For the 2024–2025 cycle, Brown University reported an overall acceptance rate of 5.38%, in line with peers such as Dartmouth and Penn, which both reported around 5.4%. On its own, that figure doesn’t tell us much beyond the obvious: admission to schools at this level is brutally competitive. When you’re dealing with ultra‑selective institutions, surface-level stats only scratch the surface. To actually understand what’s happening, you have to look at patterns over time, shifts in applicant pools, and how different parts of the process interact with one another. And that’s exactly why we dig into this data every year, to help students approach the admissions process with smarter, more informed strategies.
Every year, hundreds of colleges and universities publish a document known as the Common Data Set (or CDS). The CDS is a collaborative initiative designed to provide consistent, reliable data to organizations like U.S. News & World Report, College Board, and others that rank and profile schools. There are ten total sections in the CDS, but today, we’re going to zoom in on just one piece of Brown University’s 2024–2025 CDS. In Section C, which covers First-Time, First-Year Admission, we find the information we need.
Trend Spotting: Five Years of Brown Admissions
Before we analyze this year’s data, let’s look at the last five years of admissions:
| Year | Total Applicants | Number of Admitted Students | Acceptance Rate | ED Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 48,904 | 2,638 | 5.39% | 14.36% |
| 2024 | 51,316 | 2,686 | 5.23% | 13.02% |
| 2023 | 50,649 | 2,562 | 5.06% | 14.58% |
| 2022 | 46,568 | 2,568 | 5.51% | 15.95% |
| 2021 | 36,793 | 2,822 | 7.67% | 17.59% |
Key Takeaways for Brown’s Five-Year Trend:
More applicants are applying to Brown every year, and we believe that number will only go up
Acceptance rates for RD and ED are both steadily declining
Nearly 50,000 students applied to Brown last year, and the truth is, a lot of them are probably really qualified. But there are only so many spots to give out, and you have to do things to help you set yourself apart from the crowd. At the bare minimum, perfect grades and scores – but really competitive applicants also have incredibly deep, niche academic interests and activities.
C1: First-Time, First-Year Admission, Applications
The very first part of Section C gives us a lot of raw admissions data – how many students applied, where they’re from, and who eventually enrolled. From there, we’ve been able to calculate acceptance and yield rates for each category.
| First-time, first-year applicants | Total | Admitted | Acceptance rate | Enrolled | Yield rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 18,960 | 1,326 | 6.99% | 855 | 64.50% |
| Women | 29,917 | 1,309 | 4.38% | 863 | 65.90% |
| Another gender | 27 | 3 | 11% | 1 | 33.30% |
| First time first year applicants | Total | In-state | Out-of-state | International | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applied | 48,904 | 591 | 37,382 | 10,919 | 12 |
| Admitted | 2,638 | 59 | 2,103 | 475 | 1 |
| Acceptance rate | 5.39% | 9.98% | 5.62% | 4.35% | 8.33% |
| Enrolled | 1,719 | 52 | 1,362 | 304 | 1 |
| Yield rate | 65.16% | 88.10% | 64.80% | 64% | 100% |
Key Takeaways for Acceptance Rates:
Almost twice as many women apply to Brown as men
Brown welcomes more gender diverse students than most Ivies
In-state admission for Brown is almost 10%
Let’s just say WOW that gender disparity is wild.
C9-C2: First-Time, First-Year Profile, or Scores and Grades
Next admissions cycle, Brown will implement a test-required policy, which is part of a growing trend among Ivy League schools. After a few years of experimenting with test-optional admissions, many institutions noticed a troubling pattern: students admitted without scores often struggle more academically once on campus. Still, we can get valuable insight into Brown’s stance on testing by looking closely at their score distribution data:
| Percent | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Submitting SAT Scores | 61% | 1,046 |
| Submitting ACT Scores | 24% | 410 |
Why This Matters: Even though Brown was test-optional, 85% of applicants were still submitting test scores. And as you’ll see below, they were fantastic scores.
Even with the previous test-optional policies in place, a clear majority of Brown applicants, 85%, still chose to include their scores. Sure, some of that can be chalked up to self-selection (high scorers are more likely to report), but we also know that Ivy League caliber candidates are submitting Ivy League caliber scores.
| Test | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT Composite | 1510 | 1540 | 1560 |
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading + Writing | 740 | 760 | 780 |
| SAT Math | 770 | 780 | 800 |
| ACT Composite | 34 | 35 | 35 |
| ACT Math | 32 | 34 | 35 |
| ACT English | 35 | 35 | 36 |
| ACT Science | 33 | 35 | 36 |
| ACT Reading | 34 | 35 | 36 |
First-time, first-year students with scores in each range:
| Score Range | SAT Evidence-Based Reading + Writing | SAT Math |
|---|---|---|
| 700-800 | 96% | 97% |
| 600-699 | 4% | 3% |
| 500-599 | 0% | 0% |
| Score Range | SAT Composite |
|---|---|
| 1400-1600 | 97% |
| 1200-1399 | 2% |
| 1000-1199 | 0% |
| Score Range | ACT Composite | ACT English | ACT Math |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-36 | 97% | 96% | 91% |
| 24-29 | 3% | 3% | 8% |
| 18-23 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Standardized Test Score Takeaways:
The middle 50 for the SAT is 1510-1560, and 34-35 for the ACT
The average Brown admit is scoring a 1550+ or 35+ on their standardized tests
Getting less than a 700 on a SAT section or 30 on an ACT section greatly reduces your chances
Brown doesn’t release GPA data in the same way other schools do, but we do get some insight into the grades you should have based on their class rank data:
| Class Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Top tenth of HS graduating class | 89% |
| Top quarter of HS graduating class | 98% |
| Top half of HS graduating class | 100% |
| Percent reporting class rank | 30.60% |
Key GPA Takeaways:
The vast, vast majority of applicants were in their HS’s top 10%
Only 30% of applicants submitted class rank – but it’s important to note that not every high school tracks class rank.
