brown university admission essay

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How to Get Into Brown University: Strategies and Essays That Worked

How hard is it to get into brown learn acceptance rates and admissions requirements, plus how to ace the brown supplemental essays.

LEARN HOW TO GET INTO BROWN UNIVERSITY

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: brown admissions requirements , part 3: applying to brown early decision vs. regular decision, part 4: 2023–2024 brown supplemental essays.

So, you and your child are gearing up for college application season and it’s clear that they might be a contender for a prestigious Ivy League or Ivy+ university. You know that your college applicant is much more than a high GPA and solid standardized test scores—they’re an exceptionally intelligent, self-driven, independent thinker who would thrive in a rigorous but free-spirited academic atmosphere on a classic New England college campus. Does this sound like your child? Then they would likely be a great candidate for Brown University .

Getting into Brown means understanding and embracing the university’s unique Open Curriculum —the reason Brown is known as “the weird Ivy.” (They wear that name with pride.)

Brown is one of the country’s oldest universities, founded in 1764—even before the American Revolution. But about half a century ago, Brown students, unsatisfied with the rigid confines of a traditional university model, demanded complete educational reform. A team of students and faculty members worked to transform the academic curriculum to an innovative, student-centered model now known as Brown’s Open Curriculum.

Unlike its other Ivy counterparts, Brown has no core curriculum (à la Columbia ) or distribution requirements (à la Yale , Harvard , and many others), meaning that students have an unparalleled freedom to shape their education. They assume the responsibility for the direction and intensity of their learning. 

The Open Curriculum is core to Brown’s philosophy of intellectual and individual development, meant to help students discover who they are and what subjects are meaningful to pursue. This creates an atmosphere for innovative contributions to research, entrepreneurship, art, and social activism alongside the academic pursuits of a standard undergraduate education.

Outside the classroom, the university emphasizes an action-oriented approach to learning, encouraging research and hands-on experience. Your child could walk across a quadrangle after sparring with a Nobel-prize winning professor about quantum physics to designing ecologically sustainable spacecrafts in an engineering lab.

They could spend their morning discussing classical music theory with a MacArthur Genius, their afternoon inventing a new modular synthesizer, and their evening teaching piano to local elementary school students. To further their education outside the classroom, they will have access to thousands of research, internship, and employment opportunities through the exclusive BrownConnect network.

And after Brown? The university prides itself on how their Open Curriculum creates well-rounded, multi-dimensional adults who understand a variety of intellectual and life perspectives. Graduates are prepared to use their challenging, self-guided education to lead society in solving complex world problems.

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Brown University ranking

U.S. News & World Report: 13

Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: 25

(Suggested reading: Ivy League Rankings )

Where is Brown located?  

Brown is located in Providence, Rhode Island—a small, historic New England city that also serves as the state’s capital. The city prides itself on its unique mix of small-town vibes and big city cultural offerings, including an innovative art scene (thanks in part to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design) and world-class restaurants (it’s home to one of the leading culinary schools in the country). It consistently ranks as one of the most “artsy” American cities, as well as one offering the best quality of life.

Providence is in the heart of New England, about an hour south of Boston and three hours north of New York. For excursions during the warmer months, the Rhode Island seashore, including the famously elegant seaside town of Newport, is only a thirty-minute drive from town.

Brown University setting

Urban. The Brown campus is in the aptly named College Hill neighborhood on the east side of Providence. With its red brick colonial architecture and sprawling greens punctuated modern, state-of-the-art building additions, College Hill offers a classic New England college experience. The tree-lined streets of College Hill are populated with beautiful 18th- and 19th-century homes and dotted with hip coffee shops where Brown students often study or hang out.

College Hill is home to a mix of college students from multiple universities (RISD is just down the street from Brown), young professionals, and families. Thayer Street livens up the quiet and residential neighborhood with mostly locally-owned stores, restaurants, and bars—plus the storied Avon Theater, an art deco cinema that’s screened independent films since the 1930s.

Brown University student population

Undergraduate student population: 7,125

Grad and professional school population: 3,300 (2,689 graduate students and 611 medical students)

Brown University acceptance rate

Here are the admissions statistics for Brown’s class of 2026:

Applications: 51,316

Acceptances: 2,686 (884 Early Decision; 1,802 Regular Decision)

Matriculants: 1,699

Overall acceptance rate: 5%

(Suggested reading: Ivy League Acceptance Rates )

Brown University tuition and scholarships

Brown University’s 2023–2024 cost of attendance (i.e., tuition, room, board, and fees) is $87,648.

Brown’s admissions process is need-blind, and the school promises to meet 100 percent of students’ demonstrated financial need without student loans. Most students whose families earn under $60,000 per year will have their expenses fully covered by scholarships and grants.

Among the class of 2027, 50 percent of students received financial aid—within this population, the average family pays $29,400 per year. Brown has also published average financial aid awards by income bracket, showing that the vast majority of families earning under $200,000 per year received some amount of aid.

Who gets into Brown? 

Most successful applicants to Brown demonstrate academic prowess, as indicated by the following statistics for the class of 2027 :

95% of admitted students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class.

Average GPA: Brown doesn’t publish the GPAs of their incoming students (we discuss GPA further in the next section).

Brown average ACT score:

25th percentile: 34

75th percentile: 36

Brown average SAT score:

25th percentile: 1510

75th percentile: 1570

Among the class of 2027, 15% are first-generation college students and 14% are international students. Additionally, students entering Brown as part of this class come from all 50 U.S. states, including Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Brown academic requirements

Ideal candidates for admission to Brown will have spent their high school careers striving to excel intellectually and challenge themselves both inside and outside the classroom. More specifically to Brown, competitive applicants will have a track record of being self-driven in order to thrive in the Open Curriculum program. Students who already prove they can be responsible for their own intellectual and creative development will be outstanding additions to the academic culture at Brown.

While there are no specific admissions requirements to get into Brown, the admissions team is searching for applicants who display an eagerness to learn and a willingness to accept intellectual challenges. They prefer to see a student get a “B” in an AP or IB class than an “A” in an honors class . 

Brown does not indicate any specific GPA requirements, though according to their admissions team , students with “high grades” often stand out among applicants. That said, Brown takes into account that different high schools have different cultures of awarding grades. It also stresses that grades are not the only measure of academic and intellectual talent that’s considered in the admissions process. This emphasis on holistic admissions may be particularly true at Brown among the Ivies.

As mentioned above, Brown has no specific requirements for admission, but they suggest that the curriculum for college-bound, competitive students includes the following coursework:

English: 4 years of literature and academic writing

Math: 4 years, through calculus, especially for students bound for STEM programs

Science: 3-4 years (with 2 years of lab), focusing on biology, physics, and chemistry when possible

History: 3-4 years, with both history courses and courses that focus on government, economics, and politics

Foreign language: 3, but preferably 4, years of consecutive language learning

Music and art: Encouraged though not officially recommended

Applicants planning to concentrate in STEM fields would benefit from extracurricular activities in their area of interest.

Brown application requirements

Brown requires the following materials for undergrad admission:

Common App, including the Common App Essay

Brown supplemental essays

Forms sent from your child’s school:

2 teacher letters of recommendations

1 counselor letter of recommendation

School report, transcript, and midyear school report

Optional in 2023–2024: SAT or ACT

Optional: If your child excels in music or visual art, they are encouraged to include a supplemental portfolio in their Common App

Optional: Video portfolio or alumni interview, no longer than 2 minutes

If your child is planning to concentrate in a STEM field, or the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME)—the only Ivy League BS/MD program —at least one of your child’s recommendations should come from a math or science teacher. PLME applicants, as well as applicants to the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program, will also need to submit additional supplemental essays.

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Brown accepts Early Decision applications until November 1st. These applicants will be notified of admission by mid-December, and can be accepted, deferred, or rejected. The deferred applicants will be reevaluated in the larger pool with regular decision applicants and have the opportunity to alert Brown of significant accomplishments or noteworthy changes in circumstance in the period between the early and regular admissions process.

Admitted applicants must attend Brown, and therefore should not apply to any other universities through a binding early process. (The only instance in which your child can renege on their obligation to Brown is if, after several rounds of evaluating financial aid packages, your family determines that Brown is 100 percent unaffordable.)

Although the pool is smaller for ED candidates, Brown only admits, again, roughly 10 percent of applicants.

If your child would rather apply regular decision to Brown, they can do so by January 5th.

How do you know if your child should apply to Brown early decision?

If your child is positive that they want to attend Brown, and their application is in shape for submission by the November 1st deadline, then they should apply early.

If your child is not sure that Brown is truly the right university for them, or they need time to improve their grades, standardized test scores, or extracurriculars then they should wait and apply regular decision.

(Recommended reading: Early Action vs. Early Decision: Pros and Cons and What Your Child Should Do )

In addition to the Common App personal statement, Brown requires three relatively short supplemental essays specific to the university.

Since Brown has a unique academic model that’s created a very particular college environment, the admissions team uses these supplements to evaluate how effectively your child might thrive at Brown and contribute to the community both intellectually and personally.

These essays are also an opportunity for your child to demonstrate that they are a well-rounded candidate by giving them a space to talk about achievements or life experience that would not translate to an academic transcript, and how these things would be specifically significant to their Brown education.

Now, let’s move onto unpacking an outstanding example of each supplemental essay. (And if you’re looking for even more intel on how your child can write the best essay possible, check out our college essay examples .)

Question 1: Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown. (250 words max)

Brown is asking your child to familiarize themselves with Brown’s Open Curriculum and delve deeply into how they would use it to design their dream education.

It’s not enough for your child to say they like the idea of a flexible curriculum— Brown expects applicants to have done their research into specific programs and how your child might combine them to pursue their particular academic interests.

The strongest applicants will tell a story about their intellectual development, whether that’s obsessing over a niche subject, experiencing the thrill of applying a subject in real life, or having an “aha moment” about the intersection of two seemingly separate fields of study.

Let’s meet our example student:

Minh is the child of Vietnamese immigrants and the first person in her family to go to college in the U.S. Her strongest academic subjects are biology, physics, and calculus, and she plans to concentrate in environmental engineering. But she also spent a summer as a political organizing intern for a Vietnamese American candidate running for a seat on the Seattle City Council.

Here’s what Minh wrote:

I’ve always been pegged as a science nerd. While other kids were playing soccer, I was illuminating my hamster’s cage with intricate potato lightbulb electric grids. When I chose to intern for Stacey Ngyuen’s Seattle City Council campaign instead of preparing for the National Science Fair this past summer, the person who was most surprised was myself. Me, the girl that spent almost every weekend of tenth grade building a solar-powered iPhone charger!

But as the child of Vietnamese immigrants in a mostly Southeast Asian neighborhood, I felt it was important to help better represent our community on the council. Knocking on hundreds of doors for Stacey and listening to peoples’ concerns for the neighborhood, two things caught my attention: everyone was worried about ventilation from wildfire smoke in the summer and their basements flooding in the winter. I realized that my dream of becoming an environmental engineer didn’t exist in a vacuum— that low-income immigrant neighborhoods like my own would need specific solutions to battle climate change.

I’m excited to use Brown’s Open Curriculum to build an education for myself that melds environmental engineering, public policy, and urban studies to become a visionary engineer who can see the effects of climate change from both a human and a technical angle. I can’t think of a better place for my interests to combine than the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, where I will be able to interact with scholars and conduct the research of my dreams.

What did Minh do well?

She tells a story of intellectual growth. Minh combined her passion for science, her commitment to civic duty, and her familial background into one compelling narrative about her diverse but intersecting academic interests.

She demonstrates self-direction in her academics. Minh took Brown’s invitation to be the architect of her own education to heart. She referenced particular Brown concentrations and institutes to show that she would be able to make the most of the Open Curriculum model. This in itself serves as a strong answer to the implied question “Why Brown?” 

Question 2: Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (250 words max)

Question 3: Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (250 words max)

Question 4: What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words max)

Question 5: If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words max)

Question 6: In one sentence, Why Brown? (50 words max)

Gain instant access to essay examples for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States.

Final thoughts

Brown University is a perfect fit for an independent and innovative college applicant who wants the freedom to take charge of their own education. Your child will have the chance to reach their personal and intellectual potential at an academically rigorous institution with world-class scholars invested in their success. Since the school’s educational model is unique among both the Ivy League and higher education institutions in general, your child should learn all they can about this exceptional academic culture to know if they are truly a good candidate for Brown.

About the Author

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.

THERE'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS ALONE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO ENSURE YOU LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE.

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Brown University’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Three words to describe you short response.

What three words best describe you?

National Exams Short Response

Some schools offer students the opportunity to take national exams in areas such as math and language. These exams include, but are not limited to, AIME, AMC 10, Le Grand Concours, National Spanish Exam, National Latin Exams. If you have taken any of these exams (or any other subject-based national or international examinations), please inform us of the exams and scores you find most meaningful.

Academic Interest Short Response

Brown‘s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown.

Overcoming Challenges Short Response

Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community.

What Brings You Joy Short Response

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy.

Extracurricular Short Response

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it?

What Class Would You Teach Short Response

If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be?

Why This College Short Response

In one sentence, Why Brown?

RISD Dual Degree Essay

The Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program draws on the complementary strengths of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to provide students with the opportunity to explore and engage with diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry. The culmination of students’ five-year program is a capstone project that relates and integrates content, approaches, and methods from two distinct learning experiences. Considering your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD, describe how and why the specific blend of RISD‘s experimental, immersive combined studio and liberal arts program and Brown‘s wide-ranging courses and curricula could constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. Additionally, how might your academic, artistic and personal experiences contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work?

PLME Short Response 1

Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. Explain your personal motivation to pursue a career in medicine.

PLME Short Response 2

Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more. Imagine that you are a physician and describe one way in which you would seek to make a positive impact in today’s healthcare environment.

PLME Short Response 3

How do you envision the Program in Liberal Medical Education helping to meet your academic, personal and professional goals as a person and future physician?

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

6 Brown Essays That Worked + Why Brown Examples

For students writing the Brown supplements for Fall 2022, here is your guide to successful Brown essays.

In this article, I've gathered 6 essays written by admitted students to Brown.

I'll share examples of how regular high-achieving students who got into Brown recently by having stand-out essays.

Are essays all that matter? No, but especially for competitive and test-optional schools, your essays are a very important factor.

Let's jump right in.

What is Brown University's Acceptance Rate?

This past year, a record 46,568 students applied to Brown and just 2,537 students got accepted. Which means Brown had an overall admit rate of just 5.4%.

Since its known as a top Ivy League school, most students applying to Brown already have strong test scores, grades, and extracurricular activities.

Brown University Acceptance Scattergram

That's why its even more important to write essays that help show why you should be accepted.

Especially for Ivy League and other top schools like Brown, your essays make a difference.

What are the Brown Supplemental Prompts for 2022-23?

To apply to Brown University this year, you are required to write three short essays of 50 to 250 words each.

You can find your Brown writing supplement along with your Common Application essays on your portal.

Here's the Brown supplemental prompts for 2022. The questions on this page are being asked by Brown University:

Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue them while also embracing topics with which you are unfamiliar. (200-250 words)

Brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. This active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. Tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond? (200-250 words)

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

6 Brown University EssaysThatWorked

Here are 6 of my favorite Brown essay examples from admitted students.

These essays respond to past and current writing supplement prompts for Brown. I've also included some examples of personal statement essays that worked for Brown.

If you need help getting started writing, this is a perfect way to get inspired and see what's worked.

Table of Contents

• Brown Essay Example #1
• Brown Essay Example #2
• Brown Essay Example #3
• Brown Essay Example #4
• Brown Essay Example #5
• Brown Essay Example #6

Prompt: Open Curriculum

Brown university essay example #1.

Prompt: Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue them while also embracing topics with which you are unfamiliar. (200-250 words)

My primary interest is in languages and linguistics, specifically Spanish, Portuguese and the descent of these languages from Latin which I explored in my IB Extended Essay. Thus, something that excites me about the complete freedom of the Brown curriculum is the opportunity to learn about Hispanic and Lusophone culture, literature and language in an intersectional way through a concentration in Latin American studies combined with classes and undergraduate research in Linguistics. I intend to supplement my language acquisition with practical application through study abroad opportunities at PUC-Rio, Brazil and in Santiago, Chile, perhaps through the Engaged Scholars Program which will allow me to forge deeper connections with the communities and cultures I am studying. I am also attracted by the possibility of a 5-year BA/MA course in Linguistics which will permit me to conduct meaningful and extensive research on a topic I am truly passionate about.

However, I also have an interest in Biochemistry and Molecular biology. The Open Curriculum will enable me to pursue this avenue of study and research without detracting from my principal focus on languages. Therefore, perhaps what I am most excited for is interdisciplinary study at Brown and the possibility of forging unforeseen connections between disparate academic areas and weaving them together into a program of study that will engage, thrill, and inspire me towards a lifelong path of academic inquiry. For example, I am interested to explore how languages and sociolinguistics can be used to promote medical research and provision in Latin America.

Why This Essay Works:

Naming things unique to the school shows you have genuine interest. Listing specific programs, courses, or majors shows you've done your research.

The author's reasons for "Why Brown?" fit into their background and identity. This makes their reasons seem genuine and compelling.

What They Might Improve:

The essay is divided into two parts with distinct answers. Showing how those reasons relate could make the essay more cohesive.

Ending with a sentence "For example..." leaves more to be desired and explained.

Prompt: Brown's Community

Brown university essay example #2.

Prompt: At Brown, you will learn as much from your peers outside the classroom as in academic spaces. How will you contribute to the Brown community? (200-250 words)

At my high school, I reinvigorated and reinvented the linguistics society with the help of a friend, transforming it from a dull discussion of past exam questions to a seminar-style session where I have presented and analysed various interesting aspects of language. In a similar vein, I intend to be a leader and an innovator at Brown, and to create opportunities for likeminded people to discuss shared interests such as linguistics. However, other than creating clubs, I hope to use my experience as a camp counselor and a diving coach to support others within the community, and to set a good example of dedication, energy, and compassion.

Additionally, I have volunteered as a Spanish teacher at a local primary school for three years. Volunteer service is something I would definitely like to continue to undertake at Brown, perhaps through the Community Corps that will allow me to help address social inequality within Providence, or as a teacher and classroom assistant in the Elementary Afterschool Mentoring program at D’Abate school. I can draw on my previous experience and knowledge to hopefully enrich the education of underprivileged children in the local community.

Finally, as an international student, I will bring an element of unique culture to Brown’s campus. Having grown up in the buzzing metropolis of London but visiting America frequently to see family, I have the privilege of a truly dual nationality, and the resultant worldview and cultural references that I hope will enrich the diverse Brown community.

• Variety of Reasons Given: Providing multiple reasons for how you'll contribute shows you aren't one-dimensional. People are complex and showing nuance in your character is important.
• Showcasing Past Experiences: With each point, the author gives examples from their activities and resume. Referencing specific extracurriculars helps build their case and is "proof" of how they'll contribute.

