Get into Brown: 5 Insider Tips - Top Tier Admissions

In July, we welcomed Nellie Brennan Hall to the Top Tier Admissions team. As Associate Director of Admissions at Brown University, Nellie spent nearly a decade recruiting and evaluating applicants. She then moved into college counseling at independent schools, helping students craft essays and guiding them through every stage of the college search and application process. Nellie graduated from Harvard and holds an M.Ed. from Notre Dame in Secondary Education and an Ed.M. from Harvard in Higher Education. Nellie is currently accepting a limited number of Private Counseling students.

Brown has always held a unique spot among its Ivy League peers. In 1969, the college did away with distribution requirements and established the Open Curriculum, which allows students to become “Architects of their own education.” This progressive approach to education has always set Brown apart from the other Ivy League schools. However, their admissions process is surprisingly similar to their highly selective peers, and in some ways, they are even more stringent on certain requirements.

GET INTO BROWN: INSIDER TIPS FROM TTA’S FORMER BROWN ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Excel in All Subjects (this means four years of language, too)

Brown offers course flexibility because they hope students will explore the full breadth and depth of their course offerings. Brown states clearly that their Open Curriculum intends to develop “deeply creative thinkers, intellectual risk-takers, and entrepreneurial problem-solvers.” This focus on interdisciplinary studies means that Brown expects students to have a rigorous, well-rounded academic background throughout all four years of high school.

2. Show Don’t Tell

As is the case for most highly selective schools, Brown doesn’t admit students who dabble in a variety of activities without showing commitment and leadership. Make sure to tie some of your activities to your academic interest and dig deep. While you should use school activities as a base to get involved, look outside in your community to enrich your extra-curricular life and deepen your academic interests.

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3. Use the Supplements Wisely

Brown has three 250-word supplements in addition to the main Common Application essay. The essays ask about different things (academic interest, community, and something that brings you joy). When you put these three essays together, you can see the admissions office is looking to gain a well-rounded picture of how you think intellectually, socially, and emotionally. Use each question as an opportunity to deepen those areas.

Remember that Brown is a vibrant intellectual community where debate flourishes and cultures intersect. The admission office is gauging how you might fit into this community intellectually, socially, and emotionally. Be sure to capture your thoughts and feelings and bring the reader along with you.

4. Think Carefully About Your Teacher Recs

Many students pick the “wrong” teachers to write teacher recommendations. They tend to choose instructors who also serve as a coach or extracurricular advisor or a teacher who has a “fun” class. Remember that these are academic references that should be highlighting how you stand out among your peers in intellectual thought, writing, discussion, and other areas. You will want to choose teachers from junior year in two of the five core subject areas, ideally two different higher-level subjects, to show your intellectual depth.

5. Scores Matter

Yes, Brown is test optional. However, a high SAT/ACT score continues to help an application stand out. (And the same is true for high AP scores!) Along with almost every college and university in the United States, Brown dropped their testing requirement due to the inaccessibility to the SAT and ACT during COVID in the spring of 2020. However, the tests are very accessible now, and most applicants are submitting test scores. Don’t just take our word for it. For Brown’s Class of 2026, the middle 50% of admitted students scored between 1500-1570 on the Math and EBRW portions of the SAT and 33-36 on the ACT. While it’s possible to be admitted without scores, having multiple strong data points (SAT, ACT, AP, college transcripts) to back your academic record and scholarly achievements, the better off you’ll be!

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Nellie Brennan Hall

Senior Private Counselor at Top Tier Admissions

Nellie has spent her entire career in teaching, admissions, and counseling. As Associate Director of Admission at Brown University, she spent nearly a decade recruiting and evaluating applicants. In her role as chair of selection committees, Nellie made executive decisions on applicants and also served as a central member of the athletics committee. Armed with a nuanced view of the review process in highly selective institutions, Nellie moved into college counseling at independent schools, helping students craft essays and guiding them through every stage of the college search and application processNellie’s students have gained admission to the top schools in the country, among them Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, UPenn, Northwestern, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Amherst, and Middlebury. Nellie graduated from Harvard and holds an M.Ed. from Notre Dame in Secondary Education and an Ed.M. from Harvard in Higher Education, where she was awarded the Pforzheimer Fellowship.

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