Brown University Essay Guide

 Introduction

Hello! My name is Kevin Carter and I’m going into my sophomore year at Brown where I’m exploring the Open Curriculum but primarily studying Environmental Studies.  I enjoy playing basketball, vibing to music, and reading and writing fiction. My high school GPA was 4.72, and in the midst of the pandemic I opted out of submitting ACT/SAT scores. I was matched through Questbridge with a full-ride to Brown, a binding accomplishment that I couldn’t turn down! 

English at Brown

Located at the summit of Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University is an Ivy League research institution with world renowned faculty and a robust undergraduate program characterized by its signature Open Curriculum. Founded in 1764, Brown’s campus contains an abundance of history shared with the city of Providence, which offers an exuberant hub of culture, diversity, art, and food. Over time, the Brown experience has developed into something unique, as the college has cultivated a revolutionary approach to education, one that gives the student autonomy over classes, leaving them exempt from general core requirements and GPA and offering them the option of pass-fail. All of this is part of the effort to prioritize learning and encourage academic exploration and innovation at Brown, where the student gets to customize their education. 

I applied for English, and gradually gravitated to other concentrations; however, I have taken a few English-related courses and I have a couple of friends majoring in English. Based on this, I know that English offers a variety of courses based upon conventional and unconventional concepts, different authors and their writing, literature from different time periods, and skill/professional based classes for editing, journalism, and other related things. There seem to be plenty of small classes, (especially for freshmen) and class size rarely exceeds fifty in English courses. Virtually every creative writing class is mandatory S/NC (pass-fail), taking pressure off of grades and encouraging students to be adventurous in the classes they choose. Unfortunately, popular and high-level creative writing courses are very hard to get into, but there are many of them and plenty of time for students to get their chance. Overall, the English community is creative, passionate, and synergetic. The english concentration track consists of 10 courses/credits made up of five core requirements (which is shared with the Nonfiction track) and five electives. 

Typical Student Profile

In 2021, 51% of admitted undergraduate students were women and 49% men, 23% were from historically underrepresented groups, 55% identified as a POC, 17% were first generation college students, 11% were international, 58% from public schools, 31% from private schools, and 11% from parochial schools. 44% of admitted undergraduates received need based financial aid.

Students were admitted from all fifty U.S. states, the top being California, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas. The top 10 intended concentrations were Computer Science, Economics, Biology, Political Science, Engineering, International and Public Affairs, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Health and Human Biology, Neuroscience, and Biomedical Engineering.

There were 50,649 applicants from the class of 2026 and 2,557 admitted, rounding up to a 5% acceptance rate. 895, or 35% of those admitted, applied via early decision. 95% of students admitted were in the top 10% of their class. The middle 50% of admitted students scored between 1500 and 1570 on the Math and Evidence Based Reading and Writing portions of the SAT and between 33 and 36 on the ACT. The average GPA of admitted students is 3.94 on the 4.0 scale. Brown’s yield rate, or the percentage of admitted students that enroll, is 62%. Its retention rate, or percentage of first years returning as sophomores, is 98%. Graduation rate is 96%, and for the class of 2018 seniors, overall satisfaction was rated at 92%.

Application Overview

I applied to Brown through the Questbridge National College Match Program. To apply for the Questbridge scholarship, one must fill out a profile consisting of personal, demographic, household, financial, educational, extracurricular, academic, and career related information. Additionally, there are two 200 word-limit and seven 35 word-limit short answer questions, and two essays. The only thing specific about Brown were the supplemental essays, copied below.

1. Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it. 
2. At Brown, you will learn as much from your peers outside the classroom as in academic spaces. How will you contribute to the Brown community?
3. Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective? (250 words)
4. Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.

When applying I chose the following prompts: 

1. “Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it,”
2. “At Brown, you will learn as much from your peers outside the classroom as in academic spaces. How will you contribute to the Brown community?” 
3. “Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective?” 

• I chose the first because I knew it was a good prompt to respond to considering it gave me a chance to talk about the Open Curriculum, the trademark of the school that everything regarding academics seemed to revolve around. If I could articulate my academic passions and how I intended to utilize the Open Curriculum to invest in these passions, then I would be able to present a firm case for being a worthy candidate of acceptance to the University. After all, connecting to the school and their mission/culture is important, and I genuinely felt compelled by the Open Curriculum so choosing this to respond to was a no brainer. 
  
