*Updated August 2024*

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)

To get to something substantive here, it’s crucial to tackle the second part first. Otherwise, you’ll invariably end up with a ‘contribution to Brown’ theory that will seem contrived, and most likely, that’ll be because it is. Instead, let’s do the opposite of what Maria Von Trapp suggests and start at the very end…

What contributions will you make to the Brown community?

Think less about what you plan to do, and more about the impact of or value added by the things you plan to do. If Brown were a bland dish (say for example something you might find in England, zing!), and you were a pinch of salt, you might measure the ‘value add’ of salt as helping the dish go from bland to vibrant, or flat to tasty, etc. Or, suppose Brown were a bland dish from a spiciness index (say for example something you might find in Persian food, double zing!), and you added thai green chiles. You might measure the ‘value add’ of the chile as making the dish go from not ‘hot’ to ‘hot.’ You get the idea, there’s impact, and it doesn’t need to be ‘good’ it just needs to be palpable somehow.

Brown is a ‘community’ that has nearly infinite dimensions that ‘can be contributed to…’ If you’re a good a cappella singer, say a solid alto, and you plan to make your contribution to one of Brown’s a cappella groups, on the one hand, you’re contributing, kinda. On the other hand, there is no shortage of a cappella singers at Brown, and won’t be for a while. So unless you bring something extra special, this wouldn’t be a great ‘value add’ prospect. What else might you bring forward that’s worth noting? Interesting somehow? New, different, unusual, exceptional? The next question to ask (or perhaps you might do this first to help divine the ‘contribution list’ to begin with) is: What will that ‘value add’ be?

1. Will it teach others a new thing?
2. Will it expose others to a new perspective?
3. Will it be a familiar perspective, but something about you makes it unusual?
4. Will it bring folks out of the shadows?
5. Will it advance a field of study, even if incrementally but meaningfully?
6. Will it provoke others in a way they haven’t been provoked before?

This is a good starting list to begin ideating on what your contribution might be and how one might ‘measure it’ such that you can now articulate the value. This is not easy, gang. But, this is what the folks who get into Brown are able to do really really well, so that’s your competitive bar! But okay, once you’re good here, now it’s time to return to ‘Part 1’ of the prompt:

What aspect of your upbringing/background has inspired or challenged you?

This is an interesting pickle because in life, there are sometimes forces that influence us without our knowing. And to be aware of these can sometimes threaten to kill the beauty of it. It can take something beautiful, and by naming it, reduce it to something that feels somehow smaller, corporeal, ‘explicable.’ This is another reason we recommend starting with Part 2, because it gives you the ability to not be so intellectual about some of the winds of nature that have shaped you, in case there are some that you didn’t realize shaped you, until exercises like there. So now that you have an idea of how you’ll be contributing something of value, the next question to consider is … why is it not likely that others entering the next Brown class will be able to contribute that thing, in exactly the same way? What is it about your past, your influences, your circumstances that makes it impossible for someone else to replicate your contribution examples?

Locate the key sources. Were you bullied? Were you super rich? The opposite of rich? Any interesting sibling/family dynamics? Any unusual world events pivotal to your youth in a way that affected you very tangibly? Were you popular from day one, and did that ever change one day? Did you grow up scrawny but then make it your mission to make Varsity one day?

The dimensions are endless concerning things that might have had an ‘influencing/shaping’ effect on you. As you continue digging to deeper layer here, the next and final layer is to understand this shaping factor through the prism of how it inspired or challenged you in some way. What Brown is getting at here is some kind of insight into how you respond to adversity or twists in circumstance, or how propulsive you can be when inspired in the right way. It shouldn’t be that difficult a leap, the inspired by or challenged by ‘frame’ for this should be workable with whatever the previous exercise gets you to.

