<p>While it is a game, don't apply somewhere if you will have regrets. Like the Williams student, I'm sure some people won't have any regrets, but I know I would, and maybe you will too.</p>
<p>Fids, what happened! Thought we had you all set for Brown...anyway, yeah, definitely don't apply ED if you're not 100% sure you want to go there above anywhere else. I'd say you have a decent chance at both Brown and Yale (more so at Brown though) and if you want to play the game, that's your choice, but if you try to beat the system too hard and end up at a school you'll regret, that's just no good.</p>
<p>I WAS set on Brown...but a girl that I can't stand at all is going there. It's so lame, so I don't like to mention it, but I really really really dislike her and she's sort of a huge wench and..:(</p>
<p>hahaha, well, some huge wenches are going to Harvard and Yale and Brown at my school, so don't let one person throw you off.</p>
<p>Right, but no huge wenches who I have a bad history with. :(</p>
<p>There's a great article in the april fool's BDH called "That ***** from High School got into Brown."</p>
<p>Hahaha. What's worse is that she doesn't even want to go there, she was just rejected everywhere else. Laaame!</p>
<p>Well that sucks. My advice is to not write off Brown because of this one girl. Maybe stop focusing on college for a few weeks. Come back in the summer, reconsider your reasons for applying to Yale and Brown, and then make a decision. No need to rush.</p>
<p>YALE !</p>
<p>dd did not want to apply to HYP because the kids from her school that apply are usually such huge tools. But she applied to Y in the end--waitlisted, but accepted to Brown.</p>
<p>
Funny you should mention it, mini: "Communiversity Day draws city to campus"
<a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=29139%5B/url%5D">http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=29139</a> ;).</p>
<p>More wisdom from mini, whose knowledge of Yale seems a tad indirect (and, er, hostile?):
[quote]
Our strong impression is at Yale, homeschoolers have to figure out how to put the round peg in the square hole (and I know very few who have successfully done it, and I run in those circles.)
[/quote]
I'm not sure what that means--homeschoolers don't get into Yale? don't flourish there if they do?--but one of my daughter's suitemates was home-schooled, and seems to be fitting in fine.</p>
<p>I've also had a pretty academically centered homeschooling experience with about 50 college credits, so that sort of thing suits me and I can thrive in it. :-/</p>
<p>Fids, I cannot say what you SHOULD do but can just discuss it a bit. Also, I will share personal experiences related to this. </p>
<p>First, I agree with others that you should only do ED to any school if you feel certain you wish to attend. I would forget the gaming and go with a decision based on your wants and needs. Even if you don't apply ED to Brown, it is not like you then can't get in...there is RD...yeah the admit rate is more difficult then but you still CAN get in. EA has the advantage of not commiting. </p>
<p>Reading through the lines a little bit in your interests, I hear Brown a little bit favored as a match to what you want but maybe not a clear favorite but it fits some things you have spoken about. </p>
<p>I'm gonna share about my own D for a second here because her case correlates a bit with yours but she is two years older than you. In fall of senior year, she did not have a clear single favorite college, but rather favored two to three on her list the most and decided she was not ready to commit ED to a school. She opted to apply EA to Yale, not cause it was her MOST favorite but clearly was one of her most favorites. So, it is not like she picked Yale over the others but that Yale had the EA option and she figured she'd use the early odds at one of her favorites but this one did not have the commitment. She was deferred EA to Yale and eventually rejected in April, her only college rejection. She is now a freshman at Brown and it was not a second choice by any means. She liked all the schools on her list and in fact, Brown was one of her three faves. She LOVES Brown beyond belief. She might have felt the same at Yale, who knows but I just know that Brown now seems like the perfect fit. </p>
<p>She was not homeschooled like you. However, she has done independent studies in the past and in fact, Brown is a school where that kind of learner is favored as well as you direct your own learning by choosing what you wish to study....sounds good for a homeschooler background too. As far as study abroad, that is something she definitely wants to do. She did speak with the department she was going to major in at Yale (Architecture, more on that in a minute) and they said she could do it. It is not that common but you CAN do it. What we were told at Yale (and at Harvard) is that only about 10% of the student body studies abroad and the reason given was that kids just do not want to give up a semester on campus to do it. So, they do not discourage study abroad but it is not the norm there as it is on many other college campuses. You CAN do it if you wish. She made sure of that as it mattered to her. But it is quite common at Brown. </p>
