Jan 14, 2022

How Our Program Lead Hana Got into Brown University

Hello, my name is Hana and I go to Brown University, class of 2024, and I study mechanical engineering! I got into Brown University by enjoying my learning throughout high school and being true to myself in my application. Throughout high school, I took a rigorous course load and generally got all As. This certainly isn’t the most important thing for getting accepted, but it is understood to be a baseline expectation for most highly selective schools. However, I did not take a rigorous course load just to take a rigorous course load. I chose classes that I was genuinely interested in, which led to enjoyment in the class, and therefore good grades. I could have, in theory, taken a more difficult load, but I didn’t, because I knew I would not enjoy it.

In addition to my academics, I was part of many extracurriculars. I had a job tutoring, was part of the debate team for 3 years, was the leader and founder of a physics club at my school, did MUN all of high school, participated in Poetry Out Loud, did weight training, and a few other things. The key to extracurriculars is, again, enjoying what you do, and being consistent with them. To be perfectly honest, my extracurriculars were probably the weakest portion of my application because nothing I did was particularly unique, and though I enjoyed everything I did, I can admit that I was not passionate about everything I was doing. Still, I was committed to everything I did. Quality over quantity! Another activity that I think really made me stand out as a unique candidate was my participation in a highly selective astrophysics camp during my summer before senior year, the Summer Science Program (SSP). This camp was an extremely rigorous 12-week experience that I ended up really enjoying and talking about in one of my essays. It gave me experience in STEM and made me confident that I could succeed as an engineering student. I believe that seeking enriching experiences like this during high school is really important for your development as a student, and is a great plus for your application.

Now, the writing portion was in my opinion, my strongest suit, namely my personal statement. I wrote a very raw essay about my identity in relation to my family. I was extremely proud of this essay, and I felt that it conveyed who I was to Brown. It demonstrated my motivator, and who I am as a person because of my origins. I felt at peace with my application because I knew that if I did not get in, I didn’t want to go to Brown anymore if they’d read my essay and decided they did not want me to attend. That is how confident I felt that my essays conveyed who I was. I think that this is the key to writing good essays.

Good luck! Remember everyone’s strong suits are different, so make sure to identify them and use them to your advantage when planning your application.

Want to learn from more people like Hana? Click here to enroll now in our world-class programming.

BROWN UNIVERSITY

ADMISSION STATISTICS*

Average Global Rank: #101
Acceptance Rate: 7.7%
Average High School GPA: 4.08
ACT Composite Score (25th - 75th Percentile): 33-35
SAT Math Scores (25th - 75th Percentile): 720-790
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (25th - 75th Percentile): 700-760

Want to boost your GPA or Test Scores? We can help.

*Stats compiled directly from schools and other top resources. Done by us, so you don’t have to! Information last updated: September 2021