Brown GPA Requirements: Why Brown Reports No GPA, and What It Does Publish

April 13, 2026

Brown University campus in Providence - Brown GPA requirements

TL;DR: We found no minimum GPA in Brown’s admissions materials, and its Common Data Set states: “Brown does not collect GPA.” Class rank is the closest official measure: 93% of first-years who entered in fall 2025 and had a rank were in the top tenth of their class, and Brown reports 97% for the Class of 2030. Brown admitted 2,687 students to the Class of 2030, a 5.6% acceptance rate, and requires the SAT or ACT, with no minimum scores. For fall 2027 entry, binding Early Decision applications were due November 1, 2026, and Early Decision applicants must have their counselor send first-quarter or trimester grades. To plan a Brown application, schedule a consultation with Oriel Admissions.

Does Brown have a minimum GPA?

No minimum appears in Brown’s published materials, and Brown does not report a GPA figure. In the GPA items of its Common Data Set (CDS) for 2025-26, a standardized report many colleges publish each year, Brown writes: “Brown does not collect GPA” (Brown CDS 2025-2026). For tests, Brown says: “There are no minimum scores required to be considered for admission” (Brown standardized tests).

What grades and class ranks do Brown students have?

Because Brown does not collect GPA, the official academic profile rests on class rank and test scores.

Measure	Value	Source
Top tenth of high school class, fall 2025 entrants with a rank	93%	CDS item C10
Top quarter, same students	98%	CDS item C10
Top half, same students	100%	CDS item C10
Share of the fall 2025 class whose school reported a rank	29%	CDS item C10
Top 10% of graduating class, Class of 2030	97%	Brown admission numbers
Average high school GPA	Not collected	CDS items C11 and C12

Sources: Brown Common Data Set 2025-2026, published as an online dashboard, and Brown admission numbers, read October 27, 2026. Brown does not say whether its Class of 2030 figure covers admitted or enrolled students. Rank shares describe only students whose schools report rank.

In our view, these figures say that Brown students are usually at the top of their own schools, but they cover fewer than a third of the class. Our guide to the Brown acceptance rate covers the admission numbers by year.

How does Brown weigh grades against other factors?

Factor (CDS item C7)	How Brown rates it
Rigor of secondary school record	Very important
Class rank	Very important
Academic GPA	Very important
Standardized test scores	Very important
Application essay	Very important
Recommendations	Very important
Extracurricular activities	Important
Talent or ability	Very important
Character and personal qualities	Very important
Interview	Not considered

Source: Brown CDS 2025-2026, item C7, which covers decisions on the class that entered in fall 2025.

Brown rates academic GPA very important even though it does not record a GPA figure. In our reading, that means readers work from the grades on the transcript, in the context of the school, rather than from a single number. Among the colleges in our comparison below whose ratings we could read (Princeton’s could not be read), Brown is one of three, with Dartmouth and Stanford, that rate test scores very important.

What does Brown ask applicants to send about their grades?

An official transcript must come from the school counselor or another school official, along with the School Report. “Early Decision applicants are required to have their counselor submit first quarter or trimester grades as soon as they are available,” and all applicants should have their school send midyear or second-trimester grades as soon as they are available; the midyear report is due February 27 or as soon as possible after the first semester (Brown application checklist). In our experience, senior-year grades matter more at a college that reads the transcript course by course, so a strong first quarter is worth planning for.

What test scores do Brown students have, and is testing required for fall 2027?

Yes. Brown “returned to a policy requiring standardized test scores (either SAT or ACT scores) for first-year applicants beginning with the 2024-25 admission cycle,” and it superscores the SAT, the ACT or both. Brown calls scores “Not determinative, but informative” and says it considers them “in the context from which each individual student is applying” (Brown standardized tests).

Test (fall 2025 entering class)	25th percentile	Median	75th percentile	Share who submitted
SAT total	1470	1520	1550	77%
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing	730	750	770
SAT Math	730	770	790
ACT composite	33	35	35	28%

Source: Brown CDS 2025-2026, item C9. For admitted students in the Class of 2030, Brown reports middle 50% ranges of 1470 to 1550 on the SAT and 34 to 36 on the ACT (Brown admission numbers).

How does Brown compare with other highly selective colleges?

College	Average GPA reported (C12)	Share at 4.0 (C11)	Top tenth of class (C10)	Class of 2029 (fall 2025) admit rate	Class of 2030 (fall 2026) admit rate
Harvard	4.22	74.7%	95%	4.2%	3.7%
Yale	Not reported	Not reported	97%	4.7%	4.4%
Princeton	3.96	72%	Not reported	4.4%	4.1%
Columbia	4.25	74.9%	94%	4.9%	4.2%
Penn	3.9	59%	92%	4.9%	About 5.8% (reported admits)
Brown	Not collected	Not collected	93%	6.3%	5.6%
Dartmouth	Not reported	Not reported	96%	6.0%	5.8%
Cornell	Not reported	Not reported	84%	8.4%	9.2%
MIT	Not reported	Not reported	97%	4.6%	Not yet posted
Stanford	3.94	73.0%	97%	3.8%	Not published

