Students from Providence's Classical High School are all too familiar with competitive admissions processes. The public college preparatory school accepts only 30 percent of about 1,000 applicants per year and counts Providence Mayor Angel Taveras among its alums.
This year, two Classical students are hoping the odds of the admissions game will again be in their favor as they join the many high school seniors vying for a spot in Brown's early admitted class. Kieran Barry, who attended the Summer@Brown pre-college program, is one of them.
"I had a lot of schools that I really liked, but Brown was always the top choice for me," Barry said. He said his frequent trips to campus to visit his brother, a junior, and interactions with current students contributed to his decision.
"I'm in a big Brown clan," said Zoe Thompson '14, a Classical alum. Her family's strong connections to Brown made her feel part of the community since birth. Both of her parents attended graduate school at Brown and her mother is Marjorie Thompson '74 PhD'79 P'02 P'07 P'09 P'12 P'14, associate dean of biological sciences.
"I have a huge family, so I love being close to home," said Zoe Thompson, who frequently leaves campus to visit home Sunday nights. "Going far away would be pretty scary," she said.
Barry said staying close to his family, particularly his younger brothers, is a strong incentive for submitting an early application to Brown. "I want to stay close enough that I can be a part of their lives," he said.
But for other Providence natives, proximity to home can be a deterrent to applying early decision to Brown. "I never considered applying early here," said Liliana Gutmann-McKenzie '14, who enrolled after applying regular decision. Initially, the short distance from her home to the University campus outweighed the school's positive attributes in her decision-making process, she said.
Gutmann-McKenzie said an early action policy, which allows students to apply in the fall but does not require them to attend if they are admitted, might have persuaded her to apply to Brown early. "Early action gives people a good option to get apps done early and have a little peace of mind throughout the process," she said.
Alex Rapport '15, who applied regular decision, said Brown was too close to home for him to consider applying early decision. "I did not see it on my radar," he said, though he eventually decided Brown's location was not a sufficient deterrent to his application.
"No one wants to stay here," Barry said of his high school classmates and Providence. He said he sympathizes with the desire to experience uncharted territory by attending a more distant school, but his interactions with Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students convinced him he could live on College Hill.
"A lot of kids want to explore other options," Zoe Thompson said of Classical students who choose to forgo Brown's early decision program. "They apply regular decision just to see where they can get into." As the only early applicant from her graduating class, Zoe Thompson did not even visit other campuses when making her decision.
She said she believes attending Classical, a top public school in Providence, gives students an advantage in gaining admission to Brown. Students have access to more than 20 Advanced Placement classes, making it comparable to private schools in the area like the Wheeler School and Moses Brown. "Others have little to none," she said of other public schools in the district.
"It's a really good experience," Barry said of attending Classical. "It can be hard. It's a lot of pressure." Classical's diverse student body makes for a more varied community than those of local private schools, he said.
Zoe Thompson said her familiarity with Providence has enhanced her Brown experience. She bikes through the city frequently and uses her knowledge of the area to encourage other students to venture beyond College Hill. "Immersing myself in both communities at once is really neat," she said.
Barry said Brown's presence is a great asset to the Providence community, adding that the school makes the city a livelier place. "It's a college town," she said, "But it's bigger than that."
— With additional reporting by Blake Cecil
