Will I be a competitive Brown applicant?

LoremIpsum
Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:51:44 +0000

Well, you do sound like the adventurous type and that in itself is a big plus for Brown: because of its Open Curriculum, Brown favors those who can create their own unique path without a lot of handholding.

Clearly you’ve had an environmental theme running throughout your life for the last few years. Do you want to give yourself a big edge in getting into Brown? Then tie all that environmental experience together into a grand unifying theme and start your own nonprofit operation.

It doesn’t have to be anything earth-shattering. Just look around for an unmet need and fill it. Maybe it’s environmental education? Get free space in a church basement once a month and give a seminar / slideshow / PowerPoint presentation. Entertain and inform your crowd, get a few to volunteer for trail maintenance at the state parks; get others to donate to that little operation in Costa Rica. Make some flyers, post them everywhere, get a few friends involved, do something! Starting something from scratch is hard – I guarantee you that writing about the challenges and successes of doing so will result in a great essay that’s uniquely you.