I have good grades and a1520 on the sat. I have taken the most rigorous course load available at my school. A girl in my grade who is valedictorian is applying to Brown ED as well. (I have around a 95 average and she has a 98). Will I not get in now? Or do they care about more than grades
They care about more than grades and test scores. In fact, Brown rejects 7 out of 10 valedictorians. But they are looking for more than just test scores and good grades…
Regional admissions officer told us he is looking for kids who will be missed the most by their high schools.
@Emsmom1 7 out of 10 valdectorians rejected? This is interesting. Where did you find this stat? Trying to learn all we can on Brown :-/
First, my daughter’s coach from Brown had a video online that mentioned it. Then, if you look on Brown’s website (I don’t think I can post it here), under undergraduate admissions/admissions facts, it shows for the class of 2020, 19% of Valedictorians were accepted-so, 81% were rejected. you can also google “Brown 7 out of 10 valedictorians rejected.”
It’s listed on their website @Meddy https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/explore/admission-facts
Once you have a competitive GPA/SAT, they’re looking for signs of strong interpersonal skills—e.g., passion with how you spend your free time, strong recommendation letters/essays, and leadership in your ECs.
High test scores alone, as a valedictorian, does not mean you’re going to be successful in your career, and that’s what Brown and its peer schools are really looking for. HBS, for example, says they’re looking for candidates who will be in the Wall Street Journal 20 years from now.
@aoeuidhtns I love that. Those soft skills, as I like to call them, when combined with talent and intelligence make for exceptional humans.
There is no definitive answer to this.
Brown won’t accept the val just because her grades are higher than yours. But if the val also has all those so-called soft-skills – so that she is equivalent to you in everything except grades – it is rare that Brown would accept the lower-ranked student and deny the valedictorian.
Of course, if you bring something to the table that Brown really wants, and the val does not, then you could get in (wait until April, when lots of vals will start posting complaints on here about how they didn’t get in but the lower-ranked athlete/legacy/musician/POC did).
The val at my daughter’s HS had extraordinary grades and good SATs, but very limited extracurricular activities. She was waitlisted at a lot of schools that lower-ranked students were accepted into.