Brown University supplemental essays

• Prompt 1Required250 words max

  Your Open Curriculum

  There is something distinctive about Brown students. It is a blend of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and humility. A commitment to collaboration. An openness to new ideas and perspectives. A desire to make the world better. And it is resilience: the ability to recover and thrive after experiencing difficulties. How will you use these characteristics or others to shape your approach to the Open Curriculum?

  How to approach it

  This prompt wants the origin story and the proof, not your resume. Pick the moment the interest became yours. Show one or two things you did about it on your own. Let the school see how you think when nobody assigns the work.

• Prompt 2Required250 words max

  Where you came from

  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.

  How to approach it

  Here, specific beats important. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label. Write it as someone who was there, not as an observer. End on what you carry into a campus, not on a moral.

• Prompt 3Required150 words max

  A class you'd teach

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

• Prompt 4Required150 words max

  What brings you joy

  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.

  How to approach it

  This prompt wants the origin story and the proof, not your resume. Pick the moment the interest became yours. Show one or two things you did about it on your own. Let the school see how you think when nobody assigns the work.

These prompts are program-specific.

They apply only if you’re applying to the named program or school.

• Brown|RISDRequired650 words max

  BRDD Why Us

  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.

  How to approach it

  This is a why-us prompt. The trap is describing the school back to itself. Rankings and a pretty campus read as filler. Name two or three things you’d actually use. A program, a professor’s work, an open curriculum. Then tie each one to something you’ve already done.