<p>I am going to be applying to Brown this year and I have one question about the engineering essay. My current interests are truly split between the Economics/Applied Math concentration and the Biomedical Engineering concentration. </p>
<p>If I select BME as my first choice, I would have to write an essay describing why I want to major in engineering. I am not 100% sure that I would want to do engineering at Brown. My main question is, should I put BME first and write the essay and just use the extra essay as a place to talk more about my interests, or should I put Econ/APMA first and BME second and skip the Engineering essay altogether to save much time and energy? If I choose the latter and I do end up going to Brown, will I be unable to do BME if I want to?</p>
<p>I can’t really advise you on whether to write the Engineering essay or not. Do it if you think it will help your application in some way or form.</p>
<p>If you get admitted to Brown, you are in no way bound to the concentration you “declared” on your application. You can switch from APMA-Econ to BME and vice-versa with absolutely no questions asked. You don’t officially declare your concentration till the end of sophomore year anyway.</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing. I’m split between Economics and Engineering - I really can’t decide which one I is better for me. I’m afraid that if I put Economics first but then later realize I actually prefer Engineering they won’t let me switch because there are all these extra things you need to do to get into the Engineering schools…</p>
<p>Not to worry at all. Although we now have a separate School of Engineering, you do not apply to it for undergraduate admissions. All applications go to the “college” at Brown and so everyone is evaluated on the same level. Declaring your concentration only comes at the end of your sophomore year, and once again, you are in no way bound to to the concentration you put down in your application.</p>
<p>There is a different admissions process when applying for engineering (and the other “hard” sciences). Your application and essays are reviewed by the engineering faculty. They want to accept students who will be able to handle the workload. That said, Brown is very vested in having a strong engineering program, and the acceptance rate of engineering applicants is (slightly) higher than for other disciplines.</p>
<p>Yes, you don’t declare a concentration until sophomore year, but there are so many requirements to major in engineering that you need to start freshmen year.</p>
<p>It is hard for us to advise you without knowing a lot more about you. If you are a very strong engineering applicant – you have both academic and extracurricular evidence that engineering is both an interest and an aptitude – then it might be beneficial for you to write those extra essays. If you look at those essays as being a burden, and hard to write because you don’t have a good response - then say that economics is your first choice. I suggest you sit down with someone who knows you – a guidance counselor, a science teacher – and have this conversation with them.</p>