Brown University requires six supplemental essays. Applicants to the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) must complete two additional essays, while those applying to the Brown | Rhode Island School of Design Dual Degree (BRDD) Program must submit one extra essay.
With a 5.65% acceptance rate for the Class of 2029, Brown’s admissions process is highly selective, so strong, strategic essays are essential to stand out. This guide breaks down each Brown supplemental prompt, with focused examples and tips to help you craft compelling responses.
- Brown Supplemental Essay Prompts
- How to Write the Brown “Open Curriculum” Supplemental Essay
- How to Write the Brown “Contribution” Supplemental Essay
- How to Write the Brown “Joy” Supplemental Essay
- How to Write the Brown Short Answers
- How to Write the Brown PLME Supplemental Essays
- How to Write the Brown BRDD Supplemental Essay
- Writing Brown Supplemental Essays That Work
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Takeaways
Brown Supplemental Essay Prompts
Brown applications are submitted through the Common App, where you’ll complete the required personal statement essay. You also need to write Brown supplemental essays, which include three long essays and three short answers. There are also separate additional school-specific prompts for applicants for the Liberal Medical Education (PLME) and the Brown | Rhode Island School of Design Dual Degree (BRDD) Program.
Here are the Brown-specific questions that every applicant is required to answer:
| Brown Supplemental Essay Prompts |
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All applicants should also write short responses to these questions:
| Brown Short Answer Questions |
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If you’re applying to the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), you’ll need to write two additional essays, with the second essay having two prompts you can choose from:
| Brown’s PLME Supplemental Essay Prompts |
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The Brown | Rhode Island School of Design Dual Degree (BRDD) Program includes one additional 650-word program-specific prompt for applicants.
| Brown BRDD Supplemental Essay Prompt |
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Brown is known for its essay-heavy application, so it’s crucial to understand how to approach each prompt effectively. In the following sections, we’ll break them down one by one.
How to Write the Brown “Open Curriculum” 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 to 250 words) |
Brown’s Open Curriculum lets you build a rigorous, personalized education with no core requirements and the freedom to explore nearly 80 concentrations or design your own. For this supplemental essay, Brown wants to see proof of your intellectual curiosity and how Brown’s unique academic environment can help you with your pursuit of them.
| Brown Supplemental Essay Example |
| My interest in biomedical engineering began during volunteer shifts at St. Mary’s Hospital. I spent hours restocking gloves, guiding patients to imaging rooms, and hearing nurses explain how even a minor equipment glitch could delay an entire unit. One afternoon, I watched a cardiac patient struggle to stay still during an ultrasound, and the technician joked, “If someone could engineer a calmer imaging process, we’d all sleep better.” That offhand comment stuck with me: what if I could?
In AP Physics, I became fascinated by how mechanical principles shape biological systems. For my final project, I built a 3D-printed stabilizer for imaging probes. It barely worked, but the challenge of translating theory into something tangible pulled me into biomedical design. At Brown, I want to dive into the Sc.B. in Biomedical Engineering, especially its focus on imaging and diagnostic devices. Courses like Biomaterials will help me understand how polymers, hydrogels, and contrast-agent coatings affect signal quality and tissue compatibility. I’m especially drawn to the BME Design Lab, where students build tools such as more stable ultrasound transducers or MRI-compatible probes, moving from CAD modeling to sensor integration and benchtop imaging tests. The Open Curriculum is why Brown feels like the perfect place for me. I want to pair engineering with public health and anthropology to understand how devices succeed, or fail, depending on the communities they serve. My goal is to design solutions that respect human experience, and Brown will let me engineer with both precision and empathy. (249 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
When approaching Brown’s Open Curriculum prompt, begin with a clear intellectual spark and ground it in a specific moment. In the example, the student’s interest in biomedical engineering starts during a hospital volunteer shift, when a technician remarks on the need for better imaging stability. That concrete scene transforms a general interest in science into a focused problem to solve.
Next, pair that spark with action. Show how you tested your ideas through projects, research, or independent study. The example highlights a 3D-printed stabilizer built for an AP Physics project. Even though it “barely worked,” the attempt demonstrates experimentation and growth, an evidence of the self-directed learning Brown values.
