Should I ED to Brown University?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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1

Hi everyone! I am currently a Junior and I am thinking about applying ED to Brown University but I have some doubts and want some advice!

some insight on me: I will be pre-law & concentrating in political science and education (their open curriculum would be perfect to study the two and combine them in a way)

Here are my stats:

-GPA: 4.3 weighted as of now
-I have not taken the ACT yet but I will in February (predicted to be around a 32)
-All the APs taken (including senior year): AP European History, APUSH, AP English Language, AP Spanish Language, AP Gov, AP Microeconomics, AP Environmental Science, & other honors classes

ECS:
-Founder of a student organization focused on empowering and educating young women interested in politics
-National Honors Society
-National Project Director for a National Activist Society
-My school’s Model UN logistics officer
-Apart of my town’s philanthropy program where I created my own service project
-Tutor for middle schoolers
-internship with my local congressman
-political researcher for my county’s democratic party

Why I want to ED to Brown:
-I love the location
-I like the campus/school vibe
-I am VERY interested in the open curriculum (I would look to also study educational studies and anthropology along with poli sci)
-They have a good emphasis on undergrads doing research which I am interested in doing
-I have interviewed a political science professor from Brown & she got me very interested in the classes/program
-I would like to participate in their work-study program
-it’s Brown

Why I have my doubts:
Honestly, the only doubt I have is cost. Brown is very expensive and being pre-law would mean having the burden of my undergrad debt. My mom is a single mother with three children and makes around 200k (I also live in a very high cost of living area), with this income I would have to pay a significant amount of money each year. I fear if I do get in ED it would be a great financial burden to my mom…any thoughts? Thank you!

2

This looks like you’re asking two separate things here: what are my chances and if I get in ED, can we afford it?

  • What are my chances? Your numbers look great. You seem to be involved in relevant activities related to your academic interests. The biggest question remaining is how are your personal traits as interpreted through your essays? Brown has a slew of supplemental questions that you’re already thinking about (e.g. they have a question about their Open Curriculum that you’ll need to be as specific as possible). I would strategize and outline how you plan on addressing each question, optimizing based on everything you want the admissions readers to know about you. Then we can evaluate how compelling are your approaches to each.

  • Financial Aid after ED? There should be ED policy on Brown’s website about this. Typically, when you get admitted ED, schools should send a financial aid offer. If you can’t afford to attend, then you wouldn’t be bound to attend. I would double-check the ED policy with your counselor if you got admitted before you decide to apply to other schools.

3

Like @prolic says, you definitely have in-range stats and ECs (though there are no guarantees). However, I would strongly not recommend applying ED if you cannot afford Brown: apply non-binding EA elsewhere.

Have you tried running the FA calculators? Though they aren’t guarantees, they’re the best estimate of FA you’re going to get from Brown.