How did you "demonstrate interest"?

LoremIpsum
Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:47:25 +0000

My son did none of the things mentioned in the OP’s first post, and it didn’t affect his admission. I would venture to say that, for Brown, demonstrated interest is a secondary variable, not a primary one as it might be with, say, WUSL. The primary variable is fit and showing demonstrated interest is simply one way (but not the only way) of affirming that you know enough about Brown’s unique advantages to make an informed decision.

Brown is not for everyone: a lot of smart students go to college without a clue of what they want to do or be and are used to following the cookie-cutter template that has always been laid out for them. Such students would often be better off at another school with a common core curriculum, which effectively postpones the day when they have to begin making their own independent decisions. Brown’s open curriculum gives each student maximum flexibility and therein lies the danger: freshmen, away from home for the first time, can often be overwhelmed or distracted anywhere by their newfound freedom to party and skip classes. Add in total academic freedom and you have a potential disaster in the making for some students.

Of course Brown does not wish to admit students who will fail to thrive in their flexible environment. Thus, your chance of acceptance will improve if you emphasize your self-directed achievements in high school and other opportunities you pursued that were clearly off the well-beaten path. At the same time, you might take whatever opportunities you have in supplemental essay questions and the interview to make it clear that you understand the special freedoms that a Brown education would grant you and that you wish to attend because such freedom will allow you to explore and to thrive.