What They Might Change:

• Flow and Writing Style: Listing activities can come off as robotic and uninteresting. Rather, try to find a balance between showing off your achievements and writing in an interesting way.
• Structure: The last paragraph is most compelling because it deals with the author's personality and background, rather than just what they've done. Organizing the essay around your character is better than focusing solely on your achivements.

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Prompt: Why Brown?

Brown university essay example #3.

Prompt: Why Brown, and why the Brown Curriculum? (200 words max)

I believe any college should equip you with tools as you embark upon your journey. Brown provides the necessary. That is what the capstone experience does (not to mention the importance of internships given to Brown Students). You can never know everything about anything. But quench the questions is exactly what the Capstone Experience fosters.

The Open Curriculum was obviously the first thing that caught my eye. In school, you are sometimes forced to take the subjects you don’t like. College shouldn’t be the same. It is supposed to be a fresh start and that is exactly why you should be allowed to take the courses that appeal to you. Here is where the S/NC option was interesting. Only if you know perspectives from all subjects, can you determine a solution; S/NC promotes this. Group Independent Study Projects is also unique. Getting into the course is something hard. But creating your own course is amusing.

I would love to be a part of The Society of Women Engineers because I had to fight with my own family to study Computer Science in the United States. If it means providing the help for people I wish I'd got, never better.

• Ideas and Beliefs: Rather than just saying what aspects are appealing, the author explains why they are attracted to those things. By explaining your perspective, admissions officers are better able to understand your thinking and character.
• Specific to Brown: Listing aspects that are unique to Brown is important to show your interest is authentic. By naming things like the Capstone Experience and S/NC, the author shows their knowledge of Brown and makes their reasons more compelling.
• Writing Style: Some parts of the essay are clunky in wording and could be written more clearly. But the author is an international student, so it is understandable and not the end of the world.
• Structure and Conclusion: There isn't a clear conclusion sentence that ties the essay together. How can you relate the last sentence to your beginning?

Prompt: Area of Study

Brown university essay example #4.

Prompt: Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated? (150 words max)

There was a time when I was low and afraid to be with myself. That’s when I dived into programming. I always sat with my laptop. But unlike others on Instagram or Snapchat, I was coding. I always kept myself occupied so I wouldn’t think about hardships. But as I was solving those little Instantiation and StackOverflow errors, I realized that any problem in my life had a solution. I could either modify the code and right the wrong, or just keep compiling them, producing no output. So, life is not all that different. That is why I want to pursue Computer Science. I know I can work to keep myself happy. Inevitably, what makes me happy is Computer Science, which is what I want to pursue.

• Intriguing Backstory: Telling a compelling story is about setting the scene. This essay creates vivid imagery by naming specific programming-related things.
• Connects to Bigger Picture: Rather than just saying their major or interest, the author connects it to a more universal idea. Showing the deeper "why" behind your interests makes it relatable and more interesting.
• Writing Style and Flow: Some words are unnecessary, and a few sentences could be made more smooth to read.
• Doesn't Use the Full Word Limit: With 23 words left, the author could have included a sentence or two more. Every word is valuable with short word limits, so use them carefully.

Prompt: Where You've Lived

Brown university essay example #5.

Prompt: Tell us where you have lived - and for how long - since you were born; whether you've always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (100 words max)

I was born in California, USA. When I was about 7 months old, I moved to Bangalore, India. I've lived in Bangalore all my life, until two years ago. I started attending a boarding school, in the same state, but far away from my house. I chose to leave everything behind, even my phone, because I didn't want to be pampered. I wanted to fold my own blanket; to wipe my own tears; to carve my own name; to befriend people my way; to create my destiny. My parents weren't happy at first, but I convinced them.

• Poetic Writing: Interesting writing comes from interesting ideas. And the second to last sentence especially is compelling because it expresses their ideas elegantly.
• Answers Prompt Directly: For supplements especially, make sure to answer exactly what the prompt is asking.
• Be More Concise: Use as few words as possible to say the most you can. Especially for short prompts like this one, every word matters.
• Word Choice: Swapping out words like "house" for "home" can make the tone more natural.

Prompt: Communities and Groups

Brown university essay example #6.

Prompt: Communities or groups: pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (100 words max)

My dad lost his parents when he was young. My mom also quit her job to take care of me. So, if you look at it, she should loathe me. But she doesn’t. She has dedicated her whole life to me. That is why I want to provide a purpose to their lives. Every competition I won, even a small word of praise would lighten their mood. When I am happy they are euphoric; when I am sad they are distraught. It's like they (for)give and forget. So why not follow their footsteps and give it all I got?

• Vulnerable and Authentic: Being vulnerable is an important part of great essays. Talking about sensitive, but real and human topics, makes you more relatable and humanized.
• Explains What Motivates Them: Admissions officers want to know why you're driven to do things. Showing your "why" helps give insight into your character more deeply.
• Doesn't Answer Prompt Directly: Make sure to answer exactly what the prompt asks. Although this essay explains their background and motivations, it doesn't answer the question exactly.

If you're trying to get into Brown in 2022, your essays need to make you stand out from the competition. These 6 Brown essays that worked showcase great examples of what it takes to get accepted into Brown.

There are many lessons and tips to be learned from these supplements:

• Being authentic and genuine is key
• Name aspects unique and specific to the school
• Showcase your motivations and the "why" behind things
• Don't be afraid to be vulnerable
• Use every word carefully and make each word count

If you enjoyed reading these Brown supplements, you'll also like the essays for similar Ivy League schools like Princeton and Columbia University .

What did you think of these Brown University essays?

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How to Write the Brown University Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2023/2024

How to Write the Brown University Supplemental Essays TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What are the Brown University supplemental essay prompts?
• How to write each supplemental essay prompt for Brown
• Prompt #1: "Why us" essay
• Prompt #2: "Community contribution" essay
• Prompt #3: "What brings you joy" essay
• Prompt #4: Short answer question
• Prompt #5: Extracurricular activity essay
• Prompt #6: "Create your own class" essay
• Prompt #7: Short answer "Why us" essay
• PLME Program Prompt #1: "Why major" essay
• PLME Program Prompt #2: "Positive impact" essay
• PLME Program Prompt #3: "Why us" essay
• RISD Dual Degree Program Prompt #1: "Why us" + "community contribution" essay

Brown University is perhaps most famous for its Open Curriculum and the freedom and opportunity that it provides students for charting their own academic journeys.

Unlike colleges with a more structured academic curriculum (For example, Columbia University, St. John’s College, and University of Chicago), Brown provides optimal academic flexibility to the right type of student.

Let’s take a look at the required prompts, and how to make the most of these questions.

Before you begin writing, you may want to get deeper insights into the kind of student Brown is looking for, and how it views itself. You’ll find an extensive, by-the-numbers look at its offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, on its Common Data Set . For a better sense of how Brown envisions its role in academia and how it wants to grow and evolve, read its strategic plan here .

What are Brown University's supplemental essay prompts?

Brown's Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown. (200-250 words)

Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

What three words best describe you? (3 words)

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)

If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words)

In one sentence, Why Brown? (50 words)

Brown PLME Prompt #1

Required for applicants to the PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) Applicants

Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. What values and experiences have led you to believe that becoming a doctor in medicine is the right fit for you? (250 word limit)

Brown PLME Prompt #2

Health care is constantly changing, as it is affected by racial and social disparities, economics, politics, and technology, among others. How will you, as a future physician, make a positive impact? (250 word limit)

Brown PLME Prompt #3

How do you envision the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) helping you to meet your academic personal and professional goals as a person and as a physician of the future? (250 word limit)

Brown RISD Program Prompt #1

Required for applicants to the Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program:

The Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program draws on the complementary strengths of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to provide students with the opportunity to explore diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry, culminating in a capstone project that interrelates the content, approaches, and methods from two distinct learning experiences.

Based on your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD and the possibilities created by the BRDD program's broadened learning community, specifically describe how and why the BRDD program would constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. As part of your answer, be sure to articulate how you might contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work. (650 words)

How to Write Each Supplemental Essay Prompt for Brown University

How to write the brown supplemental essay #1.

This prompt is your classic “Why us?” essay, with a Brown-specific twist that asks you to focus on one aspect of Brown: its renowned Open Curriculum program. Before you start brainstorming, we recommend checking out this complete guide on how to write the “Why us?” essay . Pay close attention to the “Why Cornell” and “Why Penn” examples, which are our favorites.

Here’s the short version of how to write the typical “Why us?” essay:

Spend 1 hr+ researching 10+ reasons why Brown’s Open Curriculum might be a great fit for you (ideally 3-5 of the reasons will be unique to the school and connect back to you).

Make a copy of this chart to map out your college research.

Create an outline for your essays based on either Approach 1, 2 (recommended), or 3 in the full guide above.

Write a first draft!

Here’s a great example. Note how it starts with a very specific interest the student would like to pursue at Brown. 

After growing up on diplomacy and a love of politics, I am eager for a college experience that would allow me to decipher the complexities of foreign relations negotiations, while also being able to specialize in Middle Eastern politics.  Brown’s Open Curriculum would feed my inquisitive mind, allowing me the flexibility to pursue the International and Public Affairs concentration while also exploring a wide range of interests. For example, in Making Decisions, I’d learn the factors that impact choices, helping me to analyze negotiation tactics. In Spain on Screen: 80 Years of Spanish Cinema, I’d continue to pursue my love of Spanish by learning about its cultural landscape in a fun, unique way. With the Development track and focus on the Middle East region, I’d have access to an exciting combination of classes. With economic diplomacy becoming a powerful tool in international relations, I could better understand the power of economic influence through Diplomacy, Economics and Influence, while The Making of the Modern Middle East would strengthen my understanding of the region’s historical evolution and the associated political and economic implications. I’d also capitalize on the Watson Institute’s resources, especially the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, attending workshops and researching Middle Eastern developmental challenges.    After being able to explore a wide range of interests at Brown, rather than having to choose one narrowly focused concentration, I’d build important skills like assertiveness and empathy that could assist me as a compassionate diplomat. (250 words) — — —

Tips + Analysis

Embrace “and.” A big selling point at Brown is its open curriculum, which allows you to take classes across several disciplines and explore outside your major. Brown shows how important this flexible approach to learning is by devoting a whole supplemental essay prompt to asking what you’d do with the opportunities the open curriculum offers. A key part of acing this prompt is to think expansively rather than in the confines of a single academic interest. If you’re primarily interested in biology, also consider other classes you might want to explore out of sheer curiosity. Don’t feel like you need to lay out a hyper-specific career path. Brown is all about embracing the “and” of learning, and it’ll serve you well to take a similar approach in your essay. Notice that, in this example, the student notes a primary interest in Middle Eastern international relations but also demonstrates excitement for Behavioral Science, Spanish language, and film. This makes his response more multi-faceted and shows that he really understands Brown’s approach to education.

Get specific. The great thing about this essay is that it’s clear the student has done his research. Take a close look at Brown’s course catalogue and list of majors to see what you’d actually want to take if you ended up going there. Citing specific classes, professors, and areas of study is a great way to show your dedication to the university and how you’d make the most of what Brown has to offer. This student highlights a specific concentration/track (International and Public Affairs/Development with a focus on the Middle East), some classes (Making Decisions and Spain on Screen: 80 Years of Spanish Cinema), and some campus resources he’d want to make use of (Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rhodes Center, etc). If you need help brainstorming these kinds of details, check out our BEABIES Exercise to get started (Tool #2 on this post ).

Highlight connections. Although Brown wants you to have fun exploring outside the confines of a specific major, it also wants to see that you’re not choosing topics randomly. In the meat of your essay, demonstrate how your interests connect. This student does a great job of sharing his understanding of how Behavioral Science would help him with negotiation tactics,while a Spanish language class would give him a greater grasp on different cultural landscapes. The key is that when he mentions an interest, he always explains the why behind it.

Because this prompt takes such a unique approach to the “Why us?” we figured we’d gift you with a bonus example.

After seeing The Vagina Monologues, I began exploring gender independently. From watching Mrs. America to reading The Second Sex, I sought solidarity and inspiration in art, media, and literature that shed light on marginalized voices. Studying an online course on international women’s health, I became more informed on topics such as female circumcision, son preferences, and domestic violence – and more enamored of the process of self-directed, interdisciplinary learning.  Brown’s Open Curriculum would allow me to double concentrate in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Economics while exploring other areas such as Modern Culture and Media. The S/NC option will encourage me to take courses such as The Late 60's: Film Countercultures, an area I am deeply interested in but new to.  Brown will allow me to build an interdisciplinary understanding of gender and economics with a classroom of self-driven students. Through Inequality of Income, Wealth, and Health, I will explore the causes of inequality, and how poverty can be addressed by economic policies and public education. Through A Gender Perspective on Women and Enterprise, I can examine gender inequality in economic areas including property ownership, capital, and markets. In addition, I am fascinated by the differences journal’s approach to gender studies --- analyzing it with race, culture, and art.  I am excited to become the architect of my own education at Brown, realizing my academic vision with a group of passionate and motivated students. (234 words) — — —

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #2

At first glance, this prompt may seem slightly similar to prompt 1, and you’d be right in the sense that both are asking for you to take parts of your past and connect them with your Brown future. But one important difference with this prompt is its focus on your contribution to the larger Brown community, not just the academic one.

Another detail to note is Brown’s encouragement to show where you come from—the people, places, and things that have shaped who you are today. This is your chance to connect your unique upbringing, in a very broad sense of the word, with what has helped make you unstoppable. So take it.

While there are many things outside of “community” that might fit this prompt, if you’re looking for a way to brainstorm ideas, that’s a good place to start. (But keep in mind that you’ll want to include some “how will you contribute” details in your essay—this isn’t just a “tell us about a community” prompt.)

For a full guide to “community” essays , head there, but here’s the short version:

STEP 1: DECIDE WHAT COMMUNITY YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT

Create a “communities” chart by listing all the communities you’re a part of. Keep in mind that communities can be defined by...

Place: groups of people who live/work/play near one another

Action: groups of people who create change in the world by building, doing, or solving something together (Examples: Black Lives Matter, Girls Who Code, March for Our Lives)

Interest: groups of people coming together based on shared interest, experience, or expertise

Circumstance: groups of people brought together either by chance or external events/situations

STEP 2: USE THE BEABIES EXERCISE TO GENERATE YOUR ESSAY CONTENT

You’ll find detail on the BEABIES Exercise + a chart you can use at that link.

STEP 3: DO SOME “HOW WILL YOU CONTRIBUTE” RESEARCH

You’ll want to offer a few specific ways that show how the experience/s you’re discussing in your essay will allow you to contribute to Brown. The easiest way to do this is to do some “Why Us”-like research and find ways you’ll engage with and contribute to the Brown community. 

STEP 4: PICK A STRUCTURE (NARRATIVE OR MONTAGE)

Step 5: write a first draft.

This is a brand-new prompt for Brown this year, but here’s an essay, written for Columbia, that could have worked well for this prompt:

At family dinners over gnocchi and arancini, my grandpa would always ask my two older brothers how their education and sports were going. I’d wait for my turn, but the question was never directed my way. In contrast, my grandma always tells me how thankful she is that I’m able to get an education of my own. She frequently mentions how she regrets never getting an education. I pursue my education with a fire within me to do what she wasn’t allowed to. During the summer of 2021, I realized that I could impact other girls in a similar way by writing a children’s book about influential women in STEM in order to inspire the next generation of female scientists.  At Columbia University, I hope to contribute to the empowerment of women by creating a Society of Women in Science, hosting Alumni Panels, Graduate Student Q&A’s, and creating a safe space for women in similar majors to discuss their successes and setbacks. In addition, joining the Student Wellness Project will provide another community that prioritizes mental health. This empowering environment is the ideal place to help me develop as both a feminist and a scientist. — — —

View the prompt broadly. While this prompt offers you the perfect opportunity to explore the impact race, socioeconomic status, and other societal factors have had on you, don’t feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the prompt. As in the example above, where the student recounts her experiences with a cultural and generational divide, there are many experiences we’ve had that have shaped who we are. Some are deep, like being the only person of color at your high school, while others are more light-hearted, like having to learn to make your own grilled cheese at age 8 as a latchkey kid. Both are admirable in their own ways. Both may be really important to you. And both can make really effective responses.

Make campus connections. The second part of the prompt is as important as the first. While Brown wants to hear about your past experiences, they’re just as curious about how they’ll shape your time on campus, leaving the school better than as you found it. But remember, they probably want at least some (if not all) focus on outside-the-classroom experiences here, so dive into their list of student organizations and find a few that truly resonate with you and that you feel you could make a meaningful contribution to. The student above does just that with their reference to the Student Wellness project and how they expect to contribute.

Be a changemaker. Can’t find an organization at Brown you'd like to join? Create your own! The student in the example above plans to start their own organization and even outlines some of the specific events she plans to hold. It's clear she's done her research to see where the college might be lacking in female-centered organizations—and she's going to take the charge to correct that.

Tie the two together. Make sure your past connects with your future. That means tying the lessons from your childhood, preteen, and adolescent years with the contributions you're going to make on campus. The response above does a great job in doing that. As a young female who has, from a young age, been committed to empowering young women, it’s clear how this student is going to make a specific impact on Brown's campus community.

And here’s a bonus example for an older Brown prompt that works very nicely for the first half of the new prompt (Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you) but would need some changes/additions in the second half to address the second part of the prompt (what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community) :

Bonus Example:

“Why on earth do you have to volunteer at places like that?” My dad spoke abruptly during our drive home.  I had just finished working at an LGBT-friendly bar, raising funds for an LGBT workplace diversity campaign. As I walked out smelling like tobacco and beer, his face stiffened. But I knew what angered him more was that I’d turned down a volunteering opportunity at the UN and chosen the Beijing LGBT Center, an NGO he deemed illegitimate.  “Because...” I began. “I don’t want you to work there anymore.” Dreadful silence prolonged in the car. I was devastated that he didn’t approve of the work I’d prided myself in.  But I didn’t tell him these things. I hadn’t (and haven’t) come out to him yet.  I love my father. He’s the superman who let me ride on his shoulders, who spent his savings on providing me the best education possible, and who cried when I told him I was lonely in boarding school. But he didn’t want me volunteering at the bar. And I didn’t want to let him down. So I compromised. I never worked again at the bar. I could continue volunteering at the LGBT center, but not more than twice a week. And I should never discuss my work publicly.  As I gave in to my family’s wishes, my mind flashed back to my other queer activists who had not. A transgender woman, Qing, has a father who hasn’t spoken to her in ten years because she refuses to cut her long hair. Nana’s mother nearly disowned her because she married her girlfriend.  I’ve come to realize that activism isn’t just about marching in rainbow parades and running ambitious campaigns. It may involve conflicts with our loved ones who hold opposite beliefs. Upholding personal beliefs could lead to a broken family, and vice versa. There is not a right answer but only a matter of choice.  And that’s a painful lesson. (324 words) — — —

Bring it back to you. Although the prompt asks you to talk about a perspective you encountered that was different from your own, remember that the person reading your application ultimately wants to know more about you. This writer centers her essay around her father’s disapproval of her LGBTQ+ advocacy/volunteer work. But she makes sure to bring their difficult conversations back to how it informed her own perspective and the compromises she had to make as a result of her father’s beliefs. Think about how you can weave yourself into the story as you write. Why? This will make you an active participant (rather than a passive observer) in your own story.

