Is Columbia or Brown academically more difficult?

The biggest practical difference is that Columbia builds a demanding shared curriculum into nearly every student’s schedule, while Brown gives students much more control over how intense and structured their course load becomes. Columbia’s Core Curriculum includes required, discussion-heavy courses in areas such as literature, philosophy, art, music, science, and writing, on top of major requirements. That can make semesters feel consistently full even for students outside the humanities.

Brown is not academically easy; its courses are rigorous and students can create extremely challenging programs. But the Open Curriculum removes most college-wide distribution requirements, so a student has more freedom to take fewer unrelated subjects, explore courses gradually, or shape a schedule around a concentration. Brown’s culture is often described as collaborative and self-directed, whereas Columbia can feel more externally structured and fast-paced, partly because students are balancing the Core with the energy and distractions of New York City.

For overall workload and built-in academic pressure, Columbia is likely to feel more difficult for the typical student because the Core adds sustained reading, writing, and required coursework regardless of major. Brown can be just as hard academically, especially in demanding STEM, humanities, or preprofessional paths, but its flexibility gives students more ability to calibrate the pressure. The choice should turn on whether you want a required common intellectual foundation or the freedom to design your own academic path.