How to Apply to Psychology at Brown University: No Admission by Major and a Sophomore-Year Concentration Declaration, With Requirements and Timeline for Chinese High School, Canadian High School and Transfer Students

Brown University does not admit students by academic interest. In the Brown questions on the Common App you list your top choices of concentration (Brown’s word for major); Brown says there are no quotas among concentrations and the information only helps it understand your current interests. Psychology is offered by the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences (CPSY), and you declare it after you arrive. Here is what you need to know for fall 2027 entry, based on Brown’s official information, for students at high schools in China, students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver), and transfer students.

1. The psychology concentration

• When to declare: no later than the middle of your fourth semester (usually spring of sophomore year), before pre-registering for semester five; otherwise you cannot register for fifth-semester courses. Transfers entering with fourth- or fifth-semester standing declare in their first term.
• Two degrees:
  • AB: statistics (CPSY 0900, ideally by the fourth semester), research methods and design (CPSY 1900 or an approved lab course), five foundation courses below the 1000 level, four electives (at least two 1000-level CPSY courses, up to two outside CPSY) and a capstone (independent study or approved seminar);
  • ScB: all AB requirements plus five related STEM courses, at least two of them 1000-level CPSY courses, with the rest from departments such as applied math, biology, computer science, chemistry, math, neuroscience or physics.
• Honors: apply in semester 7 to carry out research with a faculty mentor; statistics and research methods must be complete first, and finding a mentor early is encouraged.
• The department’s own website returned an error to our requests; check its undergraduate page for the current list of foundation courses.

2. Deadlines and materials

• Early Decision (ED): due 1 November (11:59 p.m. your local time), decisions by mid-December. ED is binding; outcomes are admit, defer to Regular Decision, or deny (denied ED applicants cannot reapply in RD that year). Brown says ED does not improve your chances: it makes the same decisions as in RD.
• Regular Decision (RD): due 5 January, decisions by early April, reply by 1 May.
• Platform: the Common App.
• SAT or ACT (required):
  • no minimum scores; Brown superscores the SAT and ACT; the SAT Essay, ACT Writing and ACT Science are optional;
  • self-reporting is allowed, with official scores required if you enrol;
  • test by the last October date for ED and the last December date for RD;
  • SAT code 3094, ACT code 3800, TOEFL code 3094.

3. Students at high schools in China

• Basics: you must complete secondary school; Brown’s first-years have usually completed 12 to 13 years of schooling. Brown evaluates you in the context of your country’s education system and gives no preference to any system or country.
• National exams: Brown asks you to plan to sit national or international exams (such as A-Levels or the IB) and submit predicted or actual results, with actual results before enrolment. If you are in a national curriculum but do not plan to take the corresponding exams, you and your school should explain this in writing when you apply.
• Brown puts it plainly: you should feel confident that your accomplishments would get you into a leading university in your own country.
• English requirements are in section 5.

4. Students at Canadian high schools

• Materials, deadlines and SAT/ACT requirements are the same. Brown does not list province-specific requirements, including for BC.
• If English has been your primary language of instruction throughout secondary school, Brown does not recommend an extra English test (section 5).
• Aid: Brown does not describe a separate aid process for Canadian students; admission is need-blind for international first-year applicants (section 6), and you can ask financial_aid@brown.edu for details.

5. English requirements

• Brown strongly recommends a test for international applicants whose first language, home language and secondary-school language of instruction are not English. Proficiency must be achieved before admission: Brown offers no ESL courses for undergraduates and does not admit students provisionally.
• Minimum scores expected in most cases:
  • TOEFL taken before January 2026: 105; January 2026 or later: 5.5 (Home Edition accepted);
  • IELTS 8.0;
  • Duolingo 130; PTE 75; Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 191.
• No TOEFL MyBest scores. If you self-report, official reports are due in May 2027 for fall 2027 entry; if your result expires before then, have it sent before it expires.

6. Costs and financial aid

• 2026-27 cost for new first-years (US$): tuition 74,568, fees 3,084 (including a US$100 academic record fee for new students), housing 10,710, food 8,754, personal 2,878, total 99,994.
• International aid:
  • since fall 2025 entry (the Class of 2029), Brown is need-blind for international applicants;
  • it meets full demonstrated need for admitted students who apply for aid when they apply for admission;
  • Brown offers no merit awards;
  • international applicants file the CSS Profile (open from 1 October 2026; Brown offers no fee waivers), due 2 November 2026 for ED and 1 February 2027 for RD.

7. Transfer students

• International students can enter only in the fall; spring entry is for US citizens and permanent residents.
• Fall 2027: due 1 March 2027, mid-term report by 1 April, decisions by mid-May, two weeks to accept, and the official 2026-2027 transcript by 15 June.
• Eligibility: two or four semesters (or three, four or six quarters) of full-time college study completed before September 2027. Transfers must spend at least four full-time semesters at Brown, so students with more than four semesters cannot apply. College credit earned in high school does not transfer; bachelor’s holders cannot apply. Students at universities that give only year-end grades must complete at least a year first.
• Testing: SAT/ACT optional for transfers; English requirements are the same as for first-years.
• Credit: most liberal arts courses similar to Brown’s transfer. Your offer letter includes a preliminary credit estimate and your entering semester level (first- or second-semester sophomore, or first-semester junior); final credit is set after you enrol, and departments decide what counts toward a concentration. AP, internships, summer programmes, correspondence or self-paced courses and courses of four weeks or less do not transfer; pass/fail courses need proof of C or better.

Checklist

Students at high schools in China:

• Submit by 1 November (ED) or 5 January (RD); list psychology in the Brown questions
• SAT or ACT required (test by October for ED, December for RD)
• New TOEFL 5.5 / IELTS 8.0 / Duolingo 130 or above
• If you will not sit the Gaokao, explain in writing with your school
• For aid, file the CSS Profile by 2 November (ED) or 1 February (RD)

Students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver):

• Same deadlines and testing
• For aid, confirm the process for Canadian students with Brown’s financial aid office

Transfer students:

• Apply by 1 March 2027 for fall entry, with two or four full-time semesters completed
• SAT/ACT optional; declare psychology after entry, in your first term if you enter with fourth- or fifth-semester standing

Sources: Brown University, Early Decision; Regular Decision; First-year application checklist; Standardized tests; Selecting academic fields; International admission criteria; English proficiency; International financial aid; Applying for aid as an international first-year; Transfer eligibility; Transfer credit; Transfer calendar; Transfer testing; 2026-27 Bulletin: Psychology; Declaring a concentration; Cost of attendance. Information is for fall 2027 entry. Check Brown for the latest details.