Consider the nuance. As you’re writing, you may be tempted to tie your response up into a neat little bow. It might seem nice to end on a happy or resolved note. But beliefs and values are complicated. We don’t normally encounter perspectives different from our own and immediately accept them. More often than not, difficult conversations end in some mix of compromise and disagreement. Don’t be afraid to talk about that tension in your essay. It can be fundamental to demonstrating your depth of character and maturity. Notice, for example, how this student openly admits to struggling with accepting her dad’s judgements—and how that vulnerability makes it easier to empathize with her. The ending is painful, and the student doesn’t shy away from sharing the messiness of her growth. When you’re writing, reflect on the kinds of conversations you have and what you learned from them. Even if you didn’t change someone else’s worldview, you can still have a topic worth writing about.

Incorporate dialogue (or don’t). This student does an excellent job of using the tough conversation she had with her father about her bar job as a way to illustrate their conflicting viewpoints, quickly hooking us into her narrative. When used effectively, dialogue can bring readers into the action in an interesting, evocative, and visceral way. Especially in answering a prompt like this about ideas, engagement, and communication, dialogue can be a useful literary tool (Brown even mentions dialogue in the prompt itself!). However, too much dialogue or mundane snippets of conversation can be boring, eating away at your already-limited word count. Use your best judgment and consider whether dialogue would be a smart storytelling device for you.

Show how this shapes your contributions. Because it was written for an older version of Brown’s prompt, the essay above lacks any “how will you contribute” details. But the student could easily do some research on organizations at Brown that connect to these past experiences and incorporate them into the end of the essay (probably by building a new paragraph after “And that’s a painful lesson”).

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #3

This is another new one for Brown, but we find it to be very similar to Stanford’s old “what’s meaningful and why” and “what makes you generally excited about learning” prompts. Check out that crash course here for discussions and examples of those. When approaching this Brown prompt, think about these key phrases as you brainstorm a possible topic and go to write: “care deeply about their work and the world around them,” “contentment, satisfaction, meaning,” “daily interactions and major discoveries.” Seize on any one of those that speak to you. Maybe it’s a pet project you started to improve your community (care deeply), or a hobby you do for the fun of it (satisfaction, meaning), or even your mastery of derivatives and integrals (hey, that’s some students’ love language). Whatever you choose, make sure it’s something that truly brings you joy and that can generate 200-250 words of content.

Here’s an essay written for another school that would work well here.

Last summer, I became an addict. A pickleball addict. A pickler. I had once dismissed the game as an old dude’s sport, or merely just too hard. However, the game grew on me as I went from barely keeping the ball in bounds, to serving aces and hitting consistent put-away shots for hours on end. The game’s simplicity blew my mind, and I quickly became hooked. As the school year began, I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I would only be able to play twice per week, instead of my usual five. So, I founded the Ralston Valley Pickleball Club, and it quickly transformed into one of the most populated clubs at school. Students from many different cliques and backgrounds come together weekly, whether through casual games or competitive, organized tournaments.  The staggering rate at which my peers formed new connections daily happily surprised me, as the game’s effects were not simply left on the Pickleball Courts: the hallways at my school reverberated with new conversations. By utilizing an unusual, inclusive sport, I was able to introduce my immediate community to the diversity all around them. (189 words) — — —

Consider starting with a powerful one-liner. The first sentence of this essay is cryptic, smart, and a little funny, and it makes you want to keep reading. The second and third sentence fragments are even better. The writer has barely written 10 words, and already we feel like we know so much about him. It’s a lovely beginning. Stumped on how to start this (or any) essay? This blog has some ideas that may help.

Use structure to highlight your narrative arc. Although this essay is short, the author has a clear story to tell. The story has distinct parts. He became interested in pickleball, founded a pickleball club because he enjoyed it so much, and spread his love of the sport to other members of his school community. Those are the points he’s trying to convey, and you can see them reflected in each of his paragraphs. Simple paragraph breaks like these can help you clarify your main points to your reader.

Emphasize uncommon values. This author picked a pretty cool topic, but he could have easily written a boring essay if he hadn’t connected it to interesting insights and values. When we think of sports, some words that come to mind might be physical health, athleticism, sportsmanship, or competition. However, reading this essay, we see the author has emphasized values that aren’t as commonly written about in sports essays, like simplicity, community, connection, and happiness. The essay takes us in an unexpected direction, which a) makes us want to keep reading and b) helps this essay (and applicant) stand out.

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #4

Every written response in your application is a chance to be memorable and differentiate yourself from other applicants—especially other applicants with similar academic profiles. So with only three words at your disposal for your response, you want to make them count. In other words, in a pasture full of horses, be a little bit more zebra. While we’ve got a how-to guide for answering these short-answer questions for highly selective colleges that goes into more detail on these (and other) questions, keep reading for our take on how to get the most bang for your three-word buck. 

And check out the examples below to learn how much you can learn about a student in just three words.

Examples:  

Simple, Calculator, Wizard — — — Korean-food-loving, Taekwondo-Blue-Belt, Innovator — — — Fish, intuitive, hungry — — — Sondheim-loving, Tofu-eating, Noctivagant — — —

Avoid repetition and super-common descriptors. We know how tempting it is to put “creative, passionate, leader”—especially if those words fit you really well. Don’t give in to the temptation. Chances are, if you really are those things, they’re coming through loud and clear in other parts of your application. Don’t repeat them here. For the answers given above, don’t you find yourself wanting to know more about the students who wrote them? Exactly. Those words have done their job.

Hyphenated-words-are-OK-here. Don’t overdo it, though. But you can absolutely connect related descriptors, like the student’s “Korean-food-loving” submission above. It works because it’s all related to a singular idea. Still, use them sparingly and to enhance your answer, not to sidestep the prompt’s instructions.

Think beyond adjectives. Of course, your default reaction is probably to use adjectives. But as you’re thinking beyond those blah adjectives (see tip 1 above), why not think past adjectives entirely? Wizard. Noctivagant. Mulan. Thinking outside that adjective box can yield some pretty amazing (and highly visual) results. 

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #5

Great news for you on this prompt: This is your all-purpose extracurricular activity essay (although you probably knew that already)—and you’ll likely be able to repurpose this essay for other prompts from other schools (or vice versa). 

If you’ve already written this essay for another application, then BOOM, you’re probably done (with maybe a little editing to fit word count). Starting from scratch? Then you can check out our deep dive on how to write a great extracurricular activity essay , or keep reading for our top tips for writing a strong essay in just 100 words.

Because this prompt is new, we don’t have any Brown-specific samples to show you. But the sample below was written in response to a similar prompt for Stanford (although with a longer word count), and they do a great job laying the foundation you can use for your own, shorter, essay.

Example:  

Whether it’s painting for a teenager getting out of rehab, dissecting the anti-war meanings behind Banksy’s street art, or dancing a Bharatnatyam piece that communicates how we’re all one and the same, I’ve seen first-hand art’s power to persuade, influence, and urge people to act.  My next project is a multimedia piece that speaks to an issue of utter importance to me: suicide prevention. My brother, a peer, and I are working on a campaign, with support from the national mental health organization SAVE and our school, with a call to action— share one reason worth living for each day.  To support the campaign, my piece will be centered around a dance choreographed to two poems focusing on the little beauties of life: “People Should Fall in Love More” by Courney Peppernell and “And In Wonder And Amazement I Sing” by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore—sung in Bengali. Since those with suicidal tendencies often have racing thoughts, I want our piece to calm them with the steady beat of the tabla playing in the background. With each line, I plan to use hand gestures like Alapadma and Hamsasya, to wordlessly communicate the poems’ important messages of life, love and purpose.  I hope this audiovisual experience will inspire my audience with hope, so that they see the beauty in even small things. Using my art for action gives it meaning through impact. — — —

Value function (information) over form (flowery writing). This may seem like a no-brainer, but there’s a difference between writing a 100-word essay and writing an effective 100-word essay. With no extra words to spare, you need to be crystal-clear in conveying what you’ve done, and what you’ve learned as a result. The writer of this essay gets right to the point in the first line and uses every word to support their involvement. 

Be clear about your takeaways. Admission officers want to see clear growth from the activities you’re involved in, so don’t hesitate to show what your involvement in this activity meant to you. The author of this essay reveals what their art means to them—“Using my art for action gives it meaning through impact”—leaving no doubt about its importance.

Ignore the word count… at first. The problem with writing a 100-word essay is you think you have to start by writing a 100-word essay. Our top tip for writing? Overwrite. Make it long. Brain dump. Word vomit. Brainstorm. Whatever you like to call freewriting. Just dive in. The best 100-word essays almost always start at 250-300 words and then are ruthlessly but methodically cut down . When you (at first) ignore the word count, you’re more likely to include the deep stuff and the important stuff, and then you can trim out all the superfluous content. But when you write to word count from the get-go, you’ll probably miss the opportunity to add the real impact to your story.

As an extra-special bonus, here’s another Stanford essay written for a similar prompt. Again, while it’s too long for Brown, it does a great job of showing how meaningful this activity was to the student.

Bonus example:

The issue of educational injustice is deeply important to me. School closures during the pandemic exacerbated this inequality, with many public institutions staying closed the 2020-21 school year as opposed to their private school counterparts—their students’ educational experience being less optimal as a result. Seeing this disparity, I decided to start TutorDigital, a non-profit free tutoring and technology donation service for Bay Area students. My interest in tutoring began in middle school through volunteering as a peer tutor. In high school, I created a tutoring club, giving my peers the opportunity to help younger elementary students on financial aid with their homework. With the club being sidetracked by COVID-19, I tutored for 826 Valencia. This experience prompted me to transition my old club to a remote format, while also rebranding it with a friend: naming it TutorDigital, registering it as a non-profit, designing a website, and recruiting additional tutors. These efforts expanded our reach to include local public schools. Since then, we’ve provided tutoring services to 34 students and identified other opportunities to support public schools like donating upwards of 60 iPads. While the issue unfortunately will not be solved overnight, educational injustice must be aggressively addressed, now more than ever given the impacts of the pandemic. But for now, I gain great satisfaction from each thank you note from a parent or good grade achieved by a student, knowing my efforts have potentially improved the academic trajectory of these children and helped to address educational injustice in my community. — — —

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #6

This prompt gives you the perfect opportunity to talk about what really lights you up and brings you joy. After all, if you’re going to be teaching a class for a whole semester, it’ll hopefully be on something you’re passionate about, right? So harness that passion and convert it into 100 impactful words. Regardless of the topic you choose, this is your chance to show what kind of thinker and planner you are and what new, unique, and exciting perspectives you’re going to bring to Brown. If you want to go into an even deeper dive on this essay topic, check out our longer guide at this link .

While these responses were written for other schools with different word counts, they’re great examples of how to approach your own response to Brown.

The Exalted Power of Music: How Our Ears Inspire Our Eyes Course Description: Music dominates our society–pop songs and singers are hugely influential in today’s time. But where else in our lives does the enchanting power of music hold influence? As we investigate and unravel the techniques of modern artists through a diverse slate of plays, cartoons, and films, we will discover the vital role of music in enhancing benchmark works of visual fiction. Simultaneously, through philosophical readings of Walton and Nietzsche, we will analyze the emotional and physiological effects of music, examining the dynamic interplay of visual and auditory elements. Finally, students will synthesize their research to create a short film or multimedia piece that displays their knowledge of visual aspects, music's attributes, and their combined impact on a universal audience. — — —

Remember the “or otherwise” part of the prompt. It’s tempting to go super-academic in response to this prompt, and that can definitely work well, but just remember they’re holding space here for you to show your creative, fun side, too. In the sample above, personal interests shine brightly through the “Exalted Power of Music” topic as the student dives deeply into fascinating (to our minds) aspects of what they’d explore.

Demonstrate your expertise. Regardless of what direction you take your response in, highlight your knowledge. Mentioning required readings (like the author does in the first example) positions you as a curious expert. Bonus: Finding pieces that are slightly off-topic from your course can be a great way to make uncommon connections and help your response stand out. 

Ask questions. Even simply asking smart questions can demonstrate your out-of-the-box thinking. Not only do they illustrate the deeper topics that get your brain humming, but they also show the critical thinking that Brown expects (and hopes to cultivate) on campus. The example above doesn’t have to do this, but keep in mind that a complex, intriguing question can often be more interesting than an answer.

And here’s a different example, again written for a different school’s prompt (that focuses on a single seminar, rather than a course), that illustrates a different possible approach.

Whenever I received birthday money from family or friends as a small child, my father, being a frugal man, would deposit it into my bank account. This became a running joke in the family, with my mom’s step-dad affectionately calling him “jingles.” Despite my complaints, I always assumed my father was ultimately right, doing something that would benefit me financially in the long run. Then I read John Maynard Keynes’ “Paradox of Thrift.” According to Keynes, we might have been wrong. Keynes asserts individual saving is bad for the overall health of the economy, negatively affecting the individual. For instance, say my grandmother gives me $20. If I save it, aggregate consumption decreases by $20, reducing firms’ planned investment, expecting $20 less to be spent on their goods. As a result, they need less labor, either causing layoffs or wage cuts which could adversely affect my grandmother, preventing her from giving me money on my next birthday and causing me to save less. Keynes’ theory demonstrates that saving can actually reduce saving, hence the “paradox.” My Flash Seminar would address Keynes’ theory, specifically how we forget to consider the aggregate impacts of our actions. From spending birthday money to taking shorter showers to bringing a reusable water bottle to school, Keynes’ theory illustrates how seemingly insignificant choices have large cumulative effects, something I’d want to pass along to my audience with the hope of persuading them to think less about themselves and more about the whole. — — —

How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essay #7

While it’s not easy to distill into 50 words why you want to spend your next four years at Brown, it’s not impossible, either. 

Since you’re writing an academic “Why Us” for the first Brown prompt, you should already being doing research that can set you up here. (Side note: If you haven’t checked out our step-by-step guide to writing the “Why Us” essay, check it out at this link .)

This Brown prompt, at just 50 words and one sentence, is a mini-version of this “Why Us” essay, honing in on just one (maybe two) unique aspects of Brown that you’re drawn to. While you can include academic and extracurricular activities in your response, avoid covering common topics, like the open curriculum (you’ve already written about it) and passing through the Van Wickle gate. Instead, the best answer is going to incorporate why You + Brown = The Perfect Match.

Here’s a nice example written for Stanford that packs a lot of answers to “Why” in this pint-sized word count.

Loving my favorite lines of Latin poetry for their ingenious manipulation of language, I anticipate studying comedy—humankind’s most clever use of language—through the Making Fun of History: Insults, Mockery and Abuse Language in Antiquity IntroSem.  — — —

Dig deep to find your “Why.” Really go through Brown’s website. Find (and read) a course syllabus. Check out student reviews. Check out expert reviews. What are they saying about what sets Brown apart from all others? You might be surprised at some of the answers. Then take what you’ve learned to connect it back to you. After all, Brown knows why they’re great. But they don’t know why they’re great for you. The author of our sample essay above clearly demonstrates they understand how a past classroom favorite will connect to coursework and the college—and why it’s a perfect fit for them.

Have some fun in your answer. We know this feels like a big risk in a high-stakes situation, but you can absolutely (and effectively) show your personality in these answers. In our sample essay above, beyond seeing the connection between their interest (language) and the college’s offerings, we come away knowing a little more about the author—like, we’re pretty sure they have some wicked-good comeback lines. 

Get right to the point. With such a limited word count, this is no time to wax poetic or include intros or conclusions. Cut things like “I want to attend Brown because.” Use contractions. It’s OK, we promise. 

And here are a couple more examples, without analysis, just to give you other directions to head in.

Interdisciplinary research at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES), a space where I can collaborate with students in many different majors and work on an issue very important to me, climate change, through research projects such as analyzing “gold-cage” perovskites with tunable light absorption . — — —  I am thrilled to audition for the Stanford Swing Dancers, since I am trained in ballet, ballet folklórico, hip-hop, contemporary, tap, jazz, salsa, tango, ballroom, and some African styles, and I am almost always moving and would be delighted to broaden my repertoire. — — —

How to Write the Brown PLME Supplemental Essays

If you’re applying to other BS/MD programs, we have an in-depth BS/MD guide here , built from advice from BS/MD admissions readers. For examples and analysis from Brown’s PLME program, keep reading.

How to Write the Brown PLME Prompt #1

Required for applicants to the PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. Explain your personal motivation to pursue a career in medicine. (250 word limit)

This prompt is specifically for prospective students who want to apply to Brown’s combined BA and MD eight-year program (more details here ). This program encourages students to take classes in a variety of different disciplines as they prepare for a career as physicians or medical scholars. Here, the school asks you to consider why you’re drawn to medicine and reflect on the values/experiences that shaped that interest. Brown is a big proponent of academic exploration and interdisciplinary curiosity. While those principles are still important in the PLME program, committing to a specific career path right out of high school is a big deal, and Brown wants to make sure you’ve thought deeply about it before jumping right in.

Here’s a great example essay:

The two things I love most are science and talking. Unfortunately, they don’t always align. But I’ve gotten a taste for their intersection in both research and teaching.  As a volunteer lab assistant at the University of Illinois, I helped researchers with projects—everything from collecting ice for materials storage to compiling data on pancreatic cysts. As a student for Dr. Rubin’s Mini Medical School, a local program that fosters high school students’ interests in the world of medicine I learned basic factoids (the anatomy of various organs, how to insert an IV, how to suture, how to cast, and how to read an X-Ray, among other things).  But the following year, after becoming a TA for the program, my eyes were opened to the significance of developing good communication skills, especially humorous dialogue, in the medical field. When I was teaching students, I frequently needed to identify ways to encourage conversations as part of the curriculum.  When teaching about baby delivery, I started by asking who was familiar with the Kardashians. After a group discussion on the pseudo-royal family, I would slip in references to the lesson (the nutrients contained within a placenta) by asking if they were all aware of the fact that Kourtney had ingested hers. My goal as a physician is to connect people and medicine in creative and beneficial ways. While studying the sciences I want to keep learning, teaching, and encouraging conversations, and therefore, connections. (240 words) — — —

Make uncommon connections. A lot of people want to be doctors, but if you can find a way to connect that career goal to uncommon values, it’ll be easier for you to stand out. This student talks about the importance of clear communication and humor in relation to wanting to be a physician—values we might not normally associate with the profession. He ties those values to tangible anecdotes about Kardashian baby delivery analogies and teaching other students as a TA. Everyone who answers this prompt is essentially going to be writing about the same topic (wanting to be a doctor), but if you can find unique personal values to embed in your essay, you’ll have a better chance of standing out.

