For students applying to Brown
Brown Supplemental Essays for 2026–27
Brown now asks for four essays of 100 to 250 words. Paste your notes or résumé and get all four drafted from your stories.
Free to start. No card needed.
Brown supplement · example
- Something that brings you joy · openingIn January, Lake Superior's ice sings. It pings and whoops like a whale calling from under the harbor, and I have forty-three recordings of it on my phone.
- Teach a class on any one thing · openingCourse title: Four Seconds of Dead Air. Lesson one: the CD will skip. Lesson two: keep a list of thirty things to say before it does.
- Where you grew up · openingAt my family's bait shop on the Duluth harbor, nobody buys minnows without telling you a fish story first. [The story you have heard most often]
What you'll get
All four Brown essays drafted from four different stories
- All four required Brown essays, each inside its 100–150 or 150–250 word range
- An Open Curriculum essay showing how your own habits of mind would shape your courses
- PLME or Brown | RISD essays too, if you are applying to either program
Brown's 2026–27 prompts
Every Brown essay prompt
All first-year and transfer applicants write the first four essays. PLME and Brown | RISD Dual Degree applicants add their program essays. The wording is copied from Brown's how to apply page, which labels it for the 2026-2027 application cycle.
| Essay | Exact wording | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Open Curriculum | "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? | 150 to 250 words |
| Where you grew up | 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. | 150 to 250 words |
| Teach a class | If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? | 100 to 150 words |
| Something that brings you joy | 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. | 100 to 150 words |
| PLME essay 1 | Why medicine? | 250 words |
| PLME essay 2 | Why PLME? | 250 words |
| PLME essay 3 | Tell us something about yourself, beyond your interest in medicine, that you think will make you a great doctor. | 250 words |
| Brown | RISD Dual Degree | The Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program draws on the complementary strengths of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to provide students with the opportunity to explore and engage with diverse spheres of academic and creative inquiry. Considering your understanding of the academic programs at Brown and RISD, describe how and why the specific blend of RISD's experimental, immersive art and design program and Brown's wide-ranging courses and curricula could constitute an optimal undergraduate education for you. Reflect on how you might integrate or synthesize content, approaches, and methods from these two distinct learning experiences. Additionally, how might you contribute to the Dual Degree community and its commitment to interdisciplinary work? | 650 word limit |
Compared with Brown's 2025–26 page, the Open Curriculum prompt is new, the three-word and one-sentence "Why Brown?" answers are gone, and PLME now asks three 250-word essays. Checked October 6, 2026.
Before and after
Your notes in. Four Brown essays out.
Duluth, MN. Volunteer DJ at our community radio station 2 years: Saturday 6 a.m. weather and a folk show. CD skipped once, 4 seconds of dead air, so now I keep a list of 30 things to say. Lake ice sings in January, like whales. 43 recordings on my phone, made at the harbor on the coldest mornings. First time I thought the lake was breaking. I play the best ones on my show and people call in asking what it was. Love explaining it. Best part is the quiet right before the first ping. Family bait shop on the harbor: nobody buys minnows without telling a fish story. Want environmental science, maybe music.
Something that brings you joy (101 words) In January, Lake Superior's ice sings. It pings and whoops like a whale calling from under the harbor, and I have forty-three recordings of it on my phone. The first time I heard it, I thought the lake was breaking. Now I go down to the harbor on the coldest mornings just to listen, phone up, waiting. I play the best recordings on my Saturday radio show, and people call in to ask what they just heard. Explaining it to them is the second-best part. The best part is the second before the first ping, when the whole harbor goes quiet. Teach a class on any one thing (opening) Course title: Four Seconds of Dead Air. Lesson one: the CD will skip. Lesson two: keep a list of thirty things to say before it does. [What lesson three would be]
Every detail comes from the notes, and the joy essay sits inside Brown's 100 to 150 words. The bracket is the student's to fill.
Real examples
Brown essays from admitted students
CollegeAdvisor says every essay on this page was written by a student admitted to Brown. They answer older prompts, including a 150-word Open Curriculum question that Brown has since replaced, so read them for specificity and voice rather than as templates.
Five Brown supplement answers, with an admissions officer's notes
Several admitted students · earlier cycles · CollegeAdvisor
The best one starts from the view most readers hold, that math is just arithmetic, then overturns it with one scene at a kitchen table and ends on a precise pairing of math and philosophy. Each answer has a short note from a former admissions officer.
Read the Brown answers at CollegeAdvisor
Link checked October 6, 2026. We found no applicant essays published by Brown itself.
Why it works
What are Brown's supplemental essays for 2026–27?
Brown asks every first-year applicant for four essays in 2026–27. Two run 150 to 250 words: how you would use qualities like curiosity, creativity and resilience in the Open Curriculum, and how your growing up shapes what you would add to Brown. Two run 100 to 150 words: a class you would teach, and something that brings you joy. PLME and Brown | RISD applicants write extra essays. Every prompt is listed above, word for word, from Brown's how to apply page.
