Junior at competitive HS
GPA: 4.95 (W) 3.95 (UW)
Courseload: Full IB
SAT: 1340 (yikes, hoping to retry until i get at least a 1400)
EC’s
Founder of org to help kids w/autism and other developmental disorders using pet therapy
Baseball Team Captain
Boy’s State
took part in fully funded selective summer program about latinos/leadership (400 applied, 15 chosen)
Debate org. for hispanics Senior Counselor/ assistant coach
Cross examination debate - won 16th/ 600 in state comp (Best Leader award)
In debate club at my school
Mock Trial (Most compelling witness award) (State qualifiers)
Litmag editor / graphic designer
Founded Chemistry Club @ my school
Went to youth legislative conference, selected to be on president’s cabinet
Student Council
Fellowship of Christian athletes
300+ hrs of community service, hospitals, food bank, ect.
Hooks: URM
single parent household, live in area thats considered underprivileged
(not sure if those are hooks)
Income Bracket: 100k
Essay/Personal Statement: How a sibling with Autism influenced my character
Recs: Chem teacher 8/10, Mock Trial coach 9/10, English teacher 10/10
Just worried if I were to get in ED, I wouldn’t be able to afford it. In this case, would I be able to get out of the agreement or would I be 100% bound?
@piratadeculiacan URM helps but find schools that better match your stats. Ask GC for advice. You can back out of ED only for financial reasons. Do the Net Price Calculator on all the places you apply to make sure they are affordable if you get accepted. Research Benacquisto Scholarship.
@onthewestfence I don’t think it would be productive for him to research benacquisto scholarship when it’s only for national merit finalists and the only part of his application that is a problem is his sat score.
Your ec’s and application looks really good but you should really do whatever you can to get your sat score up. However it isn’t the end of the world. I will say that if money is a problem and it is for most people, the Ivy League may be the only school that is worth paying that money for and I would say go for it. However, if you are middle class it’ll be difficult to pull out of the ED but idk. If you are lower class then you’d probably receive a really good financial aid package at brown (they’re the best at the ivies), and even if you don’t you can pull out with enough bickering.
@tchit87 Florida is generous with financial aid for out of state students regardless of which programs. Harvard and Princeton do not take into account home equity when calculating financial aid, thus possibly being able to offer more generous packages that the other 6 schools in the sports league. @piratadeculiacan
Tchit- Brown is NOT the most generous of the ivies. I think pound for pound, the Princeton formula yields the most generous aid, all things being equal. OP- run the net price calculators for ANY college you are interested in- if you can’t afford what they are telling you that you’re likely to get, do not waste money on an application. There is no financial aid fairy who comes to your house with extra money.
Depending on the circumstances of the single parent household, just one parent’s info may not be enough for the NPC. Eg, divorced or separated can require the other parent’s info, as well. And note OP says the income level is 100k. That’ll raise the EFC and despite living in an underprivileged area, is not, in itself, underprivileged. We don’t know more.
Nor OP’s possible major. He also needs to understand what makes B unique and affects what it looks for.
Am I missing something here? OP states SAT is a 1340 and no SAT II subject test scores are listed. Unless this student is being recruited for baseball, Brown is a super reach. IMO, ED to Brown would be a waste.
Is there a non Custodial parent in the picture? That can affect financial aid, especially if that parent has substantial income/assets.
If not, run your own financials through Brown’s Net Price Calculator and see how much Brown expects for you and your son to pay. If it’s far off from what you can afford , you might want to run the same numbers through other schools’ calculators to see what schools you can afford.
Brown is among the relatively few schools that guarantee to meet full need so that if you don’t do well under their NPC, it’s going to be tough to come up with schools that will meet your need through financial aid. However, Ivy Leafue schools do not give merit money, and he might find some possibilities at schools that do.
If your son applies ED and gets accepted but the financial aid is inadequate, then he will be released from the ED contract. It would be a strong sign that ANY financial aid at schools is not going to do it. That he needs to look at lower cost schools and schools with merit.
His test score is likely going to be the sticking point for highly selective schools. That he is URM gives him a hook , but his SAT score is still lower than what I have seen without accompanying severe hardship or some other hook.
I suggest looking for some schools that you know you can afford , that will certainly take your son to add to his list. He can pull the highly selective schools off of any list of colleges and those are the lottery tickets, but it’s far more difficult to come up with safety schools that suit students. Takes work and not dream material. But those are the most important schools on any college list especially when finances are an issue
I am not a florida resident nor did I qualify for national merit. 
Sorry, thought you were a parent here. But the questions regarding how much parents are willing to pay , NPCs, non Custodial parent still holds.
I used the net price calculator and I can afford it. My dad passed away a long time ago so there’s no non custodial parent
Then you are good to give Brown a go ED. If accepted, you can discuss your financial aid package with them and you’d have a good case of their own NPC is off. They will want to work something out particularly for ED as they want 100% yield for ED. Unless there was something missing on your end such as a family business, stepparent, misstated income/assets. If the bottom line is that you cannot afford Brown with the aid offered, you may be released from the ED contract
Brown is going to be a high reach for you. Make sure you are spending sufficient time researching schools that you know will take you and you can afford. Get those nailed down ASAP, preferably ED or rolling. Those are your staples. The reach schools are the lottery ticket desserts. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring those safety schools.
Yeah I have automatic admission to my state school (UT Austin), and I would be happy to go there.
I know brown is a high reach, but would doing ED help my odds compared to RD. Also if I had better test scores would it be a lot less of a reach?
ED would definitely help as would being a male URM for Brown as their admit rates for males are higher than females. The 25% SAT is 1420 so 1340 doesn’t help for sure, but the bigger concern would be if either of your scores were below 600. good luck!