How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essays (with Examples!) [UPDATED FOR 2024-2025]
Let’s talk about how to write the Brown supplemental essays (with examples)...
How do you write the Brown supplemental essays, Lisa? The essays prompts are all over the place, and I don’t know where to start!
The supplemental essays for Brown are out, and I’m already getting calls for how to start writing them!
It’s no surprise. Brown has been one of the most popular universities for students to apply to for years. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown is not only one of the most prestigious Ivy League universities, it’s renowned for its academic excellence in areas as diverse as math, classics, computer science and medicine.
A Little Bit About Brown University…
Brown University also known for its innovation in undergraduate education with its world-famous Open Curriculum. Eschewing traditional Core Curriculum (ahem, Columbia College) or distribution requirements, Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to to take ownership of their education by exploring academic subjects based on their individual interests and goals, free from traditional core requirements.
Brown is also known for its Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) is a distinctive eight-year combined baccalaureate-MD program that integrates undergraduate education with medical training. As the only combined BS/MD program in the Ivy League, PLME offers students the opportunity to pursue a broad liberal arts education while preparing for a medical career. The program is highly selective, admitting fewer than 90 students annually, and provides a guaranteed path to medical school upon successful completion of the undergraduate portion .
As result, Brown accepted just 5.65% of the students who applied to its class of 2029, and just 4% of the students who applied regular decision.
Now, let’s take a look at Brown’s supplemental essays. For this year (2024-2025), that Brown’s application includes three supplemental essay prompts, as well as short answer…
Brown University has three supplemental essay prompts, as well as short answer questions.
What Are the Brown University Supplemental Essay Prompts?
Here are Brown’s supplemental essay prompts for first-year applicants:
Brown’s Supplemental Essay #1: The Brown Open Curriculum Essay (“Why major?”)
Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown (200-250 words)
Brown Supplemental Essay #2: The Community Essay
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. (200-250 words)
Brown Supplemental Essay #3: The Brown “Joy” Essay
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. (200-250 words)
Brown Short Answer Questions
Brown also asks a series of short answer questions:
What three words best describe you? (3 words)
What is your most meaningful extracurricular curricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about tit? (100 words)
If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words)
In one sentence, why Brown? (50 words)
Let’s start tackling these supplemental essays!
Brown’s supplemental essay prompts ask students specific to get a better sense of what they would be like as members of the Brown University community
How to Write the Brown Supplemental Essays: a Breakdown
So where to start with these supplemental essay prompts?
Well, as all my students know, I first like to take a step back and think about what the college trying to get at with a question before trying to put together an answer.
Why?
Because Brown receives tens of thousands of applications a year, so if they’re asking these questions, there has to be a good reason they want to read a hundred thousand more essays. With each question Brown asks, there’s something specific they want to know about you, something important that’s going to help them say “yes” or “no” to your application.
College Essay Coach Pro Tip: Unlike personal statements prompts which are open to all kinds essays, supplemental essay prompts are asking you about something specific that they want to know about you. Supplemental essay prompts often ask you to tell the admissions committee something about your background, what you plan to do in college, or how you interact with people.
These are not theoretical questions. They actually want to know those specific things about you, so please don’t go off on tangents. You usually only have 150-300 words to answer the question!
Step #1 to acing any supplemental essay prompt is understanding what the admissions committee wants to know about you. Then, it’s all about answering their question!
That being said, let’s look at Brown’s specific supplemental essays…
The first Brown supplemental essay asks about your academic interests and the Brown Open Curriculum
How to Write the Brown Open Curriculum (“Why Major?”) Supplemental Essay (with an Example!)
As a reminder, here’s the first Brown supplemental essay prompt:
Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown (200-250 words)
This is Brown’s twist on a “Why this major?” type of essay. If you’re still relatively early in your college essay-writing process, you’ll probably be writing more than a few essays about your academic interests and passions of which this will be one. And if you’ve already been knee-deep in your supplemental essays, you may already have one or two that you’ll want to re-work for Brown’s prompt.
This is not a cut-and-paste job, though! Brown’s version of this essay is very specific to Brown, so you’ll want to be thoughtful as you tailor this essay about pursuing your passions to Brown, its Open Curriculum, and the flexibility they provide. It’s very clear in the essay prompt that cutting and pasting an essay you wrote for Columbia is not going to work! (FYI: The Brown Open Curriculum and the Columbia Core Curriculum are set-up COMPLETELY differently).
