How To Get Into Brown University

The Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program

How to get into Brown University: Admission Requirements 2023

Nestled in the vibrant city of Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University has established itself as a renowned institution since its inception in 1764. With a rich history and a commitment to intellectual exploration, Brown stands as a beacon of academic excellence. Known especially for its unique Open Curriculum, Brown University offers a distinctive educational experience that fosters independent thinking and interdisciplinary studies.

It goes without saying that prospective applicants have long wondered about how to successfully navigate the Admission Requirements of Brown. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to get into Brown University.

A quick note on college rankings: we think they’re generally a bad way to think about where you should go to college. We talk about why rankings are bad in greater detail here, but essentially, a lot of college rankings don’t actually tell you whether you and the school would fit well together, or that the school is someplace you’ll thrive. That said, we also understand that many students/families are confused regarding and have questions about aspects of the application process, so we’ve built the post below to hopefully clarify things, so students/families can make informed decisions.

How hard is it to get into Brown University?

It is extremely difficult to get accepted to Brown University. The grade point averages of people who get accepted to Brown are in the top tenth of their class. People who successfully get into Brown also tend to have impressive extracurricular activities and college applications essays.

Brown University Acceptance Rate

The Brown acceptance rate is 5%, making it one of the most competitive universities in the world. Acceptance rate is an indication of how competitive a school is, but it is also an indication of how popular a school is. To get into a school like Brown, you will need to excel in almost every major college application factor.

Brown’s Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision, and Transfer Acceptance Rate

Brown’s early decision acceptance rate is 13% because it received 6,770 applications and accepted 879 students. Brown received a record number of early decision applicants in the 2023-24 admissions cycle.

Brown’s regular decision acceptance rate is 3.8% because it received 43,879 applications and accepted 1,683 students. Over the past few years, Brown University has seen a growing number of applicants, decreasing admissions rates, resulting in a more competitive admissions process.

Brown’s transfer acceptance rate is 5.4% because it received 2,836 applications and accepted 152 students.

GPA Requirements to get into Brown

The recommended GPA requirements to get into Brown University are between 3.9 and 4.0. You will need an incredibly high GPA and will likely be graduating in the top tenth of your class in order to get into Brown. If your GPA is lower than suggested at the time you apply, you may have to perform above average on your standardized tests. If your grades aren’t as high as they could have been due to life experiences or hardship, you should consider writing about it in your additional information section.

Class Rank Distribution	Percent Admitted
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	93%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	97%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	0%
Percent in bottom quarter of high school graduating class	0%

What GPA is required for Brown University?

Applicants’ GPA when applying to Brown should ideally be between 3.9 and 4.0 to be strong candidates. Though Brown doesn’t publicly list specific information about GPA for admitted students, it’s safe to assume that you’ll want very good grades to stick out in the applicant pool. Having less than this will require compensating by having outstanding extracurricular activities or personal statement.

SAT Requirements to get into Brown

The recommended SAT requirements to get into Brown University are a 1500 to 1560 composite score, combining the reading and writing, and math sections together. You will need an incredibly high SAT score in order to get into Brown. If your SAT is lower than suggested at the time you apply, you may have to perform above average on your other standardized tests or have spectacular extracurricular activities to compensate. If your grades aren’t as high as they could have been due to life experiences or hardship, you should consider writing about it in your additional information section.

Brown University is a “Test Optional” school, meaning it does not require standardized test scores, but will consider them if submitted. It’s up to you whether to submit your scores or not. There are a number of factors to consider as you make this decision, and you can read more about them here.

Brown Average SAT Composite Score: 1530

SAT Score Distribution	Reading %	Math %
700-800	91%	94%
600-699	9%	6%
500-599	0%	0%
400-499	0%	0%
300-399	0%	0%
200-299	0%	0%

What SAT score is required for Brown University?

Applicants should score between 1500 to 1560 on their SAT to be strong candidates for admission to this school. Having less than this will require compensating by using a substitute ACT score or having an above-average GPA. Although Brown will maintain a test-optional policy for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, scores that are submitted will be considered during the admissions process.

