Brown University Undergraduate College Application Essays

Freedom. That is the essence of the Open Curriculum at Brown. As a student committed to engineering but with broad interests and a desire to explore them, I find that nothing excites me more than the opportunity to be the director of my own...

I initially noticed it at my first A Level Physics class. This was the second most popular subject at school, and yet I was the only girl there. Ditto with Advanced Mathematics: I was the only female student there, and I wanted to get to the root...

It was uncomfortably hot, when we climbed the last bend of the mountain; another 25 minutes added to the 2 hour drive from base camp- an excruciating journey. I was leading an expedition in Almora, a rugged terrain known for its dangerous, steep...

I had been standing in the scorching sun for 90 minutes, collecting data using the illuminance sensor. Sweat dripped down my forehead and sunlight reflecting from the three computer screens blinded me as I observed the graphs. They showed no...

I couldn't breathe. My lungs rebelled, desperately attempting to inhale, as if I were drowning. My hands trembled. I could no longer comprehend that my impending audition speech for the Varsity debate team, which had only two spots left, was...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve answered the question “Where do you want to go to college?” with the same one-syllable, five-letter answer: “Brown.” My mother is a proud alum; my admiration of her intellect, plus magical visits to the campus...

I opened the Snapchat video to see forty faces of my Savannah summer musical castmates shouting, “WE’LL MISS YOU, ‘THAILAND’!!” You see, in America, I’m a foreigner, even though I was born here. I am a child of international diplomacy, raised for...

Marhaba! Biweekly at 6:15 pm sharp, Arabic class begins. We are a community with few similarities - I am the youngest by fifteen years, and the eldest is 65. Yet, we are united in pursuit of an ancient Semitic language. This is a downtown...

When I was ten years old, my grandmother gave my mother a thick book filled with pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. I must have picked up the book from our coffee table in some moment of juvenile boredom. Flipping through the book, I...

Worlds apart though they may seem, English and science have always been my realms of study. English, because I like people -- listening to them, deconstructing them, empathizing with them. And science because I like puzzles -- that moment when the...

Silver saris and raging reds of glamorously decorated individuals beamed with faces masked with makeup and jewelry. Twinkling yellow lights hung above her head like shimmering stars and breathed pure radiance over her. Standing before the myriad...

I woke up at six that morning. My mom had left an hour earlier to work her two full-time jobs. It was a routine weekend; surrounding me was our ramshackle apartment decorated with sparse furniture, a Hindu temple in the corner, and a telephone I...

Before I open my laptop I can hear it. Every beat, every base drop comes to life faster than my hands can sort it into sound. Melodies weave together and I can tell the stuffed animals on my shelf are in for a show. Now in the headspace to create,...

I vividly remember my sixth-grade self sprawled out on my kitchen floor attempting to separate the misplaced recyclables in our trash can. I knew little of climate change or the nitrogen cycle at the time but was fascinated by the outdoors. Even...

The smell of sweet plantain fills my room and beckons me into the kitchen. My mom’s on the phone. She speaks loudly across the world to my aunt, while on the verge of blistering her hands from the popping oil. She hears me enter, then tosses the...

After four laps around the Ratty searching for my lunch, I decide to skip the lines and go for the salad bar. I can’t help but notice the student across from me as he empties nearly all the cucumbers onto his plate, even as he is engrossed in...

It’s a strange moment, when your greatest passion becomes your greatest predicament. I have called myself an artist since pre-school, a writer since first grade. Back then, my creative projects only gave me pleasure because they were the bridges...

It was already 6 PM, and I walked across the classroom, wary of the many fingers tapping away at their keyboards, their mouse clicks, their resizing and editing articles, photos, and captions. It was the day before the newspaper production...

I wasn’t happy about the puzzled faces across the auditorium. The pensive frowns weren't exactly pensive. They were looking at the questions with absolute perplexity. I was standing in front of the projection screen, confident that my problems had...

Like any toddler, I despised my car seat; I’d arch my back and defiantly kick my feet as Mom strapped me in. Finally accepting my fate, I’d sulk throughout the drive to ensure Mom understood my frustration. One day, however, this scene played out...

My father treats wrong turns on road trips as opportunities for new experiences. Sometimes, I think he’d take an early exit on purpose, just to receive Mom’s famous glare. Nonetheless, he’d always look back at me as we both exclaimed, “It’ll be an...

Elm Park is a five-minute drive down Pleasant Street from my house. Growing up, my parents took me to the park’s playground, which I frequented until I tumbled off a swing and chipped my tooth. I boycotted Elm for years, until I became old enough...

In the corner of my room sits my grandfather’s diary: soft, well-worn, and cracked. The first entry, written in English, is dated “June 1st, 1970,” in the halting, elaborate script of a man accustomed to Bengali. The last entry, dated “November...

As a 3-year old boy, I recall with clarity my fear of joining other children lined up at the edge of the pool. I remember looking down at a painted black line at the bottom of the pool as if it were challenging me to jump in. I stood alone arms...