Let’s start taking this essay apart …
Why Is Brown Asking for this Supplemental Essay?
Well, as I’ve said, the core of this question is a pretty common and straightforward supplemental essay prompt. Brown wants to get an idea of what you’re interested in and why. You’re applying to college after all, so Brown wants to know about what you might study when you get there.
What are your interests about? What are your intellectual motivations and aspirations in this area? What are you curious about? How did your interest in this subject come about? And do you already have an idea of how you’d like to pursue it in college?
Those are all pretty standard questions to address in a standard “Why major?” supplemental essay, but Brown adds its own specific element to it.
The Brown Open Curriculum Element
As I mentioned, it’s pretty common in a “Why major?” essay to answer the question of how you’re planning to pursue your interests and passions in college. But Brown asks you to drill down on this question further.
Brown wants to know specifically about how you’re planning to pursue your interests within the context of the famous Brown Open Curriculum.
In case you have not noticed by now, the Open Curriculum is very specific to Brown, and they’re very proud of it! So, with this question, Brown really wants to know how you plan to take advantage of the Open Curriculum as you pursue your interests.
So as you think about your answer to this question, let’s take a look at what Brown’s Open Curriculum really is…
Brown’s first supplemental essay asks specifically about how you would pursue your academic interests within the Brown Open Curriculum
What Is Brown’s Open Curriculum?
The Open Curriculum is the unique academic framework of Brown University that its undergraduate education is built upon. Unlike at most colleges and universities, at Brown, the Open Curriculum allows students to design their own course of study without being bogged down by the constraints of traditional general education requirements. Instead, the Open Curriculum encourages intellectual exploration by giving students the freedom to choose classes that align with their interests and academic goals.
What does this mean for a potential Brown education? It means that instead of being required to follow a pre-determined academic framework, students are responsible for designing their own educations, guided by academic advisors. This approach fosters independence, creativity, and a deep engagement with subjects students are genuinely passionate about.
Is your passion for neuroscience and mental health? With the Open Curriculum, you could design an undergraduate education that combines biology, chemistry, psychology, medical science, the list goes on.
Maybe your academic interests are in the Classics? You could spend four years studying a combination of History, Archaeology, Ancient Languages, Greek Tragedy, Literature, etc.
Or maybe you’re all about the future of Urban Planning? Go crazy on engineering, architecture, environmental studies, geography, political science, etc.
As the essay prompt says, the idea of the Open Curriculum is to allow you both the breadth and the depth to fully explore your academic interests.
Okay, now that we’ve thoroughly gone into the Why? of this question, let’s break down how to actually answer the question…
Brown’s first supplemental essay is a very specific Brown variation of the “Why major?” essay which is so common.
Brown “Why Major?" Point #1: Your Interests (and Why)
The first question that you need to answer for this supplemental essay is all about you and your interests: What is it that gets you excited? What gets your blood pumping when you think about it? And if you were to think about what you would want to dive into if you had all the resources of Brown University available to you, what would it be?
Now, that sounds simple, but obviously, Brown doesn’t just want you to write an essay of two to three words like “Biomedical engineering” or “CompLit and Spanish.”
They want to know more, and specifically, they want to know about the Why? Of your interest. What is it about this topic that gets you excited?
This is a pretty short essay, but it’s not going to be enough to say that biology is your passion because it’s a matter of life and death. Brown wants to know something specific about your personal connection to this topic.
If you’re not sure what to write about, think about how you originally got interested in this area. For most people, it’s either that this is something you’ve always been interested in (e.g. “I’ve been bringing home sick puppies and kittens as long as I can remember. I would patch up their wounds and nurse them back to health and that’s why I want to become a veterinarian…”) or there’s a specific moment in which you knew that this was what your interest was (“… my grandfather suffered a heart attack, and as I was watching the doctors saving her life, I knew my calling in life was to become a cardiologist… “).
(Please don’t write these as an essay. They were for illustrative purposes only).
(Again, please don’t write that for your essay).
