TL;DR: There is no Brown interview – and unlike its no-interview peers, Brown replaced it with something you can act on. Alumni interviews, suspended in 2020, were permanently eliminated in October 2022 after a cycle in which more than 8,000 applicants requested one and never got it (The Brown Daily Herald, 2022). In their place stands the optional video introduction: up to 90 seconds, recorded at a natural pace, uploaded through the Brown Applicant Portal, and final once submitted (Brown Undergraduate Admission, 2026). It is not required, but roughly 84 percent of one recent enrolled class submitted one, and production quality is explicitly not assessed – a phone recording is fine. To make 90 seconds carry real strategic weight, schedule a consultation with Oriel Admissions.
Does Brown offer admissions interviews?
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does Brown interview applicants | No. Alumni interviews were suspended in 2020 and permanently eliminated in October 2022 |
| What replaced it | An optional video introduction, capped at 90 seconds, uploaded through the Brown Applicant Portal shortly after you apply |
| Is the video required | No, but Brown encourages it – and in one recent class, roughly 84 percent of enrolled students had submitted one |
| The rules that matter | 90 seconds at a natural speaking pace (no sped-up audio), files up to 5GB, and the upload is final – no edits or resubmissions once it is in |
| Is production quality judged | No. Brown assesses the person, not the filmmaking; a phone recording with clear light and sound is fully sufficient |
| Why interviews ended | Equity at scale: in 2019-20, more than 8,000 applicants who requested an interview never received one, and the pool then surged past 50,000 |
Source: Brown Undergraduate Admission, Video Introduction (2026); The Brown Daily Herald (2022, 2024).
The direct answer: no. If you apply to Brown, no alumnus will contact you, there is nothing to request, and older guides describing coffee-shop conversations with Brown graduates describe a program that ended years ago. What makes Brown different from Columbia and Penn – the other schools that walked away from interviews – is that Brown built a replacement channel into the application itself. The video introduction gives every applicant, anywhere in the world, the same 90 seconds of voice that an interview once gave a lucky subset.
Why did Brown end alumni interviews?
The numbers stopped working. In 2019-20, the last cycle interviews were offered, more than 8,000 applicants who requested one never received it – volunteer capacity simply could not follow demand. The pool then jumped from roughly 37,000 to 46,568 and past 50,000 within two cycles. Dean of Admission Logan Powell framed the decision in equity terms: if an opportunity is available, it should be available to everyone. Interviews were suspended at the start of the pandemic and, in an October 2022 message to alumni, eliminated for good, with alumni engagement redirected to an Alumni Ambassadors Program that connects graduates with students after admission. The video introduction, first piloted in 2018-19 precisely because interview demand outran supply, became the sole personal channel.
The Brown video introduction: rules that matter
The mechanics reward reading the fine print once. The limit is 90 seconds, and Brown asks you to speak at a natural pace – deliberately compressing or speeding up audio to smuggle in more content is against the guidance and reads exactly as it sounds. You upload through the Brown Applicant Portal within roughly a week of receiving your application acknowledgment, files up to 5GB are supported, and the portal shows a confirmation message when the upload lands. The rule that catches people: the submission is final. Once uploaded, videos cannot be reviewed, edited, or swapped, so preview your file carefully before you commit. And Brown is explicit that production quality is not assessed – the dean has joked that this is not the Oscars – so a phone on a stable surface, decent light, and clear audio meet the entire technical bar.
What should you actually say in 90 seconds?
Something that is not already in your application. That is Brown’s own framing – the video exists to convey more about you, in your voice, beyond the written file – and it is the single best filter for choosing content. Brown’s suggested topics point the same direction: what you love about your hometown, a time music or art moved you, a book that changed your perspective, a family tradition, how you differ from your siblings or friends, your favorite time of day. Notice what those have in common: none is an achievement. The strongest videos pair one concrete, personal thing with the unforced version of your own personality, and they harmonize with the file rather than repeating it – the person on camera should sound like the person who wrote your Brown supplemental essays, extending the picture by one dimension. Introduce yourself by name and school in the first seconds, then spend the rest being specific.
Common Brown video introduction mistakes
The recurring failures: re-narrating the application – your activities list read aloud teaches the reader nothing new; overproducing – editing effects and montage polish spend hours on a variable Brown explicitly does not grade; speeding up the audio to beat the clock, which violates the guidance outright; uploading without a final preview in a system with no re-dos; and letting the roughly one-week window slip past while you chase perfection. Skipping the video entirely is not fatal – Brown evaluates videoless files fully – but when most of your competition submits one, silence is a small forfeited advantage, and at margins as thin as the Brown waitlist, small advantages are the whole game. Ninety unpolished, genuine seconds beat both silence and cinema.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Brown Interview and Video Introduction
No. Brown suspended alumni interviews in 2020 and permanently eliminated them in October 2022. The optional 90-second video introduction is now the personal channel in the application.
No, but Brown encourages it and evaluates videoless applications fully. In one recent enrolled class, roughly 84 percent of students had submitted one.
Up to 90 seconds, recorded at a natural speaking pace. Brown asks applicants not to speed up audio or video to fit more content into the limit.
No. Once uploaded through the Brown Applicant Portal, the submission is final and cannot be edited, removed, or resubmitted, so preview your file carefully first.
No. Brown states production quality is not assessed. A phone recording with clear lighting and audio meets the entire technical requirement.
Something beyond your written application: Brown suggests topics like your hometown, a book or piece of art that moved you, a family tradition, or your favorite time of day – personal texture, not achievements.
Shortly after you apply. Brown gives a window of roughly one week after your application acknowledgment, with the upload made through the Brown Applicant Portal.
Equity at scale: in the last cycle offered, more than 8,000 applicants who requested an interview never received one, and the pool then surged past 50,000 – so Brown replaced an unevenly available channel with one open to everyone.
Sources: Brown Undergraduate Admission – Video Introduction, The Brown Daily Herald – Brown permanently eliminates alumni interviews, NCES College Navigator, NACAC, Common App
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy. Our team brings deep expertise across every dimension of the application, and our distinctive 360 approach develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. To make every optional component earn its place, schedule a consultation.