TL;DR? For the best shot at admission, you need perfect grades and scores.
We know this might come off a bit blunt, and we’re sorry that the world is the way it is. But we believe in offering honest, clear guidance. Our job is to help you identify the schools that align with both your goals and your strengths. You deserve to end up at a college that not only offers the programs you’re excited about but also fits your academic profile.
Early Decision
Brown is fairly ED-friendly. Their Early Decision acceptance rate usually hovers around 14–15%, which has historically looked appealing compared to peer institutions. But that number has been steadily shrinking. Why? Because as more applicants throw their hat in the ED ring hoping to boost their odds, the pool grows, but the number of available spots doesn’t. So naturally, the admit rate starts dropping.
| Number of ED applications | 6,251 |
|---|---|
| Number of ED acceptances | 898 |
| ED acceptance rate | 14.37% |
Why This Matters: Brown’s ED acceptance rate is almost 3x as high as their overall acceptance rate – but that doesn’t mean it’s a slam dunk kind of guarantee.
Waitlist
Brown stands out as one of the few elite schools that share their waitlist statistics, unlike many Ivies, which choose not to disclose them. Well. They kind of share their waitlist data. You’ll see what we mean:
| Students placed on waitlist | n/a |
|---|---|
| Students accepting a spot on the waitlist | n/a |
| Students admitted off the waitlist | 118 |
| Waitlist acceptance rate | unknown |
Why This Matters: We have no idea how many students were waitlisted or what the acceptance rate was off the waitlist, but 118 in a class of ~1700 is pretty significant and abnormal for the Ivy League.
Despite some ambiguity, we do know that getting off the waitlist at Brown is not impossible – and we help students do it every year. While it’s annoying they don’t give us all the information, the information we do have is promising.
Considerations
The “Considerations” part of the CDS gets into more subjective factors, things like essays, extracurriculars, and “talent,” whatever that means.
| Academic Factors | Very Important | Important | Considered | Not Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigor of secondary school record | X | |||
| Class rank | X | |||
| Academic GPA | X | |||
| Standardized test scores | X | |||
| Application Essay | X | |||
| Recommendation(s) | X |
Key Takeaways for Academic Factors:
Everything is very important to Brown!
You need to make sure everything you can control here is in the best shape possible
| Nonacademic Factors | Very Important | Important | Considered | Not Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interview | X | |||
| Extracurricular activities | X | |||
| Talent/ability | X | |||
| Character/personal qualities | X | |||
| First generation | X | |||
| Alumni/ae relation | X | |||
| Geographical residence | X | |||
| State residency | X | |||
| Religious affiliation/commitment | X | |||
| Volunteer work | X | |||
| Work experience | X | |||
| Level of applicant’s interest | X |
Key Takeaways for Nonacademic Factors:
Brown does not track demonstrated interest
Your interview, if you have one at all, has no impact
The hard-to-quantify things, like talent or character, are “very important,” which feels like a cop-out to us
When it comes to nonacademic admissions factors, some are relatively straightforward – like where you live, while others, such as “character/personal qualities,” are far more vague. It’s likely that these get pieced together from your essays, recommendations, and overall tone, but there’s no exact formula to game when it comes to something so subjective.
We also want to push back a bit on Brown marking activities as just “important.” For serious contenders in this applicant pool, the differentiators are precisely those personal, less quantifiable elements. Top-tier Penn applicants aren’t simply participating in a few clubs or holding a leadership role here and there – they’re building out niche, well-aligned activities that highlight intellectual depth and a real sense of purpose. And yes, we work with students every year to craft those standout profiles.
Conclusion
So what should you take away from all this? In short: Brown is incredibly competitive, but that part isn’t news to you. But now you’ve got a more informed sense of the numbers and how to approach them strategically.
That said, data only takes us so far. It reveals patterns and expectations, but it can’t capture your individual story. When we support students through this process, whether they’re recruited athletes, REA applicants, legacies, or none of the above, our baseline academic advice remains consistent. What shifts, however, is the strategy. We tailor that piece to who you are – your goals, your interests, and your strengths.
One way to increase your odds? Working with data-driven college consultants who are experts in the field and have an incredibly high rate of success getting students into Brown.
We help countless students gain admission to top universities every single year – reach out to us today to get started.