So, do think back. How did you become interested in this area? Was there a moment on a field trip to a NASA lab where you knew you wanted to study aerospace engineering? Was it because it made you wonder about what was beyond the stars?
What sparked this desire to study this particular subject? What gets you excited about this subject? And how have you continued developing your interest?
Brown “Why This Major?” Point #2: How Have You Continued Developing Your Interest?
Okay, now that you’ve established where your interest comes from and that it comes from you, how have you demonstrated that interest over time?
This could come in a variety of ways: taking college classes, doing research, shadowing professionals, interning and/or paid work, volunteering in the area, organizing a student conference, etc.
Again, Brown’s supplemental essay on this is not long, and there’s quite a bit to cover, so your description of how you’ve developed your interest is not going to be as involved as in some other essays you may be writing for other schools. Still, demonstrating how you’ve continued developing your interest with a few sentences here will go a long way to show your trajectory with this interest.
What’s important is that you can show that you can show that you’ve put in time developing the interest. It’s not something you thought sounded cool a week ago and/or you’re putting this down as your intended major because you heard it was less competitive.
Brown “Why This Major?” Point #3: Where Brown and the Open Curriculum Fit In
After establishing where your interest comes from and how you’re pursued it this far, it’s time to show where Brown and its Open Curriculum fit in.
Everyone wants to feel special, even Brown! And so, Brown wants to know specifically what it is about the Open Curriculum that makes them such a good place for you to pursue your passion and undergraduate education.
Here’s someplace to start. Complete this sentence: Brown and its Open Curriculum would be the ideal environment for me to continue my studies because…”
If you’re not sure of how to complete that sentence, the essay prompt itself does give you a clear hint when it says, “Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits.”
So this is an essay about how you are going to take advantage of the Brown Open Curriculum to pursue your interest both in depth (i.e. really diving deep into the area) and breadth (i.e. exploring connections to other areas). For example, if your passion is for something like neuroscience, you may be discussing how Brown’s concentration in neuroscience would allow you to go far in depth in the specific area of neuroscience that you are passionate while also exploring related fields.
Let’s just say that your passion is really for computational neuroscience. Maybe that means that you’re planning to deep dive into not only the neuroscience areas, but also explore Brown’s offerings in math, machine learning, and AI. Or maybe your passion is for the effects of music therapy on the brain, in which case your course of study may include not just neuroscience, but the physics of music, music theory, and behavioral psychology.
Whatever you are interested in, what is important is showing that you really understand that a Brown education is unique, you’ve thought about what it would for you to pursue your interests there, and that you are ready to take advantage of the opportunity!
Let’s take an example of the Brown “Why this major?”/Open Curriculum supplemental essay…
An Example of the Brown “Why This Major?”/Open Curriculum Supplemental Essay:
Here’s an example:
I have been passionate about history since childhood. Driving through the French countryside to visit my grandparents, I would imagine what it had been like to be on the battlefield in 1940 and, as my curiosity evolved, I started delving ever-deeper into an exploration of that war: its causes, consequences, and the figures involved. I wrote my IB Extended Essay on the internal domestic policies of Pakistan during the 1960s, and as I interviewed real-life figures from the period, I started realizing the many issues that influenced the events that had occurred: political science, public policy, diplomacy, economics, international relations and more.
Brown would be the ideal place for me to pursue my passions for international relations and the complexities of policies in the Middle East. Brown’s concentration on International and Public Affairs is exactly the kind of multidisciplinary approach that I believe is vital to understanding the Middle East. Within the Development track, I would be able to take advantage of a wide variety of classes such as “Overcoming Threats to Human Security” and “Technology and Development,” as well as resources at the Watson Institute like the Center for Middle Eastern studies.
The flexibility of Brown’s Open Curriculum would also allow me to explore new areas in classes such as “Culture and Psychology” and “Global and Transnational Sociology.” which would help me develop a real nuanced understanding of how international events unfold and contribute to my ability to one day make positive change in the world as a diplomat.
Now, let’s take a look at Brown’s second supplemental essay…
Brown’s second supplemental essay is about community…
How to Write the Brown Community Supplemental Essay (with an Example!)
