Is WashU or Brown better for a liberal arts education?

Brown is the closer match for the kind of broad, flexible liberal arts experience you’re describing. Its Open Curriculum is the biggest difference here: aside from a small set of concentration requirements, Brown does not have a general education core, so students have unusual freedom to explore across departments before committing deeply. That creates an academic culture where interdisciplinary study and intellectual self-direction are built into the structure of the college.

The classroom feel at Brown also tends to reflect that freedom. Students often mix humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences in a way that feels less boxed in by distribution requirements, and the advising culture is set up around helping students shape their own path. If your ideal liberal arts education means trying out very different fields and following curiosity first, Brown has a clearer edge.

WashU absolutely offers a strong liberal arts education, especially through Arts & Sciences, and it has real strengths in undergraduate teaching, research access, and cross-school opportunities. But academically it feels more structured than Brown. There is more emphasis on fulfilling school-based requirements, and while exploration is very possible, it happens within a framework that is less radically flexible.

Another difference is the campus academic vibe. Brown is widely seen as more openly intellectual, discussion-heavy, and student-designed in its approach to learning, while WashU often feels more pre-professional in the way students navigate academics, even within liberal arts fields. That does not make WashU less rigorous or less supportive, but it does make Brown more distinctive for someone who wants the liberal arts experience to center on freedom, experimentation, and building an education around evolving interests.