Testing question..just discovered Brown, rising senior

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>I just returned from a foreign exchange in Germany, which took up my whole junior year. On my return, I realized I needed to seriously choose a few universities to apply…I had been focused on Georgetown, but changed my mind for financial reasons and decided to focus on my state university (U of South Carolina) and their honors program. Well, I happened to stumble upon Brown about a month ago, and it’s just driven me crazy!!! I feel like it is THE place for me. The area is lovely, the school has a strong reputation for my intended major (Intl. Relations), and my heart begins to beat just thinking of the school.</p>

<p>Well, because of my exchange, I’ve had major scheduling conflicts. I had an unwilling host family who would not allow me to take the SAT in Germany, as we lived 2 hours away from a testing center and I’d have to stay overnight alone. Long story…but anyways, I’m stuck now with my SAT from sophomore year, a whopping 1310!! Part of me wishes I had just stayed here and raised my score. I’ve been #1 in my class since 6th grade and was set to take 6 APs. And then, I fell in love with the idea of going on exchange at the beginning of 10th grade year. This hindered me as far as college applications go. I will only manage 2 APs my senior year (but I’ll come out with 6 community college classes, 18 hours, from summer school to make up) and my ranking could go down to #2, but that will depend if my school performance is not as good in classes such as AP English (my English is horrendous, I didn’t speak it much for 10 months). My UW GPA is 4.0, and my W GPA is 4.89.</p>

<p>My SAT is obviously unacceptable for Brown. I am already signed up for the September ACT and the October SAT. I saw Brown requires SAT IIs with the SAT, but is it true that if you take the ACT, the SAT IIs aren’t required? I feel like I misunderstood that. I’m pressed for time, and have no idea how I will do on the SATI, II, or ACT.</p>

<p>My whole school record is just a mess from this exchange. I went to Germany with NO German at all and was placed in an advanced German school with only Germans…obviously, I didn’t learn all that I would if I had been here in the US. Is Brown a school that would look past these flaws in my application and look at the big picture of my exchange?? This was such a great experience and I gained so much from it (independence, the German language, an amazing worldly perspective) but to an Ivy, I don’t know if my numbers, even I break 1400, would even come close to making up…</p>

<p>I guess I definitely stand out…perhaps not in a good way, haha…</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/applyingtobrown/importantdates.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/applyingtobrown/importantdates.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you look at the link, and scroll down, it talks about testing...</p>

<p>"Results from the SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT Subject Tests; or results from the ACT taken with the Writing Test option"</p>

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<p>I'm not positive about this, but I think if you take SATIIs in november, it'll be in time for RD.</p>

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<p>I agree with the previous two posts. The ACT will suffice, and/or you can still take the SAT series. However, your best bet might be to take a visit to Brown, and actually talk to someone in the Admissions office, if that would be possible. Since it's summer, perhaps you could take time to go up there. I would do that sooner rather than later so that you can map out your fall schedule. Brown is a wonderful place in so many ways, not the least of which is that they seem to be focused on helping individual students in this process. I would guess that they can give you good advice. Good luck!</p>

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<p>If you cannot get to Brown for a visit, an email to the admissions office should clear up their testing requirements. This is a common question that they get thousands of times a year.</p>