Graduate School

Accommodations for Applicants Facing Extenuating Circumstances

Brown recognizes that applicants may be affected by severe circumstances that might make it difficult to complete and submit an application by the specified deadline.

To support students facing extreme conditions, we offer some flexibility to prospective PhD and master's students who may be impacted by:

  • Natural disasters (e.g. wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods)
  • Political unrest or armed conflict
  • Sweeping network or power outages
  • Widespread health/human safety issues

If you are affected by any of these circumstances, we hope that you and those you care about are safe and well. For applicants that may be impacted by such situations, we offer the following information that may be helpful:

If you need an extension, please contact the Graduate School at graduate_admissions@brown.edu. The Graduate School will notify the program to which you are applying to review your request. 

Your official test scores can be added to your application for review as soon as we receive them, even after the deadline. 

If there is a substantial delay and you will not be able to take a required test for several months after the admissions deadline, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies of the program to which you are applying. They can offer more information and tell you if it is realistic to submit a competitive application without required scores.

Please enter your scores directly in the “Test Scores” section of the application. Your self-reported scores will be used to evaluate your application pending receipt of your official scores.

Yes. Recommenders may submit letters after the program deadline. The Graduate School will add their letters to your application for review as soon as we receive them. Some programs will begin reviewing applications right away, so it is best for recommenders to submit letters as soon as they are able.

Please upload your unofficial transcripts with your name, institution, courses taken, grades received, and any academic comments. You can submit your application without uploading an official transcript.

If you need an application fee waiver, please review the process and eligibility requirements. Please note that deadline restrictions apply.

Unfortunately, we are not able to defer payment of the application fee, and we do not accept late fee waiver requests. 

Questions

Please contact us at graduate_admissions@brown.edu with any questions.