How this student got into Brown University

Brown University, known for its ivy-league status, open curriculum, and happy community, is going to be home to one of our brightest KSJC seniors: Ken Luong. Born and raised in California, Ken is a low-income, first generation college student who is also a half-Vietnamese, half-Chinese twin in a family of 5. With his eyes set on Brown, we interviewed Ken on how he navigated the college admissions process:

What is your major and future career aspiration?

“I want to be an electrical engineer, so I applied as an electrical engineering major to Brown”

What other colleges did you get accepted into?

“UC Irvine, UC Davis, San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly SLO, and Harvey Mudd”

What was your weighted and unweighted GPA?

His unweighted GPA was a 3.9 and weighted was a 4.3

What AP Classes have you taken, and what were your scores?

He has taken AP Computer Science Principles (4), AP World History (5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP US History (4), AP English Language and Composition (4), and AP Chemistry (5).

What were your ACT and SAT scores?

His ACT score was 35 composite, with subscores of 32 reading, 35 science, 35 english, and 36 math. His SAT was 1430, with subscores of 700 math and 730 english. He took both once. He only reported his ACT score in his application.

How much time did you spend studying on the ACT and SAT?

On the ACT, Ken only studied within his Junior Seminar period. On the SAT, he independently studied for about 1 hour a day using youtube videos.

Any tips for the ACT and SAT?

Ken suggested focusing less on content but more on multiple choice strategies, such as mastering the process of elimination. On both the ACT and SAT, he recommended knowing the different question types on each. He emphasized independently studying basic statistics as they are covered on both tests but not in our school’s curriculum.

What were your main extracurricular activities?

Cross Country, Track and Field, and a buddhist organization called Gia Đình Phật Tử Việt Nam (GDPT). 

As a team captain during his Cross Country and Track and Field seasons, he leads his team through workouts, practices, and meets as well as setting a strong example for other runners by being dedicated, respectful, and welcoming. 

In GDPT, he is a volunteer teacher in his buddhist community, teaching students the vietnamese culture, language, and buddhist practices.

How much time did you spend on these extracurricular activities?

For Cross Country and Track and Field, he spent 2 hours a day plus the time from meets for each respective season. For GDPT, he spent 4 hours every Sunday.

What made you start those extracurriculars, and what has kept you going?

For his sports, he tried it, liked it, and continued it. For GDPT, his family forced him to join it in an attempt to better bond with his culture. Over time, he grew a sense of leadership in his role, and chose to continue out of passion.

How have those extracurriculars influenced your future aspirations?

For GDPT particularly, Ken expressed how his time teaching made him passionate about caring for his community and relating to his cultural roots.

Any advice on extracurriculars?

He emphasized the idea of quality over quantity. Choose 3 extracurriculars to hyperfocus on, achieving high-impact roles in each.

What did you write your main essay about and why?

For his Personal Statement, he used prompt 6 and wrote about his love for puzzles. Specifically, he loved spatial reasoning puzzles, getting to the point where he began creating his own. He writes, "Engineering would not just let me continue to break down all of the puzzles that I saw, it would let me physically build and try out new ideas in relation to those puzzles, letting me learn any mistakes with my own eyes, and letting me build solutions for the future." 

Overall, his essay reflected his love for challenging himself as well as being able to think things through.

How much time did you spend on your essays?

He spent over an hour each day writing essays. He divided his time between his Personal Statement, PIQ’s, and supplementals

Do you have any advice for writing your essays?

His primary advice was to space out writing time; write for one or two days in a row, then take a day break and come back to it. By doing this, he said, it will give you clarity and a fresh perspective when reviewing essays.

Who were your letter of recommenders and why?

His two recommenders were Ms. Kuga and Mr. A. He asked Ms. Kuga to write about his Track and Field and Cross Country leadership, while he asked Mr. A to speak about his academic side.

Do you have any advice for choosing your letter of recommenders?

He suggested choosing recommenders strategically. “It’s important to have diversity in what your recommenders talk about,” Ken said; each recommender should highlight a different aspect of your character.

What awards (if any) did you put down in your application.

He put down an award he received from a Buddhist retreat for having the best speech. He also put down numerous Track and Field performance awards.

What do you think was the strongest aspect of your application

Ken said that his extracurriculars were the strongest part of his application as it was able to better show his personality and character in an evidence-based way.

How did you form your college list?

For public schools, Ken chose a mix of nearby safety and competitive schools. For private schools, he chose a mix of targets and high reaches.

Any advice on forming a college list?

Ken suggested that you should largely ignore what your parents want and focus on what you want. The selection process, he describes, is one of the most major decisions you could make in your life, not theirs.

What do you look for in a college?

Coming from a low-income background, Ken mainly looks for financial aid as well as strong academic competitiveness with an extensive alumni network. These networks, he states, would be great for finding connections within the electrical engineering industry,

What made Brown stand out from the rest?

Ken stated that it was far away from home and it was the highest performing school he was accepted into.

What extracurricular activities do you plan to do at Brown?

He plans to continue running by joining a club and doing robotics.

If you were to restart your high school career, what would you change?

He primarily wanted to join robotics as he became increasingly interested in joining later in his high school career. Additionally, he wished to take science fairs more seriously and begin developing a drone project he is currently envisioning.