Seeing double

Some graduates have more in common than membership in the Class of 2002

by Kristen Cole

After sharing the same home and attending the same schools for 18 years, twins Ashley and Lauren Antler planned to go to different colleges.

So when Lauren received her acceptance letter to Brown after Ashley had already received the notice “it was kind of this weird moment,” said Ashley, 22. “I was so excited she got in, but I was like ‘wait, I wanted to go to Brown.’”

The Antlers are one of at least four sets of twins listed in the graduating Class of 2002. With an average acceptance rate hovering around 16 percent in recent years, the odds of twins being accepted – the probability of two independent events happening – is about 1 in 49.

How is it that the stars align so that two young people with so much in common are not only accepted, but decide to enroll in the same university?

The sisters from New York City took an immediate liking to Brown when they visited the campus during the summer before their senior year of high school. But the idea they might enroll in the same college never crossed their minds.

“We went into senior year thinking we’d go to different schools,” said Ashley. For about a week after Lauren received her acceptance letter, Ashley considered going somewhere else, simply to be at a different school.

“In the end, I think we both chose Brown because we wanted to come to Brown,” she said. Ashley will receive her degree in public policy; Lauren, in history.

The Admission Office looks at each candidate – twins included – individually and makes what is believed to be the best decision for each, said Michael Goldberger, director of admission.

“I think we have a good understanding of the special bond between twins,” he said. “But fairness would dictate that we look at each one individually.”

Melissa and Sara Colangelo (Sara's on the left at left) never intended to attend the same college. However, the identical twins from New Haven, Conn., share many interests, so it did not surprise them that they would be attracted to the same school.

The Colangelo sisters have the same taste in clothes, many of the same friends, and will both graduate with a concentration in international relations. (Melissa has an additional concentration in sociology; their parents will have to split up to go to separate departmental graduation ceremonies.)

“We actually asked to room together freshman year because we figured the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t,” said Melissa. They were assigned different roommates and had to split their wardrobe.

The Colangelo twins applied and were accepted through Brown’s early application process. “We both just said we like Brown,” Melissa said.

Identical twins Sabrina and Chelsea Richards of Auburn, Wash., also found Brown to be their top choice despite assuming they would go to separate schools.

Twins Jeremy and Danielle Schwartz of Scarsdale, N.Y., were heavily influenced to come to Brown by their older brother’s positive experiences at Brown four years earlier. They narrowed their list through a process of elimination. Neither wanted to attend a big school, a politically conservative school by reputation, or a school in which fraternities and sororities were particularly powerful, said Jeremy.

The Schwartzes reaped the benefit of having a close sibling who doubled as a study partner, said Jeremy – both studied engineering. And both played ultimate Frisbee; this year, Danielle was captain of the women’s team, and Jeremy, captain of the men’s team.

The twins worried that being at the same school might inhibit their ability to “discover” themselves, according to Jeremy. But that never happened, he said.

Because they are different genders, Jeremy and Danielle also never faced the possibility of being confused for one another, as Melissa and Sara Colangelo encountered.

“Having a sister here who is your twin, you are both noticed more but known less,” said Sara. “In a way you feel like you’re recognized as the twins, but people are not sure which one you are.”

After graduation, many of the siblings plan to head in different directions.

Danielle Schwartz accepted a position at Goldman Sachs & Co., and Jeremy was undecided between law school and a teaching job a few weeks before graduation. Lauren Antler decided to teach elementary school; sister Ashley had not yet finalized her plans a few weeks before graduation. Sabrina Richards will enter graduate school in immunology, and Chelsea accepted a position in computer programming.

While Melissa and Sara Colangelo both plan to attend law school in a few years, they intend to go to their separate ways. The pair wants to avoid law school’s competitive environment in which students frequently are pitted against each other for rankings, said Melissa.

“The hardest thing about being a twin is always being in comparison,” said Melissa. “The best thing is always being with your best friend. I think it would have been completely different without my twin here.”

Being Brown classmates with her twin, “I think it’s made us even closer,” she added.