Will I be a competitive Brown applicant?

LoremIpsum
Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:12:08 +0000

maybe give chances “as is” and then also what they might be assuming I work hard to have a stronger background in leadership?



Wow, is that ever the wrong question to ask! – it’s like asking a job interviewer, “What is the minimum amount of work I can do here and still not get fired?”

I’ll venture a guess and then explain my reasoning:


“As is”: 10-20% chance of acceptance.
With a major leadership role and a hint in your application that you might have done so to impress the adcoms: 5-10% chance of acceptance.
With a major leadership role and a passion for having done the right thing hinted in your application: 70-80% chance of acceptance.


Your credentials “as is” are strong enough to make the first cut, so you will likely find yourself among the final 25-30% of the candidates. Now what? At this point you, on paper, look pretty much like everyone else remaining. Now you need an advocate on the committee to stand up for you, and your advocate only has a few seconds to make your case. What will she focus on? There has to be something rare and compelling about you that she can focus on. Your deep passion acted upon and forcefully expressed would be your hook and a reason your advocate can become passionate about fighting for you.

At this level of competition, it’s not a matter of getting eliminated for a shortcoming, but rather a matter of getting picked for a unique strength. The others end up in the maybe pile and the maybe pile becomes the “almost but no cigar” pile the vast majority of the time.

You don’t get in by collecting quarter-points in a dozen areas. You get in when someone tags you lovingly with a name like “ecology guy from rural PA.” And you will be shocked the first time someone from the admissions committee asks your name at a gathering and immediately knows where you’re from and what the highlights of your college app were.