<p>With regard to architecture....we visited that school at Yale and clearly it seemed great. I would say that this is one of the main differences with these two schools on her list. Architecture at Yale is in a school of architecture where they have a strong graduate program and so have many resources and facilities for this field. At Brown, there is an architectural studies major, not an actual department. It has an interdisiplinary focus. But since she is going to have to go to grad school if she wishes to pursue architecture, she did not care that much if her undergraduate major was just like at Yale and does favor liberal arts anyway. At Brown, many of the offerings are similar in this field but I would say the main difference is less design studios over the four years. But from talking to those there, there are other ways to piece that aspect together in this major.....there are studio art courses (my D is in one now)....then you can take architecture design studios at RISD (my D is looking at scheduling a course for next year at RISD which is down the street from Brown and kids in this major do this)....some kids take a six week summer immersion course at Harvard Design School and my D is doing that this summer.....and then we figure when she studies abroad in junior year, she could opt to do an abroad program through a college that has an architecture based study one (ie., through Syracuse, Cornell, etc.). She has already taken history of architecture and engineering and is now looking to put together her schedule for next fall. She is looking to get an advisor in this field this week too. Another girl from our small rural high school just transferred to Brown and she is also going into architecture and is in a course at RISD right now. So, I think you can get what you need in architectural studies at Brown, particularly if you also like Classics/Latin and liberal arts, even if there is no architecture school, per se, as is at Yale. There is enough there to prepare you for graduate school in this field, should you opt to do that down the line. </p>
<p>I could go on about Brown but I am just touching on the stuff you mentioned. I think there is lots to do on campus and in Providence which I do like better than New Haven but she likes New Haven and the area by Yale fine enough. Either school is great. My D would have been happy at either. Brown, however, might attract a certain kind of kid and it seems to me that kind is your type.</p>
<p>I think the main thing in your case is to choose the best fit but even if you don't do ED, you still can apply to BOTH schools and then go from there.....no need to commit now. I also have a D who is graduating high school this year too and she opted NOT to apply ED to one of her favorite colleges, did not want to commit....and guess what? She got in RD and is going there...it is not like if you don't apply ED, you can't still apply and get in. And this was for something even more selective than Yale or Brown....it was for a BFA in musical theater at Tisch at NYU, which takes 5% of those who audition. The odds in ED were better but she went with the right decision in terms of being open to all her schools and not commiting in the ED round. From what you have shared, you might want to do the same. Then you can try for both schools and see what happens. </p>
<p>Your academics sound strong but that is the case of every applicant to Yale. I am not sure if your other stuff stands out and not sure if you'd get in EA to Yale without something else extraordinary. My D had the academic proflie for Yale and also many more substantial ECs than you have and still did not get in but we knew the crapshoot nature at that level so were not surprised. I think with Brown, if you package yourself as someone who fits the kinds of things they offer there, you might have a chance with that. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>My brother's doing the Syracuse architecture study abroad program (He's a Brown student) and found it relatively easy to do, although he complained about paperwork. </p>
<p>He's double concentrating in math and architectural studies. Probably would have been just architectural studies, but he only started taking courses in it second semester sophomore year, and my mom wouldn't let him not finish the math concentration. He is extremely enthusiastic about Brown's architecture stuff though.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the help, Susan. </p>
<p>Your daughter had substantially more than 20 hours every week of volunteering and such? I didn't include the 10 or so hours I spent practicing music, on top of all my academic endeavors. I really think I'd explode if I did much more. :(</p>
<p>If you're not 100% certain, NEVER do ED</p>
<p>But I'm 100% certain that Brown and Yale are my top two choices, and I need to make a choice soon because I'm going away. :-/</p>
<p>fids, Look forward: if you'll regret not KNOWING if Yale would have accepted you had you given it your best shot then apply to Yale EA. It's not irrevocable.</p>
<p>On the otherhand if you'll regret not giving Brown your 100% best effort, then forget Yale and go for Brown ED. This is what my son did (with Williams instead Brown). He'll never know if he could have been a contender at Yale, but aside from this small, small thing, he is really, really happy that he chose the school that is right for him.</p>
<p>The good news is that you really don't have to make a decision for 7 months. The bad news is that you can stress over it for 7 months.</p>
<p>Definintely do EA if you are not certain your ED school IS the VERY top choice. You can still give Brown your all applying RD!</p>