Then, connect your goals precisely to Brown. Name specific concentrations, courses, or labs and explain their relevance. The essay references the Sc.B. in Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials, and the BME Design Lab. This specificity signals intentional alignment.
Finally, illustrate how you would use the Open Curriculum to bridge disciplines. In the example, engineering intersects with public health and anthropology to ensure medical devices serve communities effectively.
That interdisciplinary vision reflects Brown’s academic philosophy and ends with a clear purpose: becoming an engineer guided by both technical precision and empathy.
How to Write the Brown “Contribution” Supplemental 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 to 250 words) |
This supplemental essay asks you to reflect on your background, whether cultural, racial, geographic, linguistic, or personal, and show how those experiences shaped your perspective. Brown wants to see how these influences define what you’ll contribute to the campus community.
| Brown Supplemental Essay Example |
| The soundtrack of my childhood was the thud of backpacks, half-finished homework, and my younger siblings yelling my name because someone stole the last chicken nugget. Being the oldest meant I was referee, tutor, and peace negotiator long before I could drive. At first, I resented it. I envied friends who could focus solely on themselves while I was juggling algebra worksheets and bedtime routines.
But those nights at the kitchen table changed me. I learned how to re-explain fractions using pizza slices, LEGO bricks, or whatever snack was nearby. I figured out how to stay patient when someone was on the verge of tears because their cursive “g” looked weird. Most importantly, I learned to actually listen; to the kid who needed silence, the sibling who needed cheering on, and the child who just needed five uninterrupted minutes to try again. At Brown, I hope to bring that same spirit of patience and empathy to the community. I want to be the person who slows down in a quick-moving conversation, who asks the quiet student in the back what they think, who builds collaborative spaces such as through Writing Fellows Program, where careful listening helps peers shape unfinished ideas. Brown’s culture of free inquiry only works when people feel safe enough to share messy ideas and unfinished thoughts. Growing up as my family’s built-in caregiver challenged me, but it shaped my core belief: communities thrive when people feel seen. That’s the contribution I hope to bring to College Hill. (250 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This essay should do three things: present a defining aspect of your upbringing, show how it shaped you, and translate that growth into meaningful contributions at Brown.
Start with a vivid scene that captures your background in action. In the example, the thud of backpacks and sibling arguments immediately establish the writer’s role as the oldest child and caregiver.
Next, show growth through concrete moments. Tutoring siblings at the kitchen table develops patience, adaptability, and deep listening and using pizza slices to explain fractions and recognizing when someone needs encouragement or space. Responsibility becomes empathy and emotional awareness.
Then, connect that growth directly to Brown. The example carries caregiving into College Hill by promoting inclusive dialogue, inviting quieter voices into discussion, and contributing to collaborative spaces like the Writing Fellows Program. The contribution flows naturally from the upbringing.
Be sure to end with the core value your experience shaped. The sample concludes with a belief that communities thrive when people feel seen. Your essay should similarly define the mindset you will bring to Brown’s diverse community.
How to Write the Brown “Joy” Supplemental 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 to 250 words) |
For this Brown supplemental essay, highlight passions beyond academics that reveal who you are. Think digital art, community volunteering, filmmaking, language learning, robotics, music, or personal hobbies like journaling or baking. Choose interests that show your personality, values, and how you engage with the world around you.
| Brown Supplemental Essay Example |
| Joy finds me every Thursday afternoon in a noisy elementary school classroom with dried glue on the tables and crayon marks permanently etched into the desks. I volunteer as a tutor for third-graders at Lincoln elementary school, and for one hour a week, my world becomes a mix of crooked handwriting, unexpected jokes, and the thrill of watching someone finally understand something that felt impossible minutes earlier.
