<p>Well, that’s something, then. Which, as I said, is more than I was basing my conclusion on.</p>
<p>I would guess being a game designer is only a hook if you designed a game that was impressively popular/successful (e.g. one that the adcom or someone the adcom knows has heard of)</p>
<p>“Factors of interest.” Sure. Something to be considered when they put the class together. Among many other things.</p>
<p>In response to the idea that I was giving “contradictory advice”, I think that there is no harm in the OP applying to a reach school. That’s why they are reach schools. When I said OP should be realistic about his chances, I meant that he should not bank on getting into Brown if his GPA is low, and should obviously apply to match and safety schools he would be equally happy at. I don’t think “going for it” while “still being realistic” are contradictory at all, quite frankly. It just describes pretty much all of Ivy League and other top school admissions.</p>
<p>^Whereas my opinion is that if one is truly a zero-chancer, the money is better spent on dinner for the parents or donated to the local women’s shelter.</p>
<p>I am a strong discourager of “just if” applications by students several standard deviations from the admitted student norm. And if the OP and his/her family were to ask me that face to face (like some do at my college fair info sessions), I’d be just as frank.</p>
<p>Exactly! “Sure, take a shot, but don’t count on anything” is appropriate advice for a student who has a shot, but not for one who, to be blunt, hasn’t. And, contrary to what others have said earlier, for all practical purposes, there isn’t always a chance.</p>
<p>the essays are extremely important at brown- are you a strong writer?</p>
<p>Essays don’t get you into a college without the whole picture. They are very important, but so is your ability to meet that school’s academic expectations.</p>
<p>I feel like every child (if they can afford the app fee) should have one true reach school on their list. If Brown is that school for you, I say go for it. Yes, 3.2 is going to be a ridiculously tough sell but you might learn something about yourself in putting together your pitch. I wouldn’t put 5 reach school’s like Brown on your list but if this is your one, and you can afford the fee, then you should. </p>
<p>Brown is my daughter’s “throw away” application. Her stats are in range but she’s hardly the top candidate in a pool like that. Still, she’s enjoying the application and learning a lot about what she wants based on learning about the school itself. It’s helped her define the rest of her list which is filled with much more likely options.</p>
<p>"^Whereas my opinion is that if one is truly a zero-chancer, the money is better spent on dinner for the parents or donated to the local women’s shelter."</p>
<p>Who the hell are you to say he wont get accepted? Unless your an Admissions Officer don’t judge him based only on his stats and ECs. Jeez the people on this site telling you if you will get in or not just don’t listen to them. Everyone on here is either trolling about their stats or here to make other students feel bad. I doubt people on here have 4.0 with 5 AP classes and 10+ Extra Curriculars. SWIM got into Yale with like 3 clubs and a 3.8 GPA and that was only a few years ago. </p>
<p>"Brown is my daughter’s “throw away” application. Her stats are in range but she’s hardly the top candidate in a pool like that. Still, she’s enjoying the application and learning a lot about what she wants based on learning about the school itself. It’s helped her define the rest of her list which is filled with much more likely options. "</p>
<p>Again how do you know this. Do you work for the Brown admissions office? </p>
<p>"I am a strong discourager of “just if” applications by students several standard deviations from the admitted student norm. And if the OP and his/her family were to ask me that face to face (like some do at my college fair info sessions), I’d be just as frank. "</p>
<p>Thats not your choice its the OPs choice. It sounds like you just want less people applying. </p>
<p>“C’mon. That is a video of 3 freshmen sharing what they wrote about and some tips. It is peer to peer advice. Living in another country is not a hook. Nor is an interesting essay about that. Hooks are generally URM, legacy, athlete; sometimes a long record of fat donations or being from an under-represented state. The kid who lived in Belgium made his experience interesting and relevant. None described gpa or stats, just approach.”</p>
<p>I said he made it interesting which made it a hook. He basically said it pushed his admission. You can’t have a single definition for a hook unless your the admissions officer. A hook is what you make of it. If being disabled is interesting and makes you stand out by fighting against it use it. Stop having single definitions for hooks you sound very close minded (like most Junior/Seniors with fake stats are).</p>
<p>“By that definition, being a grifter, a stripper or a cannibal could be a hook. But none of them should be grounds for admission to a selective university or college.”</p>
<p>Are you serious? You obviously know what I meant and you are just twisting words.</p>
<p>" Colleges need linebackers and they need weathy donors, so being a recruited athlete or coming from a family that can (and would) make an eight-digit donation is a real hook. "</p>
<p>“But I don’t for one instant believe that having lived abroad confers anything like that kind of a leg up in admissions–especially not at highly selective institutions.”
^^Again how the hell do you know unless your an admissions officer. It changes every year and sometimes they want a kid who lived abroad. Unless you work for Yale/Brown do not tell me I am wrong because you have the same amount of knowledge of the Admissions Office as everyone else on this board, so stop saying my opinion is wrong. You sound closed minded (Another reason most people leave College Confidential).</p>
<p>Please look on Urban Dictionary, its almost as if your sentences were copied and pasted to the examples of the definitions. Oh and don’t try to correct my grammar, my keyboard sucks (Judging someone on typing on a keyboard, another reason CC has bad rep).</p>
<p>Before you say the stats of most accepted students are high that does not mean you NEED high stats to be accepted. 5 SWIMs got accepted to HYPMS and Vassar and Bates with 3.2 GPAs a year ago. The fact that you think you can chance someone and tell them they wont get in because you have a higher GPA and more clubs than them sounds closed minded. None of you work for the admissions office, neither do I, but if someone was passionate about living in another country and explains it than I am sure it could be considered a hook.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that you are sure, grover, but no confidence that your certainty makes it so.</p>
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<p>I’m just a person like you – with a different opinion than you, grover. The OP asked a question and I offered my opinion – just like you’re offering yours. Based upon that rationale, the OP is welcome to heed yours or mine. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. I have my Ivy degree and my kid won’t be applying to Brown.</p>
<p>The OP asked a question and i directed him/her to spend the money on a good night out. IMHO, I think given the person’s self-admitted unspectacular GPA, there are probably 50 people IN HIS/HER OWN HIGH SCHOOL with better academic achievement. In the context of the crazy competitive Brown pool, to argue otherwise is a head shaker.</p>
<p>Grover12, I’m sorry this is so upsetting to you. We are considering Brown as a “throw-away” application because it’s emotionally easier to see it as that. My daughter loves this school. She’s going to send in the best application she can. But, she’s practical and we encourage her to be that way. If she puts all her dreams on this one school that is SO hard to get into, then she won’t give any other, more likely school, a real chance. </p>
<p>People are different. It might be in YOUR best interest to go into this sort of situation with total confidence. It’s not in our daughter’s best interest. </p>
<p>Like I said in the rest of the message I posted, I’m all for kids taking a chance. We all should throw ourselves out there once in awhile. I’m also for having a practical, more realistic attitude about it too.</p>
<p>A 16 year old cannot possibly know.
Preposterous and pretentious. Some people have been trying to figure all this our for a long time. And, some of us are engaged, one way or another-</p>