How does NYU’s curriculum flexibility compare with Brown’s Open Curriculum?

Brown offers substantially more curricular freedom than NYU: its Open Curriculum has no general education or core distribution requirements, while NYU students must complete school- and program-specific core requirements. At Brown, you can take courses across departments without needing to satisfy preset categories, provided you complete your concentration requirements.

Brown’s model is designed around student choice from the start. Students still have advising, concentration requirements, and writing expectations within many departments, but they can build an unusually individualized academic path. Brown also allows satisfactory/no credit grading for many courses, though important restrictions apply, particularly for concentration requirements and certain programs.

NYU is flexible in a different way. The university’s size, New York City location, and breadth of schools make it possible to take classes well beyond your major, pursue minors, and in some cases take electives across NYU schools. However, the exact freedom depends heavily on where you enroll. Arts and Science students complete the Core Curriculum; Stern, Tisch, Tandon, Steinhardt, and other schools have their own required sequences and policies. Cross-school registration can also be limited by prerequisites, enrollment capacity, and school rules.

For example, an NYU student majoring in economics may have room for electives in film, politics, or music, but must plan around core courses and major requirements. A Brown student interested in the same mix could often assemble that combination with fewer university-wide requirements competing for space in the schedule.

NYU can still be an excellent place for interdisciplinary exploration, especially when its specific school aligns with your interests. But if your priority is the ability to shape nearly every semester around changing intellectual interests rather than a defined core, Brown’s Open Curriculum is much closer to the experience you are describing.