Emphasize past experience. Notice that this author is coming in with some prior experience in the world of medicine. This helps us get confidence that he’s basing his career choice on real-world insights. Only 50 people get accepted into the PLME program each year, so Brown really wants to make sure you know what you’re getting into and have solid reasons for why you deserve a spot at its institution for eight years. It’s crucial that you emphasize what you’ve done to develop your current interest in medicine as well as the skills you’ve learned along the way. For this student, his past experience helped him learn basic “factoids,” like how to suture, cast, and insert an IV. It also gave him an appreciation for effective scientific communication and how to practice that communication in a clinical setting.

Consider the future. While it’s important to draw on past experience in this essay, it’s equally important to think about where a professional medical degree would take you in the future. This student’s goal is to use his degree to “connect people and medicine in creative and beneficial ways.” You don’t have a huge word count, so your discussion of the future can be broad like this example (although this student could have dug a little deeper on the “right fit for you” aspect of the prompt). Just give your reader a sense of what you’re working toward so that they know what motivates and inspires you in this particular field of study.

How to Write the Brown PLME Prompt #2

Required for applicants to the PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) Health care is constantly changing, as it is affected by racial and social disparities, economics, politics, and technology, among others. Imagine that you are a physician and describe one way in which you would seek to make a positive impact in today’s healthcare environment. (250 words)

At first glance, this prompt may seem intimidating, since the topic is politically, socially, economically, and culturally charged. But solid brainstorming techniques will help you break this essay down into smaller chunks. Before you start writing, identify a current problem in the healthcare system that means something to you (Ex. lack of transparency about medications, accessibility challenges for low-income students, etc). Try this technique:

Step 1: Write that problem down on the center of a piece of paper.

Step 2: Draw lines off it to the right and left. 

Step 3: At the ends of the lines on the left, brainstorm reasons why that problem bothers you (Ex. I’m a student, and I have trouble getting my medications, so this is a personal problem). 

Step 4: At the ends of the lines on the right, brainstorm ways you could address that central problem (Ex. federal regulation, fewer financial incentives for doctors to prioritize wealthier patients, etc). 

Step 5: As you build out your mind map, start to identify the bones of your eventual essay:

Reasons why it affects, concerns, bothers, or motivates me

Potential solutions to make a positive impact

Your essay doesn’t necessarily have to be that linear, but having these basic building blocks will help you to make this broad prompt more digestible.

Here’s an essay we love that was written for another school but could work well for this prompt. While it would have to be 200 words shorter for this year’s Brown prompt, the content, structure, and specificity are the key takeaways.

People should not have to pay extraordinary prices for necessary emergency treatment in the United States. If doctors turn patients away because they can’t pay, what’s the point of the profession? I want to become a doctor and create structural changes within the United States healthcare system to transform the medical field. My interest wasn’t initially as firm as it is now, rather I was just curious at the beginning. I dedicated hours to explore the medical field. After I became eligible in the middle of my junior year, I applied, interviewed, and was accepted as a volunteer at AMITA Health Hospitals. In March, I got my vaccinations and fulfilled the requirements to volunteer; however, COVID-19 struck—the program was shut down. Despite this obstacle, I persisted. I virtually shadowed doctors and continued learning about the medical field through Virtual Pre-medicine Shadowing and the BRAINterms Summer Seminar Series.  The experience of Trauma Surgeon Dr. Brian Williams and his surgeries for gunshot wounds impacted me. It was the first time I was exposed to images of gunshot wounds. I had never imagined myself before being able to save people who had experienced such horrible injuries. He dealt with such difficult cases on a daily basis, but rather than it frightening me, I wanted to take up a similar challenge. The joy Dr. Williams expressed when telling stories of the patients who lived made me realize what an honor it is to have the expertise over life and death.  The cascade of information from the lives of actual doctors made me realize that I wanted to be one myself. So, how could I help people or get involved if I couldn’t treat patients directly? As a junior, I took Advanced Biological Systems in order to expand my foundational knowledge of biology, but I had a desire to learn beyond the classroom. I wanted to deeply dive into biology and the medical aspect of the field, so I cold emailed professors in hopes of pursuing an internship through IMSA’s Student Inquiry and Research Program. I was accepted by Dr. Daniel C. Lee at Northwestern University and am currently interning there. Learning about the functions of the heart as well as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was fascinating and solidified my interest in biology.   A degree in Healthcare Management & Policy would allow me to further understand my interests in policy and medicine. I’d be able to learn about the intersection of those two interests with the Georgetown curriculum through the health policy analysis track with a pre med concentration. The major would prepare me for my future aspirations as a doctor and a policy maker working to change health care legislation, and it would allow me to pursue research and internship opportunities with more understanding of my favored fields of study. (465 words) — — —

Start with the problem. In this essay, it’s really easy to find the healthcare problem that the student is addressing because it’s in his first paragraph. Right from the start, we know he’ll be talking about making prices more equitable in the healthcare system. It helps orient the reader and contextualize the rest of his essay. You don’t want your reader to be confused or have to search for your thesis in the body of your response.

Talk about yourself. This might seem obvious, but it’s easy to forget to do this when answering this kind of prompt. Many students get so sucked into identifying and describing problems that they forget to discuss what unique solutions they’d bring to the table. This student first makes it clear what frustrates him about the healthcare system, then he delves into his personal experience volunteering at AMITA Health Hospitals and shadowing a trauma surgeon. He also mentions specific high school classes and research opportunities that prepared him for studying medicine. He smoothly transitions from the problem to his academic background. Remember, this is your application, so don’t shy away from discussing your accomplishments. That being said, don’t lose track of answering the prompt as you talk about yourself. In the end, this student circles back to the original problem and discusses how a degree in Healthcare Management & Policy would help him take action in the medical field through policy implementation. Had he been writing to this prompt, he could have expanded more specifically on what policy measures he’d take to effect positive change. The more you can do to show you’ve done your research and are prepared to take real action, the better.

Emphasize persistence. One aspect of this essay that really stands out is the student’s grit and determination in making the most out of the opportunities available to him. Even though his volunteering job was interrupted by COVID, he made the most of his opportunities by signing up for external seminars and virtually shadowing doctors. Even though he was disturbed by the gunshot wounds he observed Dr. Brian Williams treating, he turned it into a source of ambition and motivation. He advocated for himself by cold-emailing professors, and landed a great college-level internship. Whenever you can, show how you overcame obstacles or worked with what you had in a meaningful way. It’s not about what’s handed to you, it’s about making the effort to reach for what may be just outside your grasp.

How to Write the Brown PLME Prompt #3

Required for applicants to the PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) How do you envision the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) helping you to meet your academic personal and professional goals as a person and as a physician of the future? (250 word limit)

Think of this one as another “Why us?” prompt, but this one’s all about the PLME program. Here are some steps you can take as you prepare to write this prompt:

Step 1: Do your research. If you haven’t already, do a deep dive into the program, looking for courses and opportunities that appeal to you. How do you see yourself taking advantage of those offerings? What “why me” elements can you add in connecting what you’ve already done with what you hope to do in Brown’s PLME program? 

Step 2: Take a moment to think through what “your academic personal and professional goals as a person and a physician of the future” are. The prompt is essentially asking to learn more about two aspects of your aspirations: How do you want to grow (academically) as a person in the PLME? And what are your professional goals as a future doctor? 

Step 3: Make a copy of this chart to map out your research.

Step 4: As you write, think about dividing the essay into two parts: the first outlining your personal and professional goals, and the second using specifics (courses, professors, research opportunities, etc.) to show how you expect the PLME program to help you attain those goals.

Here’s a nice example of a student who did just that. While the example below was written for when the word count was 500, it nicely illustrates your goal with specific details and “so whats”, and would just need cuts.

Throughout preschool, I was only fluent in Tamil, so I carried a bright green piece of paper covered with crayon scribbles and coffee stains. Wrinkled beyond perception, it was my key to communicating with those around me. Over the course of two years, my mother had written translations that would enable my teachers to understand what I was saying at any given point in time.  After that green paper had come and gone, I started to notice new ones appear every once in a while. First, it was just a simple guide on verbs in Spanish, then it was a trigonometry review in Precalculus, until finally it was my formula sheet for Chemistry. At this point in time, the green sheet of paper represented a bridge between two worlds: one that was unknown and one that was familiar. Since I valued it so much, I made it my goal to become such a bridge. As a hospital volunteer, I spoke in Spanish, Telugu, and Tamil in order to help visitors find what they were looking for. This is where my interest in the medical field stems from—forming connections. My goal, as a physician, is to better my patients’ social and emotional health in addition to their physical well-being. PLME will give me the opportunity to explore my interests in a shorter, more structured timeframe, while also encouraging growth in various fields during my two years as an undergraduate student participating in medical school coursework. I hope to take part in Brown’s study abroad programs (if Covid allows it!), participating in extensive learning in places like Argentina and Japan. I’m very eager to study biology and medicine through the lens of new cultures. Additionally, within Providence, I’d be privileged to lend my skills to the Community Health Advocacy Program. At Brown, I want to continue my love of research. When I was a research assistant at the University of Illinois, I collected data on pancreatic cysts; but I would like the chance to participate in research on my particular interest in neural pathways and how they relate to cognitive function. I am especially intrigued by Dr. Sasaki’s work on how both the REM and NREM sleep cycles affect the learning process. I might also finally get the chance to conduct the study on total recall (not the movie) that I designed in my psychology class. From the limitless opportunities for exploration to a simultaneous science-oriented and clinic-oriented approach throughout my PLME experience, I’m confident that Brown will be a place in which I can thrive and become the bridge I have always sought to be— that green sheet of paper, connecting the known and unknown. (444 words) — — —

Connect to Brown’s resources. This essay isn’t just about you. It also isn’t just about Brown or the PLME program. “Why us?” = why you + why Brown/PLME. So try to craft a response that both demonstrates your unique interests and connects those to what the college/program has to offer. This student highlights her interest in traveling, translation, and connection in relation to medicine by talking about her experience volunteering at a hospital. She then connects those personal experiences to specific opportunities at Brown, like studying abroad in Argentina or Japan, participating in the Community Health Advocacy Program in Providence, and doing research on sleep cycles. We get a distinct sense of her excitement to engage with what the school has to offer. It’s specific to the PLME program and her love of medicine, but it also expands to the broader university. Getting as specific as possible about the clubs, labs, classes, majors, or professors you want to engage with will show that you’ve done your research—and that you’ve found lots at Brown to be excited about.

Explain your impact. The author here doesn’t just reference opportunities at Brown in passing; she does so with intention. Every time she mentions a campus organization, professor, or aspect of the PLME program, she explains why she’s interested in it and what she’d do with it as a resource. Writing about the contributions you see yourself making helps admission officers envision your impact on their campus environment. It also shows that you’re thinking through your involvement in the community on a deeper level, demonstrating a commitment to Brown’s core values.

Make your structure clear and logical. This essay is easy to follow because separate thoughts and experiences are grouped in separate paragraphs. The first few are more about how the student developed an interest in medicine as a kid/young adult. The next few are about Brown and the PLME program resources she’d want to take advantage of. And the last paragraph is more broadly about her goals and why she wants to become a physician. These clear paragraph/content delineations make the essay easy to read and understand in the context of the prompt.

How to Write the Brown RISD Program Supplemental Essays

How to write the brown risd prompt #1.

Required for applicants to the Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program: The Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program draws on the complementary strengths of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to provide students with the opportunity to explore diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry, culminating in a capstone project that interrelates the content, approaches, and methods from two distinct learning experiences. Based on your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD and the possibilities created by the BRDD program's broadened learning community, specifically describe how and why the BRDD program would constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. As part of your answer, be sure to articulate how you might contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work. (650 words)

Brown and RISD’s Dual Degree program is no joke. Only about 15-22 students are accepted each year out of a large pool of applicants. To get on your reader’s radar, this needs to be a stand-out essay. Think of it sort of like a personal statement + ”Why us?” hybrid. And just like for your personal statement, great brainstorming is key. Here are some of our favorite brainstorming exercises to get you started:

Essence Objects Exercise : 12 min.

Values Exercise : 4 min.

21 Details Exercise : 20 min. 

Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me Exercise : 20 min.

The Feelings and Needs Exercise : 15-20 min. 

Remember, you want your Dual Degree essay to be distinct from your personal statement and your other Brown supplemental essays. It’s okay if certain themes or values overlap or intersect, but try to talk about something you haven’t already covered in other parts of your application. Here are some general tips as you start writing:

Do your research! After brainstorming about yourself, explore the university’s website. What courses would you want to take? What concentrations interest you? What clubs or sports teams could you be a part of? Really think through the way you’d structure your experience at the two universities. Your reader won’t be able to envision you in the program if you can’t envision yourself there.

Make interdisciplinary connections. That’s what this program is all about: finding unique ways to marry an undergraduate education in something like Public Policy, Economics, History, or Arabic to an interest in a specific artform or style like Silkscreen, Film, or Industrial Design. Your reader needs to know how you’d benefit from an education at both RISD and Brown. What could you do with skills from both institutions that you couldn’t do by attending just one of these schools? That’s a question you should be looking to answer in your response.

Details! Be specific. The more visceral details you can share about yourself and what you’re discussing, the better you can distinguish yourself from the other applicants. Use memorable language and evoke unique images that are likely to stick with admission officers.

Remember, sometimes, the key to writing is getting started. Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. When in doubt, write it long, then cut it later after you’ve gotten all your thoughts on paper. The goal here is to emphasize your personal values and experiences, then tie those to the specific resources of the Dual Degree program and how you’d make use of them. Of course, this is easier said than done, but great planning, research, and brainstorming will set you up for success.

With all these tips and examples in mind, you’re ready to start writing the Brown supplemental essays!

Special thanks to Julia for writing this blog post.

Julia published her first “book” on the elusive Pika in elementary school and has been writing fervently ever since. She’s thrilled to unite her quirky love of grammar and master’s in psychology to help students tell their most meaningful stories. Her favorite punctuation mark is the apostrophe because, in the words of Imagine Dragons, it’s “a symbol to remind you that there’s more to see.”

Top values: Collaboration | Family | Productivity

Brown Essays Examples

Brown Essays Examples 

If you’re applying to Brown University, reading Brown essays examples can help you begin to craft your own supplements. The Brown supplemental essays are a critical part of the admissions process. In this guide, we’ll look at several Brown essays examples and describe what made them stand out. 

Brown is an Ivy League school, ranked #13 nationally by U.S. News & World Report. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown is one of the most competitive schools in the nation. Like our Brown supplemental essay examples, your Brown supplemental essays should tell the Brown admissions team what makes you unique. They should also highlight why you would be a great addition to the “ ever-changing tapestry that is Brown University.” 

In this guide, we’ll first review the Brown application requirements. Then, we’ll dive into some Brown essays examples that worked , including some Brown university open curriculum essay examples, Why Brown essay examples, and a why this major essay example. We’ll also offer more tips on how to write Brown supplemental essays.

How many essays does Brown University require?

According to their website , Brown requires three different supplemental essays. These prompts shift over the years but often cover similar topics. We’ll go over many different types of Brown essays examples to ensure you have all the guidance you need. 

In this guide to Brown essays examples, we’ll go over Brown’s different essay prompts and how to answer them. We’ll look at some Brown university open curriculum essay examples, which are unique to Brown. Additionally, we’ll look at some extracurricular essay examples from admitted students. You’ll find this type of essay prompt on a lot of college applications.

Before we get into the Brown essays examples, let’s go over the prompts for the Brown university supplemental essays.

What are the Brown University essay prompts?

Here are the prompts for the Brown University supplemental essays:

1. Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue them while also embracing topics with which you are unfamiliar. (200-250 words)

2. brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. this active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. how did you respond (200-250 words), 3. brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words).

Keep in mind that the Brown supplemental essays change year to year. So, some of the Brown essays examples below might not align perfectly with these prompts.

However, regardless of whether the Brown essays examples reflect these prompts, they can still help you craft your own college essays. So, use these Brown essays examples to help you address any Brown supplemental essays you might encounter. 

While we don’t have Brown supplemental essay examples for each question, this guide will include essays that address all of these major themes. These include Brown university open curriculum essay examples, essays about community, extracurricular essays, and other types of Brown supplemental essays. 

Brown Supplemental Essay Examples #1 – Why Major

We’ve covered some of the basics about the Brown university supplemental essays. Next, let’s dive into the first of our Brown essays examples. 

This essay prompt focuses on your intended major or academic path at Brown. This type of essay is pretty common among college applications. So, you’ll likely find a similar prompt in one of the Brown university supplemental essays. 

1. Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated earlier in this application? If you are “undecided” or not sure which Brown concentrations match your interests, consider describing more generally the academic topics or modes of thought that engage you currently. (150 word limit)

Brown essays examples #1.

A Brown liberal arts education will let me combine my separate academic passions together, which makes me excited to enter undecided. Currently, I am interested in Brown’s International Relations program, where I hope to use an interdisciplinary approach to study modern global issues. I’m drawn to understanding the economic systems in Latin American nations that are in the midst of political turmoil, such as the controversy behind Colombia’s guerrillas. I’m also interested in the ethnic and religious conflicts in underdeveloped Asian nations, particularly through the lens of sociology and politics. In addition, I hope to take “Politics of Globalization” because I’m curious to see how the natural resources in third world countries are used by wealthier nations like the United States. Finally, as an IR student, I will have the privilege of concentrating in Latin American Studies in order to further understand the global aspects of my Hispanic culture.

Why this essay worked

Like any good why this major essay example, this paragraph conveys three main points. First, what would you like to study? Secondly, why would you like to study it? And third, why would you specifically like to study this at Brown ?

Students often know the answer to the first question but haven’t given much thought to the second or third. In the first of our Brown supplemental essays examples, our student highlights their interest in many global issues. Then, they get specific about what issues fascinate them the most. They also communicate their desire to pursue Latin American Studies and learn more about their own culture. 

Centering what Brown offers

The most compelling part of the first of our Brown essays examples answers the third question: why would you like to study this at Brown? As a liberal arts school, Brown is a great fit for a student who wants an interdisciplinary education. This student lists specific Brown majors, like International Relations, and a specific class name. In this, the writer highlights that they’ve done thorough research into the school. This is a great way to show the Brown admissions committee that you’re invested in Brown over other colleges. 

This Brown essays example is short and to the point. Since you only have 150 words, you want to make sure that every single one counts. So, every word of your Brown University supplemental essays should highlight who you are and why you want to attend Brown.

