2012-2013 Brown University Application Thread

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markyb03 said:
On a layover on my way back home from the interview, and I all I can say right now is "Wow."

I'll give the full details later but what an absolutely AMAZING day. They work really hard to make the day FUN and to make you feel welcome. I have never met happier med students. Brown is now definitely firmly at the top of my list after this. The admissions committee makes the whole day an experience and definitely succeed.

Overall, just wow brown... wow

And to those that got rejected, someone on the adcom expressed how they wished they could interview so many more applicants but end having to turn away so many qualified people, so they try to focus mostly on fit and the Brown community
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Glad you liked it good sir! Actually, I think we met; I was the second year who took some of the early arrivals into the second year lecture hall for a sneak peek at a morning class.

If anyone on here is interviewing today, I'll be one of your building tour guides. As always best of luck to everyone!
 
Just sent in a pre-interview LOI via snail mail...will keep everyone posted if I hear back! And since i've been communicating via gif lately, this is how I imagine the letter will be received by the admissions committee:

fgrejected.gif


Haha, j/k...who knows. Good luck to everyone!
 
So I interviewed at Brown today and anyone who also has this chance... You're in for the most impressive, most fun, and most incredible interview day you will have this cycle. I left today with my mind made up (one interview left so ill try to stay open-minded!). Ill give the details later, but this school is truly unique. These people CARE about you and it's obvious from the first hello. The Director of Admissions greeted me in the morning with some statement that really surprised me because it showed how in depth she had familiarized herself with my file.

Truly amazing.

So Iorek were you the taller or the shorter student who gave us the tour?
 
FijiGNR89 said:
So I interviewed at Brown today and anyone who also has this chance... You're in for the most impressive, most fun, and most incredible interview day you will have this cycle. I left today with my mind made up (one interview left so ill try to stay open-minded!). Ill give the details later, but this school is truly unique. These people CARE about you and it's obvious from the first hello. The Director of Admissions greeted me in the morning with some statement that really surprised me because it showed how in depth she had familiarized herself with my file.

Truly amazing.

So Iorek were you the taller or the shorter student who gave us the tour?
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Glad you liked it! And yah, Barbara is simply awesome (her and Melissa are truly warm hearted and authentic).

I was the taller of the two tour guides. Sorry I had to jet during the lunch but please feel free to pm me (or you're welcome to ask them in the main forum if you think everyone could benefit) if you have any questions that you didn't get a chance to ask!
 
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Honestly how many interviews does everyone hug at the end of the day. A truly unique experience... I'd recommend everyone else not bother coming :-D more spots for us!
 
Okay so now that I'm back home, I'll detail why this interview was so amazing.

The day started with the same coffee and conference room with admissions info, but the immediate beginning was already special. You walk in and the admissions staff has read your application so thoroughly that when they see you they remember where you're coming from or what you've been up to recently. That sort of immediate first impression goes a long way. Something I feel like we all should keep in mind as we're going through interview season is how well our interviewers really know our applications. While this process is largely us selling ourselves to these schools, the schools are also selling themselves to us. While the nature of that may make their side inherently less intimidating than ours, something like immediate recognition of my file goes a long way in that I've been here 1 minute and I already know they truly care about their students.

And then you go through more of the same admissions and financial aid sessions and what not, but even these sort of standard things are different because the staff is so... I don't know... Actually human. Not just another bland presentation on numbers, but a humorous, colloquial, and interesting dialogue.

And the interviews? Well you can't really give specifics on those, but they were great. Probably the most relaxed of them all. I've been realizing through all the interviews at different schools that laid back and actually not intense (mostly) stress fests, but these just perpetuated my sense of my interviewers knew me.

But of all of this, I haven't touched on the most important thing to me. Every medical school is great and everyone can become a phenomenal physician at all of them I'm sure, but what this decision comes down to is what environment works best for us. Not only which program will make us a good physician but which one will make us the happiest people. I really feel that Brown takes care of its students. And they create a fantastic environment for growing minds to learn in. There is such an air of the marketplace of ideas at Brown and a general of openness from everyone to everyone. It shows that Brown values you not just as a student but as an individual, it shows on paper through the electives they offer (ie. literature/playwriting, not JUST intro to surgery etc) and it shows in person through the interactions you will have all throughout the interview day.

Now I'm realizing that I've typed a short novel of a cheeseball story for you all, so I'm going to stop while I'm mildly ahead. I hope everyone who interviews here has the same experience I did and good luck to everyone who hasn't heard yet!
 
anyone know how many total applicants there have been in the past few yrs?

ps sorry to interject such a dry question into the mushy atmosphere we have created here (although i have not been outwardly gushing myself, im loving all the stories)
 
starstarie said:
anyone know how many total applicants there have been in the past few yrs?

ps sorry to interject such a dry question into the mushy atmosphere we have created here (although i have not been outwardly gushing myself, im loving all the stories)
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In 2010, it was around 5,400 or so but I don't know if that stat is only for primary application submissions or if it's for secondaries which tends to be a lower number for every med school. Also, just a heads up, it was around this time two years ago that I just finished my secondaries so for all of you waiting to hear back or those who for whatever reason (e.g. broke, overworked) haven't had a chance to finalize your applications yet, there's still hope.

