Is Cornell or Brown better for interdisciplinary studies?

Brown has the edge for interdisciplinary studies because its curriculum is built around student-designed academic paths, while Cornell offers more breadth through its many colleges but with more structure and school-specific requirements. At Brown, the Open Curriculum removes most general education requirements, making it easier to combine fields without spending as much time on distribution rules. Brown also has a long-established culture of concentrations and independent academic design that supports students who want their education to cross boundaries.

The biggest difference is curricular freedom. Brown students can move across departments with relatively little friction, and the school is especially friendly to mixing humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences in one coherent plan. Programs like independent concentrations make it possible to build an academic path that does not fit neatly into a standard major, which is one of Brown’s clearest strengths for someone who wants integrated rather than just broad study.

Cornell’s advantage is institutional range. Because it has multiple undergraduate colleges and strong offerings spanning engineering, agriculture, labor relations, hotel administration, human ecology, arts and sciences, and more, it can be excellent for interdisciplinary work that connects very different professional or technical areas. The tradeoff is that Cornell’s internal structure matters more. Your flexibility depends a lot on which undergraduate college you enter, and crossing between colleges or combining requirements can be more administratively complicated than at Brown.

Brown also tends to feel more intentionally designed for students who want to explore before narrowing their focus. Cornell can absolutely support interdisciplinary work, especially through minors, cross-college programs, and its sheer academic scale, but it often feels like you are connecting strong existing units. At Brown, the system itself more actively encourages that blending from the start.