<p>How highly does Brown value ethnic diversity, and to what extent is it used as weighing mechanism in the admission process?</p>
<p>I’m Black by the way. I don’t expect my URM status to get me into Brown, I just want to know how much of a factor it is, seeing as how Brown is known for it’s holistic review of students. Thanks</p>
<p>It’s a factor in that Brown and other top colleges want great students. Of course it’s not a free pass. You’ll be compared w/other black students. You’ll vie for a limited # of spots. If you don’t get in, others whom Brown deemed more desirable than you will have knocked you out. If you do get in, then you will have pushed out another black student whom Brown deemed less desirable than you. </p>
<p>Cold but true.</p>
<p>How much a factor? If not that many top quality black students apply to Brown, the competition is less. That’s the arithmetic of it all.</p>
<p>So I’m compared to other black students? Not the general population?</p>
<p>At very selective schools, generally yes. Just like the track star applicants will be compared with other track stars. Just like the music prodigies will be compared with other music prodigies. </p>
<p>At the bottom third of this essay, the writer discusses “category admissions”</p>
<p>[Reed</a> College Realities vs. Myths](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>
<p>Woah. T26E4 makes it sound like there is a quota, and that is NOT my understanding. It’s not like Brown says we accept 1000 black students a year and you’re competing to be in that group.</p>
<p>I don’t think you are compared to other black students. There are many variables in the equation. But I do not think that all the black student files are reviewed in one day and compared to each other. I don’t think Brown says, “let’s take this black kid over that one.”</p>
<p>To answer your question, Brown values diversity extremely highly. All types of diversity: ethnicity, geographic, socio-economic, rural vs. urban, political affiliation, first-generation college vs. legacy, etc., etc.</p>
<p>
Despite protestations to the contrary, this is precisely what I’m implying. Each year, schools like Brown have soft goals – that can shift one way or the other. But if one objectively looks at poplulation trends in the admitted freshman classes, patterns are easily seen. Coincidence? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>I recruit for another Ivy from my alma mater school district – predominantly African American. This last cycle, we had ONE admit. Odds are rough…</p>