Keep up the good fight!
 
Iorek Byrnison said:
In 2010, it was around 5,400 or so but I don't know if that stat is only for primary application submissions or if it's for secondaries which tends to be a lower number for every med school. Also, just a heads up, it was around this time two years ago that I just finished my secondaries so for all of you waiting to hear back or those who for whatever reason (e.g. broke, overworked) haven't had a chance to finalize your applications yet, there's still hope.

Keep up the good fight!
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you seem to be a sane voice among the madness that is SDN.

thanks for all your input this thread.

hopefully I will see you when I got to my interview on the 25th
 
drd714 said:
Agreed! Thanks for keeping us sane during this process 🙂
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Much thanks classy people. Just paying it forward for the help students like ayushman80 and aloepathic offered to my class (and continue to do so as sage 4th years); I'm sure there will be those among you who decide to do the same when you get here.

Cheers!
 
Just got rejected from Brown. I'm a little crushed, I'm a native Rhode Islander and I would have loved to go back. I was just about to write a letter of interest, at least they saved me the time?
 
Amphoterism said:
Just got rejected from Brown. I'm a little crushed, I'm a native Rhode Islander and I would have loved to go back. I was just about to write a letter of interest, at least they saved me the time?
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Ahhhh I'm sorry to hear that. I'm a native Rhode Islander too so I know how it feels to wanna go there so badly. 🙁 Would you mind sharing when you were complete?
 
Well, regardless of when we were complete, it says that they've finished their preliminary review of all applications. So, stay tuned for an interview invite or a rejection, I guess?
 
Amphoterism said:
Well, regardless of when we were complete, it says that they've finished their preliminary review of all applications. So, stay tuned for an interview invite or a rejection, I guess?
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Yeah, where did you see that? Aren't people still submitting?
 
In the rejection email. Maybe they were just so eager to reject me they sent me their post-november rejection email format.
 
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Just got the Brown rejection as well. I was complete around the end of August. Seems they're doing it all at once (or at least a big batch of apps). Brown would have been awesome but here's to all of us getting better offers elsewhere.
 
This is scary. Is everyone getting the rejection email at the same time today, or is it staggered?

I saw on last year's thread that people were getting rejections in December, so I guess not hearing back today doesn't necessarily mean anything good.....

Good luck, everyone. Fingers crossed.
 
Being rejected later is marginally better! At least you were in the running longer (not that it counts for much)
 
So has anyone gotten interviews today? Or is it just rejection day? I was complete 8/28 and no word yet. I'm terrified.
 
oh ****. I was complete 8/28, so I guess I should be rejected soon. FML. This week just got ****ter. Got a C- in a 400 level math class, bombed my 400 poly sci test, got rejected from tulane, and will probably get rejected, from Brown and Mayo post-LOR.

cue the music....this is my last restort-papa roach lol jk.

To those who got rejected, keep your head up.

I am going to stop checking my inbox. I will be rejected soon, so I will go out with some dignity hahaha
 
surfingbhudda said:
this thread is staring to feel like the hunger games. i'll stay hidden up in this tree for just a bit longer...
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Such an apt analogy hahahaha...dammit Haymitch, who do I have to kiss to get a gift from a sponsor (aka an interview invite)!? I already made a sprint for the cornucopia (by sending a LOI)!!

Actually, I like this analogy because Catching Fire is being filmed in NC, which District 12 loosely encompasses. Alpert, I VOLUNTEER!!! 🙂

Anyway, to be serious for a moment...sorry to hear about these rejections. Good luck to everyone wherever you end up! :luck:
 
...Wow... that was kinda brutal. As mentioned, brown does much of it's selection process at the pre-interview stage. To everyone no longer in the running at Brown, best of luck at all the other schools you've applied to!


To the rest of you, may the odds be ever in your favor... (well played surfingbhudda)

Speaking of the games, if you're looking for a way to kill time and have a netflix account, check out Battle Royale. It's based off a book published in 1999 that has some similarities to Hunger Games (fair warning, it's a tad gruesome).

But seriously, best of luck to those of you still waiting to hear back.
 
Rejected. I was so ecstatic that I thought I had made it through two waves of rejections, but alas, no. Too good to be true.
 
Did those of you reporting rejections today just receive the email, or did you receive it yesterday but didn't check email til today? I am wondering if they are sending rejections out all at once or in a slow trickle.
 
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