  
• I chose the second prompt because I knew that this was a part of the challenge of illustrating to myself of how Brown would be a good fit for me and to Brown of how I would be a good fit for them. Although this was a little more difficult than the first, it was a crucial exercise for me to overcome the Ivy League intimidation factor and proclaim that I’m qualified to attend the University and that I possess qualities that would be beneficial to the institution. The biggest thing here is confidence, but also authenticity: knowing exactly who you are and how this could contribute to the community. 
  
  
• I chose the last prompt because it was similar to a prompt I had previously answered, so I simply had to modify it a little, but it was already a good response that I felt confident in. It also gave them some insight on who I was, so that they could learn about me on a personal level. 

Questbridge Essay Prompt

Prompt: Tell us about a concept, theory, or topic you have explored simply because it sparked your intellectual curiosity. Why do you find it intriguing? How do you want to explore it further?

• My Essay: Climate change is a topic introduced to me my freshman year in biology class that, despite my previous awareness of it, sparked my interest. I realized the urgency of this issue because it was something that transcended beyond the classrooms of my science class. I eventually began to notice it become more prevalent in the media, especially when I read an article on a website about the global effects of climate change. 
• What made this familiar topic intriguing to me was the fact that it was so exigent and catastrophic, and yet it was seldom taken seriously by politicians and didn’t receive the representation and publicity it deserved as an issue of its magnitude. If climate change is such a global threat, why doesn’t it seem like a priority to mitigate it in America? If anything, our country retrogressed in climate change policy, especially with executive actions made by our president. On June 1st, 2017, Trump declared the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement which was designed to unify big, C02 emitting countries under the initiative of finding ways to decrease carbon emissions in order to decelerate the pace of global warming so that the global temperature doesn;t reach an addition 1.5℃ before the turn of the century, as this result would be disastrous. Since this problem’s urgency conflicted with not only the U.S. but several countries’ lack of a response, I decided to do some independent research to increase my knowledge on the topic.
• I was blessed with the opportunity to work with a nonprofit youth organization called UCAN (Urban Climate Action Network), which consists of numerous local youth groups throughout the nation that work to develop an action plan to tackle climate change within our communities. We met to exchange ideas and learn more about climate change at a summit at the organization's headquarters in Baltimore for the summers of 2018 and 2019. This was an outstanding experience for me, and it expanded both my knowledge and curiosity for climate change while giving me a chance to work with brilliant individuals and begin to make a difference ourselves. Some of the things we conducted locally were plastic bag drives and greenhouse volunteerism, and in Baltimore we visited green spaces, held organized trash pick-ups,  and received lectures from climate change professionals dedicated to the issue. Even after all this I still believe that I can explore and contribute to the cause even further by staying engaged, and with all the chaos going  on this year it’s essential to continue to read and watch about climate change and it’s status in the world so that I can also disseminate this information, raising awareness so that this relatively underrepresented issue can be acknowledged by my peers, the upcoming generation who will play a big part in determining the conditions of the future
• Why It Worked: At the simplest level, this essay worked because I answered the questions asked–what is a topic I explored, why it intrigued me, and how I’d like to explore it further. I answered these questions well because my writing was genuine, and you can tell through the tone of urgency, concern, and curiosity as well as the examples that I incorporated. When I introduced the topic, I immediately bridged into a tone of urgency by transitioning into why it piqued my interest, noting it as something that was not only applicable outside the classroom but exigent in the world. This connection allowed me to kill two birds with one stone, because it showed that I chose a good topic with it being extremely relevant in today’s society, and it foreshadowed the fact that my interest was fueled by a desire to create change, (a motive only possible for a “good topic”). When I began to delve into some of the politics related to the issue, it became evident that my interest wasn’t shallow, and I actually had done some ‘exploration’ regarding the topic. This made my response more compelling, and sold the narrative that I actually cared about the topic. This narrative gets even more compelling when I elaborate upon the actual work I did in the field of climate change with UCAN.  Credibility is established on my part as someone who actually has some experience, and for me to commit myself to the topic beyond just doing research but actually participating in group projects and community service showed that my interest was strong enough for me to want to explore it further. And of course, I confirmed this by stating what I planned to do for further exploration with a tone that conveyed my dedication. 

Brown Supplemental Essays

Prompt 1: Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it. 