There’s one student, Ava, who used to hide her worksheet under her arm because she was embarrassed to read aloud. The first time she whispered through a paragraph, stumbling over half the words, she looked like she wanted to disappear. But we kept practicing. We sounded out syllables, clapped out rhythms, circled the tricky combinations. Then one day, she read an entire page without stopping. When she finished, she looked up at me with this huge grin that said, “I did it.” That’s the moment that brings me joy: the quiet confidence blooming in someone who didn’t have it before. People think tutoring is about teaching the lesson, but the part I love is watching students build trust in themselves. It’s the way they start sitting taller, raising their hands more, taking risks without apologizing first. Every session reminds me that growth is rarely loud or dramatic. It happens in small, steady increments: a smoother sentence, a braver attempt, a smile where fear used to be. Helping someone reach that point is my favorite kind of joy. (244 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This essay should showcase your personality, clarify your values, and reveal how joy shapes the way you engage with others. Begin with a concrete scene. In the example, Thursday afternoons in a crayon-marked elementary classroom immediately situate the reader inside the writer’s world. The setting makes tutoring feel tangible and alive.
Next, highlight a focused moment that captures the joy. Ava’s hesitant reading, steady practice, and eventual confidence transform tutoring into something deeply personal. The breakthrough becomes the emotional center of the essay.
Then, reflect on what this joy reveals about you. Fulfillment comes from nurturing confidence and witnessing quiet growth. The reflection connects happiness to patience, encouragement, and belief in incremental progress.
You can conclude by showing how this joy shapes your presence in a community. The example suggests someone who fosters trust and celebrates others’ growth are qualities that would naturally extend to Brown. Your essay should similarly show how what brings you joy informs the energy and perspective you will bring to College Hill.
How to Write the Brown Short Answers
| Prompt #1 |
| What three words best describe you? (3 words) |
This prompt challenges you to distill what makes you yourself into its most concentrated form. It’s deceptively simple, but the words you choose should be impactful, memorable, and reflective of who you are.
| Brown Short Answer Examples |
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Essay analysis and tips
To write this response well, you need to present a distilled version of your identity: distinctive, cohesive, and reflective of how you think and act.
Start with core traits that consistently define you. Using words like “Lighthouse” suggest steady guidance, “Blueprint” signals strategic thinking, and “Field-Guide” conveys curiosity and exploration. As you can see, each should hint at a larger story.
Choose imagery over abstraction. Metaphorical phrases such as “Quiet Lantern” (subtle leadership) or “Focused Microscope” (analytical depth) feel more vivid and memorable than general descriptors.
Finally, ensure cohesion. A set like “Telescope, Steady Compass, Lego-Mind” communicates vision, direction, and structured creativity, forming a unified portrait. Select words that are authentic, specific, and expandable into the broader narrative of your application.
| Prompt #2 |
| If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words) |
This Brown supplemental essay asks you to highlight one genuine passion and explain how you’d teach it. You might choose anything you love like baking family recipes, coding simple games, violin practice, poetry, filmmaking, or community gardening, and show how you’d break it down, share it, and inspire others.
| Brown Short Answer Examples |
| My class would be called “How to Notice Small Things.” We’d practice spotting for tonal shifts and micro-expressions in daily routines. Students would keep a “noticing journal” for details like who stiffens when “x² – 5x + 6 = ?” appears in math, who taps their eraser, who pretends to understand, so we can tell who quietly needs help. We’d linger on Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, reading her expression with the attention we use to read people. I’d teach this because noticing builds empathy, problem-solving, and leadership. When you pay attention, you understand people, and once you do, everything else becomes easier. (100 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
In 100 words, this essay should showcase one clear passion, a distinctive teaching approach, and the impact your class would have. Choose a topic that reflects your genuine enthusiasm, design it with specificity, and end with the skills or mindset students would gain.
Begin by introducing your topic with a unique angle. In the example, the class is titled “How to Notice Small Things,” immediately signaling creativity and focus. The concept feels specific and personal rather than broad or generic.
Next, describe how you would teach it. The sample includes concrete practices like a “noticing journal,” observing micro-expressions, and analyzing Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. These details bring the classroom to life and demonstrate intentional pedagogy.
