Brown University 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Brown University 2024-25 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 3 essays of 250 words; 4 short answers

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why, Community, Activity, Diversity

How to Write Compelling Brown University Supplemental Essays

Brown demands a whopping three additional essays and four short-answer responses, but fear not! CEA is here to guide you through them. All of these prompts are helping admissions learn about “your unique talents, accomplishments, energy, curiosity, perspective and identity” and how those might fit with their campus culture. With so many ways to reveal more about yourself, think about the stories and qualities you have to offer and make sure you distribute them across the supplements. Try as hard as you can not to be repetitive, and as much as you can, have fun with these. If you embrace the challenge laid out in front of you, your answers will be instilled with that positive spirit as well. Read on to discover our Brown application essay tips!

Brown University Prompt Breakdowns

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 prompt sounds simple enough: describe what you want to study and why you like it—but not so fast. First things first: the Open Curriculum, a.k.a. the requirement-less Holy Grail, coveted by many applicants. It’s not enough to say, “I want to go to Brown because of its uniquely flexible curriculum.” You need to explore exactly how this curriculum—among Brown’s many other assets—will benefit you specifically. Is it because your areas of interest are so varied? Is it because greater flexibility will help you manage a learning difference? While you might be tempted to get technical or poetic, this essay will be more personal and memorable if you can share a story. What excites you and why? When was the last time you got drawn down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and what was the topic? While you don’t need to recount the unabridged origin story of your interest, try to zero in on a formative experience: the best book you’ve ever read, the first time you spoke French to an actual French person, that one time when you used PEMDAS in the real world! Then marry the concrete details of your story with Brown’s academic offerings, and you’ll knock your response out of the park!

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 wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to their University community, so tell admissions about what makes you you and how you will be a meaningful addition to the student body. Think about times when you were challenged by or found strength in your identity, background, or skills. Maybe you were the only South Asian family in a predominantly white area and found inspiration by practicing classical Kuchipudi dance, which you intend to continue at Brown. Perhaps your aging grandparent moved in with you, and the changes to your household prompted you to take on more responsibilities, sparking a passion for leadership. What do you hope to share with others about your lived experience? How will you incorporate this element of your identity into your college experience? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community. Bonus points if you can reference a specific component of the Brown experience (think clubs, the curriculum, volunteer opportunities, etc.) to demonstrate your interest and fit.

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)

Try not to overthink your response to this question. Admissions even goes so far as to say that the focal point of your response can be big or small. So, go with your gut. Maybe, you love watching the sunset on your grandmother’s porch over a pitcher of lemonade and a game of checkers. Or, perhaps, you want to tell admissions about the look on your sister’s face everytime you agree to a custom makeover (neon eyeshadows only). If you want to write about something bigger, maybe it’s the app you’re building to help people find volunteer opportunities in their community or the scientific discovery you made last spring. Whatever it may be, be true to yourself, and you’ll ace this response.

Help us get to know you better by reflecting briefly on each of the questions below. We expect that answers will range from a few words to a few sentences at most:

What three words best describe you? (3 words)

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (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)

Short answers like these give you a chance to show something that isn’t apparent in the other parts of your application, such as different aspects of your personality, background, and interests. The key to nailing this section is brainstorming. Free your mind and spend a few minutes jotting down as many answers as you can think of for each prompt. Literally set a timer and force yourself to keep your pencil moving (or fingers typing) for the entire time. The more you go with your gut, the more likely you are to come up with a unique and truly personal answer; in the end, that’s really what admissions is looking for. Sure, many applicants play extracurricular sports, but how is your relationship to your sport unique? For the final question, consider not only the research you’ve done on Brown, but also how you’ll fit in with the unique campus culture. The point is not to waste time agonizing over what you think admissions wants to hear, but to think about who you are as a person. Trust yourself. 

Essay Questions for 2024-25 PLME (Program in Liberal Medical Education) Applicants 

Two essays are required for applicants to the PLME in addition to the three essays required of all first-year applicants: 

Committing to a future career as a physician while in high school requires careful consideration and self-reflection. Explain your personal motivation to pursue a career in medicine, and why the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) will best meet your professional and personal goals. (500 words) 

If we know anything about applying to medical programs, it is this: everyone wants to help people; everyone wants to make the world a better place; everyone wants to make a meaningful contribution. Few fields lend themselves to service-oriented clichés and platitudes as readily as medicine does, so to safely navigate the minefield of hackneyed generalizations, start with something personal! What’s one eye-opening experience that made you believe healthcare could be your calling? Perhaps it was a single moment, like watching an ambulance come to your neighbor’s house. Or maybe it was something more long-term, such as navigating your school in a wheelchair after knee surgery and realizing you want to improve patient outcomes by researching physical therapies. Whatever the case, use your personal story as the backdrop for your argument. What did you learn? What problems do you hope to tackle? What change do you hope to help create? As we said, it’s not enough to just want these things; your job is to show admissions why medicine interests you personally. Once you’ve accomplished that, be sure to address the role PLME will play in your plan for the future. In other words, why do you want to study medicine at Brown in particular? A wise applicant will do some research so they can infuse their response with specific details that demonstrate meticulousness and drive.

Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more. Please respond to one of the following prompts (250 words): 

How will you, as a future physician, make a positive impact? 

This is a great option for students with a very clear idea of how they want to contribute to medicine upon graduation. Looking back at the required essay, try to expand upon your motivations for joining the field and identify some concrete ways you hope to make a difference. Perhaps you’re concerned about mental health among young adults and plan to open an inner-city psychiatry clinic for underserved youth. Maybe you aim to pioneer new laser surgery treatments that will significantly decrease recovery times for common procedures. Because the question builds so readily on the required essay, try to avoid repeating yourself; if you can identify specific impacts you hope to have that go beyond the first essay, you’ll have a strong, persuasive response. 

How has your personal background uniquely shaped your perspective on the field of medicine?

While many schools ask what makes you you, Brown is taking it a step further: they want to know how your personality, experiences, and identity have affected your view of the medical field. So start by articulating that perspective. What are your opinions, beliefs, and impressions of medicine? Then, think about how your own background and experiences contributed to those impressions. For example, maybe watching doctors brush off your mom’s chronic pain over and over showed you that practitioners can be prejudiced, inspiring you to join the field to improve care for Black women. Perhaps you were hospitalized with Covid-19 and were amazed by the innovations in treatment and care, which inspired you to join the forefront of medical research. The goal of this prompt is to learn more about both you and your views on the medical field as a whole, so make sure your answer encompasses both.