Chances for Brown and specifically, Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program?
Gender: Male
Race: Asian (yup..automtically no based on my grades?)
GPA: 91/100
Rank: Our school does not rank
Extremley Competitive High School in NY - Hunter College High School
Exams
SAT I: 1440/1600, 2170/2400 (2160 in one sitting)(3 sittings ew: 690CR, 750M, 730W, E11)
SAT II:
Biology -E 700
Chemistry 700
US History 640
Math Level 2 630
AP Studio Art 5
AP U.S. History 5 (makes up for my horrible SAT II score)
Courses: Here is where the main problem lies. During freshmen and sophmore year, i slacked off. A LOT. But by junior year, I realized that my lack of motivation and care will not get me far in life (let alone into college) so I really began to work hard and my grades improved exponentially
9th Grade: B- average
10th grade: B/B+ average
11th grade (we're only allowed to take 2 electives)
Math honors precalculus - B+/A-
U.S. History - B+/A
AP Chemistry (elective) - A+/A+
Physics (elective - had to take it to take AP Chem) - A-/A
English - B+/B
Senior year courses (maximum classes allowed are 6)
AP AB Calculus (A-)
AP Psychology (A)
AP English Language and Composition (A-)
AP Biology (A+)
Adv. Drawing/Painting (A)
Biology Teaching Internship (A)
Extracurriculars:
- President of Art Club (10, 11, 12 - member since 9th)
- Art Editor for School Newspaper (11, 12)
- Founder of After school painting community service program (11, 12)
- Executive Board Member of Asian Cultural Society (11, 12 - member since 9th)
- Publicity Secretary of Grade Government (11 - member since 9th)
- Publicity Secretary of SCHOOL Government (12 - had to give up grade government position for it)
- Big Sib (11 - Mentorship program availible to select juniors to help newcomers adjust to the environment)
Achievements:
2006 Silver key in Scholastic Art Awards
2006 Scholastic Artwork exhibited in Brooklyn Museum
2007 Gold Key in Scholastic Art Awards
2007 Gold Key in Scholastic Art Awards
2007 Honorable Mention in Scholastic Art Awards
2007 Scholastic Artwork exhibited in brooklyn museum
2007 Received the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation's scholarship to their Summer Seminar Program - Extremely prestigious art program that selects 63 junior artists NATIONWIDE to work with professional artists for two weeks during the summer
2007 Artwork displayed in private art gallery in Manhattan
2007 - Leader of my Art School's Summer abroa program to Italy
2007 - AP Scholar
2007 - Placed top 25 in an international Art competition called ArtistsWanted
2007 - Received New York Regional Art Award from NFAA for being "One of the strongest applicants and most accomplished artists from the New York city region" in visual arts
2007 - Received national Merit award from NFAA in visual arts (top 5% of over 8000 applicants)
Work Experience
Volunteered at animal hospital for two years
Teacher Recs
AP Chemistry teacher: EXCELLENT
US History teacher: As she put it, "glistening"
Essays:
great
I have a portfolio prepared that got huge appraisal at the National Portfolio Day, so im confident about it
***CHANCES FOR
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Brown University
- Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program (Dream)
SORRY ITS SUCH A LONG READ
So please chance me? I realize that I'm asian, andmy academics aren't that great , but I'm hoping that my extracurricular and involvement in art balances that out? And in terms of my grades, ive improved it and im continuing to improve it throughout senior year, so would they see my upward trend? I'm not a great standardized test taker - yea, i know. it's BS, but true. notice the huge difference between the standardized US History SAT II opposed to the AP US History exams - i know, weak excuse. im not writing that, but its true and I'm working really really hard to enahnce my test-taking abilities
Usually, if someone claims to have an idea of your chances, I think they're wrong. Here, it's a promise. Hence, I promise you that no one can give you any idea whatsoever about your chances for that program. So, please ignore all future replies :-)
Like MG said... as ****ty as chances threads normally are, talking about such a small, exclusive, and new program is even more useless. Not only that, but who can tell RISD chances without seeing your work?
one admissions officer sent me a handwritten letter, saying he was "impressed with your portfolio." He gave me his email and personal phone number and told me to "not hesitate to contact me about your application."
may -- don't make too much of what the admis officer said. you'd be surprised how many people they do that for. schools fight hard for a high number of applicants.
that said, without seeing your portfolio, i have no idea if you can get into risd.
you look like you have a good shot at brown but not an exceptional one.
(p.s. no one cares if you are an AP scholar. it's a bunch of BS). Apply, see what happens.
as for the brown-risd program, it is going to be incredibly, severely, selective. So I would have to tell ANYBODY that their chances are slim.
HOWEVER, if you go to one school or the other full time, you can still cross register and kind of create your own Brown-RISD program. Sometimes even your own dual degree (it happens now, I don't know if it will stop once the program becomes fully instituted). But even without the dual degree you can take as many classes as you like at either institution (you can override the limits easily). Thats' what I do, as an art major at Brown.
Also, there are only going to be about 20 students in the program this first year (probably more than that admitted, though, to give the desired yield). No matter how you slice it, that makes it crazy competitive! I agree with Clay who is an art major at Brown. My D is a first-year and will declare her major either the end of this or early next year, as a Fine Arts. She is very pleased with the art department and actually said she might not even need to take classes at RISD, but the fact that she can is so wonderful. In any event, if she does, or does not, the department at Brown is great. Also, she wants to be part of the committee designing the new Creative Arts Center. Clay, maybe you will meet her!
Yeah other than the fact that they're only accepting 20 students to the joint program, you have to first get into the best fine arts school in the country and one of hte best colleges in the country first, and even then go through a separate process.
I'd say it wouldn't be a stretch to say that this maybe the hardest program of any kind in the country to get into.
And let's say you get into both RISD and Brown, but not the program. Don't discount either. Ask yourself if you are pre-professional amazing art first (RISD) or broad amazing education first (Brown) and pick. Then cross-register.
franglish:
way cool! p.s. it's VISUAL arts And the best thing she can do is declare early; it will make it easier to get into classes! She can always change. Leslie is my advisor. She tends to be a lot of people's advisors because they just need someone in order to concentrate. I'll probably switch to Paul, a sculpture professor, because he's more oriented to the 3-d.
yeah, the reason i take so many classes at RISD is that my specialties, ceramics and glass, are at RISD, and not Brown. So far i've only taken 2 credits at RISD but have been very successful in doing so. Probably in large part because of the professor of the class. That was in the ceramics department; I'm more skeptical about glass. But don't listen to people who say it can't be done (pm me for more info, or i can type it out here). I also want to go to the Sydney College of Art for a year, which houses great programs in both, to get a real art school type immersion.
I personally am very happy with the VA program at Brown; they just don't have all of my classes. Some people don't give it high praise or don't give it a lot of clout but I personally think it's great. I'm taking litho at Brown this spring with Leslie. Really excited!!
I'm excited about the CAC too but am confused as to what it will actually house. I'm trying to get a recreational craft center / pottery studio started at Brown, perhaps even in the CAC (seems like the perfect place!!). We really don't have anything like that at Brown right now. In fact, few schools do! If your daughter wants to get on the gravy train (help out or simply just sign up) please pm me and let me know! I just set up a facebook group to start grass root support. Jason -- thoughts?
Haha. Sorry I've been quiet on this one Rachel. I'm gonna look into who it is you need to talk to about this all-- I have some sense, and can probably navigate to that point quicker than most, but just haven't utilized my resources yet. Coming soon, I promise. I have to send Dean Bergeron a few emails anyway in the coming week.
i really want to get in..lol
