Undergraduate Admission

Eligibility Guidelines

Review the eligibility guidelines below to determine the application process that makes sense for you.

Applicants to Brown may submit only one type of application to the College in a given year. For example, students who are denied Early Decision are not eligible to reapply during Regular Decision, and students may not apply as both first-year and transfer students in the same year. Students applying to transfer to Brown may not apply simultaneously to both the transfer program and the visiting undergraduate student program.

First-Year Admission 

  • Students applying for first-year admission must have received a high school diploma or equivalent credential prior to the fall in which they would begin study at Brown.
  • Students who have completed college coursework as part of their high school experience, including dual enrollment or early college experience coursework, are considered first-year applicants. This includes students who will have completed an associate’s degree during high school.
  • Students who have enrolled at another college but completed less than one semester of academic coursework and withdrawn from their previous college or university at the time of application to Brown may apply for first-year admission. Students on a leave of absence from another college or university are not eligible to apply for first-year admission.
  • Students who have completed a semester or more of college but will have completed less than one year of university study by their intended semester of entry at Brown are not eligible to apply as first-year applicants and are encouraged to complete additional coursework to meet the transfer eligibility guidelines.
  • Students who have previously completed a bachelor’s degree or equivalent at another college or university are not eligible to apply for undergraduate admission to Brown, including first-year admission.

Early Decision 

  • First-year applicants applying Early Decision may not submit an application to another institution under another early decision, single-choice early action or restrictive early action plan.
  • Students applying to other colleges under their early admission programs should confirm with those colleges that applying to Brown does not conflict with another college’s admission policy.
  • Students admitted through Early Decision are committed to enroll at Brown and must withdraw all pending applications—including any already submitted to regular, rolling or (open) early action programs.

Regular Decision

  • Students who meet the general eligibility requirements for first-year admission and do not wish to apply Early Decision should apply Regular Decision. 

QuestBridge Admission

  • QuestBridge applicants participating in the National College Match process are considered for first-year admission to Brown.
  • Students must meet the general eligibility requirements for first-year admission in order to be considered.
  • QuestBridge applicants who match with Brown are committed to enroll and must withdraw all pending applications to other colleges.
  • Finalists who rank Brown for the Match and do not match to a binding college will automatically have their applications moved into the Regular Decision process. 
  • Finalists who ranked Brown for the Match and are not matched with a college partner may request to be considered in Early Decision.

Transfer Admission

  • Transfer students submitting an application to Brown in the fall of 2023 for entrance in spring of 2024 will only be eligible to apply if they will have completed at least one year and no more than one and a half years of full-time college enrollment before January 2024.

    Transfer students submitting an application to Brown in the spring of 2024 for entrance in fall of 2024 will only be eligible to apply if they will have completed at least one year of full-time college enrollment before September 2024.

  • University rules stipulate that anyone admitted as a transfer must be enrolled full-time at Brown for at least four semesters prior to earning an undergraduate degree. For this reason, we discourage transfer applications from students who will have accrued more than four semesters of college work prior to their enrollment at Brown.
  • High school students who are currently enrolled in dual-degree programs or early college programs are ineligible to apply as transfers. These students may only apply as first-year applicants.
  • Students who have already completed a bachelor’s degree at another college are ineligible to apply as transfers.
  • Transfer students may only submit one application per intended calendar year of entry. Once you have applied for transfer admission, you may not reapply to enter as a transfer student in the same calendar year. For example, if you apply in October of 2023 for entrance in January of 2024, you may not reapply in March of 2024 for entrance in September of 2024.
  • Citizens of a foreign country are only eligible to apply for fall semester entry.
  • Applicants from British universities must have completed a year or more of their undergraduate education prior to applying. We will make exceptions to this rule for applicants from British universities that provide graded fall semester transcripts for their students.
  • U.S. military veterans and current service members are highly encouraged to apply via Brown’s Veterans Application, regardless of their year of high school graduation or any college credits earned to date. 

Resumed Undergraduate Education (RUE) Admission

  • RUE applicants must have earned a high school diploma or equivalent and have been out of high school for six or more years by the time of proposed enrollment at Brown. 
  • Individuals who have earned a previous bachelor’s degree or have substantially more than two years of full-time college experience are not eligible for the program.
  • Applicants with little or no college experience are considered RUE first-year applicants. Those with one to two years of college credits are considered RUE transfer applicants. The application process is the same for both of these groups.

Veteran Admission

  • U.S. military veterans should apply to Brown using the Veterans Application. Veterans may use this application whether or not they have any previous college experience.
  • Veterans of other national militaries should not use the Veterans Application, but are welcome to apply via our other application options. 
  • Applicants wishing to transfer from U.S. military academies should apply as transfer students using the Common App.
  • Individuals who have earned a previous bachelor's degree are not eligible to apply for undergraduate admission to Brown, including through the Veterans Application.