Then, it connects noticing to empathy, problem-solving, and leadership highlighting the impact it created. The takeaway extends beyond the subject itself, showing how the class shapes perspective and behavior.
| Prompt #3 |
| Why Brown? (50 words) |
Unlike many schools that ask for a full-length “Why This College?” essay, Brown gives you a short, focused prompt. This condensed format still expects clear, specific reasons for why Brown’s academic approach, values, and community align with your goals, just delivered in a tighter, more impactful way.
| Brown Short Answer Examples |
| Brown allows me to study biomedical engineering without boundaries by pairing imaging design, biomaterials, and public health through the Open Curriculum. The Biomedical Engineering Design Lab and Brown’s culture of purposeful collaboration align with my goal: designing diagnostic tools that improve care by prioritizing both precision and people. (47 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This essay should deliver precision, specificity, and fit in just 50 words. Your response should include one primary academic or intellectual reason, a concrete Brown resource, and a connection directly to your goals.
In the example, the writer emphasizes studying biomedical engineering “without boundaries,” immediately tying their ambition to Brown’s Open Curriculum. Then, the writer references names like imaging design, biomaterials, and the Biomedical Engineering Design Lab, details that demonstrate intentional research and alignment.
Finally, the conclusion is highlighting the purpose it created. Links to Brown’s collaborative culture, as well as designing diagnostic tools that prioritize both precision and people, are closings that reinforce fit and direction.
How to Write the Brown PLME Supplemental Essays
If you’re applying for the Program in Liberal Medical Education, you’ll need to submit an additional two essays. We’ll discuss the prompts below.
| Prompt #1 |
| 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) |
Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) combines undergraduate study and medical school, uniting the Open Curriculum’s flexibility with early preparation for the Warren Alpert Medical School. In this supplemental essay, demonstrate a clear understanding of medicine and explain how PLME’s integrated structure advances your academic and career goals. For specific courses and opportunities, consult Brown’s official PLME offerings page.
| Brown PLME Supplemental Essay Example |
| The moment that sparked my interest in medicine didn’t happen in a dramatic emergency room. It happened quietly, during a shadowing experience in a small clinic where patients waited in worn plastic chairs and the air smelled faintly of antiseptic. I watched a physician kneel beside an elderly man struggling to describe his symptoms in English. Instead of rushing, she slowed down, asked gentle questions, and translated his gestures into medical meaning. The science behind her decisions fascinated me, but what stayed with me was the way his shoulders relaxed when he finally felt understood. I realized medicine is not only about diagnosing diseases, but recognizing the humanity behind every symptom.
My interest deepened during another observation shift when I met a woman who delayed care because she lacked transportation and childcare. By the time she arrived, her condition had worsened. That encounter revealed how inequity shapes outcomes as powerfully as biology. I knew I wanted to become a physician who treats disease but also understands the structural and ethical forces that shape each patient’s experience. This is why PLME feels like the right path for me. Brown’s Open Curriculum would allow me to study biomedical science alongside ethics, where I’d explore the questions that have lingered since shadowing: What do physicians owe patients? How do we balance efficiency with empathy? How do inequities become embedded in clinical norms? PLME’s emphasis on understanding the whole human being aligns with the kind of physician I hope to become. I’m especially drawn to PLME 0700: Communication in Health Care, which teaches the kind of patient-centered dialogue that first inspired me, and PLME 0300: Health and Healing Through the Lens of Culture, which examines how identity and lived experience shape medical encounters. Courses like PLME 0250: Planetary Health will broaden my understanding of environmental forces that disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. I’m also excited by PLME’s advising structure like working with faculty such as Dr. Sabina Holland in Pediatrics and Dr. Paul Christopher in Psychiatry, along with PLME advising deans who support students through both degrees. The chance to take pre-clerkship electives at Alpert as an undergraduate will help me develop clinical fluency early while still grounding myself in the humanities. I hope to participate in the PLME Summer Research Assistantship, exploring ethical frameworks in clinical decision-making for underserved populations. Programs like CHAP, especially Creative Connections in Medicine, resonate with me because they view healing as a multidimensional process shaped by trust, creativity, and connection. Ultimately, I want to become a physician who treats illness but also listens for the unspoken fears beneath a patient’s words. PLME is the community where I can build that foundation: scientific, ethical, reflective, and deeply human. (448 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
Your essay may present three structured parts: a formative clinical moment, a nuanced understanding of medicine aligned clearly with PLME’s structure, and a long-term vision integrating science and the humanities. At its core, the essay should reflect mature commitment, thoughtful motivation, and precise alignment with PLME.
