Which offers more flexibility for designing an interdisciplinary major: Brown or Duke?

The main tradeoff is Brown’s unusually open curriculum versus Duke’s more structured degree framework with a formal self-designed-major option. At Brown, students do not have general-education or distribution requirements, so it is easier to take substantial coursework across computer science, psychology, and public policy from the start.

Duke offers interdisciplinary flexibility through Trinity College’s Program II, which allows students to propose an individualized major built around a focused intellectual question. Students develop a rationale, course plan, and faculty advising structure for approval. Duke also has established pathways in computer science, psychology, and public policy, so a student could major in one area and use a second major, minor, certificate, electives, or research to connect the others.

The practical difference is that Brown makes cross-disciplinary exploration easier before you commit to a formal design. You could take programming, cognitive science or psychology, policy-related courses, and quantitative methods without needing to fit them around a core curriculum. At Duke, the structure can help keep an interdisciplinary plan rigorous, but Program II requires earlier planning and a clearer case for why an existing major or combination is insufficient.

Brown offers more flexibility for designing the course of study itself and is likely the cleaner fit if you want to shape the combination as your interests develop. Duke is especially compelling if you prefer a defined institutional process, closer alignment with a traditional major structure, and the option to formalize a carefully planned interdisciplinary program through Program II.