Mia Artz, from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, had just lost a softball game when Brown released admissions decisions last Thursday. Right before decisions came out, she was “kind of in the dumps” and thinking “I’m about to get rejected after that bad game.” But when Artz opened her acceptance letter, she “freaked out.”
This past Thursday, Brown accepted just 4% of its 37,710 regular decision applicants, rounding out its admitted class of 2029 with 2,418 accepted applicants.
In addition to Artz, The Herald spoke with four other students who have been invited to join Brown’s class of 2029.
Artz is a first generation student who attended Tri-Valley High School, a rural public school with around 70 graduates each year.
“Where I live, some people don’t even know what Brown is,” she told The Herald. “But for the people that know how great of a school Brown is, they’ve been over the moon about it.”
While Brown was one of her top choices, she didn’t apply early decision because she needed to compare financial aid packages between schools. Artz is currently deciding between the University of Pittsburgh and Brown and plans to study public health and neuroscience.
Elina Chen, from Temple City, California, said she never had a true dream school because she did not want to develop an attachment to a particular college. She told The Herald she wanted to be “flexible,” but Brown was always at the top of her list.
Chen applied early decision to Brown, and on the day results were announced, she saw a stuffed bear and “thought it was a sign.” As she was opening her results, she tried to keep an open mind. Listening to “Anything Can Happen” by Ellie Goulding, Chen opened her letter and was greeted with a deferral.
After the deferral, Chen turned her focus to regular decision, saying she felt the need to “lock in” for her letter of continued interest, a supplemental letter applicants can submit after being waitlisted or deferred. Chen worked to find activities she could add to her resume to strengthen her application.
Chen attends the Thacher School — located in Ojai, California — which she called a “rustic” school with a “tight-knit community.” At her school, all students are required to take horseback riding lessons and are paired with a horse early in their academic career. Chen was at a horse racing competition when regular decision results were released. But she wanted to stay focused and waited until after the competition to open her decision.
After the competition finished, Chen went back to her room and opened the application portal. Upon logging in, she noted that “there wasn’t any confetti” on the screen. “I was bracing myself for that ‘no,’” she said. But when she opened the decision, she was greeted by an emphatic “congratulations.”
Like Chen, Mera Foster was also deferred during the early decision round. Foster considered applying to the Rhode Island School of Design early decision, but opted against it, deciding to apply to the Brown-RISD dual degree program. The program is one of Brown’s most competitive, with acceptance rates in the two percent range.
Foster said she paints “nonstop in the summer” but never has the time to do so during the school year, so she wanted her college journey to include art.
Andrew Elkareh, from Plainfield, Illinois, is a student at Plainfield North High School. He opted not to apply anywhere under the binding early decision program. He told The Herald he did not “feel comfortable” putting all his faith in one school.
The wait paid off. In addition to Brown, Elkareh was admitted to Columbia and the University of Southern California — and is still deciding where he’ll attend. He plans to visit Brown later this month during “A Day on College Hill,” where newly admitted students are invited to campus for a day of programming.
Elkareh opened all of his college decisions surrounded by his family. He said he was not expecting much from Ivy Day. “The whole day I was getting ready to commit to USC,” he said.
Elkareh began “screaming” when he opened his acceptance. “It was insane,” he said.
Vivek Malik, from Gurgaon, India, applied to Harvard in the early action round, but soon realized that Brown was a better fit for his goals.
Malik knew he wanted to attend a university in the United States because of the “greater flexibility” within academics compared to colleges in India.
The Open Curriculum was the “primary factor” in Malik’s desire to attend Brown, he said, but Brown’s generous financial aid was also appealing to Malik. He is currently deciding between Brown and Dartmouth but is leaning towards Brown.
Teddy Fisher is a senior staff writer who studies International and Public Affairs and is passionate about law, national security and sports. He enjoys playing basketball, running and reading in his free time.
Ciara Meyer is a section editor from Saratoga Springs, New York. She plans on concentrating in Statistics and English Nonfiction. In her free time, she loves scrapbooking and building lego flowers.
