Brandeis University

Private · Selective · MA

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads3,618

Student:faculty10:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate77.1%

6-yr grad rate86%

Drop-out rate13%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$68k

Out-of-state tuition$68k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity58.6%

Gender diversity57.1%

International19.3%

Identity—

Overview

Brandeis is a private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, a short commute from Boston, founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community as a nonsectarian institution open to students of every faith and background. Named for Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, it combines liberal-arts-college scale and attentiveness with the research infrastructure of a full university, and its founding identity around inclusion, academic freedom, and social justice still visibly shapes campus culture and debate today.

Academics

Sciences are a longstanding strength — biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, and chemistry all benefit from genuine undergraduate research access, including labs that take on first- and second-year students. The university's Judaic and Near Eastern studies program is among the strongest of any non-religiously-affiliated school, a direct extension of its founding mission. Social sciences, especially sociology, politics, and international and global studies, carry a visible social-justice throughline into course content and student activism. Class sizes stay small relative to peer research universities, discussion sections are the norm even in larger courses, and faculty have a reputation for being genuinely reachable outside office hours rather than distant.

Campus & student life

The campus sits on a hilly, self-contained expanse in suburban Waltham, with a shuttle and commuter rail connecting students to Boston and Cambridge for internships, concerts, and weekend life. Residential life is largely on-campus even in later years, which keeps the community close-knit. Student life leans intellectually earnest and political rather than built around big-time athletics — club and cultural organizations, a cappella groups, and identity-based clubs are unusually active for a school this size. Jewish life and interfaith programming are visible and well-resourced parts of campus culture, though attendance carries no religious expectation, consistent with the university's nonsectarian founding.

Getting in

Applications are read holistically, with real weight given to essays and demonstrated intellectual curiosity rather than a formulaic numbers-first process. Brandeis has historically drawn students who arrive with strong records in specific academic passions — a research project, a language, a policy interest — over generalists checking every box. It has also long been a strong landing spot for students who want interdisciplinary or values-driven study without sacrificing research-university resources, and its size keeps the admissions committee more able to read for fit than the largest universities can.

After graduation

Brandeis sends a strong share of graduates into biomedical and life-sciences research, medicine, law, and graduate school generally — its pre-health advising and lab-access culture feed a real PhD and MD pipeline. The alumni network is smaller and less corporate-recruiting-driven than a big state flagship's, but it is tightly connected in academia, medicine, nonprofit and public-service work, and Jewish communal and cultural organizations nationally.

Worth knowing

The Justice Brandeis Semester and similar intensive, immersive study options let students dive into one applied project full-time rather than juggling a normal course load — a distinctive option for students who work well in that format. The undergraduate international-business-school pathway and the university's Judaic studies depth are both worth knowing about for students with those specific interests, since few schools this size offer either at comparable depth.

brandeis.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate40.5%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1390–1520 · ACT 31–34

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early decisionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 2

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App.