Brown University

Private · Elite · RI

Photo: P. Hughes (CC BY 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationRI · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads7,226

Student:faculty6:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate77.1%

6-yr grad rate95.7%

Drop-out rate1.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$71k

Out-of-state tuition$71k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity67.1%

Gender diversity50%

International12.7%

Identity—

Overview

Brown is an Ivy League research university on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, best known for its Open Curriculum, adopted in 1969, which has no general-education requirements at all and lets students design their entire course of study around their own interests. That freedom shapes a collaborative, intellectually adventurous culture that is central to Brown's identity, reinforced by a five-year dual-degree partnership with the neighboring Rhode Island School of Design for students who want to combine a Brown concentration with serious studio art training.

Academics

With no distribution requirements, students build individualized paths through the curriculum — called concentrations rather than majors, including student-designed independent concentrations for those whose interests don't fit an existing one — often combining fields in ways a more structured core would discourage, and can take a genuine number of classes pass/fail specifically to encourage exploration outside their comfort zone. A shopping period at the start of each term lets students sit in on courses before committing. Strengths run across the humanities, sciences, and applied math, and the combined Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) lets a small number of students commit to Brown's medical school as entering first-years, skipping the traditional pre-med application scramble.

Campus & student life

The historic campus sits atop a walkable, residential East Side neighborhood of Providence, with a strong sense of place and community that comes from students living close together on College Hill for four years, including the Pembroke campus — once a separate women's college, now fully integrated into Brown's housing. Student culture is generally understood as unusually collaborative rather than competitive, a natural extension of the Open Curriculum's ethos, and traditions like the Van Wickle Gates opening for incoming first-years each fall and closing again at commencement mark the passage through Brown symbolically.

Getting in

Brown's admissions process is holistic and highly selective, and because the Open Curriculum requires real self-direction, essays and recommendations that show intellectual independence and clear personal interests tend to matter more than a conventionally well-rounded profile. The university has been candid that it looks for students who will actually use the curricular freedom well, not simply students who want fewer requirements.

After graduation

Graduates spread across an unusually wide range of fields given the open curriculum's encouragement of individualized paths, with strong representation in medicine (aided by PLME), law, the arts, and academia. The alumni network is close and known for a collaborative, non-hierarchical character consistent with the undergraduate culture, and Brown graduates are notably common in creative and nonprofit fields relative to some Ivy peers.

Worth knowing

The Open Curriculum is a genuine, distinctive commitment — there are no required general-education courses at all — which suits self-directed students far better than those who want a structured core to follow. The RISD dual-degree option is a real, if demanding, path for students who want rigorous studio art training alongside a traditional liberal-arts concentration, though it typically takes an extra year to complete both degrees.

brown.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate5.4%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1510–1580 · ACT 34–35

Test policyoptional

Rec letters3

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early decisionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 5

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App or QuestBridge.

Brown's Early Decision is binding — if you're admitted, you commit to enrolling and withdrawing every other application.

Interviews: Brown doesn't require an interview. You can optionally submit a 90-second video introduction — encouraged but not mandatory — to share more about yourself in your own words; Brown's admissions site doesn't state whether traditional alumni interviews are separately offered this cycle.

Supplemental essays (4)

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?
250 words · Required · 150-250 words
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 · Required · 150-250 words
If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be?
150 words · Required · 100-150 words
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.