Brown Essays 2025-2026

Brown University Supplemental Essay Prompts: 2025-2026

Brown University recently released its supplemental essays for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle. In this article, we will explain exactly what they are looking for in responses from applicants, so you can write essays that will get you admitted there.

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)

For this essay, you should aim to vividly show your vision for how you will take advantage of Brown's open curriculum. This means you should write the essay as a first-person hypothetical scenario of how you'd spend your days at Brown, taking advantage of their curricular flexibility to pursue your academic interests.

I'd recommend opening the essay with you writing as if you are already at Brown, perhaps conducting research with a professor, attending a lecture at a research institute, or asking a pointed question in one of their classes. From there, continue with the same tone and narrative structure as you show the reader what you'd look like as a student at Brown taking advantage of the academic opportunities provided there. Make sure you are explicitly naming the classes you like to take, and the names of professors who are currently there that you’d like to work with. Admissions officers want to see from this essay that you really researched Brown’s offerings really thoroughly. In terms of Brown’s academic offerings, in this essay, I’d emphasize the open curriculum the most. So make sure to research which classes outside of your priority area of study you’d like to take.

After showing the reader the academic opportunity, connect it to a past experience of yours that motivates your participation in that particular academic pursuit at Brown. Make sure you discuss what your main academic interest is and provide strong personal motivation for it. Then explain how exploring other academic areas using the open curriculum will both bolster your understanding of your primary interest and be interesting in their own right.

Remember, this essay, like all essays, should be about you, so make sure you give compelling reasons for the ways you will engage with Brown's opportunities. Conclude the essay by discussing how these academic opportunities will either reconceptualize how you see a lived experience that you previously used as motivation, or will help you achieve your academic or life goals.

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)

For this essay, I'd start with a vivid, first-person description of an experience of yours that clearly demonstrates an aspect of your upbringing which has led you to form a specific perspective or life philosophy that will inform how you engage with other members of the Brown community. After introducing the anecdote and extrapolating the perspective it gave you, I'd explain how this perspective has either inspired you to pursue certain activities in your life or led to challenging situations, such as standing up to friends whose behavior you disagreed with. From there, I would show the reader you putting that perspective into practice by vividly writing, in first person, how you will positively interact with students at certain clubs and student spaces at Brown. Make sure to name specific clubs at Brown and real student spaces there. They want to see that you conducted thorough research on what Brown offers.

When the first Brown essay focuses on academics, this essay is about how you will socially contribute to Brown. It doesn't need to be written as a hypothetical, given that they provide ample space within it to show the reader relevant experiences in your life that shaped how you will interact with others. However, if you want to write as a hypothetical in which you demonstrate the specific ways you positively interact with members of Brown's community in social spaces by interspersing elements of your lived experience within the narrative, that approach works as well. You can write about labs and research too, with a caveat: I wouldn't include any academic or technical content here. Instead, I'd focus on showing the reader how you will socially interact with members of that lab, demonstrating that you can be someone who elevates the mood or atmosphere of a lab. Conclude with a powerful statement about either how being part of the Brown community will recontextualize any experiences you previously cited in this essay, or what you want the reader to know about the impact you will have on Brown's community.

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)

The key thing with this essay is to pick something that you can do at Brown as well, something that gives you joy. As usual, you want to start with a vivid, first-person description. Begin with either showing the reader you doing this thing that brings you joy, or describing an experience of yours that facilitated your later experiencing immense joy from this activity. If you choose the former opener, explain why this means so much to you in terms of your previous experiences. If the latter, explain how this joyful activity relates to your essay's hook. From there, explain how this feeling of joy has enabled you to better participate in activities or opportunities related to your application's hook/spike or your preferred area of study. Finally, explain how much you look forward to continuing this activity at Brown, what it will mean for you to pursue this activity in a community as vibrant and open-minded as Brown. Remember, enable the reader to visualize you clearly in this essay; they really want to see that you are someone who can experience genuine joy.

4. What three words best describe you? (3 words)

It's hard to go wrong here. I'd recommend choosing either two words related to your love of academics and one word about kindness to others, or one word about academics and two words about being kind to others. Whatever you do, avoid writing "perfectionist" or anything that might suggest neurotic tendencies.

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

Ideally, you should choose to teach a class on something related to your preferred area of study or your application's central theme. The reader wants to see what you are most passionate about and what academic or life lessons you can bring to Brown's incoming class to make it more vibrant. You can write this essay in a straightforward manner, no vivid imagery needed. The key is to articulate something that interests you deeply and that you'd love to share with others. Make sure the class you choose isn't already offered at Brown, do your homework.

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

Your essay should revolve around how Brown's open curriculum will enable you to achieve your life goals. You can either powerfully articulate your life goals or demonstrate the positive impact on the world that achieving these goals will create, and then connect this to how Brown's open curriculum, or any other unique offerings, will enable you to realize them.

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