Sources: each college’s Common Data Set (CDS) 2025-2026, items C1, C10, C11 and C12, for first-year students who entered in fall 2025 (the Class of 2029); Cornell’s fall 2025 rate (6,077 of 72,523) is from its University Factbook. Class of 2030 rates come from each college’s latest release: Harvard admissions statistics, the Yale College Class Profile, Fall 2026 (rate as Yale states it), the Princeton profile (as of August 18, 2026), the Columbia Class of 2030 Profile (as of August 22, 2026), Brown admission numbers (rate as Brown states it), Dartmouth News, March 30, 2026 and the Cornell factbook. Brown’s two rates use different applicant counts (42,774 in its CDS and 47,944 on its admission numbers page), so they are not directly comparable. Stanford has not posted a Class of 2030 admit count, and MIT’s statistics page still showed the Class of 2029 on October 27, 2026. Penn has posted applications but not admits; its figure uses the 3,575 admits its dean reported to the trustees, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Other rates are by our calculation. Harvard says its admit count includes students admitted from the waiting list (103 for the Class of 2030), and CDS admit counts can include them too, while Dartmouth’s rate comes from its March announcement. The averages are not on a common scale: Columbia’s C11 and C12 cover the 72.2% of enrolled students whose GPA was recorded on a 4.0 scale, and averages above 4.0 suggest that some weighted values are included. Brown says it does not collect GPA. Class rank covers only students whose schools rank: about 12% of the class at Cornell, 23% to 31% at Penn, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Yale and MIT, and 44% at Dartmouth.

Brown is the only college in the table that says it does not collect GPA. Its fall 2025 rate of 6.3% comes from its CDS, which counts 42,774 applicants; the 5.6% Class of 2030 rate comes from Brown’s admission numbers page, which counts 47,944 applications. In our view, the two sources are not directly comparable, so we do not read them as a change in selectivity. Our guide to the Ivy League acceptance rates compares trends.

Can you get into Brown with a GPA below 3.75?

Brown publishes no GPA distribution and does not collect GPA, so there is no official answer in numbers. The view of Oriel Admissions is that a student whose grades are below the top of the school should treat Brown as a reach and rely on the transcript itself: the rigor of the courses, the trend across years and a strong senior year, with the counselor letter and school profile supplying context. Our guide on whether a 3.7 GPA is good enough for the Ivy League uses the GPA bands that other colleges publish.

Does applying Early Decision help at Brown?

Brown’s binding Early Decision deadline is November 1, and the Regular Decision deadline is January 5, with decisions by early April (Brown first-year applicants), and submitting the Early Decision agreement “confirms your commitment to enroll at Brown if admitted Early Decision” (Brown application checklist); for fall 2027 entry, that means November 1, 2026, now passed, and January 5, 2027. For the class that entered in fall 2025, Brown’s CDS reports 5,062 Early Decision applications and 907 admits, 17.9% by our calculation, against 6.3% overall. For the Class of 2030, Brown admitted 889 students through Early Decision. In our view, the higher early rate reflects a self-selected pool as well as the plan, and Early Decision suits a student for whom Brown is the clear first choice and whose family has checked the aid estimate. Our guide to the Brown Early Decision acceptance rate covers the trend.

Frequently Asked Questions About Brown GPA Requirements

What is the minimum GPA for Brown?

We found no minimum GPA in the Brown admissions materials, and the Brown Common Data Set says Brown does not collect GPA. It also says there are no minimum test scores required for admission.

What is the average GPA at Brown?

Brown does not report one. The GPA items in the Brown Common Data Set for 2025-26 say only that Brown does not collect GPA.

What class rank do Brown students have?

Of first-years who entered in fall 2025 and had a class rank, 93% were in the top tenth. Brown reports that 97% of the Class of 2030 were in the top 10% of their graduating class.

Does Brown require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027?

Yes. Brown has required the SAT or ACT for first-year applicants since the 2024-25 cycle, superscores either test, and sets no minimum scores.

What was the Brown acceptance rate for the Class of 2030?

Brown reports 2,687 students admitted from 47,944 applications to the Class of 2030, an acceptance rate of 5.6%, including 889 admitted through Early Decision.

Does Brown look at senior year grades?

Yes. Early Decision applicants must have their counselor send first-quarter or trimester grades, and all applicants should send midyear grades as soon as they are available.

When is the Brown Early Decision deadline for fall 2027?

Early Decision applications were due November 1, 2026. Regular Decision applications are due January 5, 2027, with decisions by early April.

How does Oriel Admissions suggest reading the Brown grade data?

Oriel Admissions suggests reading the class rank figures as a profile of the class rather than a cutoff, and treating Brown as one of several reach schools.

About Oriel Admissions

Oriel Admissions is a college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey and New York. Our team pairs deep admissions expertise with a distinctive 360 approach spanning academic planning, extracurricular strategy, essays and application execution. To discuss your strategy, schedule a consultation.