Begin with a defining encounter. In the example, a physician kneels beside an elderly patient, translating gestures into clinical meaning, capturing medicine as both scientific reasoning and human connection. Ground your motivation in experiences that reveal depth.
Next, broaden your lens beyond individual care. The sample introduces a patient whose delayed treatment reflects structural inequities, showing awareness of how social forces shape health outcomes.
Then, connect your goals specifically to PLME. Referencing courses like Communication in Health Care and Health and Healing Through the Lens of Culture, along with mentorship and early clinical exposure at Alpert, signals intentional fit.
Lastly, conclude with a unified vision. The example commits to becoming a physician who blends scientific fluency with deep listening. Your essay should similarly align motivation, program fit, and future purpose into a clear trajectory.
| Prompt #2 Option 1 |
Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more.
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For the second essay, you have two options. For the first option, you’ll have to talk about your vision for your medical career and how you plan to contribute to the field and the lives of your patients.
| Brown PLME Supplemental Essay Example |
| The moment I first understood the weight of medicine happened in our living room. My mom was hunched over the armrest, her breath shallow, the steady rhythm of our home suddenly replaced with the unpredictable beat of fear. When she was diagnosed with heart disease, I became a caregiver overnight: counting pills, adjusting pillows, memorizing the sound of her breathing during her worst nights. That experience introduced me to medicine, and it became personal.
Caring for her taught me that cardiac illness affects far more than the organ itself. It reshapes routines, identities, and even the quiet moments families depend on. I learned how reassurance matters, how small acts like warming her soup, reading to her when she was anxious, can restore dignity in ways medicine alone cannot. Those experiences shaped the kind of physician I want to become: one who treats both the heart and the person attached to it. As a future cardiologist, I hope to build the kind of trust my family desperately needed. I want to help patients understand their conditions clearly, not through medical jargon but through language builds empathy, attention, and care. My interest in writing grows from that desire: to translate complex science into stories and explanations that empower others. My goal is simple: to give patients the calm my mother rarely felt. If I can ease fear, restore clarity, and help a family feel steady again, that will be the impact I’m proudest to make. (246 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
Start by anchoring your interest in a concrete experience. The sample essay opens in a living room, with a daughter counting pills and memorizing the sound of her mother’s breathing. That specificity does the work: it shows medicine arriving as something personal before it becomes professional.
From there, name the commitment that emerged. Mention the specific questions that draw you in, whether that’s patient communication, access, or chronic care. In the example, the writer identifies what caregiving taught her: that illness reshapes identities, and that small acts of care restore dignity in ways clinical treatment alone cannot.
Then connect your goals to how you plan to grow, and the connection should feel earned. The sample ties caregiving to writing as a tool for translating science into language that empowers patients. Your throughline might run through research, mentoring, or creative work.
Lastly, end with the impact you want to make. The sample essay lands on something precise: to give patients the calm her mother rarely felt. Close with that same clarity.
| Prompt #2 Option 2 |
Healthcare is constantly changing as it is affected by racial and social inequities, economics, politics, technology, and more.
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For your second PLME essay option, aim to connect your personal experiences, cultural background, socioeconomic status, or any other formative aspects of your upbringing to your view of medicine.
| PLME Supplemental Essay Example |
| I nervously glanced around in a crowded public hospital waiting room, where my family sat for hours while doctors rushed past us with clipped instructions and impatient glances. We couldn’t afford private care, and it was obvious the staff knew it. The difference in tone, between how they spoke to us and how they spoke to families who looked wealthier, was subtle but sharp. That day, I learned that healthcare is not experienced equally, even when the illness is.
