How to get into Harvard

It’s Ivy League or bust for many high schoolers, but is the name-brand degree worth all the hype — and angst? PLUS tips on getting into the college of your dreams.

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WHAT ABOUT BROWN?

How to get the nod at our state’s very own Ivy.

“WE CARE A LOT ABOUT THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,” says James Miller, dean of admissions at Brown University. “A lot of leaders in the state have graduated from here.” There’s no specific formula for dealing with local applicants, he says, but “we do pay close attention to students from Rhode Island. We consider them very carefully.”

So how does Brown select its freshman class? “The first thing we look for is to be sure they will be able to handle the very challenging academics here,” Miller says. “Then we look at what they’ve done outside the classroom — it could be community service, or a job, or sports. Something they’ve been deeply involved in, showing enthusiasm and commitment. And we worry a lot about personal qualities. We’re building a very diverse community here, and we want to bring in students who can get along and learn from other people, and who have something to teach others, too.”

Brown has “need-blind” admissions, Miller says. They don’t consider family financial circumstances, and once a student is admitted, they guarantee to give them as much financial support as they need. “It’s pretty rare to be able to do that,” he says. “We can do it because generations of Brown graduates have been very generous, and they extend a helping hand to the next generation.”

This year, Brown got about 19,000 applications and accepted 2,500 students or about 13 percent. “When reviewing applicants, authenticity is very important to us,” Miller says. “My sense is that you can tell which applications really represent the student, and which are more packaged. We have Brown graduates around the world who volunteer to interview the applicants, and about 95 percent go through that process. Most things can’t be faked — a student either has an A or they don’t. Academic performance, transcripts, the facts of what they have done and accomplished — all of that counts.”

Miller says his advice to students who have their heart set on Brown would be to challenge themselves as much as possible during their high school years. “That doesn’t mean you have to take every Advanced Placement course there is,” he says. “But we want to see that you’ve taken advantage of the opportunities available to a considerable degree, and tested the limits a bit.”
It’s also important to be yourself. “We get students who volunteer in the Amazon, or raise thousands of dollars for charities, and that’s great,” Miller says. “But one of the most interesting essays I remember was written by a student about his summer job working at a Dairy Queen. It was a job where he learned a lot, a watershed experience for him. He wasn’t saving the rainforest, but the way he wrote about it, it was warm, genuine, thoughtful, deep and mature. It was wonderful.”