Remember, you don’t have to be 100% sure about your intended major when you apply. In fact, our Brown essays examples show how you can talk about multiple interests without seeming indecisive or unfocused. Even if you’re undecided, you should at least list some Brown majors to show that you’ve done your research.

Let’s move on to the next of our Brown essays examples: the why Brown essay examples.

Why Brown Essay Examples

The Why Brown essay examples are some of the most important Brown supplemental essay examples to understand. We’re including a why school essay example because most colleges ask for an essay in this style. So, you can use our why Brown essay examples to help you tackle a variety of similar prompts. 

Historically, Brown has had two slightly different prompts. In this Brown essays examples guide, we’re going to include both options for our why Brown essay examples. These include the Brown University open curriculum essay examples and a classic why school essay example. 

 2. Why Brown, and why the Brown Curriculum? (200 Word limit)

As I walked down the Main Green, the tour guide explained that Brown students were advocating for low-income applicants to obtain a fee-waiver. Hearing this showed me what the Brown community values. The community I was raised in didn’t emphasize higher education, and most of the people I grew up with ended up dropping out of school. Thus, I plan to participate at the First Generation and Low Income Student Center by serving as a mentor to students who also once felt that college was impossible.

Brown’s Open Curriculum motivates me to see courses not as a requirement, but as a chance to be in a classroom filled with genuine excitement. I’ll use my independent nature and open-mindedness to explore classes like “Film and the Third Reich,” combining my love for cinema and history. Brown will expose me to diverse intellectual topics outside of my concentration—I can already picture myself taking French at Marston Hall and walking to Robinson Hall for Econometrics.

As a first-generation student, I must not only represent myself on campus, but my parents and my cultural background as well. At Brown, I know I will be able to represent my community.

Why did this essay work?

The first of our why Brown essay examples answers the more detailed prompt: Why Brown, and why the Brown curriculum? Our Brown University open curriculum essay examples are specific to Brown and its offerings. 

The Brown curriculum is unique among Ivy League schools. Brown has an “ open curriculum ,” which means that instead of requiring core classes or subjects, Brown students can shape their whole education. This essay is one of our Brown University open curriculum essay examples. It makes it clear that the student not only understands this unique curriculum, but also knows how they would take advantage of it. 

Like many strong Brown essays examples, this essay begins with an anecdote of the student touring Brown. This is a good rhetorical device—always incorporate a hook at the beginning of your essay if you have space. Moreover, this anecdote proves that the student has invested time and interest in going to Brown. They’ve been on the tour, they’ve learned about the open curriculum, and they know which buildings have French classes and which have econometrics. 

In #2 of our why Brown essays examples, this student also speaks to their upbringing and heritage. Remember, your supplements are one of the only ways that the Brown admissions committee can learn who you are. So, the more that you can tell them in 200 words, the better. 

Next, we have another of our why Brown essay examples. This one is more straightforward:

3. Why Brown? (150 word limit)

Brown’s open curriculum, along with its great emphasis on interdisciplinary concentrations is unique among universities: As a student interested in courses like NEUR 1740, The Diseased Brain: Mechanisms of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders and ANTH 0300: Culture and Health from two seemingly unrelated concentrations, I would love to take the opportunity to explore widely as an undergrad at Brown. Doing research under professors like Dr. Mason, exploring anthropological viewpoints in class and looking at the stigma surrounding HIV testing in Taiwanese/Chinese culture would allow me to draw upon my own cultural experience. 

The cultural and social nexus also fits issues I encountered at Teen Line; callers talked about their own community’s condemnation about LGBTQ identity. The attention to social issues found at Brown will become my home away from liberal California where I can speak to mental health issues in various cultures.

The third of our Brown essays examples also mentions Brown’s open curriculum. So, as you’ve likely realized, the open curriculum is an important part of what makes Brown unique. 

Whenever you write a “why school” essay, make sure to do as much research as possible. Read their whole website, look up classes and majors, research professors and see what research they’ve published, and look for any interesting clubs or organizations. As of our Brown University open curriculum essay examples, this essay highlights a key feature of Brown’s educational ethos. 

Like our other Brown essays examples, this essay highlights the writer’s cultural background. They weave this fact into their academic interests: it’s clear that they care about how culture affects mental health and psychology. Moreover, they even found a specific professor whose work speaks to issues that affect their culture. 

Before we move on to other Brown essays examples, let’s recap some main takeaways from our why Brown essay examples. 

• Do your research! The Brown admissions team wants to know that you have put as much effort into researching their school as they have into reading your application.
• These are why Brown essay examples, but they should also tell Brown why you belong on campus. It’s not enough to say “Brown has a strong literature program.” Instead, you should explain what you would do in that program and why you want to participate in it. 
• Use any opportunity you can to tell the admissions committee something they haven’t learned about you yet. For instance, maybe the author of one of the above Brown essays examples listed that they worked at Teen Line on their extracurriculars. However, their Brown supplemental essays can explain why they’re interested in mental health, what they experienced at Teen Line, and how they would develop that interest at Brown. So, use your Brown University supplemental essays to expand on the key parts of your profile. 

Next, let’s move on to some other Brown essays examples. 

Brown Essay Examples

The next of our Brown essays examples asks about your background and upbringing. This essay is a chance for you to tell the Brown admissions committee something about you. This should include where you grew up, what your values are, and how you developed them. 

4. Tell us where you have lived – and for how long – since you were born; whether you’ve always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (100 word limit)

Brown essay example.

The tiny apartment I live in is one of many that crowd a small Hispanic neighborhood called Jackson Heights in Queens, NY. Being NYC born and raised has influenced my image of the ideal, inclusive community. The world recognizes New York for its beautiful skyscrapers, but I see beauty in busy streets and endless ethnic diversity. The little things most tourists won’t pay attention to—the subways filled with diverse commuters, the people protesting at Union Square, the Dominican bodegas on every corner—are the parts I cherish most. While visitors watch the Empire State Building, I watch all the working people.

Wow– in only 100 words, the fourth of our Brown essays examples tells us so much about who this student is!

Though this prompt in the Brown essays examples seems like a simple question, this student understood that the admissions committee doesn’t really care about your address or the color of your bedroom. Instead, Brown wants to learn about the way your childhood home has affected you. 

Telling your story

This student tells a story in a very short space. Their New York isn’t the same as the tourists’ New York. The beauty of the city isn’t due to its shiny facade, but because of the people in it. The last sentence summarizes the essay beautifully, contrasting what tourists watch with what the student notices. 

The fourth of our Brown essays examples also touches on how the student’s upbringing has led them to desire an inclusive community. Colleges often represent themselves as havens of inclusivity. Many of them also include essay questions that speak to community or diversity. Even if the college doesn’t ask explicitly about those qualities, your essay should still reflect your chosen university’s values. You can find these values on schools’ websites or in other official communications.

Now, let’s move on to other Brown supplemental essay examples. Still, note that many tips we’ve covered can apply to your Brown University supplemental essays regardless of the prompt! 

Brown Supplemental Essay Examples

For the fifth of our Brown supplemental essay examples, we’ll read about community. Many colleges have supplemental essay prompts that ask about community. So, as you read, think about how this essay could be altered to fit a prompt from another school!

5. We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (100 word limit)

Brown supplemental essay example.

I’ve watched an endless cycle of girls trade in their cap and gown for baby strollers, leaving behind their education. These circumstances inspired me to become a mentor for younger girls through the nonprofit Powerplay NYC, which helps girls from under-resourced neighborhoods through health and fitness. This experience taught me that I’m capable of guiding these girls through the trials of life. Higher education will transform me into the Michelle Obama they need; I want to inspire girls to never lose sight of their own potential. If anything, I don’t want to prosper despite my background, but because of it.

Okay, fine, our question about the next of our Brown supplemental essay examples was a bit of a trick. In fact, you’ll notice that this student does not mention Brown once in this essay! 

This is a risky move for Brown university supplemental essays. However, if the essay is strong enough, you can pull this off. Notably, this one of our Brown supplemental essay examples is also quite short. If you only have 100 words, you don’t always need to discuss the school. 

This student explains how watching girls in her community leave education due to pregnancy has not only inspired her to pursue an education herself, but also to give back to her community. A college education would allow her to be the mentor she believes her community needs. 

Note that in this Brown supplemental essays example, this student doesn’t specify the exact “community” she’s talking about or go into extreme detail about her job at Powerplay NYC. The prompt only allows for 100 words, and she doesn’t have any to waste. In a longer version of this essay, this student might include more detail and be more specific about how Brown would help her achieve her goals. But with only 100 words, you have to prioritize the most important parts of the story.

The next of our Brown supplemental essay examples is about extracurricular activities . This type of essay prompt is very common. So, read on to see why these extracurricular activities essay examples worked. 

Brown Essay Examples – Extracurricular Activity Essay

You might not need to answer this question for your Brown application. However, reading extracurricular activities essay examples can be very useful for your other college applications. This one of our Brown supplemental essay examples puts you right in the shoes of a student working in a Museum.

6. Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 word limit)

Brown extracurricular activity essay example.

Set up the microscope. Pick up the bacteria slides. Keep every station clean. These tasks ran through my head every Saturday during junior year, when I interned at the American Museum of Natural History. I was responsible for setting up carts and speaking to the public about each cart’s purpose. Each cart had a unique topic ranging from “Biodiversity” to “Advanced Mammals.” My favorite was “Living in Water” because I used a biological microscope to view snails and zooplankton while teaching visitors how marine life connected to today’s ocean pollution. I was impressed by each visitor—from the 5-year-old boy who knew all about Saturn to the foreign exchange student from Argentina who was studying microbiology—because they all shared their passions with me. This experience has influenced me to explore my intellectual curiosity in college so that I can one day share my passions with others as well.

The next of our Brown supplemental essay examples does a great job of something that you’ve probably heard about from your English teachers: showing, not telling. 

Instead of saying “I always helped set up the microscope at my job at the museum,” the student puts you directly into their head: “Set up the microscope. Pick up the bacteria slides. Keep every station clean.” These brief, instructive phrases draw the reader into these Brown supplemental essay examples and make them want to learn more about this student’s experience.

The writer of our Brown supplemental essay examples also connects this anecdote not only to an academic interest but to their intellectual curiosity overall. As you might have seen in the Brown University open curriculum essay examples, Brown specifically prides itself on students forging a creative academic path. This is a great example of how to write Brown supplemental essays compared to other college essays. 

Now that we’ve gone over some Brown supplemental essay examples, let’s zoom out a bit. Sure, you might write an essay so strong it ends up as one of our Brown University open curriculum essay examples. But, how much does Brown care about supplemental essays?

Does Brown care about supplemental essays?

You’ve read and analyzed all of these Brown supplemental essay examples, but does Brown even care about supplemental essays? The short answer is yes. 

Your application will have many different components. There’s your Common App essay, your extracurricular list, your grades and test scores, and your letters of recommendation. The admissions committee will look at your application holistically: this means that they’ll consider all aspects of the application. 

The Brown website states that the most important part of your application is your academic standing in high school. However, this doesn’t mean that the Brown supplemental essays aren’t important—or that you shouldn’t take the time to read Brown university essay examples. 

These Brown University essay examples demonstrate many different ways to weave your life story and your values into your responses. Even if the essays aren’t the most important part of your Brown application, they provide you an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other applicants. After all, if two students have similar grades and scores, their essays can make a major difference in terms of who makes the cut. 

How to write standout Brown essays?

In our guide to Brown University essay examples, you’ve seen how other students have written stellar Brown essays. But how can you use what you learned in these Brown University essay examples to figure out how to get into Brown?

First, make sure that just like in these Brown university essay examples, you use impeccable spelling and grammar. This is a pretty basic ask, but you’ll notice that all these Brown University essay examples have that in common! Read your essay out loud, have a parent or a friend read it, or use an online grammar checker to make sure your syntax is flawless. 

Another tactic you can use to make your essays stand out is also pretty simple: be true to who you are! It’s corny, but each college class is made up of individuals. The students that wrote these Brown University essay examples might not have won Nobel Prizes or been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list , but they were introspective about what makes them unique. Moreover, as our Brown University essay examples reflect, these students were honest and vulnerable in communicating that to the admissions committee. 

Remember: the authors of these Brown university essay examples are students just like you. If you write well-structured essays that share your story with the admissions committee, you might end up on our next list of Brown University essay examples that worked. 

More CollegeAdvisor resources about Brown University

Aside from our guide on Brown university essay examples that worked, CollegeAdvisor has many other resources that can help you learn how to get into Brown—including this guide on how to do just that!

If you want to learn more about the questions behind these Brown University essay examples, check out our guide on the Brown supplemental essays. Along with Brown University essay examples, this guide will go into more detail on the essay prompts, application information, deadlines, and the Brown PLME essays. 

The Brown PLME essays are prompts that students can use to apply Brown’s unique baccalaureate-MD program—the only one in the Ivy League. Brown also has special essay prompts for students who want to apply to a dual degree for Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. Check out our guide to these more specialized Brown university essay examples here .

Webinars and other application resources 

For more advice on completing your Brown application outside of Brown University essay examples, we have webinars featuring recent alumni and admissions officials who can answer any questions you might have. If these Brown University essay examples made you curious about other Ivy League collegess, you can learn more about the Ivies here !

So you’ve read the Brown University essay examples, written some stellar supplements, applied to Brown, and been accepted. Congratulations! Before you get to campus, read our guide on making the most of your first year at Brown, or this one on Brown’s incredible English major . 

Brown Essay Examples – 5 Takeaways

Now that we’ve reached the end of our guide, you should have a better idea of how to write Brown supplemental essays. Here are our five main takeaways on how to write Brown supplemental essays:

Five key takeaways for writing Brown supplemental essays

#1- write to the prompt.

Even though the Brown University supplemental essays change year to year, there are common themes that you can write about in your essays. These include community, extracurriculars, your upbringing, and your academic pursuits. Our why Brown essay examples and why major essay examples are common features of other college essay prompts as well. 

#2- Be personal and detailed

Use these supplemental essays as a way to tell the admissions committee something they don’t already know about you. There’s only so much someone can understand about who you are from your GPA—don’t be afraid to be introspective and honest!

#3- Do your research

Always make your essays specific to the school—our Brown University open curriculum essay examples exemplify how important it is to do your research on the school and convey how the Brown majors specifically will be a good fit for you.

#4- Think about the structure of your essay

Keep structure in mind: weave in anecdotes, start your essay with a hook, and make sure to have impeccable spelling and grammar. 

#5- Be concise

Many of these supplemental essay questions have very low word limits. So, be intentional about what points of your story are the most crucial for the admissions committee to know.

After reading these Brown essays examples, we hope you have a better understanding of how to write Brown supplemental essays. Good luck!

This article was written by advisor, Rachel Kahn . Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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How to Write the Brown University and PLME Essays 2023-2024

Brown has one of the more extensive supplemental essay packages out there, with three 250-word supplements and four shorter responses required for all applicants. In addition to these seven prompts, applicants to the dual degree program with Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will need to explain their interest in the program through a 650-word personal statement, and applicants to the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) will need to do the same through three 250-word essays.

Even if you aren’t applying to either of these specialized programs, you still have seven prompts to respond to, so make sure you leave yourself enough time to give your Brown application the attention it deserves. In this post, we’ll break down how you want to approach each prompt, so you can be confident that your essays will help set you apart even within one of the most competitive applicant pools in the country.

Read these Brown essay examples written by real students to inspire your writing!

The Brown University Supplemental Essay Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt 1: Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue them while also embracing topics with which you are unfamiliar. (200-250 words)

Prompt 2: Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)

Prompt 3: Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

Prompt 4: What three words best describe you? (3 words)

Prompt 5: What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)

Prompt 6: If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words)

Prompt 7: In one sentence, Why Brown? (50 words)

RISD Dual Degree Applicants

Prompt 1: The Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program draws on the complementary strengths of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to provide students with the opportunity to explore diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry, culminating in a capstone project that interrelates the content, approaches, and methods from two distinct learning experiences.

Based on your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD and the possibilities created by the BRDD program’s broadened learning community, specifically describe how and why the BRDD program would constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. As part of your answer, be sure to articulate how you might contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work. (100-650 words)

PLME Applicants

Prompt 1: Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. Explain your personal motivation to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words) 

Prompt 2: Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more. Imagine that you are a physician and describe one way in which you would seek to make a positive impact in today’s healthcare environment. (250 words) 

Prompt 3: How do you envision the Program in Liberal Medical Education helping to meet your academic, personal and professional goals as a person and future physician? (250 words)

All Applicants, Prompt 1

Brown’s open curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the open curriculum to pursue them while also embracing topics with which you are unfamiliar. (200-250 words) . .

This is essentially a “ Why This Major ” essay, designed to understand your academic interests and how you might take advantage of the Open Curriculum.

The first step is to take the time to ponder what it is about your selected subject that you really gravitate towards, and try to establish exactly why you want to study that subject (or subjects). The prompt urges you to think about why you are excited by your academic interests, so push yourself to think beyond “I’m really good at it” or “I have an excellent teacher.” 

The short essay is only 250 words, so aim to focus your interests on a maximum of two areas. Once you have established your key interests and taken the time to ponder why you’re drawn to them, examine your reasoning and try to find an underlying connection between the two fields. Alternatively, consider presenting an interdisciplinary field that connects the two subjects, and emphasize the opportunities presented at Brown through its particular courses/programs/majors that would allow you to pursue your interdisciplinary interests. If there isn’t a connection between the two subjects, that’s totally okay, too!

While this prompt might appear to only ask about your academic interests, it is also asking what you would like to study while at Brown (it is a Brown supplemental essay, after all). Admissions officers also want to know how you’ll use Brown’s resources (and the Open Curriculum) to achieve your academic goals.

But what about those who are undecided? There’s no need to worry if you’re not sure what you’ll study. You can simply mention your top 1-2 interests and why Brown is a good fit for you to develop those interests. It might be helpful to know that Brown is one of the few universities that allows you to construct your own major; if applicable, you can mention your desire to turn your multiple interests into a unique interdisciplinary major.

Below are several examples to illustrate meshing two seemingly contrasting interests into a potential future academic pursuit at Brown:

Example 1: Perhaps you’re interested in biology and geology. You could weave your interests together by emphasizing your insatiable curiosity for understanding both living and physical systems, and reference an example of something your desire to understand systems-thinking has led you to do in the past, or reflect on how this experience challenged your assumptions, etc. Your narrative could incorporate experiences that illustrate your interest in each subject – you can talk about a science fair project you worked on, a class you struggled in but overcame, a lab experiment you participated in, or a younger student you tutored, etc. Focus on the common reasons you are attracted to both subjects. You can mention the opportunity to pursue the joint Geo-Bio degree offered through the Department of Earth, Environment, and Planetary Sciences at Brown, without abandoning your interests in poetry and anthropology through the opportunities presented by the Open Curriculum. 

