Providence, RI · Private · 7,226 undergraduates · urban
Brown University
Extremely selective
Brown is known for the Open Curriculum, which removes general-education distribution requirements and lets students build a course of study around their own questions. That freedom is not lighter college; it transfers more responsibility to the student. Advising, concentration requirements, writing competence, and course prerequisites remain, but there is no checklist to create breadth for someone who will not choose it.
Institutional profile
Top tier Exceptional in career outcomes, and exceptional in academic standing.- Admission
- 5.2% admitted
- Price by income
- Varies across five income ranges
- Completion
- 96.4%
51,316 applicants in the reported year
Compare recent average annual costs by household income
$93,487 median earnings 10 years after enrollment
What sets Brown apart
No general distribution checklist
The Open Curriculum lets students choose breadth and depth while completing a concentration and demonstrating writing competence.
RISD sits next door
Cross-registration creates a practical bridge between Brown’s university curriculum and intensive art and design study.
Freedom requires an argument
Applicants must show how they have used choice before Brown can trust what they propose to do with it.
The Brown choice
Freedom becomes the academic requirement
The Open Curriculum asks students to design coherence instead of inheriting it from a distribution grid.
Test fields without a checklist
Students can sample widely while advisers and prerequisites provide practical boundaries.
Declare a concentration
A defined field supplies depth and a faculty home.
Explain the education built
The final course pattern should make sense as a set of choices, not merely a collection of interests.
Can I get in?
5.2% admitted
Brown needs evidence that the applicant can use curricular freedom with purpose. Academic rigor matters, but so does a record of making thoughtful choices without waiting for a prescribed path.
Recent applicant pool
51,316About 5 in every 100 applicants were admitted.
Academic range
Of admitted students, 54% submitted an SAT, and 22% submitted an ACT. Use your score when it adds strength to the application; withhold it when it does not.
In the season card
Where your GPA sits in the entering class
The full entering-class GPA distribution for Brown, in nine bands from 4.0 down, with your own record marked on it.
See where I landIn the season card
What Brown weighs when it reads a file
See how this college describes the role of grades, testing, essays, recommendations, activities, and demonstrated interest.
- Course rigor
- GPA
- Test scores
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Demonstrated interest
What moves the application
The evidence that separates a strong file
A reason for curricular freedom
Show a pattern of choosing difficult questions and following them without a preset checklist.
Academic self-management
The transcript and recommendations should show that freedom produces focus, not drift.
Specific intellectual combinations
Connect fields through work the student has already attempted rather than inventing a clever pairing for the essay.
A constructive campus role
Brown’s student-directed culture needs people who create opportunities for others as well as themselves.
How to apply
Rounds, route, and required materials
Brown offers Early Decision and Regular Decision. The application should demonstrate what the student would do with academic freedom, using past choices as evidence rather than proposing an imaginary course list.
Fee waiver: accepted
Can I afford it?
Compare annual cost by household income.
Brown provides need-based aid rather than merit awards. Families should compare the calculated contribution and likely travel costs, not the published total alone.
College funding
Scholarships and financial aid
Review available aid, application requirements, and renewal terms.
In the season card
Average annual cost by household income at Brown
Compare recent average net prices across five federal income ranges and estimate a 4-year cost for yours.
- $0–30k
- $30–48k
- $48–75k
- $75–110k
- $110k+
Is it worth it?
Completion, debt, and earnings
Graduates spread across technology, finance, research, public service, arts, and advanced study. The Open Curriculum can support strong combinations, but students must explain those combinations to employers and graduate programs.
Degree completion across the reported entering cohort
First-year students who return for year two
And what that comes to against what they earn.
Reported 10 years after enrollment
Academic portfolio
Largest bachelor’s fields
How many students finish in each field, and median earnings four years after completing the program.
Computer Science
Admits separately
Economics
Applied Mathematics
International Relations and National Security Studies
Biology, General
What is campus life like?
Brown beyond the classroom
College Hill feels compact and residential, with Providence immediately below it and RISD nearby. Student groups and houses supply structure that the curriculum deliberately leaves open.
Residential life supplies a campus center
Residence halls and program houses create recurring communities within a curriculum that sends students in many academic directions.
Campus staples meet a strong food city
Dining halls anchor the week, while Providence restaurants expand the everyday range without requiring a trip to a major metropolis.
Student initiative matches curricular freedom
Arts, publications, advocacy, entrepreneurship, service, and technical groups reward students who start things rather than wait for formal programs.
Smaller circles matter more than one scene
Residential communities, Greek organizations, arts groups, teams, clubs, and Providence venues create several overlapping social networks.
RISD changes the creative possibilities
Cross-registration and proximity place serious studio practice beside Brown’s sciences, humanities, and social sciences.