What are my chances for Brown?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>Hey everyone, I’m new at CC, how’s it goin’?</p>

<p>I’m a junior in HS, not sure where I wanna go yet but I’m kinda torn between Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown (of the ivies, I know other colleges do exist…) What are my chances for Brown based on my stuff so far? I’m kind of intimidated by it since I know one of the most intelligent people at my school was deffered.</p>

<p>GPA: Around 3.9 (not sure about the weighted, it’s weird at my HS)
SATs: not yet, really good PSATs though, 98th percentile
Higher Classes (including next year): AP US History, AP Bio, AP English, Western Civ (college course), 4 years and honors French, 2 years of honors english and 1 of history (not including APs), honors Chemistry, honors Calculus
All grades B+ to A (except chem…shiver), top 10% of my class
4 years of Band and 1 of Music Theory
Possible majors: History, minor in music, writing or english, political science</p>

<p>Extracurriculars and leadership:
1st President of French National HS
Student Council Executive
Drum Major of pep and new marching band
Lead trumpet in concert, jazz, and pep bands
Editor of literary magazine
A founding member of the journalism club
Varsity Tennis
Academic Bowl
3 years of Science League
Member of Pass-It-Along (service group)</p>

<p>Honors:
1st Governor’s School Nominee for Jazz of my school
Attending American Legion Boys State this summer
Nominated for National Leadership Convention in DC
Nominated for Honors Band Abroad
Member of French and National Honor Societies</p>

<p>And I’m planning on doing a lot more community service this year and summer.</p>

<p>What do you think? Any suggestions for something I’m missing would be appreciated. I took mostly CP classes in freshman year and worked my way up, I hope that’s not a negative thing. Although I probably won’t major in it, music is a huge part of my life, and I’m really into the whole jazz scene. How would I fit in at Brown? Thanks for looking!</p>

<p>-Adam</p>

2

<p>Your grades are fine, but you need a focus. What extracurriculars have you devoted the most time to?</p>

3

<p>Definately the bands, jazz band in particular. I think I'm pretty focused in my political-oriented leadership positions, literary groups, and music activities in terms of demonstrating my passions, but how exactly do you mean "focused"?</p>

4

<p>What I mean by focused:</p>

<p>If someone asked you, "What are your hobbies/interests?", what are the first two things that come to your mind?</p>

5

<p>Music and creative, especially non-fictional writing.</p>

6

<p>I agree with soccart -
I think Brown, perhaps because of it's open curriculum, likes to see students who know what they want to do with their lives already. I have no real knowledge of this, it's just a mom's observation considering those I know who have and have not been successful at getting into Brown. Broad interests, brilliance, creativity and liberal politics, even with top scores and lots of ECs don't seem to be enough. What do you think you'll major in and what will you do with that major? Not that you have to KNOW, but I think they want you to have an idea. That's one way of looking a "focus."</p>

7

<p>Thanks both of you. I really don't know yet, I'm interested in too many things, but I know I want to do something with writing, and I know I would take advantage of Brown's expository writing programs. The most serious major I'm thinking about at the moment is history, maybe someday being a professor (I know it's a tough road to get there). Nothing really I can do about that I guess, I don't know exactly where my life is headed yet, but I could use the open curriculum to take everything I'm interested in and find out.</p>

8

<p>I understand where you're coming from - I think it's too early for some students to know what they want to do with their lives. It certainly was for my daughter, who, like you, knew that she wanted to do something with writing but had very diverse, (yet deep) interests when she applied to Brown and other schools two years ago. She was always torn between writing and science and wanted to use her early college years to help her narrow her interests. This has turned out well for her - it took her until late sophomore year ( just last month, acually! ) to declare a major that satisfies her. Her passions are still writing and science, but she needed to have more knowledge of what's out there before she knew how she could combine the two. But it wasn't at Brown. She was waitlisted, and I think that the lack of a clear direction was part of the reason. She declined the waitlist and went to Yale. She experimented for a year and a half with courses until she found her direction.
It looks like you have a lot of leadership qualitities and an open mind. Certainly apply to all three schools and any others you think would be a good fit, but don't get your heart set on Brown or any other school, because admissions are very unpredictable. Find out what you can, but in the end, the right school will admit you.</p>