Example 2: Let’s imagine that you are interested in politics, activism, or community work, but you also are passionate about music and have been playing piano for many years. You could discuss your experiences on a political internship or your role in your school’s model UN, and discuss the opportunities available at Brown, through the Brown in Washington program or the Swearer Center for Public Service. However, you could also discuss the piano concert you organized and performed in to fundraise for your community’s homeless shelter. Whenever possible, selecting an example that bridges your seemingly contrasting interests can create a very compelling essay. You could conclude by explaining that you are aiming to use the Open Curriculum to explore the impact of music on the influence of political campaigns and a candidate’s perception, or on exploring the connection between music, Alzheimer’s, and memory, etc. 

All Applicants, Prompt 2

Students entering brown often find that making their home on college hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the brown community. (200-250 words).

Brainstorming Your Topic

While the phrasing is a little different, this is essentially a Diversity Essay . You want to share something about who you are that sets you apart from other applicants to Brown, and explain how it would make you a valuable addition to Brown’s campus community.

Before you start brainstorming which part of your identity you want to write about, do remember that the way colleges evaluate race specifically will be different this year, and moving forward, after the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in June. Schools are not allowed to factor race into their broader admissions strategies, but they can consider it on an individual level through the essay. So, if your racial identity is an important part of who you are, this is a good opportunity to share it with admissions officers.

Of course, you are also welcome to write about a different part of your identity. The things that make us diverse aren’t just race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and the other features that normally first come to people’s minds when they hear the word “diversity.” Even the prompt itself casts a wide net, with the phrase “an aspect of your growing up.” In addition to the features just listed, that could also refer to hobbies, interests, your family culture, and pretty much any lived experience. Less traditional topics in this vein could include:

• Teaching yourself Elvish, the fictional language from Lord of the Rings
• Biking to school every day while your friends drove or took the bus
• Baking all the birthday cakes in your family from the time you were seven
• Raising chickens in the backyard of your suburban house

The only real rule here is that you choose a part of your identity that will help Brown admissions officers better understand who you are, and what you’ll look like as a college student. So long as that’s the case, anything is fair game.

Tips for Writing Your Essay

Once you’ve selected a topic, the thing you want to make clear in your actual essay is how this “aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you .” Like “aspect of your growing up,” “inspired or challenged” gives you a lot of flexibility, but what Brown admissions officers are saying is that they want to understand not just what sets you apart from other applicants, but why that thing is crucial to understanding who you are as a whole.

In other words, you don’t just want to say “I live with my grandparents, who spent most of their lives in Germany, and don’t speak very good English.” You want to go deeper, explaining how this dynamic made you feel, and how it shaped your personality and overall perspective on the world.

There’s no one right way to do that—only you know how this piece of your identity has impacted you. The most important thing is to just be honest, rather than trying to structure your response around what you think Brown wants to see. If you try to force a connection to a particular value, that disconnect will show. To illustrate our point here, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical essays:

Excerpt 1: “I sometimes felt awkward when I had friends over, as my grandparents could do little more than wave and stumble over a heavily accented ‘How are you?’ But I always got over my embarrassment quickly, because cultural heritage is something to celebrate, since the only way we can learn is from engaging with those who are different from us.”

Excerpt 2: “When I was little, I didn’t see any issue with my grandparents not speaking English: they were my family, and that was all that mattered. But when I got older and started having friends over, their perplexed reactions to my grandpa’s heavily accented ‘How are you?’ caused me to feel a twang of shame—and then, a pinch of anger with myself, for being ashamed of my own family.”

While celebration of cultural differences is of course a wonderful thing, in the first excerpt the writer seems to be skipping ahead to their appreciation of this value, and glossing over a more complicated emotional journey in the process. 

In the second example, on the other hand, they are unafraid to be vulnerable, and share their true feelings about this experience. As a result, we have a much clearer sense of both who they are and how they became that person, which are exactly the questions admissions officers want you to answer in your essays. Plus, if they talk later on about the appreciation for cultural difference they eventually took away from this experience, we will have seen exactly how they developed this appreciation, which will make their connection to this value feel much more genuine.

One last tip here: try to rely on specific anecdotes as much as possible to illustrate your points. Both excerpts above draw on a tangible example of a moment (having friends over and their grandparents being unable to greet them) that made them wrestle with their identity. That specificity gives us a much clearer sense of how this student grew through this experience, whereas a general line like “Sometimes, I was proud of my heritage, but other times I was embarrassed” would leave us with a lot of questions about what caused the student to feel this back-and-forth.

Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest potential pitfall in a diversity essay is only sharing part of your identity, and not taking the next step outlined above of explaining how it’s relevant to understanding what kind of  college student you’ll be. If you don’t get to this deeper level of reflection, admissions officers may find themselves saying “Okay, we know [x] about you, but how does that help us figure out whether or not you’re a good match for Brown?”

All Applicants, Prompt 3

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words) .

This essay prompt is very similar to the extracurricular essay archetype. However, there is a subtle difference in that this prompt allows you to discuss out-of-school activities and academic subjects. This would be a good place to demonstrate your love for a specific topic or activity that you included in other parts of your application. Or, if there is a very important part of your personality that hasn’t been captured by the rest of your application, you can write about that here. 

Pick a topic that genuinely interests you. Don’t write an essay about how you love titrating acids and bases to sound “impressive” or “intellectual” if you groan every time you walk into the chemistry lab. Admissions officers have read enough essays to tell when a student’s tone and details depict a genuine interest in a topic. You are given so much freedom, so you really should write about whatever brings you joy. Maybe you love trying styling hair and nothing brings you as much joy as when you are backstage at your school show and you are styling, braiding, and pinning all of the actors’ hair. A topic like this is unique to the student, and since they are genuinely passionate about hairstyling, it will shine through in their writing.

A strong extracurricular essay will either show your emotions and state of mind when you participate in your activity, or how that activity has helped you develop new skills and personality traits. A great essay will do both. Like the other prompts, there is a limited word count to convey not only why you enjoy this activity so much, but how you have improved as a result of this activity. Here’s an example that accomplishes both of these:

“It was a hot day in New Orleans and the crowd stuffed together certainly didn’t make things better. Necks were craning to see the spectacle in the middle of the circle. I tugged on my dad’s shirt, and he placed me on top of his shoulders for the best seat in the house. My heart raced every time the daring performer threw a sword up – I really thought he’d eventually slice his hand open. But it was perfect every time. By the end of our trip, I had tried my hand at juggling everything from toothbrushes to balls of socks. My mom was not as enthusiastic when I collected everybody’s knives at dinner to mimic the juggler’s final trick. When I finally got a juggling kit for my next birthday, I devoted every second of my free time to practicing moves I saw on YouTube. With more and more practice, I could tell how long it would take for an object to reach its zenith just by the weight in my hand. At times, the level of control and focus I put into juggling is exhausting, but if I lose focus for one second, I run the risk of serious injury. Some tricks have taken years to perfect, but the gratification when I’ve mastered a new skill makes all my patience worth it. Nothing will be as thrilling as the day my audience’s hearts race with me as I catch a sword in my hand.”

While this example is a little over the word count, the student’s passion for juggling is clearly evident. The reader sees what sparked this student’s interest, how it has developed, and how juggling has affected the student. By tying the conclusion back to the anecdote at the beginning, the essay has a satisfying conclusion that makes the reader feel this student is highly motivated by their passion and dreams, which is exactly what Brown is looking for.

All Applicants, Prompt 4

What three words best describe you (3 words).

This prompt is as clear, straightforward, and short as you could ask for, but with supplemental essays, that unfortunately doesn’t automatically mean writing your response will be easy. Obviously, you have no space to elaborate on why you chose the three words you did, so you need to give yourself time to think deeply about your words.

The best advice we can give is to, as you brainstorm, remember two of the main purposes of the college essay. First, to set yourself apart from other applicants with strong academic and extracurricular resumes. Second, to give admissions officers information that can’t be found elsewhere in your application.

Keeping these two ideas in mind will hopefully help you use your three words as effectively as possible. For example, you don’t want to use flattering but vague adjectives like “smart,” “talented,” “funny,” or “creative” because those are words that most other applicants to Brown would also use to describe themselves. You also want to avoid highlighting a feature of yourself that already comes across in another part of your application—if your activities list says that you’ve earned 10 varsity letters, admissions officers already know you’re athletic, so don’t waste one of your precious three words on repeating that here.

Instead, try to pick descriptive, precise words that pick out some feature of your personality that, for whatever reason, doesn’t yet come across in your application. Only you know how to apply that advice to yourself, but here is a list of words that communicate a clear, tangible personality trait, and thus would teach admissions officers something substantive about who you are:

• Sentimental
• Adventurous

Hopefully, this list gives you a clearer sense of what kind of words you should be considering. You only have three, so use them wisely!

All Applicants, Prompt 5

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it (100 words).

This is a textbook example of the “Extracurricular” essay , which is one you may well have already written for another school. If you do already have a version of this essay on hand, you are welcome to write about the same topic. However, you will still need to dedicate time to this prompt, as this essay’s word count is likely much lower than that of your other essay (usually, this kind of prompt has a word count in the 200-250 range), and you don’t want your essay to feel like an abridged version of another one. We’ll get into how to avoid that in the next section.

If you haven’t yet written this kind of essay, or if you have but want to write about something new, note that “most meaningful” can be read in a variety of ways. Perhaps you are inspired to write about classic extracurricular activities, like a sport, a club, volunteer work, or a part-time job. Those are all fantastic options, but you can also write about more unconventional activities if none of those things feel quite right, as “extracurricular activity” can refer to just about anything you do outside of the classroom.

For example, you could write about how you make trinkets out of the feathers that get left at your bird feeder. You could also write about your neighborhood’s caroling group, and how going door to door each year is your favorite part of the holiday season. Or you could describe teaching baseball to your much younger neighbor after watching you practice made him want to learn the sport.

While you probably don’t do any of these things, hopefully these examples of more unusual activities help you brainstorm things you do in your own life that could work for this prompt. Remember, like any college essay, the point of this prompt is to help admissions officers better understand who you are, so as long as your activity will help you do that, it’s fair game here.

If you’re writing about the same topic as another essay, you can certainly use that other one for inspiration, and potentially even use some of the same lines. There are only so many hours in the day, and recycling previous work can be a good time-saver.

However, you want to make sure this essay feels like a cohesive, independent unit, not like a Frankenstein’s monster pieced together from parts of another essay. So, don’t just pluck enough sentences to get you to 100 words and call it good. Rather, think about the ideas you express in that essay, and try to capture those same sentiments in a smaller package. 

As noted above, that may involve using a sentence or two from the other essay, but you will almost certainly need to generate new sentences, or rephrase existing ones, and of course pay attention to the structure to make sure the flow, progression from one idea to the next, and so on all make sense.

If you’re starting from scratch, the most important thing to do is make sure you answer the second half of this prompt: what do you want admissions officers to know about this activity? In other words, don’t just tell them “I do [x] in my free time.” Rather, explain how this activity has helped you grow, so that Brown admissions officers can see why your involvement in it is relevant to the kind of college student you’ll be.

Obviously, you don’t have a ton of room to do this, but you still want to rely on the old adage for college essays, “show, don’t tell,” as much as possible. Usually, that means describing specific anecdotes or life experiences in enough detail that you don’t have to tell your reader directly how the activity shaped you, because they can see it for themselves. Here, you don’t have the space to provide a ton of detail, but you still want to at least reference tangible examples to illustrate your points, as otherwise your essay may end up feeling cheesy or impersonal.

To see the difference between the two approaches, compare these two example responses:

Example 1: “ When I started volunteering at the Everett animal shelter, I wasn’t that excited about a lot of the tasks I had to do. I mainly just wanted something to do on the weekends. But as time went on, I started to find joy and fulfillment in duties that had previously just bored me. Now, I have a much more positive outlook when I try new things, because this experience taught me that learning and growth can happen in a lot of different ways–often ways you never even expected up front.”

Example 2: “My first day volunteering at the Everett animal shelter, I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose and try to hold in my vomit as I scrubbed the cages of kittens and puppies that weren’t yet potty-trained. But gradually, I stopped noticing the smell as much, and instead started paying attention to how joyful the animals were afterward to be able to play freely, without avoiding soiled areas. Today, I try to approach everything in my life with the mindset that even tedious or gross tasks can be fulfilling if you consciously focus on the greater purpose of what you’re doing.”

The ideas conveyed in these two examples are the same. But the second one includes a specific example of a task they found unpleasant (cleaning cages), and describes what exactly made them start to change their mindset (seeing the animals happy in their clean cages). As a result, we get a more engaging story, which teaches us not just what the student learned from this experience, but also how they learned it.

The main thing you want to be on the lookout for here is using your space inefficiently, since you already have so little of it. Specifically, remember that this essay is not the only thing in your application, so you want to give your reader new information about yourself, rather than repeating details that can already be found elsewhere.

For example, if you already wrote your Common App essay about your experiences volunteering at the animal shelter, you’ll want to pick a different topic for this essay. Even if you feel you can shine a different light on the experience, you’ve already spent 650 words on it. Use these 100 to introduce Brown admissions officers to something entirely new about yourself.

Additionally, remember that, if you’re writing about something that appears in your activities list, admissions officers already know how long you’ve been involved in it, and how often you do it. So, an introductory line like “During my sophomore year, I started volunteering at the animal shelter every week,” is a waste of 13% of your space, as admissions officers already know that. 

Even if you choose an extracurricular that doesn’t appear in your activities list, you don’t really need to provide these kinds of factual details unless they’re essential to understanding the point you’re trying to make. For example, maybe you were feeling overwhelmed your freshman year of high school, and teaching your neighbor baseball helped remind you that you do have things you’re good at. Otherwise, those words could be used more efficiently.

All Applicants, Prompt 6

If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be (100 words).

You’re not even a high school graduate yet, and here Brown is dropping you into a professor’s shoes—what an amazing opportunity! As you think about which course you’re going to offer, note that Brown is casting an incredibly wide net with this prompt: you can teach about any subject, even a non-academic one. Admissions officers want to see your creativity, because once you get to college, you will be able to take a much, much wider variety of classes, and admissions officers want to see that you’re ready to take advantage of that freedom.

Plus, like with any college essay, your goal here is to share a side of yourself that isn’t reflected in any other part of your application, and the looser nature of this prompt makes this a great opportunity to share something that wouldn’t appear in a transcript or activities list. So, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and have some fun! Do you have any interests that are a huge part of your life, but unrelated to your academic or extracurricular passions? Tell us about them here! Is there something you’ve always been inexplicably fascinated by, to the point that it’s shaped how you’ve grown up? This is the place to describe it!

To give you a sense of just how creative you can get, here is a list of example topics you could write about:

• Using statistics to account for potential injuries when drafting your fantasy football team
• Theories and conspiracies about how the pyramids were built
• The incredible variation in Italian food from one region to another
• The chemistry behind making the perfect, sticky-but-not-too-sticky, sushi rice
• Extreme climates, like a desert in Chile that hasn’t gotten rain in hundreds of years

While the prompt only explicitly asks what you would teach about, the thing to bring out in your response is the implied “and why” at the end. You don’t want your response to be just about the history of making sushi rice. While that might be informative, it won’t help Brown admissions officers visualize you as part of their campus community.

Instead, use your topic as a lens to shine light on some feature of your personality. In other words, ask yourself what your interest in this subject says about you overall. For example, maybe dealing with the randomness of injuries to highly drafted players in your fantasy league has helped you accept that some things are ultimately outside of your control, no matter how hard you try to account for them. Alternatively, perhaps learning about the most extreme climates on earth makes you feel awe for the variety present in nature, which in turn inspires you to think about the variety of things you could do with your life.

The most important thing is that your interest in this topic is clearly connected to your growth and development. If that connection is vague or doesn’t seem particularly logical, your response may feel disjointed or impersonal. But so long as your explanation is honest and thoughtful, admissions officers should come away from your essay with a more comprehensive, nuanced understanding of what makes you tick, both intellectually and personally.

Really, the only thing you want to avoid in your response is not taking advantage of this opportunity to be creative. Even if you want to write about a conventional academic subject, like math or English, approach it from an unusual angle, like the example listed in the “Brainstorming” section about using statistics to help you in your fantasy football draft. That will prove to admissions officers that you aren’t just smart, but also curious and imaginative, and also show them a new side of you—the side that plays fantasy football—that probably doesn’t show up anywhere else in your application.

All Applicants, Prompt 7

In one sentence, why brown (50 words).

While writing the supplements for the other schools on your list, you have likely come across this “Why This College?” prompt. However, because Brown is giving you only 50 words, the usual approach to this kind of essay—citing several school-specific resources and explaining how they’ll help you achieve your goals—doesn’t work, as you just don’t have room to do that.

That being said, you still want to be precise in your response. The classic rule for this kind of essay, that you shouldn’t be able to swap in another school’s name and still have your response make sense, still applies. And 50 words is more than you think. While you don’t have space to incorporate academic, extracurricular, and social opportunities at Brown the way you normally would, you can still highlight one particular resource at Brown that interests you and give admissions officers a sense of why you’re drawn to it. 

Here’s an example of a response that accomplishes everything laid out in the previous paragraph:

“Brown’s spirit is making interdisciplinary connections, which I would do through the Brown in Bologna program by further exploring the Italian culture my grandparents preserved even after immigrating to Boston, and simultaneously informing myself about another country’s educational system so that I am better prepared to solve global educational inequalities.”

This response is exactly 50 words, and uses them efficiently to show admissions officers this student is a good fit for their school by explaining how they would take advantage of the opportunities available at Brown. To do the same in your own response, just make sure that you choose a resource that directly and concretely connects to your goals for college, rather than something you’re only sort of interested in. If you don’t already have a clear sense of what you want to say, 50 words isn’t enough to explain why you might be interested in something—you need to already know you are, and why.

One last note: “the Open Curriculum” doesn’t work as the kind of school-specific resource we’re talking about. While this is one of the school’s most famous distinguishing features, remember that the point of any college essay is to help set yourself apart from other applicants, and anyone who applies to Brown is at least somewhat drawn to the Open Curriculum. 

To give admissions officers a clear sense of how you personally would fit into Brown’s campus community, you’ll need to get more specific, by instead referencing a research opportunity, particular academic offering, or study abroad program (as in the example above). Then, explain how that resource reflects the broader culture of Brown, and how it connects to your own priorities and hopes for your time in college. Fitting all of this in isn’t easy, but again, it can be done. We believe in you!

RISD Applicants, Prompt 1

The brown|risd dual degree program draws on the complementary strengths of brown university and rhode island school of design (risd) to provide students with the opportunity to explore diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry, culminating in a capstone project that interrelates the content, approaches, and methods from two distinct learning experiences., based on your understanding of the academic programs at brown and risd and the possibilities created by the brdd program’s broadened learning community, specifically describe how and why the brdd program would constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. as part of your answer, be sure to articulate how you might contribute to the dual degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work. (100-650 words) .

