It will accelerate the shift towards Magnet schools/test entry public high schools as an important pipeline. So less of a “diamond in the rough” strategy and more of “already been vetted by a competitive process”.
A kid from a well known magnet school who has done well in a rigorous college prep program is going to be given leeway on test scores. My personal prediction of course- I am not an adcom. But it moves the teacher and guidance counselor recommendations front and center to the process-- which is a luxury that the magnet/test entry public HS’s have which kids from a typical low income serving HS will not have. So not a perfect fix by any means. It would be ridiculous to assume that a GC at an under-resourced HS who is responsible for interface with social workers, helping kids who are unhoused, working with kids enlisting in the military, keeping kids from dropping out junior year, etc. is going to have the time to write the kind of recommendations which will put low SAT scores in context for an otherwise promising student.
But nobody at Brown is claiming that this is a perfect solution- just a pragmatic way to retain some measure of academic autonomy.