Putting it all together. Remember, 200-250 words is two paragraphs, very tight. This is why you’ll spend 85% of your time here ‘figuring out the soul of what you’re going to write about’ and 15% actually writing it. The writing of it will be easy once you nail the core concepts (the hard part):

1. Start with your contribution ideas. Explain what it is you’re going to bring to the table, and do this quickly, zero fat. Now articulate what the value add is, how will the Brown community be affected by this contribution? We need to see, feel, understand this as something only you could contribute. (100 words)
2. Next, using that as a segue, explain *why* only you could contribute this, given the history of ‘how you were made.’ Meaning, trace that uniqueness to your influencing factor story, and how it inspired/challenged you, and developed you into the person who will make that contribution, in that particular way. (100-150 words)

The opposite of easy. But doable, and essential, if you want to end up with a quality statement here.

*Updated August 2024*

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)

Oh dear Brown, this question is a hot mess. Caring about work and the world around us can sometimes be related to joy. But also can have absolutely nothing at all in common. And so, to bring these two together here may mislead, and so, we’re going to help you avoid that. The opening statement has an “I’m a thoughtful person and care about things other than myself, I am mindful of issues that are bigger than me, and whatever I commit myself to is more about the impact to others and to the world than the joy it may bring me!” vibe to it. But then, we end with “big or small” “mundane or spectacular” and this is designed to unshackle you from the shackles the opening statement placed around your wrists. So, just for fun, do yourself a favor and ignore that first sentence. Try this variation of the question on for size:

Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in things big or small, mundane or spectacular. Tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

What we want to get a sense of is this: imagine a magical camera that follows you around all day every day, trained on your eyes. And pretend this ‘movie’ is live streamed, all day every day on YouTube. All we see is your eyes, close up. For most of the day, it’s normal eye stuff. You blink, you go through an expected range of emotions, “Oh look they’re smiling here, you can tell, and oh no, here you see that they’re really sad, and haha right around now, whatever they’re doing you can see that they’re bored, the eyes tell all!”

But then, all of a sudden, the eyes glow. And look different. The viewer sits up and says “Right there, pause the movie. What is this person looking at, thinking about, hearing, listening to, experiencing, whatever––because whatever that thing is… appears to be delivering a kind of joy and fulfillment that is unlike all the other thousands of instances I’ve seen where they seem generally happy or upbeat. Something about *this* moment is raw, uncut, pure ‘joy.’

What fills you up? What makes you smile? What makes you wish ‘I want to stay in this place a little longer’? When are you most at peace? When do you pump your fist and feel an adrenaline rush?

Every person’s source of ‘joy’ and ‘response’ will be different. And this is really what Brown is hoping to get a sense of. The things that bring joy to people can be so different, and therefore interesting, but even more, the way in which people people is also noteworthy. Either the ‘source’ of the joy is mundane, something almost no one else gets joy out of, but you do! That’s interesting. Or, it’s something that few others are likely to get joy out of because it’s a very very very specific thing, unique to you, your circumstances, your tastes, your talents, your interests, etc. Also great. Because in either scenario, we’re learning something about you.

So, let’s structure this thing. Two options. If you have a mundane thing, and your joy response is the things that’s unusual, let’s call this ‘Option 1 - Joy Response Unusual.’ If however you have a unique source of joy, let’s call that ‘Option 2 - Joy Source Unusual’:

Option 1 - Joy Response Unusual

1. Establish the status quo by explaining the source (the thing) and how the typical person reacts, or what a typical reaction is. Now reveal how your response is different, and before you ‘assess’ this is a joyful response, initially just describe the response. Describe the sensations, the stimulation, the way you react, what you’re thinking, what feels good about it, etc. Now, finally, explain that this thing that is a ‘whatever no big deal’ for others is actually something that brings you unusual amounts of joy and satisfaction and contentment. (100 words)
2. Now, we need to figure out why that is, and explain it. What is it about how you’re wired that makes this satisfying for you? What can you learn about yourself here that helps make sense of it? When you isolate the root causes, now invert it and explain it by applying it to other sources that will elicit the same reaction, based on this insight. Imagine things in the future, either at Brown, or twenty years beyond, that will deliver this same joy, given this insight into how you’re wired. (100-150 words)