The Brown-RISD Dual Degree program is an intense, highly selective (2-3% acceptance) program in which students must get accepted to both Brown and RISD based on their respective criterion, and then be approved by a joint committee. Students in the program exhibit an intense degree of intellectual rigor, as well as a broad ranging curiosity for both an arts and liberal arts education. The key here is to convince the readers that you are a good fit in this specific program, rather than as a Brown student who takes a few RISD classes or a RISD student who takes a few Brown classes.

In this essay, you must be specific about why you would be a better fit spending five years getting degrees from both Brown and RISD rather than getting one degree from either of the schools. You must show that it is necessary for you to get both degrees, and how you would like to use the knowledge you gain from both schools in your future. It’s incredibly important to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of your goals, as this is specifically called out in the prompt.  

With 650 available words, this essay should feature the same depth as your Common App essay, and should complement it. Although the two should not overlap in content, you can definitely expand on topics you briefly touched on in one essay in the other. Here are a few possible avenues you could explore in this essay:

(1) Students in the program stretch the gamut of possible Brown + RISD major combinations: furniture and applied mathematics, computer science and industrial design, and comparative literature and painting. The program prides itself on this diversity, so explain how your passions and interests are disparate, but also connected to your overall identity. Talk about how being surrounded with other Brown-RISD students will foster your wide-ranging intellectual and artistic curiosities even further.

(2) If you ultimately want to become an artist, you could talk about how important the liberal arts have been and will be for you. Maybe you find literature critical for escaping into the worlds you want to create visually, and you want to dive deeper during your undergraduate years.

(3) Maybe you want to study both biology and industrial design, because you want to base your design work on biomimicry. You could talk about how you would draw equally from both fields, and how you want to design better transportation devices that take from the best methods of nature.

(4) Say you’ve always been interested in your Korean heritage and finding ways to express that through art. As a result, you want to study East Asian history at Brown, where you will understand the context that your parents immigrated out of, and textiles at RISD, where you can craft bojagi (Korean wrapping cloth) with a sensitivity to its historical context.

(5) Maybe you’ve always been passionate about both art and liberal arts, but have no concrete connection between the two, and that’s also perfectly fine. You could talk about how you want to further explore and hone in these passions, so that by your second year of undergrad, you’ll have a stronger idea of what specifically you want to study.

Your art portfolio, Common App essay, and other supplemental essays will also speak volumes about who you are, so make sure to use this essay to highlight parts of yourself previously unmentioned. You’ve also probably spent the previous essays explaining “why Brown,” so use this essay to delve deep into why you would thrive in an arts and design centered environment in conjunction with Brown’s liberal arts curriculum.

PLME Applicants Only

Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) is a prestigious 8 year BS/MD program in which accepted students are automatically accepted into Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. For more about PLME, check out our comprehensive guide .

PLME Applicants, Prompt 1

Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. explain your personal motivation to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words).

The Program in Liberal Medical Education (as well as other accelerated medical programs) is a huge commitment for 17 and 18 year olds, who are essentially saying that they know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. As a result, Brown admissions officers want to accept candidates whom they believe have tangible reasons as to why they want to become doctors. These reasons may include clinical and laboratory experience, as well as a general passion to improve the well being of others.

In this prompt, reflecting on past experiences is critical. Whether that is shadowing a pediatrician at your local hospital for a summer, volunteering with an organization like the Red Cross, or doing lab research on pancreatic cancer, let the admissions team know that you have past experiences engaging in clinical or laboratory work, and that these experiences have increased your desire to enter the medical profession.

Moreover, bring in your past experiences with the healthcare field, such as seeing a loved relation hospitalized, if they instilled within you a desire to eventually enter and better the industry. As a warning, however, it is easy to fall into the cliche of witnessing an older relative, usually a grandparent, pass away due to illness, and afterwards deciding to pursue medicine as a career. In cases such as these, make sure to make the experience as unique to you as possible, and use this experience as a jumping off point to other activities you have done pertaining to the health field.  

Afterwards, brainstorm the key values you hold for your life. If you are not sure of your values, think back to how you have spent your time: if you’ve spent significant amounts of time volunteering out of goodwill, or caring for family members, or tutoring your peers, chances are, your values may center around caring for others in need, and looking beyond yourself, both of which are critical components of good doctors. A love for interacting with other people and learning about them is a key component in being a doctor, so make sure to illustrate this point through your experiences. Using concrete things you’ve done in the past to color your values is much more powerful than just stating “my values are helping those in need.”

You could even talk about other extracurriculars you’ve tried, but simply did not enjoy as much as health-related activities, to further cement how being a doctor is the only foreseeable career route you see yourself being fulfilled and satisfied in. Overall, just go off your past experiences in health related fields, your current ideas and beliefs, and your future dreams and goals.

PLME Applicants, Prompt 2

Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more. imagine that you are a physician and describe one way in which you would seek to make a positive impact in today’s healthcare environment. (250 words).

Your essay should look to the future and answer how you will address a specific issue you see in health care today. Maybe you are concerned with high maternal mortality rates among mothers from lower socioeconomic statuses, and you want to work as an OBGYN in underprivileged areas to provide mothers with more attentive care. Possibly you are interested in developing a pill that will instantly stop bug bites from itching, because after years of your family’s annual camping trip you know how pesky bug bites can be.

Once you identify this specific aspect of health care which you are interested in and why you are interested, you should go into detail about how you hope to improve this issue. A student who already has experience with their issue might write about how in high school she tried to deter students from vaping by forming a Students Against Nicotine club at her school. However, once she has a medical background, she plans to specialize in respiratory illnesses so she can give talks at schools about the science behind what vaping does to a person’s lungs. Another student might not have prior experience with racial disparities in health care, but they know that they want to address the toxic stress minority communities face which contributes to major health complications. This student could discuss their plan to popularize a method for identifying and prescribing toxic stress as a medical condition.

It’s important that your response to this prompt includes what you are interested in doing as a physician, where you learned about this issue or what sparked your interest in this specific topic, and how you plan to make a difference one day. You can further strengthen your response by describing how specific resources and opportunities (classes, researching with professors, clubs and organizations, etc) at Brown will allow you to reach your goals and address the issue. Given the limited amount of space, it’s okay if you aren’t able to include resources at Brown, because a bigger focus should be on your aspirations and how you plan to solve a problem.

One common mistake that students will make when it comes to this prompt is creating a potential impact in medicine that is not strongly reflected in the rest of their application. You don’t necessarily need to have worked in a hospital or a lab to connect the issue you are interested in to your application, but you could have attended lectures and seminars on the topic, taken a class at a university about it, or read scientific journals and papers that discussed it. However, don’t claim you want to investigate the impact of biased artificial intelligence radiology tools in providing care for people of color without being able to explain where your interest and knowledge of this issue came from. 

PLME Applicants, Prompt 3

How do you envision the program in liberal medical education helping to meet your academic, personal and professional goals as a person and future physician (250 words).

The Program in Liberal Medical Education is designed to foster intellectual exploration among its cohort of undergraduates, so you definitely want to talk about how your academic interests don’t simply reside in the biological sciences. Talk about how although you want to become a doctor, there are numerous other facets of your identity that don’t fit in the narrow pre-med curricular path. Explain how these interests can be cultivated at Brown, and how they will ultimately allow you to become a better doctor.

Many of the students in the PLME program don’t major in traditional pre-med fields during their undergraduate years, as they are freed from doing so (outside from a few pre-med requirements). Students can thus craft an interdisciplinary education that allows them to pursue interests outside of the narrow pre-med curriculum. Overall, there are so many different academic fields that tie back to the core of being a doctor, and so make sure to express that fully. Here a few examples:

(1) If you have a strong passion for the humanities, mention that, and then talk about how topics like literature and anthropology allow you to grow in empathy and understanding for the world around you. For example, you could talk about your passion for Hispanic cultures, and how you want to continue learning Spanish to form better patient-doctor relations with underserved Hispanic communities in your hometown.

(2) If you’re interested in computer science, talk about your experiences coding, and how you want to be better equipped as the medicine field ultimately will become more technology oriented. You could talk about how you want to be at the forefront of the burgeoning connection between artificial intelligence and health outcomes, and how being in the program will allow you to do so.

(3) There are plenty of classes you can point to that merge the biological sciences with the humanities. Using Brown’s online course catalog, you can pull up titles such as “Medicine and Public Health in Africa,” “Pain and the Human Condition,” and “Health, Hunger, and the Household in Developing Countries” to find courses that interest you and illustrate how you need these intersectional courses to become the doctor you want to be.

(4) You could even mention interdisciplinary programs at Brown’s Warren Alpert medical school, such as its Scholarly Concentration program, which allows students to pursue areas such as Medical Humanities, Medical Technology and Innovation, and Advocacy and Activism. You could also mention the medical school’s Narrative Medicine classes, or its unique MD-ScM program, which combines primary care and population health.

Personal goals and professional goals are often one and the same, but make sure you have personal goals that extend beyond the confines of a career (as mentioned in the previous prompt). Yes, you’d like to become a doctor, but the PLME environment is exactly the one that you need to thrive as a curious human. Talk about your need for Brown’s Open Curriculum to thrive not just as a future doctor, but as an intellectual being who cares about the world. Talk about how being a part of the PLME would allow you to best prepare for the two halves of your career in medicine, science and human interaction, and why you would thrive in this profession that simultaneously juggles both.

Regarding professional goals, you could talk about how being a part of the PLME would mean the rare once in a lifetime chance of satisfying all your intellectual curiosities in undergrad while being able to go to medical school and become a doctor.

Where to Get Your Brown Essay Edited 

Do you want feedback on your Brown essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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August 11, 2023

2023-2024 Brown University Supplemental Essay Prompts

Brown University has released its essay prompts for the 2023-2024 college admissions cycle. Applicants to the Brown Class of 2028 will be required to answer more essay prompts than applicants to recent Brown classes — significantly more. This year, in addition to The Common Application ’s Personal Statement, applicants must answer three 200-250-word essays, one 3-word essay, two 100-word essays, and one 50-word essay. So what are this year’s Brown essay prompts ?

2023-2024 Brown Essay Topics & Questions

Long response prompts.

1. Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown. (200-250 words)*

This prompt is a hybrid question — part Why Major and part Why Brown . Brown’s admissions committee wants to understand the origin story of an applicant’s interest in the discipline they hope to study, not as a child but as a high schooler.

And Brown also wants to know why Brown is the right place for an applicant to pursue that course of study. As such, the essay should be peppered with specific after specific about enduring aspects of Brown that only apply to Brown. And, no, name-dropping professors and listing classes do not count as genuine specifics about Brown.

2. Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)*

Brown wants to understand the community and values that have shaped their applicants. With the Supreme Court recently outlawing the practice of Affirmative Action , this essay prompt presents an opportunity for applicants to share their backgrounds.

As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion striking down Affirmative Action, “At the same time, as all parties agree, nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” This essay prompt is one such opening.

3. Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)*

Too many applicants focus on silly things that fail to showcase intellectual curiosity when answering this essay prompt, which has long been a staple of Brown’s application. While the pursuit that brings an applicant joy need not be world-changing, it must demonstrate how a student thinks or it will be a wasted opportunity.

Short Response Prompts

For these shorter prompts, Brown’s instructions read as follows: Help us get to know you better by reflecting briefly on each of the questions below. We expect that answers will range from a few words to a few sentences at most.

1. What three words best describe you? (3 words)*

These kinds of prompts — only three words — might take applicants the most time to consider.   Dare to think outside the box and avoid the expected. Curious, engaged? Applicant can do better!

2. What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)*

This essay prompt presents an opportunity for a student to further demonstrate their hook since Brown admissions officers seek to admit singularly talented rather than well-rounded students . Applicants should make sure that the activity they describe in their answer is included within the activities section of The Common Application. They should also ensure they haven’t previously written about the activity in another essay that Brown’s admissions officers will read. All essays should be considered puzzle pieces — they must all complement one another.

3. If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words)*

The class choice will ideally fall within the discipline the student wrote about in their first Brown supplemental essay. The course’s content should be creative, and its title should be pithy. No school in America has more bizarre class names than Brown University. Here’s an applicant’s opportunity to take their best stab at creating a class to join the pantheon of highly unusual Brown classes .

4. In one sentence, Why Brown? (50 words)*

Even in a short Why Brown prompt — and this is the second Why Brown prompt on the application since specifics about Brown can certainly be included throughout the first essay on Brown’s supplement — an applicant can land some punches. In only a sentence, the response should be filled with a specific reference or references that  only  apply to Brown . If one can cut and paste the sentence and replace the specific with another university, delete it, and start anew!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Brown University Essays

If you’re interested in optimizing your chances of admission to Brown University by submitting essays that are compelling and showcase a singular hook in the hope of daring admissions officers not to offer you admission, fill out Ivy Coach ’s consultation form , and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for seniors.

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Brown University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 3

You Have: 

Brown University 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 3  essays of 250 words; 4 short answers

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Community , Activity, Diversity

Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown. (200-250 words)

This prompt sounds simple enough: describe what you want to study and why you like it—but not so fast. First things first: the Open Curriculum , a.k.a. the requirement-less Holy Grail, coveted by many applicants. It’s not enough to say, “I want to go to Brown because of its uniquely flexible curriculum.” You need to explore exactly how this curriculum—among Brown’s many other assets—will benefit you specifically. Is it because your areas of interest are so varied? Is it because greater flexibility will help you manage a learning difference? While you might be tempted to get technical or poetic, this essay will be more personal and memorable if you can share a story. What excites you and why? When was the last time you got drawn down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and what was the topic? While you don’t need to recount the unabridged origin story of your interest, try to zero in on a formative experience: the best book you’ve ever read, the first time you spoke French to an actual French person, that one time when you used PEMDAS in the real world! Then marry the concrete details of your story with Brown’s academic offerings, and you’ll knock your response out of the park!

Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)

Brown wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to their University community, so tell admissions about what makes you you and how you will be a meaningful addition to the student body. Think about times when you were challenged by or found strength in your identity, background, or skills. Maybe you were the only South Asian family in a predominantly white area and found inspiration by practicing classical Kuchipudi dance, which you intend to continue at Brown. Perhaps your aging grandparent moved in with you, and the changes to your household prompted you to take on more responsibilities, sparking a passion for leadership. What do you hope to share with others about your lived experience? How will you incorporate this element of your identity into your college experience? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community. Bonus points if you can reference a specific component of the Brown experience (think clubs, the curriculum, volunteer opportunities, etc.) to demonstrate your interest and fit.

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

Try not to overthink your response to this question. Admissions even goes so far as to say that the focal point of your response can be big or small. So, go with your gut. Maybe, you love watching the sunset on your grandmother’s porch over a pitcher of lemonade and a game of checkers. Or, perhaps, you want to tell admissions about the look on your sister’s face everytime you agree to a custom makeover (neon eyeshadows only). If you want to write about something bigger, maybe it’s the app you’re building to help people find volunteer opportunities in their community or the scientific discovery you made last spring. Whatever it may be, be true to yourself, and you’ll ace this response.

Help us get to know you better by reflecting briefly on each of the questions below. We expect that answers will range from a few words to a few sentences at most:

What three words best describe you (3 words), what is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it (100 words), if you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be (100 words), in one sentence, why brown (50 words).

Short answers like these give you a chance to show something that isn’t apparent in the other parts of your application, such as different aspects of your personality, background, and interests. The key to nailing this section is brainstorming. Free your mind and spend a few minutes jotting down as many answers as you can think of for each prompt. Literally set a timer and force yourself to keep your pencil moving (or fingers typing) for the entire time. The more you go with your gut, the more likely you are to come up with a unique and truly personal answer; in the end, that’s really what admissions is looking for. Sure, many applicants play extracurricular sports, but how is your relationship to your sport unique? For the final question, consider not only the research you’ve done on Brown, but also how you’ll fit in with the unique campus culture. The point is not to waste time agonizing over what you think admissions wants to hear, but to think about who you are as a person. Trust yourself. 

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Application Checklist

Use this handy checklist to make sure you’ve fulfilled all requirements necessary for the Admissions Team to review your file. Applications will not be reviewed until all requirements are fulfilled.

A Complete Application Includes:

All applicants must complete and submit an application form, through which many application components are also submitted.

You will be required to submit a 250 to 500 word essay responding to one of the following prompts:

• At Brown Pre-College, students often experience a new environment, study a new subject and meet new friends from around the world. Describe a time when you learned, tried something new or stepped out of your comfort zone. What did you learn from this that will help you thrive at Brown Pre-College?
• Please describe something you've learned from someone you've met, been inspired by or learned about. How will you apply what you have learned from them to your Pre-College experience?

You may choose to submit a supplementary essay to address something not covered in other parts of the application. (For example, to provide information about your extracurricular activities, an explanation for inconsistent grades or other circumstances you’d like the Admissions Team to consider.)

This nonrefundable fee must be paid by credit card within the secure application form:

• Application fee when submitted by April 7, 2024: $65
• Application fee when submitted on or after April 8, 2024: $100

If you would like to apply for an application fee waiver, please visit the application fee waiver page to learn more.

Your academic records must be submitted with your application.

Please note: official transcripts are not required, and academic records do not need to be submitted by a school guidance counselor. 

You must submit your complete grades from the current academic year in addition to all grades from the previous academic year . Grade submissions must be in English and contain your full name as well as the academic term represented. 

Acceptable submissions may include, but are not limited to:

• Unofficial transcript
• Report card
• Progress report
• Screenshot of grades from a school portal (it must contain your full name)
• Narrative assessment

Please include an explanation of the grading scale used by the school(s) if different from the U.S. grading system. Failure to submit all requested documents will leave an application incomplete, and the application will not be reviewed.

Within the application, you may provide the name and email address of a teacher, counselor, community leader or employer who can attest to your social maturity and academic performance. We strongly suggest you submit a recommendation if any of the criteria below pertain to you:

• Interest in Summer@Brown, or a specific course offering within Summer@Brown, and will be under the age of 15 as of June 16, 2024
• Interest in STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders program, or a specific course offering, and will be under the age of 14 as of June 16, 2024
• Interest in the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) offerings
• Interest in the Brown Experiential Education (BEE) offerings
• Inconsistent grades—any grades of C or below

Please note that a recommendation is required to accompany all Pre-Baccalaureate Program applications .

Upon entering this information into the application form, an email containing a recommendation form will be sent to the recommender. 

Please note: If you indicate you will be submitting a recommendation, we will only accept our recommendation form. Applications will not be considered complete until we receive the recommendation.