River's Brown essay writer drafts all four from what you paste and gives each one a different story. The Open Curriculum essay starts from how you already learn, then shows what you would do with a curriculum that has no core requirements. The joy and teach-a-class essays stay small and specific, since that is where Brown meets the rest of you. Every essay lands inside its word range with an exact count, and gaps become brackets for you to fill.
Brown's first-year page lists November 1 for binding Early Decision and January 5 for Regular Decision. Early Decision applicants hear by mid-December and Regular Decision applicants by early April. Brown also requires the SAT or ACT again, starting with the 2024–25 cycle. Your essays stay in your River workspace with every other application. Applying to Cornell too? The Cornell supplement page finds your college's prompts. For a whole college list, the supplemental essay writer plans every prompt together, and the college essay grader scores each draft.
What lands in your doc
What's in your Brown essays
- Four essays inside Brown's ranges, with exact word counts against both the floor and ceiling
- An Open Curriculum essay that proves one or two named qualities with a real moment
- A growing-up essay linking one concrete part of home to what you would bring
- Short teach-a-class and joy essays built on small, specific details from your notes
- PLME or Brown | RISD essays added on request, each written from different material
- A story map showing nothing repeats, plus brackets and Brown's Early Decision date
How it works
From your notes to four Brown essays
Add your stories
Paste notes about home, school, small joys and odd skills, or drop in a résumé or essay.
Choose the essays
Write all four, one essay at a time, or add the PLME or Brown | RISD essays.
Check your drafts
Every essay arrives inside its range, with a word count and a bracket for each missing detail.
Make them yours
Fill the brackets, swap any story you would rather tell, then grade the set before submitting.
How to write Brown's four essays yourself
Start by assigning stories, because four essays read side by side will expose any repeat. Write down where you grew up, one way you like to learn, one thing you could teach, and one small daily joy. Check each against your personal essay and activities list. If a story already appears there, find another. Brown's two short essays are the easiest place to show the parts of you that never make it onto a résumé.
For the Open Curriculum essay, pick one or two of the qualities Brown names, such as curiosity or resilience, and prove them with a moment rather than claiming them. Then say what you would actually do with that quality when no core requirements tell you what to take. Name a question you would chase across departments. The growing-up essay works the same way: one concrete part of home, how it pushed or limited you, and what it lets you bring.
Keep the short pair short in spirit as well as in length. A class you would teach can be about anything, so a specific title and a first lesson beat a broad subject. The joy essay rewards something ordinary, described closely enough that a reader can hear or taste it. Finally, check every range, since Brown sets a floor as well as a ceiling. Read all four aloud in a row and cut any line that sounds like an application.
Questions applicants ask
Common questions
How many essays does Brown require for 2026–27?
Four for every first-year applicant: an Open Curriculum essay and a growing-up essay of 150 to 250 words, plus a teach-a-class essay and a joy essay of 100 to 150 words. PLME applicants add three 250-word essays, and Brown | RISD Dual Degree applicants add one of up to 650 words, according to Brown's how to apply page.
What changed in Brown's supplement this year?
Quite a lot. Compared with Brown's 2025–26 page, the Open Curriculum prompt now quotes President Paxson's 2025 Convocation Address and asks how qualities like curiosity and resilience would shape your approach. The three-word description and one-sentence "Why Brown?" are gone. Teach a class grew to 100 to 150 words, and PLME now asks three 250-word essays.
How do I write the Brown Open Curriculum essay?
Prove one or two of the qualities Brown names with a real moment, then show how you would use them without a required core. Name a question you would follow across departments and how you would choose courses. Avoid listing every trait in the quotation. One quality, shown well, is more convincing than six claimed in passing.
Can a Brown essay be shorter than the range?
Aim inside the range. Brown lists each essay with a floor and a ceiling, such as 100 to 150 words, so a 60-word answer can look unfinished. Use the minimum as a signal of how much detail Brown expects. River drafts every essay inside its range and shows the exact count, so you can see the margin.
When are Brown's 2026–27 deadlines?
Early Decision is due November 1 and Regular Decision January 5, according to Brown's first-year page. Early Decision is binding, with decisions by mid-December, and Regular Decision applicants hear by early April. Brown requires SAT or ACT scores from first-year applicants and superscores either test, per its testing page.
Does the Brown essay writer cost anything?
Not to begin. River's Free plan includes monthly AI usage with no credit card required. Your four Brown essays live in your own workspace, so you can grade them, redo one story or compare versions side by side. When the month's free usage is spent, it pauses until the next refresh. Paid plans start at $14 a month on the pricing page.
Your next step
More for your application
Four Brown essays, four sides of you
Paste your notes, résumé or Common App essay. River drafts each Brown essay inside its range and keeps every story different.