Ivy League ~5.5% Acceptance Rate 3 Essays + 3 Short Answers

Brown University
Supplemental Essay Guide 2025–26

School-specific insights on what Brown admissions actually looks for, the most common failure modes, and calibrated score benchmarks for each prompt.

~5.5%
Acceptance Rate
6
Required Essay(s)
Providence
Location
2025–26
Cycle

Admitted Student Profile

GPA (Unweighted)
3.90–4.00 (unweighted)
SAT Range (Middle 50%)
1510–1570
ERW: 740–780  ·  Math: 760–800
ACT Range (Middle 50%)
34–36
Acceptance Rate
~5.5%

📌 Brown is test-optional. Middle 50% shown for score-submitting students.

The Official Prompt

Open Curriculum
Required ≤200-250 words

"Brown's Open Curriculum allows students to pursue their academic interests with few restrictions. Tell us how you plan to use this flexibility, what academic areas you intend to explore, and how your past academic experience prepares you for this independence."

💡

Brown is looking for students who already have a clear intellectual agenda — not a vague curiosity, but a genuine plan for crossing disciplinary boundaries. The Open Curriculum is not 'freedom from requirements'; it is the freedom to pursue a specific intellectual vision. Your essay should name that vision precisely.

The #1 Failure Mode

⚠️
Most Common Mistake

Saying you love the Open Curriculum because you don't want required courses. Brown is not looking for students who want to avoid structure — it wants students who have their own more demanding structure in mind.

Weak vs. Strong: Score Benchmarks

⚠️ Weak (~55/100)
"Brown's Open Curriculum appeals to me because I am interested in many different subjects and don't want to be limited by core requirements. I plan to explore courses in both sciences and humanities, which will make me a more well-rounded student."
✓ Strong (~89/100)
"I want to build the coursework for a question that no single department currently owns: why do cities fail? Not economically — I mean structurally, institutionally, at the scale of a block or a neighborhood. I need urban studies, economics, history, and public policy in the same semester, not sequenced across four years. That's why the Open Curriculum is specific to my goals, not just attractive."

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