Which is better for interdisciplinary study: Northwestern or Brown?

At Brown, students have no traditional general-education distribution requirements, so they can take substantial coursework across departments without using many classes on a prescribed core. Brown’s undergraduate culture also tends to reward intellectual exploration, so combining CS with neuroscience and psychology would be normal rather than unusual.

Northwestern provides strong interdisciplinary options without requiring students to invent everything themselves. Cognitive Science is a particularly relevant established program. The quarter calendar can let students sample more courses than a semester calendar, though it moves quickly and cross-school planning may require more attention to prerequisites and degree rules.

For the interests you named, Brown is the better choice if your priority is maximum curricular flexibility and the ability to shape a distinctive academic identity. Northwestern is the better fit if you would prefer that same intersection to be supported by clearer formal pathways, a fast-paced course schedule, and a strong applied research and engineering environment.