Is Brown or WashU better for students who want a flexible, self-designed curriculum?

Brown is the clearer match for a student whose main priority is building an unusually self-directed academic path. Its Open Curriculum has no traditional core or broad distribution requirement, so students can explore across departments while choosing courses primarily around their concentration, interests, and skill-building goals. Brown students still must complete a concentration and meet certain course and enrollment policies, but the structure leaves far more room to change direction or combine fields without using many classes on prescribed categories.

The freedom is real, but it also means students need to create their own breadth and avoid selecting only familiar subjects.

Washington University in St. Louis offers meaningful flexibility, especially for students who want to cross schools, add a second major or minor, or use interdisciplinary options such as Beyond Boundaries. However, the experience is more structured because academic requirements vary by undergraduate division. In Arts  Sciences, students complete area and other degree requirements in addition to their major; other schools have their own curricular frameworks and professional prerequisites.

For the student described, who specifically wants to minimize distribution requirements and design a curriculum around evolving interests, Brown’s Open Curriculum is more directly aligned with that goal.