• My Essay: English excites me because I am an avid reader and a passionate writer.  With the Open Curriculum, I plan to explore more options and navigate the courses available to me, especially those in which I have yet to learn in school, like psychology and anthropology. At Brown, I know I will experience a sense of autonomy through the open curriculum. Unlike other colleges and universities, Brown’s curriculum will genuinely push me to explore my interests other than a single concentration by allowing me to enroll in classes that deal with English, epidemiology, computer science, sociology, or any other interests that may have direct or indirect resonances with my primary concentration. I admire this system because it will allow me to take charge of my own education in a manner that is academically enriching and intellectually liberating.

• Why It Worked: I conveyed a genuine excitement to learn new things in a way that could only be accomplished through Brown’s Open Curriculum, and with the things that I mentioned being diverging and widespread throughout the academic spectrum,  it is evident that what I anticipated most about the Open Curriculum was the freedom to explore. Because I connected with a specific aspect of the Open Curriculum I somewhat compensated for not being specific and deliberate about how the classes I planned on taking would resonate with me or be complementary to my major. As an undecided student at the time, I didn’t necessarily have a plan, and that’s okay because I still had passion, which I showed in this response. Brown encourages students to “take advantage of the Open Curriculum” and be bold and experimental when it comes to taking classes, and I think this was portrayed in my essay and is the reason why it worked. 

Prompt 2: At Brown, you will learn as much from your peers outside the classroom as in academic spaces. How will you contribute to the Brown community?

• My Essay: I hope to contribute a sense of curiosity within Brown’s campus. Although I have not had the opportunity to visit the campus, I have researched the opinions of current Brown students along with alumni and have come to find that, although Brown is making strides to improve cultural diversity, a lot of students are highly like-minded. I believe it is imperative to have not only cultural diversity but also ideological differences. Because of this belief, I know I will be able to present Brown with a fresh and inviting sense of curiosity through unique ideas. At Brown, I will participate in clubs and student organizations bringing my own unique perspectives to the classroom, service projects, basketball courts, and most of all, into intellectual discourse. I will be friendly and supportive, and use my methodical way of thinking to solve complex problems and come up with unique ideas. Finally, I will bring people together with my leadership and teamwork when tasked with group work as well as a listener when that is needed as well.

• Why It Worked: For one, I was direct in naming the qualities I will bring to campus and by doing so I gave the response some personality, so that Kevin Carter was seen as a person and not just the name above a response. I also showed that I did my research on the school, and this conveys that I was genuinely interested in the social, cultural, and intellectual dynamics on campus, not just applying because of the name. If someone is concerned about these things, they are more likely to be the type of person to contribute to them, so this worked persuasively in my favor. Lastly, by describing the spaces that I could see myself impacting, I shared a vision that made my pitch even more convincing by illustrating and applying the methods to real life places and scenarios. 

Essay Prompt 3: Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective? (250 words)

• My Essay: One community that has contributed to my identity is my church. I attend a multi-cultural church, consisting of a congregation diverse in race, age, and economic status. My church actively facilitates community and global projects so that our love and commitment is felt by the world. A few years ago I joined the church in a youth-ministry trip to feed my starving children to help package food for poor families across the world, and the church has stood with me in my own community work by donating to my plastic bag drive for my urban climate action network youth initiative project. But what stands out most out of all of my experiences in the church was the peaceful protest held in response to the brutal killing of George Floyd this summer. Seeing a crowd of blacks, whites, and Latinos marching for social justice left me in awe. People came out of their houses to cheer us on and witness us march to worship and prayer. The most impactful moment was the demonstration, during which we got on our knees for the same eight-minute, forty-six-second duration that the officer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck. Although this was a very painful and vulnerable moment, there was comfort and security in the unity of the church. This experience changed my perspective towards protesting, and the work of the church in the community has strengthened my faith in God and inspired me to be a better person and believer.

• Why It Worked: Examples and anecdotes are always good when they can be used to portray a response to a question, so the few examples I used were key. Not only do they show that the response is authentic, but they help to uncover my identity. The first two examples portray the mutualistic relationship I have with my church (I contribute membership, it gives community) within the context of community service, which is something that always helps to mention. The main example though was great because it addressed a very recent and drastic national topic, and it evokes some of the same raw emotions I experienced myself during the moment, which were testimonial for my response of how this community changed my perspective. 

Written by Kevin Carter, PathIvy Brown University Ambassador