Because no one in my family had a medical background, I became our translator. I searched the internet late at night trying to decode terms like “hypertrophy” or “idiopathic,” piecing together explanations so my parents wouldn’t feel as lost. It was frustrating to realize how much fear comes not from disease itself, but from not understanding what is happening to your own body. That experience taught me that medical knowledge is a form of power, and too many families don’t have access to it. This background is why I want to explore public health and accessibility at Brown. I want to understand how systems create disparities, why certain communities distrust healthcare, and how policy can reshape the experience my family had. It is also why I hope to become a pediatrician. Children rarely advocate for themselves; they inherit the inequities around them. I want to be the kind of doctor who treats illness by making every family (regardless of income) feel informed, respected, and safe. (244 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
A good essay should move with clarity from lived experience to insight to future direction. You may start with a defining moment that grounds your perspective. In the example, hours in a public hospital waiting room reveal subtle differences in tone and treatment, making healthcare inequity immediate and personal rather than abstract.
Afterwards, show how that experience reshaped your understanding of medicine. In the example, by becoming a translator for their family, the writer realizes that medical knowledge represents access, clarity, and dignity. Communication becomes central to quality care.
Then, connect that perspective directly to your academic and professional goals. The sample links personal experience to interests in public health, accessibility, and pediatrics, which are fields that address equity and early intervention.
Conclude with a clear commitment. The example envisions becoming a physician who ensures families feel informed, respected, and safe.
How to Write the Brown BRDD Supplemental Essay
| Prompt |
| 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 words) |
For this prompt, show how the BRRD program fits both your academic goals and your creative vision. Brown’s Open Curriculum supports broad, inquiry-driven study, while RISD offers intensive studio training across design and fine arts. Explain how combining these environments will help you pursue the ideas that sit between disciplines, and explore RISD’s official program offerings to identify the departments and studios that align with your interests.
| Brown BRRD Supplemental Essay Example |
| My creative life has always lived at the intersection of images and language. When I first wrote short stories in middle school, I instinctively filled the margins with drawings: characters blinking awake, scenes unfolding panel by panel. Later, when I discovered animation through growing my own YouTube channel, it felt like the natural evolution of what I had always done: turning narrative into motion, feeling into form, thought into sequence. Film became the way I processed emotion; writing became the way I made sense of it.
The Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program is the one place where these two ways of thinking, visual and literary, can grow together instead of competing. At RISD, I hope to major in BFA Film, Animation, and Video, where courses like FAV 5107-01: Intermediate Studio: Animation and FAV 2455-01: Storyboarding will help me construct narratives through pacing, framing, and visual rhythm. I’m especially inspired by Professor Amy Kravitz, whose approach to animation as a language of movement and metaphor mirrors how I want to communicate health concepts to young audiences. RISD’s critique-driven culture will sharpen my instincts as a storyteller who works intuitively, responding to emotional beats rather than formulas, while access to the Nature Lab and Co-Works will push me to experiment with textures, mixed media, and hybrid digital techniques that can enrich the worlds I animate. At Brown, I plan to study A.B. Literary Arts, focusing on narrative forms that speak to young people. Courses like LITR 1200: Writers on Writing, LITR 0110H: Digital & Cross-Disciplinary Language Arts 1, and LITR 1010A: Advanced Fiction will give me a deeper understanding of voice, theme, and metaphor, which are skills that will directly shape my animation. I’m eager to learn from Professor Karan Mahajan, whose work in narrative structure and emotional clarity aligns with my goal of writing stories that make medical topics feel safe, understandable, and human. Brown’s Open Curriculum will allow me to pair writing workshops with classes in education studies, child psychology, and public health, giving me the background I need to tell stories that not only entertain but genuinely teach. My long-term goal is to create educational media for children like animations that explore topics such as wellness, emotional literacy, or basic health, in ways that are accessible, culturally sensitive, and grounded in narrative craft. Brown and RISD offer specific pathways to make this real. At Brown, I hope to partner with the School of Public Health and the Swearer Center to work on community-focused storytelling projects. At RISD, I plan to refine those collaborations into fully animated pieces through FAV studios. I can imagine producing a series of short animations that translate pediatric health concepts into warm, imaginative stories. Content I hope to share on platforms like YouTube and other child-friendly social media spaces, where families who lack traditional educational resources can access them for free. Ultimately, I want my BRDD Capstone to be a resource that reaches children far beyond Providence, using digital platforms to democratize health education. Within the BRDD community, I hope to be someone who brings studio artists and theory-focused writers together. I want to help create an environment where introspection is part of making art, where we think about why we’re choosing a certain image, line, or pacing, and how those choices make the audience feel. I believe clarity and empathy are just as important as technique. By encouraging others to consider both their intentions and the impact of their work, I seek to support a culture that values accessibility, emotional awareness, and genuine connection with audiences. Finally, I hope to graduate as someone who can move fluidly between both languages, art and text, and use that hybrid fluency to create work that teaches, comforts, and reaches children where they are. (625 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This BRRD supplemental essay succeeds because it shows that the student already thinks in two languages, art and text, and that the dual degree simply gives that blend room to grow.
