So, you want to transfer to the Ivy League? We aren’t going to lie—it takes a lot of work, but it isn’t impossible, and Brown is a great choice. The seventh-oldest college in America, Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Like most of the Ivy League, they are super selective when it comes to admissions.
Last year, they only took 4.1% of transfer applicants. The wild part is that this is actually considered “high” for Ivy League transfer admissions rates (for example, Yale’s is usually around 2%). But trust us, and the numbers, when we say it is hard to transfer to Brown. There are a couple of steps you need to take if you want to be considered a serious applicant.
Choose the Right Classes
Brown is proud of their Open Curriculum, but that doesn’t mean you can choose classes willy-nilly as a transfer applicant. You must consider two factors when planning your college class load: requirements and major.
We know what you are thinking, “Brown doesn’t have requirements.” Those aren’t the ones to worry about. Transfer applications are a bit of a gamble and may not work out. You need to consider your current school’s requirements. You need a good backup plan if you end up staying there.
You also need to think about your major. Brown is looking for transfer applicants with firm academic plans who will graduate on time. The best way to do this is to be already working towards your major. For example, if you hope to study math, you need to be taking math classes your freshman year.
Get Really Good Grades
Last year, the average college GPA of admitted transfer applicants was 3.86. This is a slight dip from the two years before (both were 3.91.) TBH, we would highly recommend shooting for the 4.0. This might mean being highly strategic about your course selection. If you weren’t good at Spanish in high school, it isn’t the time to take a higher-level Spanish course. Play to your strengths and sign up for classes that you feel like you can excel in.
College courses are, by nature, harder than high school classes. Even if you take courses that sound like easy As, they might be more challenging than you expected. It's ok! You just need to be proactive. If you start to feel the struggle, go to the tutoring center or make a study group, and make sure to go to office hours! We love office hours because they allow you to not only get your class questions answered but also develop a relationship with your professors… which can come in handy when it is time to ask for those letters of recommendation.
All of this is on top of having a past excellent high school GPA and SAT/ACT scores. We know you can’t go back in time and change the past, but generally, if you are trying to transfer to the Ivy League, you need to have BEEN getting good grades.
Develop Your Niche
A great transfer application tells a story. Just like you need to choose the right classes, you should choose the right extracurriculars. You want at least some of your extracurriculars to connect to what you hope to study. For example, if you want to study math, joining the math competition team or tutoring others in math is a good idea. We also highly recommend getting involved in research. Ask your professors if they are working on anything and could use assistance (also helpful for those recommendation letters...) or check in with the undergraduate research center.
Generally, extracurriculars are about quality over quantity. You want to get involved in meaningful and impactful ways. Prioritize clubs, organizations, and groups that help your overall story.
Write Good Essays
This advice comes a little later down the line, but to stand out as an applicant, you need to write excellent essays. Brown asks for a lot of them.
The first is the only question they ask, which is unique to transfer applicants.
The personal statement helps colleges get to know you better as a person and a student. Please provide a statement discussing your educational path and your reasons for transferring. How would continuing your education at Brown help you achieve your future goals? (3000 characters)
This is a twist on a classic “Why do you want to go here?” essay. For first-year applicants, “why do you want to go here” essays follow an easy outline:
Introduce what you want to major in with a short personal story.
Speak to specific academic opportunities at the school, including higher-level classes in the major, professors, and other unique programs and how they relate to your academic interests.
Show the overlap between extracurricular opportunities on campus and your passions.
Wrap it up and leave the reader with the idea that the school is the perfect school for you and that they should want you as a student.
You can still follow this rough outline but should weave in your story as a transfer applicant. You need to come up with a good reason for wanting to transfer. Often, when we ask students why they want to transfer, they say something like, “Because it's a more prestigious school.” That is a bad answer. You shouldn’t bash your current school, but you need to make it clear that they are lacking something that you want for your academic experience or that they aren’t a good fit for you. For example, maybe your current school has a lot of requirements, and you would thrive with an open curriculum model. Or maybe your school doesn’t have the research opportunities you are looking for. Whatever you choose, you need to weave that reason through this essay. You should also make it clear that Brown has the academic opportunities that you are looking for and that they connect with your goals, whether collegiate or beyond.
The next couple of questions are the same for first-year applicants. We actually have a blog that breaks them down more thoroughly, but if you want a quick flyover:
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. (1500 characters)
Ok, so you should have already talked at length about your major above, so it’s time to introduce a second academic interest that you hope to use the open curriculum to explore. Ideally, it should be pretty different from your major. For example, if you are majoring in math, you could write about a secondary love for art history—however, double points if you can connect your academic passions through an interesting story. For example, if you first became interested in Art History by learning about Euclid, the Golden Ratio and how artists like Dali used math, that is a great jumping-off point. You then need to speak to specific opportunities like classes and professors at Brown that you hope to take advantage of specifically.
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. (1500 characters)
Ok, so we aren’t huge fans of this question. Because of how it is worded, students feel they have to share a story about the worst thing that has happened to them. If you have faced a significant hardship, you can write about it here, but you really don’t have to. This question isn’t very long, so it makes more sense to zoom into something specific that has challenged or inspired you. It doesn’t have to be something big.
Maybe your great-grandmother was an artist, and it inspired you to learn how to paint. You then have to connect that inspiration to who you will be at Brown. Maybe you will join the art club or volunteer at a student gallery. Or maybe you had to work at your family’s small restaurant after school. It was hard sometimes, but you now have a strong work ethic and want to bring that to Brown’s student-run coffee shop. Remember, your story has to connect to who you will be in Brown’s campus community.
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. (1500 characters)
For this prompt, all you need to do is tell a short story about something that brings you joy. We recommend writing about something that isn’t academic or obvious from your resume. For example, if your whole resume is centered on math, we would rather hear about your morning jogs than about solving an equation. This can be a real human moment.
What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (750 characters)
This question is kind of hard because it is really short, and they already have your resume. However, there is likely something on your resume that could use more context. Tell a short story about the extracurricular to give that context. Ideally, this should be about a recent extracurricular (don’t write about freshman year of high school.)
Getting into Brown as a transfer is hard, but if you follow these steps, you will increase your chances of getting in. The transfer process can be hard to navigate, but if you need help, we are here for you!
Speak to a counselor today! Contact us here.