Brown admitted its early decision applicants to the class of 2030 just four days after the Dec. 13 shooting that resulted in the deaths of two Brown students and the hospitalization of nine others. Decisions were initially set to be released on Dec. 15, but applicants were notified that their decisions would be delayed for up to 48 hours in the wake of the shooting.
The Herald spoke to five incoming students about their application process and how they reacted to their acceptances following the campus tragedy.
Mimi Goldberg, an admitted high school senior from Naples, Florida, was drawn to Brown because of the Open Curriculum’s ability to support her interdisciplinary interests. She told The Herald that she plans to double concentrate in applied mathematics and behavioral sciences.
Goldberg opened her decision letter alone, taking some time to allow the excitement to set in before she told her family.
“I kept rereading the decision because I thought ... maybe I misread it the first time or something,” she said in an interview with The Herald.
Goldberg added that she did feel “a little more hesitant to be happy about getting in,” after the shooting. But her view of Brown was unchanged, and she even felt grateful to see the strength of the community, she told The Herald.
“It hasn’t made me feel differently about attending the school at all,” Goldberg said. “That could happen anywhere,” she said, adding that it is “the reality of gun violence in America, unfortunately.”
Brady Casady, an incoming first-year student from Westerly, feels that after Dec. 13, he saw “the strong resilience of the Brown community,” he wrote in a message to The Herald.
Casady, a prospective public health and environmental science concentrator, was in a meeting when decisions were released. When he finally got out of the meeting, his “months of anticipation quickly transformed into fear” as the time came to open the letter, he wrote.
Surrounded by his family, Casady opened the decision. When he saw the acceptance, he “ran around (his) kitchen in excitement, hugged (his) family” and then ran next door to his grandparents, who had a celebratory cake waiting for him.
Jaycee Song, an early decision admit from Hong Kong, hopes to pursue visual arts and biology when she gets to Brown.
Song enjoyed working on the video introduction portion of her application to Brown, as it allowed her to convey her identity using her “own voice” and “vivid images,” she wrote in a message to The Herald.
The morning of Brown’s early decision release, Song went out to her balcony — a location she picked for the reading of her decision because “ChatGPT’s Chinese astrological reading” told her she would receive good fortune there.
“Brown has been my dream school for a long time,” Song wrote. She is excited to come to campus in the fall and believes that the recent shooting will “result in a reinforced security system and that student safety will be valued even more.”
Nathaniel Kebede, a high school senior from Sacramento, California, intends to concentrate in neuroscience or public health on the pre-medical track upon arriving at Brown.
Opening his acceptance letter was a “surreal” moment for Kebede, he said. While the recent tragedy did not make him question his own decision to attend, his family did take a “second to think” about sending their son so far from home. Kebede added that his parents were shocked to hear about a “shooting at an Ivy League” school.
Loraine Ramirez-Santana, another incoming Brunonian, opened her decision letter with her best friend by her side. “I saw the ‘Congratulations,’ and I just freaked out,” she said in an interview with The Herald.
Ramirez-Santana was drawn to Brown because of its unique application style that she felt allowed her to showcase her personality beyond her accomplishments in the classroom. Specifically, she enjoyed working on the prompt about “What brings you joy?” she said.
Like other admitted students, Ramirez-Santana did not feel deterred by the events of Dec. 13. Ramirez-Santana was more concerned about the safety of students on campus than her application decision, and voiced support for the safety actions taken by the University since.
This spring, Brown will finalize the remainder of the class of 2030 with the regular decision round.
