Brown asks four essays of every first-year applicant: two of 150-250 words (your approach to the Open Curriculum, and an aspect of your growing up) and two of 100-150 words (a class you would teach, and something that brings you joy).
The Open Curriculum essay is Brown's version of "why us": Brown students choose their own courses, so the question is really how you would use that freedom. The other three are about you, and two of them are meant to be light.
Brown's questions at a glance
| Question | Limit | Who answers it | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your approach to the Open Curriculum | 150-250 words | Required | Why this college |
| An aspect of your growing up | 150-250 words | Required | Background and identity |
| A class you would teach | 100-150 words | Required | Intellectual curiosity |
| Something that brings you joy | 100-150 words | Required | Creative prompt |
Not covered here: PLME essays (Why medicine? Why PLME? and a third, 250 words each); Brown|RISD Dual Degree essay (650 words).
How to plan the Brown supplement
- 1Write the Open Curriculum essay first; it needs research into how Brown's courses and concentrations actually work.
- 2Use the growing-up essay for a place, family or culture story that is not your Common App essay.
- 3Let the class and joy answers sound like you on a good day. They each have a minimum of 100 words, so give them a real thought, not a one-liner.
1. Your approach to the Open Curriculum
Brown's wording · 150-250 words · Required“"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?”
What it is really asking. How you would use curiosity, creativity, humility, collaboration, openness, a wish to make the world better, resilience, or other traits of your own, to shape your path through the Open Curriculum.
How to approach it
- 1Show you understand what the Open Curriculum means: you design your own course of study.
- 2Pick one or two of the named traits (or your own) and show each with something you have done.
- 3Sketch the path you might build: subjects you would combine and why.
Mistakes to avoid
- Quoting the convocation address back without adding anything.
- Praising freedom in general instead of showing how you would use it.
Full guide: How to Write Brown's Open Curriculum Essay
2. An aspect of your growing up
Brown's wording · 150-250 words · Required“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.”
What it is really asking. How an aspect of your growing up inspired or challenged you, and the unique contributions it lets you make at Brown.
How to approach it
- 1Choose one aspect: a place, a family role, a language, a tradition.
- 2Show it in a scene, then say what it gave you.
- 3End on the contribution, as the question asks.
Mistakes to avoid
- A whole childhood summary.
- Stopping before the Brown contribution.
Full guide: How to Write Brown's "Where You Came From" Essay
3. A class you would teach
Brown's wording · 100-150 words · Required“If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be?”
What it is really asking. A class you would teach on any one thing, academic or not, in 100-150 words.
How to approach it
- 1Give the class a title and one session plan or reading.
- 2Let your enthusiasm show why you, of all people, would teach it.
Mistakes to avoid
- Picking a subject to sound serious.
More on this kind of question: Writing about a topic that captivates you
4. Something that brings you joy
Brown's wording · 100-150 words · Required“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.”
What it is really asking. Something that brings you joy, big or small, in 100-150 words.
How to approach it
- 1Choose something specific and show one moment of it.
- 2Say what the joy is made of.
Mistakes to avoid
- Joy in general ("spending time with family") with no scene.
More on this kind of question: College essay tips that apply to creative prompts
What our grader checks in your Brown answers
Every answer is judged against a checklist for its kind of question plus one check written for Brown's own wording. Each area comes back Met, Partly or Missing, and those verdicts (with the word limit) set the answer's readiness: Ready, Nearly there or Needs work. There is no score out of 100.
| Question | Brown's own check |
|---|---|
| Your approach to the Open Curriculum | Engages with the Open Curriculum itself (choosing your own path) and uses the named characteristics, or others, to describe how. |
| An aspect of your growing up | Moves from an aspect of growing up to the unique contributions it would let the applicant make at Brown. |
| A class you would teach | Names one class and gives a sense of how the applicant would teach it or why it matters to them. |
| Something that brings you joy | Something specific that brings joy, told so the reader sees why. |
The type checklists are on the supplemental essay grader page.
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