As all of my students know, I’m convinced that colleges are obsessed with the concept of “community.” Supplemental essay prompts about “community,” how you think about community, communities you’ve belonged to, how will you contribute to our community… well, they’re one of the most common required essay prompts, and chances are you were asked to submit several of these kinds of supplemental essays during your college application process.
Brown has its own spin on the “Community Essay” (of course!). Here’s Brown’s “Community Essay” prompt:
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. (200-250 words)
Let’s take this apart…
Why is Brown Asking this Question? What Is this Supplemental Essay About?
I may be being slightly facetious when I say that colleges are obsessed with communities, but there really is good reason for it.
If you step back and think about it for a moment, what colleges and universities are are communities. Yes, they’re institutions, but they’re communities of students, faculty, and staff coming together under the big college community umbrella. It’s really no wonder that one of the things that colleges most want to find out about you is how you interact as a member of a community, contribute to your community, and how you think about your role in a community.
Now, let’s talk about how to answer Brown’s version of the community essay, and the 2 main points you need to hit.
Brown Community Essay Point #1: Your Background and How It’s Inspired and Challenged You
The first point that you need to hit in the Brown community essay is all about you: Tell us about where you come from, your background, and how you’ve grown from your experiences..
So sit and think about your background for a moment. And specifically, think about the cultures and communities that have influenced you. Of course, there’s the obvious: your hometown, your school, your church/religion, your neighborhood, your cultural group(s) etc. But there’s also the less obvious. Are the communities that you belong to around an activity you’ve participated in? What about places you’ve lived in and groups you’ve belonged to in the past?
And remember, the point of a community essay isn’t that your name is down on some community roll call somewhere. What Brown wants to know about here and how has your background influenced you and how do you think about a group that is greater than yourself? How do you interact with a group? And how do you play some role within it?
Be expansive as you need to be! But write some notes down about the communities you belong to, how you think about your role in them, and how you’ve contributed to them.
Now, comes the fun part!
This Brown supplemental essay asks you to envision yourself as a member of the Brown community.
Brown Community Essay Point #2: You and the Brown Community
This is where the Brown community essay turns into a “Why Brown?” essay. And I call this fun part because you get to do some research into Brown and imagine yourself there.
And as you are looking up things things that you would want to do at Brown, you get to imagine yourself interacting with that Brown community. What would you participate in? What are the groups that you would want to be a part of? And what would it be like for Brown to have you there?
As I said, this will be a bit of legwork, but it should also be fun!
Putting together the Brown Community Essay
Now, as you have your note for both of these points, take a look at them side by side. How do you they connect? Are any of them related? Where is there an overlap or relationship that can pull an essay together?
This is a case where I think an example of an essay will really help!
Here’s one example of the Brown community essay…
An Example of the Brown Community Essay
Moving from Singapore to NYC was a culture shock. Singapore is clean, famously so, with a lack of trash anywhere public, so NYC “trash” day was eye-opening to say the least.
I’ve since embraced all the messily beautiful aspects of my new hometown, but living in Singapore instilled in me an unwavering sense that we have a responsibility to maintaining where we live for each other.
For me, that has meant making a commitment to the environment that we all live in. Since middle school, I have volunteered with the Long Island Conservancy in its clean-up projects and now lead the children’s conservancy hikes. At my high school, I have led our Climate Action initiatives and organized a city conference on environmental issues.
At Brown, I would plan to become an active member of Brown environmental and community groups, like the Food Recovery Network and the Outdoor Leadership and Environment Education Program (OLEEP) to help nurture the kind of collaborative, supportive community I remember growing up with. Through OLEEP, I hope to instill a sense of environmental responsibility in younger leaders, and through the Food Recovery Network I would contribute to the food sustainability to the greater Providence community.
I also hope to participate in many late-night dorm discussions about the climate, our future, and other things because I think having conversations with classmates of many perspectives is the lifeblood of university life and community.
Now, let’s talk about the third Brown supplemental essay…
Brown’s third supplemental essay asks you to reflect on what brings you joy…
How to Write the Brown “Joy” Essay (Brown Supplemental Essay #3):
Okay, by now, Brown’s third supplemental essay is on a different track, it’s one that is often not that obvious to students. Let’s take a look at this supplemental essay prompt:
The Brown “Joy” Supplemental Essay Prompt
The first thing I always ask students who may be stuck on an essay to do is to read the essay prompt out loud. So take a close read through the Brown “Joy” essay prompt:
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. (200-250 words)
Hmmm… Brown gives you a lot to chew on here. Let’s talk about…
Why is Brown Asking About What “Brings You Joy”?
