Brown supplemental essays 2026-27
Every Brown supplemental prompt for this cycle, quoted with its limit and who has to answer it, then what to write and in what order. Checked against Brown’s own page on November 5, 2026.
The Brown supplement at a glance
- Prompts listed
- 8
- Words to write
- 800 words
- Admitted posters
- GPA 3.94 to 4.00
SAT 1,510 to 1,570
The GPA and SAT are the middle half of what admitted applicants posted publicly, not a requirement. The full tables, activities and majors are on how to get into Brown.
What changed this year
Brown names these as this cycle's essays and states no change. The Open Curriculum prompt now quotes the president's latest convocation address, and the page disagrees with itself about whether three or four essays are required for everyone.
The Brown prompts, quoted
Every applicant (800 words)
“"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." From President Christina Paxson's 2025 Convocation Address. How will you use these characteristics or others to shape your approach to the Open Curriculum?”
Limit: 150-250 words · Who: All first-year and transfer applicants · Required for this group
Readers check this answer against your transcript and activities, so it has to match them. Name the specific question, course or project that pulls you, show where the interest started, and point to what you would use at Brown by its real name.
“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.”
Limit: 150-250 words · Who: All first-year and transfer applicants · Required for this group
Pick one part of your background and one moment where it mattered, then show what it changed in how you act now. A survey of your whole life in 250 words reads as a list, and readers have the rest of the file for that.
“If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be?”
Limit: 100-150 words · Who: All first-year and transfer applicants · Required for this group
This is the kind of question readers look forward to, because it is where a file starts to sound like a person. Answer it literally and specifically: a real, slightly odd detail does more than a profound one, and 150 words is enough for one image followed all the way through.
“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.”
Limit: 100-150 words · Who: All first-year and transfer applicants · Required for this group
Added for PLME (750 words)
“Why medicine?”
Limit: 250 words · Who: Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) applicants · Required for this group
“Why PLME?”
Limit: 250 words · Who: PLME applicants · Required for this group
Program readers work from a small pile and know their program in detail. Show that you have already done the kind of work it is built around, name the parts of it you would use, and say what you would do in it that the regular path at Brown would not let you do.
“Tell us something about yourself, beyond your interest in medicine, that you think will make you a great doctor.”
Limit: 250 words · Who: PLME applicants · Required for this group
Answer the question as asked, with one concrete example rather than several thin ones, inside 250 words.
Added for Brown | RISD Dual Degree (650 words)
“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. Considering your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD, describe how and why the specific blend of RISD's experimental, immersive art and design program and Brown's wide-ranging courses and curricula could constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. Reflect on how you might integrate or synthesize content, approaches, and methods from these two distinct learning experiences. Additionally, how might you contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work?”
Limit: 650 words · Who: Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program applicants · Required for this group
How many words the Brown supplement takes
800 words for every applicant, counting each choice once at its limit. Programs and honors colleges add their own: PLME, 750 words; Brown | RISD Dual Degree, 650 words.
A plan for writing the Brown set
The Open Curriculum essay is Brown's real test: with no core to lean on, readers want to see that you would build a course of study yourself. Name the questions you would chase and the kinds of classes you would put together, and borrow one or two of the quoted traits only if your record shows them. The growing-up essay should be about one place or habit, not a biography. The class you would teach and the thing that brings you joy are short, and the best answers are small and exact; save the big themes for the longer two.
Brown on AI and your essays
Brown does not allow AI with application content under any circumstances, except for spelling and grammar review like any basic proofreading tool. Every essay and short answer must be your own work. Read Brown’s statement.
How Brown reads a file
Brown supplement questions
- What are the Brown supplemental essays for 2026-27?
- Brown lists 8 supplemental prompts for 2026-27, all of them quoted in full on this page from Brown's own admissions page as it read on November 5, 2026. Which ones you answer depends on the school or program you apply to and the choices you make; each prompt on the page says who answers it.
- How many words are the Brown supplements?
- 800 words for every applicant, counting each choose-one group once at its limit. Program and optional prompts are listed separately.
- What changed in the Brown supplement this year?
- Brown names these as this cycle's essays and states no change. The Open Curriculum prompt now quotes the president's latest convocation address, and the page disagrees with itself about whether three or four essays are required for everyone.
- Does Brown allow AI on application essays?
- Brown does not allow AI with application content under any circumstances, except for spelling and grammar review like any basic proofreading tool. Every essay and short answer must be your own work.
Writing the Brown supplement?
A Specialist who went through a school like Brown can read your drafts against these prompts and tell you which answers sound like you and which could belong to anyone.
Checked against Brown’s own admissions page on November 5, 2026. Prompts are quoted word for word, with the college’s dashes set in our house style. Prompts can change during a cycle; confirm the wording in your application before you submit. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with Brown. Every college’s supplement