether I'll be accepted to six of the nine. :/ I guess I'm just a typical CC jerk, applying to a bunch of highly-rated schools in the hopes of getting into one or two. But... it's not BECAUSE of their prestige that I'm applying; it's because they really appeal to me.</p>
<p>acceptance rate AND self-selectivity. For instance, JHU has an acceptance rate i believe in the 20's but is still very selective because it's applicant pool is <i>self selective</i> meaning more qualified people tend to apply in smaller quantities. </p>
<p>there are a few general rules you can follow. any ivy, except for cornell, which in some cases can be a match, is a reach. Same with S and M, AWS, Caltech, and others. </p>
<p>we cant' help you figure out the distribution of safety/match/reach without seeing your stats, and even that is limited without your essay. if you post your stats, or pm them to me, along with a list of schools, and an affinity for run on sentences, i can briefly look it over. also a key person to talk to on this issue is your guidance counselor or a college counselor if your school has it, or a professional if you are so inclined.</p>
<p>i just wanted an average evaluation and you guys blow this thing out of proportion. just don't comment if you can't answer my question correctly. i just don't want to write an entire entry with all my scores, community service, and other sorts of achievement because I don't want to give out too much information. this is college confidential, so i don't want to become all defensive on a "asking for help" website, so let's just stop commenting on this post. alright, thanks.</p>
<p>Er, wasn't the purpose of this thread to ask a question?
So uh, if you weren't looking for people to answer your question, why did you post the thread?</p>
<p>Whatever. I'll stop replying. Best of luck to you in your endeavors.</p>
<p>Most competitive 1-3 students (not necessarily by rank) in a 300 person class at a very strong high school are competitive for admissions at Brown.</p>
<p>Adjust the numbers as necessary.</p>
<p>Yeah, I realize the purpose of my thread, but since I wasn't getting anywhere, not worth it anymore.</p>
<p>Also, Poseur, when I said 'honest opinion', I didn't mean for you guys to say what you thought of my question, but to actually answer my question. Someone already answered it for me so, like you said, whatever.</p>