ACT Requirements to get into Brown University

The recommended ACT requirements for Brown are a 34 to 36 composite score combining all English, mathematics, reading, and science sections. You will need an incredibly high ACT score in order to get into Brown University. If your ACT is not what you’d hoped by the time you apply, you may have to make it up by getting above-average scores on the SAT and having an above-average grade point average. If your ACT wasn’t as high as you’d like because of difficulties or hardship, you should consider writing about it in your additional information section.

Brown University is a “Test Optional” school, meaning it does not require standardized test scores, but will consider them if submitted. It’s up to you whether to submit your scores or not. There are a number of factors to consider as you make this decision, and you can read more about them here.

Brown Average ACT: 35

Brown University ACT Distribution	Composite Score %
30-36	96%
24-29	4%
18-23	0%
12-17	0%
6-11	0%
Below 6	0%

What ACT score is required for Brown University?

Applicants should score between 34 and 36 on their ACT to be strong candidates for admission to this school. Having less than this will require compensating by using a substitute SAT score or having an above-average GPA. Although Brown will maintain a test-optional policy for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, scores that are submitted will be considered during the admissions process.

What does Brown University look for in students?

The biggest thing Brown focuses on is a student’s potential to thrive within the unique offerings of the university: they’ve directly stated that they are looking at what you have accomplished with the resources and opportunities available to you in your high school years. Yes, having competitive grades and test scores is important. But most students who get rejected from Brown have those kinds of scores—Brown University seeks students who not only possess exceptional academic achievements but also demonstrate a strong sense of intellectual curiosity and a passion for learning.

How do you know if you will thrive at Brown? And how do you demonstrate to the school that you will thrive once you are there?

Start by exploring Brown’s mission and values, both through its mission statement, through its discussion of its Open Curriculum, and through what it outlines in its discussion of its strategic plan. Notice, for example, how often the focus is on innovative thinking and intellectual curiosity: Brown wants to work with students who want “to think creatively and to develop innovative solutions to critical issues.”

How do you see yourself aligning with this mission and these values? What parts of your story demonstrate that you have already worked toward these things, and that Brown is the place for you to take your next steps? How will you and the Brown community make great partners in serving the community?

How else can you demonstrate that you can thrive at Brown? Think about your answers to these questions:

• How have you collaborated with others, and how can you showcase that to the Brown admissions committee?
• In what ways have you taken initiative in your education, and how will you continue to do so at Brown?
• Share a time when you took risks, developed resilience, and learned from failure. How will this mindset contribute to your experience at Brown?
• Where and how have you explored your creativity, and how have you applied innovative thinking to projects or personal endeavors?
• Why do you value community, and how have you actively fostered inclusivity? How will you engage with Brown’s diverse community?
• How do you maintain balance in life, effectively managing time and commitments? How will you prioritize balance while navigating opportunities and demands at Brown?

Brown University Application Deadlines

The Brown University application deadline for regular decision is January 3. Brown also provides an alternative form of application in addition to regular decision: early decision. The application deadline for Brown’s early decision is November 1. Below is a table showing the deadlines for each of the steps of the Brown University admissions process.

Notification Plan	Application Material	Application Deadline
Early Decision	Submit Application	November 1
	Admissions Decisions Released	mid-December
Regular Decision	Submit Application	January 3
	Admissions Decisions Released	Early April

Brown Early Decision Policy

Under Brown University’s Early Decision Policy, students who choose to apply early are restricted from applying to any other institution under another early decision, single-choice early action, or restrictive early action plan. This policy ensures that students who apply early to Brown are fully committed to attending if accepted. There are three potential outcomes for students who apply early decision: acceptance, deferral, or denial of their application. If you are admitted under (Brown’s) Early Decision plan, you will be required to withdraw all pending applications—including those you may have already submitted to regular, rolling or (open) early action programs.

Brown University Supplemental Essay Prompts

To complete Brown’s supplemental essay requirements, applicants must answer three Brown University Specific Questions. Their prompts are below and the Brown University supplemental essay guide that they were sourced from can be found here.