Applicants for whom English is not their primary language, should give serious consideration to their level of English language proficiency. Brown University's Pre-College Program provides both academic challenges typical of college-level study and opportunities to experience the social aspects of college life in the United States. A high degree of proficiency in English—equivalent to what would be expected of a first-year undergraduate—is crucial to having a successful experience. 

Students who participate in Brown University's Pre-College Program must have a strong command of the English language in order to succeed in academic study, involving the ability to:

• Speak clearly and coherently on a variety of topics
• Write clearly on a range of topics
• Listen and understand complex topics
• Read and understand detailed and lengthy texts on academic subjects
• Independently navigate a college campus in an urban environment
• Communicate effectively with peers in social settings

International students who do not speak English as their primary language will be asked to submit one of the following:

• Duolingo English Test
• InitialView

Important: Be sure to share your results with Brown University’s Division of Pre-College and Undergraduate Programs , not Brown University Undergraduate Admission. It may take up to three business days after you have shared your results with us for it to be reflected on your application checklist in your portal. Students may take the Duolingo English Test or participate in an InitialView Interview prior to beginning an application or after submitting an application. 

TOEFL and IELTS scores will not satisfy the evidence of language proficiency requirement.

Please Note:

• In some cases, supplemental application materials — transcripts, essays, English proficiency materials or recommendations — may be requested. You will be notified by email if any additional information is required.
• Applicants are expected to abide by the Pre-College Code of Conduct , which includes an expectation of academic integrity. All application materials submitted must be the original work of the applicant. Plagiarism in any part of an application (completed by anyone other than the student) is grounds for denial.
• A.1. Act as good citizens by showing respect and courtesy to all members of the University community, including fellow participants, students, staff, instructors, campus neighbors and affiliates.
• A.2. Contribute to a healthy and safe community environment. Use methods of expression that are appropriate for a healthy living-learning environment. Obscene, derogatory and/or abusive language is prohibited.
• Admission to Brown University’s Pre-College Program does not guarantee enrollment in a specific course or academic program. Enrollment in a course or program is a separate action that must be completed once an applicant is admitted to Brown University’s Pre-College Program.
• Courses may be canceled at any time due to unforeseen circumstances. If this situation occurs, Program staff will work with students to find a suitable course substitution.
• Students must submit a new application each year. Returning students can log in to precollege.brown.edu with the email and password they originally used to create their account.

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Brown University Requirements for Admission

Choose your test.

What are Brown University's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:

• GPA requirements
• Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
• Application requirements

In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Brown University and build a strong application.

School location: Providence, RI

Admissions Rate: 5.1%

If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.

The acceptance rate at Brown University is 5.1% . For every 100 applicants, only 5 are admitted.

This means the school is extremely selective . Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation. If you don't meet their expectations, your chance of getting in is nearly zero.

After crossing this hurdle, you'll need to impress Brown University application readers through their other application requirements, including extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation. We'll cover more below.

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies . We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools , from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Brown University GPA Requirements

Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.

The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.

Average GPA: 4.1

The average GPA at Brown University is 4.1 .

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. This school did not officially report its average GPA, but we've estimated it here using data from over 1,000 schools.)

With a GPA of 4.1, Brown University requires you to be at the top of your class . You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.

If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 4.1, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate . This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.

SAT and ACT Requirements

Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Only a few schools require the SAT or ACT, but many consider your scores if you choose to submit them.

Brown University hasn't explicitly named a policy on SAT/ACT requirements, but because it's published average SAT or ACT scores (we'll cover this next), it's likely test flexible. Typically, these schools say, "if you feel your SAT or ACT score represents you well as a student, submit them. Otherwise, don't."

Despite this policy, the truth is that most students still take the SAT or ACT, and most applicants to Brown University will submit their scores. If you don't submit scores, you'll have one fewer dimension to show that you're worthy of being admitted, compared to other students. We therefore recommend that you consider taking the SAT or ACT, and doing well.

Brown University SAT Requirements

Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.

Average SAT: 1493

The average SAT score composite at Brown University is a 1493 on the 1600 SAT scale.

This score makes Brown University Strongly Competitive for SAT test scores.

Brown University SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)

The 25th percentile SAT score is 1500, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1560. In other words, a 1500 on the SAT places you below average, while a 1560 will move you up to above average .

Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:

SAT Score Choice Policy

The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.

Brown University has the Score Choice policy of "Highest Section."

This is also known as "superscoring." This means that you can choose which SAT tests you want to send to the school. Of all the scores they receive, your application readers will consider your highest section scores across all SAT test dates you submit .

Click below to learn more about how superscoring critically affects your test strategy.

For example, say you submit the following 3 test scores:

Even though the highest total you scored on any one test date was 1000, Brown University will take your highest section score from all your test dates, then combine them to form your Superscore. You can raise your composite score from 1000 to 1400 in this example.

This is important for your testing strategy. Because you can choose which tests to send in, and Brown University forms your Superscore, you can take the SAT as many times as you want, then submit only the tests that give you the highest Superscore. Your application readers will only see that one score.

Therefore, if your SAT superscore is currently below a 1560, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it . You have a very good chance of raising your score, which will significantly boost your chances of getting in.

Even better, because of the Superscore, you can focus all your energy on a single section at a time. If your Reading score is lower than your other sections, prep only for the Reading section, then take the SAT. Then focus on Math for the next test, and so on. This will give you the highest Superscore possible.

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

Brown University ACT Requirements

Just like for the SAT, Brown University likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.

Average ACT: 34

The average ACT score at Brown University is 34. This score makes Brown University Extremely Competitive for ACT scores.

The 25th percentile ACT score is 34, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 36.

Even though Brown University likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 34 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 34 and above that a 34 will look academically weak.

ACT Score Sending Policy

If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.

Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.

This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 36 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.

ACT Superscore Policy

By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.

We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Brown University, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 36.

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements

Currently, only the ACT has an optional essay section that all students can take. The SAT used to also have an optional Essay section, but since June 2021, this has been discontinued unless you are taking the test as part of school-day testing in a few states. Because of this, no school requires the SAT Essay or ACT Writing section, but some schools do recommend certain students submit their results if they have them.

Brown University considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration. You don't need to worry too much about Writing for this school, but other schools you're applying to may require it.

Final Admissions Verdict

Because this school is extremely selective, getting a high SAT/ACT score and GPA is vital to having a chance at getting in . If you don't pass their SAT/ACT and GPA requirements, they'll likely reject you without much consideration.

To have the best shot of getting in, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1560 SAT or a 36 ACT . You should also have a 4.1 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score.

For a school as selective as Brown University, you'll also need to impress them with the rest of your application. We'll cover those details next.

But if you apply with a score below a 1560 SAT or a 36 ACT, you unfortunately start out with the odds against you and have a tiny chance of getting in. There are just too many students with high SAT/ACT scores and strong applications, and you need to compete against them.

Admissions Calculator

Here's our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are. Pick your test: SAT ACT

• 80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in
• 50-80%: More likely than not getting in
• 20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in
• 5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot
• 0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in

How would your chances improve with a better score?

Take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?

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Application Requirements

Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Brown University here.

Application Requirements Overview

• Common Application Accepted, supplemental forms required
• Electronic Application Available
• Essay or Personal Statement Required for all freshmen
• Letters of Recommendation 2
• Interview Not required
• Application Fee $75
• Fee Waiver Available? Available
• Other Notes Common Application, Brown University Supplement required for freshmen

Testing Requirements

• SAT or ACT Considered if submitted
• SAT Essay or ACT Writing Optional
• SAT Subject Tests Optional
• Scores Due in Office None

Coursework Requirements

• Subject Required Years
• Foreign Language 3
• Social Studies

Deadlines and Early Admissions

• Offered? Deadline Notification
• Yes January 5 March 31
• Yes November 1 December 31

Admissions Office Information

• Address: One Prospect Street Providence, RI 02912
• Phone: (401) 863-2378
• Fax: (401) 863-9300
• Email: [email protected]

Our Expert's Notes

We did more detailed research into this school's admissions process and found the following information:

You have to write additional essays if you've indicated interest in science or engineering, or any of Brown's special programs (like the 8-year med school program or the Brown/ RISD joint program).

Other Schools For You

If you're interested in Brown University, you'll probably be interested in these schools as well. We've divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to Brown University.

Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are have higher average SAT scores than Brown University. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.

Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

If you're competitive for Brown University, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.

Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

If you're currently competitive for Brown University, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If Brown University is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.

Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2023 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.

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Program in Liberal Medical Education

Application process.

A student wishing to apply to the PLME uses the Brown application process and applies to both Brown the College and the PLME at the same time with the same online application.

• Admission & Aid

Applying to Brown

Our admission process challenges us to discover how each applicant would contribute to — and benefit from — Brown's lively academic culture.

Before You Apply

“ A PLME applicant is, by definition, an applicant to Brown. Each PLME applicant is considered an applicant to both the College and the PLME. Applicants may apply either Early Decision OR Regular Decision. ”

There is only ONE application to Brown and the PLME program. A student wishing to apply to the PLME uses the Brown application process and applies to both Brown the College and the PLME  at the same time with the same online application . Thus, a student either applies to the College and the PLME Early Decision (deadline is November 1 ), OR applies to the College and the PLME Regular Decision (deadline is January 3 ).

Brown is a member of the consortium of colleges and universities belonging to the Common Application. Applicants must submit the Common Application "First-Year Application." 

Common Application

Additionally, applicants must complete the Brown Supplement, which is available along with the Common Application forms from the Common Application website. The Brown Supplement includes THREE (3) required essays for PLME applicants.  University policy dictates that no candidate for admission be denied solely on the basis of the degree program for which he or she seeks consideration. Therefore, those applicants not admitted to the PLME are still considered candidates to the College for the bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree.  Interested students may obtain more information from the Office of College Admission.

Office of College Admission

Early Decision

Early Decision is a plan under which first-year applicants to Brown may apply for admission in the fall of their senior year and receive an admission decision in mid-December. Early Decision is intended for students who consider Brown their top choice.  Applicants pursuing admission under Brown's Early Decision program may not submit an application to another Early Decision plan.  Applicants and their families should be aware that Brown's Early Decision program is a binding agreement to attend Brown if admitted. Students admitted under the program are expected to enroll at Brown and to withdraw all pending applications -- including those submitted to Regular, Rolling, or Early Action programs.  Candidates considered admissible by the Office of College Admission are reviewed by the PLME Advisory Selection Board. Decisions are communicated to PLME applicants just as they are to other Brown applicants. It is expected that the number of PLME applicants will greatly exceed the places available each year.

PLME applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a video introduction as part of the application process as it is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about you.  If you plan to submit a video introduction please do so within a week of submitting your application. Once logged in to your Brown Applicant Portal, you will be given the option to submit a two-minute personal video introduction.While you will not be able to upload your video until you receive Brown Applicant Portal access, we encourage you to record your introduction in advance of the corresponding deadline. This will allow you to upload as soon as you receive your login credentials and ensure that your submission is added to your application as soon as possible. 

Video Introduction

Plme candidates and early decision.

A student applying early decision to the College and the PLME may be admitted in December to both the College and the PLME.  However, some students may be selected early decision for admission to the College only and not the PLME.  In this circumstance,  the student will be bound by the early decision agreement to attend the College regardless of non-acceptance into the PLME program.   

Those who apply early decision and are admitted to the College and not to PLME will be reconsidered for the PLME during regular decision.

Those students who do not want to be bound to the College at early decision without being admitted to the PLME program are asked to apply through Regular Decision.  

Early Decision Information

Literary Arts

Supplemental essay, mfa applications.

The Graduate School is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive academic community and educating and training a distinguished and diverse cohort of students. Exposure to a broad range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences is essential to fostering both breadth and depth in intellectual knowledge and is an educational benefit.

At Brown, the term "diversity" is used in the broadest sense to encompass many dimensions of students' backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Brown welcomes applications to its graduate programs from all qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, caste, disability, status as a veteran, language, socio-economic background, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political ideology, or theoretical approach.

In 300 words or less, please respond to at least one of the following prompts:

• Discuss specific examples of how your background, knowledge, and life experiences would influence your ability to both benefit from and contribute to Brown’s inclusive academic community;
• Discuss how you aspire to contribute to our mission to promote diversity and inclusion through your research, teaching, or service.

Why Top Students Are Getting Rejected From The Ivy League

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Yale University

This year marked the most competitive admissions cycle in Yale’s history. On March 28th, 1,365 Ivy League hopefuls were offered admission to Yale, and the school’s acceptance rate hit a historic low of 3.73% , down from 4.35% last year. As these students received news of their acceptances, parents and students across the country were also shocked to find out that some of the most talented students at their schools did not receive offers of admission to Ivy League institutions. Seeing their peers face the sting of rejection may lead high-achieving sophomores and juniors to feel as though their efforts to chase excellence are all for nothing. However, there are three primary explanations as to why these top students are not getting into top schools—and younger students should take note of them in order to maximize their chances of admission to their dream schools.

1. The Ivy League admissions process is not as merit-based as many believe.

First, it’s important to dispel the myth that elite school admissions are entirely merit-based. It has been long-documented that a significant percentage of students admitted to Ivy League schools were admitted based on factors outside of their academic or extracurricular achievements. Despite mounting pressure to abandon legacy considerations in the admissions process, few elite schools have done so— 11% of Yale’s Class of 2027 have a legacy affiliation, an increase from 8% just three years prior. Meanwhile, roughly one third of Harvard’s Class of 2027 has a legacy connection of some kind. A 2023 study found that legacy students are four times more likely to earn acceptance into Ivy League and other top schools. Some highly qualified students competing against equally qualified legacy students may have received a rejection for reasons other than the contents of their admissions profiles.

2. Top grades won’t make a splash without a compelling, passion-based narrative.

Stellar grades and test scores are the critical foundation for Ivy League admission—but they are hardly the only thing that top colleges look for. Ivy League schools conduct holistic reviews of the thousands of applications they receive each year. Harvard, for instance, promises “a wide-ranging review of every aspect of each applicant’s background and experience.” However, many justifiably question whether a school whose application pool tops 50,000 can conduct such a personalized review of each application.

In order to catch the eye of admissions officers in such a process, it is imperative to tell a cohesive and compelling story about one’s guiding passions. Students should focus not only on maintaining a strong GPA and earning top test scores, but also honing their extracurricular activities and course selection throughout their high school careers to reflect their core interest. When it comes time to compile their applications, students should tell a story through their essays, activities lists, and recommendation letters about the kind of student they will be on college campuses. Students who are academically competitive but cannot demonstrate the unique value they will bring to a campus often falter in the admissions process.

3. Tunnel-vision can hinder students’ success.

Many top students become fixated on their dream of attending an Ivy League institution, investing all of their time and energy into those applications and neglecting to seriously consider other schools on their list. As a result, they often engage in activities they assume will be more impressive to admissions officers in lieu of those they truly enjoy. However, admissions officers at top schools are adept at spotting this type of inauthentic resume-padding. If students are not pursuing their genuine interests, it will be evident in their applications. Instead, students should embrace their specific interests and reflect that which makes them unique through their applicant profiles.

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It is essential to remember that every school is not right for every student—just because a student faces rejection at an Ivy League school does not mean they won’t thrive personally and intellectually at another institution. Striving to honestly and openly consider what they want out of the next four years of their education will help students identify the right college for their needs.

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Undergraduate Admission

Application checklist for transfer applicants.

• Transfer Applicants

Application Checklist

• Application fee of $75 or a fee waiver.
• Common Application (Transfer Application).
• Brown’s supplemental essays are submitted through the Common Application.
• Official copy of your high school transcript.
• Official copy of your college transcript(s) and final grades from all previous college coursework. This should include grades from your most recently completed semester or quarter work and a list of your current course enrollments. If you are not currently enrolled in college, please submit an official copy of all college transcripts. The Common Application provides the ability for you to upload your college transcript, which Brown will consider unofficial. You must submit your official transcript by asking your Registrar to submit your transcript directly to our office.
• College Report (Report of Good Standing) Please ask the appropriate college administrator to complete the College Report. The administrator must print it and scan and email the completed document to  [email protected].
• Two instructor evaluations from faculty who have taught you at your current college. Alternatively, we will accept evaluations from TAs who have been your instructors. These letters must be submitted through the Common Application or sent via email to [email protected] or by fax to 401-863-9300. Material sent by email or fax should include the applicant's name, date of birth and college or university. Letters sent by email should be sent as PDF attachments. If there are not two faculty members or TAs from whom you are able to request an evaluation, you may replace one of the required letters with a recommendation from a teacher from your senior year of high school.
• Mid Term Report , also found on the Common Application. If you are currently enrolled in college, you should list your current courses and then ask each of your professors to provide a progress grade. Please upload the completed Mid Term Report through your Brown Applicant Portal. If you are not currently enrolled in college, we will waive the Mid Term Report. 
• Brown is test optional for transfer applicants through the 2023-2024 admission cycle, meaning that test scores are not a required component of the transfer application this year. If you would like to include test scores for review in your application, testing must be completed by September (spring entry application) or February (fall entry application) to ensure receipt of scores. You may use your Brown Applicant Portal to self-report test scores that were not included on your Common Application. More information on our standardized testing policies can be found on our website .
• Financial Aid Applicants must submit the appropriate financial aid documents when they apply. For more information visit the Office of Financial Aid .

We understand that the cost of applying to college can be prohibitive for some applicants and their families. If the application fee constitutes a financial hardship, we will accept a fee waiver in lieu of the application fee itself. The College Board provides fee waivers to students who take the SAT, and these fee waivers are accepted by our office. We will also accept a fee waiver in the form of a letter (printed on college letterhead) from a dean, advisor or financial aid officer at your home institution certifying that the application fee constitutes a financial hardship.

Important Notes on Submitting Documents

• Applicants should submit the majority of their application using the  Common Application  website.
• All official documents (high school and college transcripts, the College Report, and Instructor Evaluations) must be submitted to the Office of College Admission by the institutions or parties that created those documents and should be submitted through the Common App. If this is not possible, they may also be submitted by email to [email protected] or by fax to 401-863-9300. In the rare circumstances that none of these alternatives are possible, materials can be mailed to Brown University, Office of College Admission, Box 1876, Providence, RI, 02912. You may submit your official college transcript either by sending a request to your Registrar through the Common Application or asking your Registrar to submit your transcript directly to our office. Please note that we cannot accept official documents that have been sent to our office by applicants themselves with the exception of the Mid Term Report, which you may upload through your Brown Applicant Portal.
• By mid-March or mid-October (depending on which application deadline you have chosen), the Office of Admission will send transfer applicants a username and password that they can use to check the completeness of their application and upload optional supplementary material through the Brown Applicant Portal.
• It is likely that any document received by our office will not be entered into our application database until a week after it has been received. If you have recently submitted a document, please understand that it may take a week or more before it is listed on your application checklist as having been received. In early October or early March we will email you to let you know if any required documents are missing from your application file.