Option 2 - Joy Source Unusual

1. If the source is unusual, your best bet is simply to take us on the journey of walking us through the stages of how ‘the thing’ gets you to a state of joy, elation, satisfaction, etc. Given that it is likely new to us, and unique in some ways to you, we won’t know what the joy-inducing aspect is until you explain it, and therefore, it will naturally have a dramatic tension to it, if told in a straightforward manner. Working backwards from your ‘elated’ state, trace it back to the very first stage, and take us through it, step by step. Don’t explain the joy part yet. Initially just take us through what’s happening.(50 words)
2. Now explain the satisfaction part. Articulate the sensation of the contentment/joy/positive-feeling itself, not so much the ‘meaning of it’ but rather, the elevated state. How can you tell you’re in this elevated state and feeling good, in other words?(50 words)
3. Next, and finally, let’s try to explain all of it. What is it about how you’re wired that makes this thing satisfying for you? What can you learn about yourself here that helps us understand it all? When you isolate the root causes, now invert it and explain it by applying it to newer and different sources that might elicit the same reaction, based on this insight. Imagine things in the future, either at Brown, or twenty years beyond, that will deliver this same joy, given this insight into how you’re wired. (100-150 words)

The goal endpoint here is that we want to see *that* you’re excitable. And we want to see you get excited and electrified and glowing and active on the page here. That trait is something Brown would like to gamble on. The kid with the fire in their belly. The kid who gets excited about things, feels joy, is self-aware enough to understand what it is that delivers that joy, and therefore wants to replicate the circumstances that produce more of it. That person is likely to have the motivation to make their way through… anything, and succeed.

*Updated August 2024*

First-year applicants are also asked to reflect briefly on each of the very short answer 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)

This isn’t going to tip the scales on getting you in, or rejected. At worst it’s a shoulder shrug. At best, it causes one eyebrow to rise because you’ve said something a little bit interesting or unusual in some way. Don’t sweat too hard on this one. Just don’t be ordinary and predictable and down-the-middle. Try to bring some ‘pepper’ to the table. Either the words contrast and contradict each other in a way that’s cool and not head-scratchy. Or they are unusual words to choose to describe oneself. Or they’re normal words but interesting choices for you given all the other vapors coming off your application.

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)

The juice here is less likely to be found in the spectacular-ness of the commitment/activity or achievement, but rather, something personal about your attraction to it. Either you overcame something and the overcoming aspect is noteworthy. Or you proved something to yourself. Or you inspired others in an interesting way. Or it just brings out your very best and ‘fills you up’ and if so, awesome, we want to know more about why you think that is (rather than focus on the activity details or achievement). You can of course convey the activity or achievements earned, but just make sure that that’s only 15% or so of your 100 words.

If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100 words)

They didn’t ask, but you should still convey the ‘why’ aspect. What would the class be, and why would anyone other than you want for this class to exist?! There are a few ways to approach this. You might take a class that is commonly taught already, but you might bring something unique to the table. If so, awesome, sell us on that. Or, you have a unique take on something, or a new concept or subject that isn’t taught or is relatively uncommon. Sell us on why this would be a worthwhile contribution.

In one sentence, Why Brown? (50 words)

One sentence to explain what it is about Brown you think may bring out something in your that another place like Stanford or Yale or Princeton or insert-equally-top-ranked-school won’t do quite as well. That’s a tall order. But it’s doable. This is your opportunity to convey a soulmate statement that should satisfy this version of the question:

“Why is me + Brown the best possible combination of all combinations?”

‘Nuff said. If you can answer that variation, you’ve got something. (And that’s the question you should be thinking about when you answer the official question.)

*Updated August 2024*

Transfer students are also asked to complete the following very short answer question:

What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)

It’s the same question posed to ‘first year’ applicants, and because we’re dealing with 100 words, the approach for first years applies to transfer students as well. The juice here is less likely to be found in the spectacular-ness of the commitment/activity or achievement, but rather, something personal about your attraction to it. Either you overcame something and the overcoming aspect is noteworthy. Or you proved something to yourself. Or you inspired others in an interesting way. Or it just brings out your very best and ‘fills you up’ and if so, awesome, we want to know more about why you think that is (rather than focus on the activity details or achievement). You can of course convey the activity or achievements earned, but just make sure that that’s only 15% or so of your 100 words.