What more can I do, and do I have a chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I am going to be a Junior in a Maryland Catholic College Prepatory School. My current GPA is a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.4 weighted. My school does not offer AP Classes until sophmore year, and only a history AP is available to be taken. I took AP Government this past year. I have taken around 4 Honors Courses as well, the max I could have taken was 6 these past two years. However, there were scheduling conflicts and that is why I am not in the other 2 Honors courses. I think colleges end up seeing that. I have over 300 Service Hours that include me volunteering at the hospital every week, playing piano for elderly people in nursing homes, and helping autistic children at one of the local special education programs. I am involved in many clubs including The Latin Honor Society, Ski Club, A Club that Raises money for kids with Childhood Cancer, Student Ambassadors (40 students are selected each year to serve as a “leader” to new students for the year), Students Against Destructive Descisions, and A Club that involves debating on recent Political News. I am still preparing for the SAT. I play piano, golf, and ski (as said before) we are planning on starting a golf program next year that I will participate in. I am also pursuing an internship with either the hospital I volunteer with, which I will most likely get, or with NIH, which is up in the air because I am not yet at the applying stage for it. </p>

<p>My Classes are:</p>

<p>Freshman-
English 09 Honors (A+)
Honors Beg. Physics (A+)
World History (A+) highest grade in the class for one semester
Geometry <a href=“A”>sophmore course</a>
Theology I (A+) Highest Grade in the class for one semester
Latin 1 (A+) highest grade in the class for both semesters</p>

<p>Highest GPA in Freshman Class (a tie)</p>

<p>Sophmore:
AP Gov (A+) {strongly believe I got a 4/5 on the exam}
English 10 Honors (A+)
Bio Honors (A+)
Algebra II (A+)
Theology II (A+)
Latin II (A+) </p>

<p>Have a good shot at Highest GPA in Sophmore Class</p>

<p>My school gives out highest GPA’s and Highest Grades in classes, but they do not disclose class rank overall. I am either number 1 or number 2 out of a class of 70 kids. </p>

<p>My Junior Course Load:
AP Language
AP Art History
Chem Honors
AP US History
PreCalc Honors
Latin 3</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>Auxiliary Award for Hospital
100 Hours award for hospital
200 hours award for hospital
National Latin Exam Cum Laude Award</p>

<p>I left out my electives from my classes because they are not very notable, but I had no choice in taking them the past two years because I needed to take a theology course, health course, and music/art course the first two years, as a requirement. They were all A+'s if you’re interested. my sat, through looking at my PSAT (180) and my recent practice and sat prep, figures to come out at a 2200, hopefully. </p>

<p>I feel like my weak point is obvious in extra curriculars because I do not have a sport on my resume, but I am hoping by the time I apply my community service and clubs will make up for it. The salutatorian at our school got denied from Brown this year, however she got into bates and the valedictorian of our school and another student got accepted into Cornell.</p>

2

<p>I received a 5 on my AP Government and Politics Exam.</p>

3

<p>We can’t really give you a full chance unless you give us a FULL breakdown of your ECs and achievements in them and unless you give us some sort of SAT/ACT score. Just go through the accepted students’ forums and see some basic ECs they all have (i.e. a majority have multiple leadership positions).</p>

4

<p>Honor lions, I don’t understand what you mean. There are no achievements in my ec’s except for the awards I received in my hospital work, which also includes a presidents award for service. The rest don’t have awards. My community service breaks down approximately like this: hours are 342
Hospital: 250
Piano at nursing home: 41
Working at Autism school: 30
Altar serving: 21</p>

<p>I’m also in communication with the school to start up a science club, and I am looking to be the new president for the childhood cancer club. Also I will be on NHS next fall.</p>

5

<p>I think your ECs matter a lot for admission to Brown University. These days, many students with higher stats can get rejected primarily because they do not show their passion through the ECs that they do. Awards matter, but they are an indication of where your passion resides in. Passion matters more than achievements.</p>

6

<p>Many students get into Brown without playing sports. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Not necessarily. </p>

<p>What matters is not how many clubs you belong to, what positions you hold in the clubs or how many clubs you start. What matters is what you’ve accomplished. How have you made your school or community a better place?</p>

7

<p>@fireandrain –> What I meant to say was not that “achievements do not matter”; rather, with the passion that you wouldl like to pursue, outcomes can come out way better. But, I do agree with you that what you achieve plays a significant role in college admission decision.</p>

8

<p>I want to major in medicine at Brown. So does it look good that the majority of my awards and hours are at the hospital, and that I am starting up a science club? I also am eligible for a hospital internship for senior year and am pursuing a NIH internship. I definitely at least have the hospital internship. So does this theme right now help a lot in my application?</p>

9

<p>Divy1234: there is no “medicine” major at Brown, or at most schools. People can be pre-med, but they concentrate (the Brown version of major) in anything they want. For example, I’m pre-med but concentrating in music and biology.</p>

<p>If you’re serious about medicine, check out Brown’s PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education). I just finished my first year as a PLME student and absolutely love it.</p>

10

<p>Bruno: I know. Sorry wrong choice of words. My brother was pre-med at George Washington, but he switched to accounting. Big difference haha. Anyway, is the theme I showed in my earlier post helpful in my application, and strengthen my EC’s as a whole?</p>

11

<p>It certainly won’t hurt you. Some people have focused ECs, some are more spread around. The differences just tell the AdCom different things about you.</p>

12

<p>So what is my glaring weakness in your opinions? Also, what is my over all chance right now, assuming I get my projected 2200?</p>

13

<p>I believe you have not yet cured cancer OR aids :)</p>

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<p>Haha, I’ll take that As a compliment.Also I am a semifinalist in a poem contest. The poem has been published in a book set to come out in September.</p>

15

<p>Bump…</p>

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<p>My son got accepted partially on the strength of his self-designed community service project. Brown seems to especially value community service work, as well as self-directed goal setting. Brown’s open curriculum is especially well suited to those who make their own opportunities, and Brown looks for students who fit their unique culture.</p>

17

<p>Not particularly something for the immediate time, but for when you apply, think about this: What kind of person are you? What do you bring to the campus as a personality? I think incorporating things like these in your essay helps give a more subjective look at you and differentiate from the 30k other people. Ditto on the supplement.</p>

<p>I mention this just as another thing to remember… I know I sure got caught up in the number game last year, and eventually the endless stats only say so much.</p>