The opening grounds this in a concrete pattern: stories drawn into margins, writing that turns into animation, and film used to process emotion while writing explains it. From there, the student outlines what each school uniquely adds. Brown deepens narrative craft through specific Literary Arts courses and faculty who mirror the student’s goals, while RISD sharpens technique through animation studios, critique culture, and hands-on experimentation.
The essay’s strength comes from how these elements fuse into one vision: creating educational media for children by pairing Brown’s research and public health resources with RISD’s studio work. The long-term goal, a capstone that blends storytelling, design, and accessible health education, shows a path that neither school alone could support.
The final note, focused on contributing to the BRDD community by bridging artists and writers, reinforces that the student is combining the two programs and building a creative identity that thrives at their intersection.
In your essay, show interdisciplinary thinking through behavior, cite each school for something specific, build toward a goal that fuses both programs into something neither could support alone, and close by positioning yourself as a contributor to the community.
Writing Brown Supplemental Essays That Work
Brown’s supplemental essays reward clarity of thought, intellectual independence, and purposeful fit. Across every prompt, one principle remains constant: specificity reveals substance. The strongest responses anchor abstract values in lived experience, translate reflection into forward-looking contribution, and demonstrate precise alignment with Brown’s academic culture.
Effective essays also show intellectual momentum. They move from formative moments to growth, from curiosity to action, and from personal insight to community impact. They make clear why Brown provides the environment where your ideas can expand. Whether referencing a course, lab, advising structure, or interdisciplinary pathway, your details should signal intentional research and authentic fit.
Just as important is discipline in execution. Avoid vague generalities that could describe any applicant. Maintain focus within word limits to demonstrate precision and clarity. Strong mechanics, clean structure, smooth transitions, and polished language reinforce credibility and intellectual maturity.
If you want a strategic edge, our Senior Editor College Application Program can work with you to refine your intellectual narrative. Having supported 1,000+ students on their admissions journey, we can help strengthen your alignment with Brown’s values and ensure every word advances your candidacy in a highly selective pool.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Brown have supplemental essays?
Yes, Brown has supplemental essays on top of the personal statement through the Common App.
2. How many supplemental essays does Brown require?
Most applicants complete six supplements: three long essays and three short answers. PLME applicants submit two additional essays, while BRRD applicants complete one additional essay.
3. What’s the word limit for Brown supplemental essays?
Brown’s three main supplemental essays each require 200–250 words. Short-answer questions range from a few words to 50–100 words. PLME applicants complete one 500-word response and one 250-word prompt, while BRRD applicants submit one additional 650-word essay.
Takeaways
- Brown University requires about six essays. Applicants to the Brown | RISD Dual Degree Program complete one additional essay, and those applying to the Program in Liberal Medical Education complete two additional essays.
- Brown’s supplements reward concrete detail like vivid moments, defined academic interests, and clearly named programs, labs, or courses.
- When referencing the Open Curriculum, PLME, or BRRD, show how you connect ideas across fields. Brown seeks students who synthesize theory and practice, science and the humanities, creativity and analysis.
- Need help with writing Brown supplementary essays? A college admissions consultant can help you refine each of your essays while keeping track of your academics and extracurriculars to boost your application.
Eric Eng
About the author
Eric Eng, the Founder and CEO of AdmissionSight, graduated with a BA from Princeton University and has one of the highest track records in the industry of placing students into Ivy League schools and top 10 universities. He has been featured on the US News & World Report for his insights on college admissions.
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