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

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)

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)

How to get into rown University—Essay Tips

Let’s look at each prompt separately, going over big-picture guidance for the essays here. If you want more in-depth help with writing your supplemental essays for Brown University, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide.
Okay, let’s dive in.

Prompt #1
At first glance this essay might strike you as being a “Why major” essay—it does focus on classes, after all. But on second glance it’s clear that it’s actually more of a “Why us” essay with some “Why major” elements. Why? Well, consider how core the Open Curriculum is to Brown. Yes, it has to do with how you’ll navigate the selection of courses (and therefore, your concentration), but here they’re less interested in the specific courses you want to take and are more interested in how you’ll find value in combining courses across disciplines. So rather than focusing exclusively on how excited you are about Neuroscience, for example, this is an opportunity to write about how Brown will enable you to explore the intersections of Neuroscience with other things that are of interest to you.

Prompt #2
As we reference in our comprehensive guide to Brown Supplemental essays, the key to this prompt is nuance. They’re not looking for you to have learned the “right” answers to difficult questions, but instead interested in your process of grappling with difficult questions. The writing on the wall here is that they anticipate that, at Brown, students will ideally be in situations where their own perspectives are challenged, and they must challenge the perspectives of others. They want to know that you can navigate that kind of space with maturity and intention.

Prompt #3
This is very similar to a Stanford supplemental essay prompt, and you might check out our guide on that question, too. The key here is authenticity—they really do want you to describe something that brings you joy. Specificity will enable you to sound more genuine, as musing about surface level details regarding a community service trip you went on probably won’t leave readers with much of an impression. Here, you might seize an opportunity to use key details to bring readers more fully into moments of you actually experiencing joy. Trust us, they’ve read enough of these to know when someone’s forcing moments that the writer thinks the readers want to read about.

Brown University Major-specific Supplemental Essays

If you are applying to Brown’s PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) or The Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program you will need to answer the additional program specific questions below.

PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education)

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)

This might not surprise you: a lot of young people want to be doctors because they think they’ll make a lot of money. Another popular motivation is family pressure. We’re not going to make any judgments about good or bad reasons to become a doctor, but you should be aware that Brown’s admissions panel, too, is aware of these not-surprising compulsions toward careers in Medicine. What this means for you is that you need to be particularly mindful in your response of being a reasoned, mature-sounding individual with an authentic interest in pursuing medicine.

Healthcare 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)

Have you considered the larger context of a medical worker? That’s what Brown wants to know here. Yes, a doctor should probably be well-versed in the immune response, for example, but Brown doesn’t just want applicants who are able to recite all of the bones in the human body. Here is an opportunity for you to express your awareness of the societal implications of medical work, and how you see yourself navigating those complexities.

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 as a “Why us” essay that’s specifically for the PLME program. The goal here is to make clear how you and the PLME are a great fit for one another. The risk here is sounding like you’re excited about studying medicine in general. That’s not the goal here. Instead, focus on why studying medicine specifically in the PLME will enable you to accomplish your goals.

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)

If you’re considering applying to his dual degree program, you might have heard a thing or two about its selectivity: many people apply, and only about 15-20ish people are admitted. This isn’t meant to intimidate you, but rather to give you a sense of how a strong application essay here will help you stand out.

Think of this prompt as a kind of personal statement + ”Why us?” hybrid. You can pull on many of the brainstorming exercises you may have used for the Common App essay, including the Values exercise, the Essence Objects exercise, and the Feelings and Needs exercise. But in addition to looking inward at your personal motivations for pursuing this dual degree program, be sure to look outward, too. I.e., do your research . It is important that you make clear to readers that you are very well researched regarding what the BRDD program entails, and how you see it as being a perfect fit for you.

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

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

Part 1: Introduction

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.

Brown University ranking

• Forbes: 15
• Niche: 10
• U.S. News & World Report: 13
• Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: 25

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%

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
  • 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.

  Part 2: Brown admissions requirements

  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

    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.

    Part 3: Applying to Brown early decision vs. regular decision

    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.

    Part 4: 2023–2024 Brown supplemental essays

    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)