As my students know, one of the first things I ask with supplemental essays, is “Why do you think the school (in this case, Brown) is asking you this question?
And I ask that because in getting to the heart of what Brown wants to know about you, we’ll know the direction to take your answer. Here, with Brown’s prompt, they don’t just ask “What brings you joy?”. What are the words that jump out at you from this essay prompt?
Think about it, but I’m going to guess that you’re noting words and phrases like “contentment, satisfaction and meaning” and “daily interactions and major discoveries.”
The big giveaway here, though, is the first sentence in this prompt: “Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them.” What should that say to you?
It’s a dead giveaway about what Brown is looking for! Brown wants to hear about how you are a student who “cares deeply” about your work and the world around you. But not only that, they want to know how you find things like “contentment, satisfaction, and meaning” in these “daily interactions and major discoveries.”
In short, they want to know about how your work and the world around you brings you joy.
What does that mean in terms of this essay, though?
Like a lot of essays, Brown’s “Joy” essay is as much about why something brings you joy as the “What.”
Point #1 of the Brown “Joy” Essay: What’s the “Why?”
This is one of those essays like the USC-Dornsife essay where the “What” doesn’t matter nearly as much as the “Why?”. Your joy can come from any number of things, and Brown is very clear that you can write about the joy you find in something “big or small, mundane or spectacular”.
The important thing, though, is that you can explain why you find joy in this. What is it about that DNA discovery in the lab or stroking your cat on a Sunday morning? Is a highlight of your week playing chess with your grandmother or is it pumping up your swim team before a meet?
And in explaining the why of your joy, what are the values that you are communicating about yourself? If you find joy in teaching robotics to younger kids, is it because of educating others? Helping students from different backgrounds connect? Is it from the joy of science?
Any of these could be the base topic of an essay, but it needs to be something authentic to you, something you truly derive joy from. The more specific you can be about how you feel that joy and where it comes from, the better your essay will be!
Point #2 of the Brown “Joy” Essay: What’s the Meaning?
The second point that you need to hit with this essay is how it links up to something meaningful for you. Remember! The beginning of this prompt is about how Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them, so take the opportunity to show how you are someone who could be a caring part of the Brown community!
How does this come together?
Here’s an excellent example of a student essay which answers Brown’s “Joy” supplemental essay prompt…
An Example of the Brown What “Brings You Joy” Essay
The Brown “Joy” essay is relatively new, but this is an example of an excellent student essay that was written for a similar prompt:
Think about a song. Maybe Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen comes to mind, or something timeless like Chopin’s Winter Wind Étude—a personal favorite of mine. Inspired by the different music around me, I developed a fascination for composing my own melodies. Crafting a tune that lingers in the listener’s mind or creating a chord progression that builds tension and releases it like a held breath feels almost magical. This passion led me to explore the deeper ways music expresses emotions beyond words. With a small touch or tinker of melody, I’ve discovered how syncopations, key shifts, and harmonies can evoke joy, sorrow, or nostalgia.
My love for composition extends beyond the notes; it’s a fusion of creativity, math, and science. I’m fascinated by the overlap between music theory and structure—the symmetry and patterns in chords, the harmonic series, and even mathematical concepts like the Fibonacci sequence. Mozart’s use of the Golden Ratio and Bach’s fractal structures inspire me to seek balance between technical precision and emotional resonance in my own work. Composing feels like solving a puzzle, where each choice blends my analytical mind with my creative instincts.
My compositions are more than personal—they’re a gift to my community. For my school’s drama production, I composed an original score, tailoring motifs to mirror characters' emotions and plot. Watching actors move to my music and seeing the audience absorbed in the atmosphere showed how music connects people. Similarly, I’ve arranged jazz pieces for gigs and local events. One standout moment was arranging “I’ll Remember April” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” Adding harmonies energized the room and reinforced how music creates shared joy. These moments show me that music isn’t just sound—it’s a language that unites, uplifts, and deepens understanding.
How to Write the Brown Short Answer Questions
To come…
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