What is unique about Brown's Open Curriculum?

Brown's Open Curriculum is unique for eliminating traditional core requirements, empowering students to design personalized courses of study, and fostering deep exploration across disciplines, supported by features like the "shopping period" for trying classes and flexible "concentrations" (majors) that allow for self-directed learning, focusing on intellectual curiosity over rigid structure.

What makes Brown's Open Curriculum special?

The Open Curriculum enables you to craft a rigorous but personalized degree program that fits your interests, strengths and goals, while also encouraging exploration and challenge.

What makes Brown unique?

Innovative, student-centered learning

Brown's academic excellence is rooted in a student-centered model of learning. The Open Curriculum is a flexible but rigorous approach to education that pushes students to be creative thinkers, intellectual risk-takers and entrepreneurial problem-solvers.

How is Brown different from other Ivies?

And while the Open Curriculum and Pass/Fail system at Brown have given Brown a reputation of being less academically rigorous than the other Ivies, Brown encourages its students to explore beyond their major and focus on fostering intellectual curiosity rather than upping their GPA.

How does an Open Curriculum work?

The open curriculum is based on a belief in the power of student choice exercised in collaboration with faculty. Such a curriculum gives students great freedom but expects considerable responsibility in return, and it requires significant faculty engagement to shape, support, and inspire student learning.

Brown’s Open Curriculum

How do brown concentrations work?

Brown offers more than 80 concentrations, what some colleges call majors. You'll sample courses in a wide range of subjects before immersing yourself in one of these focused areas. To complement your concentration, you may also choose to complete one of several interdisciplinary undergraduate certificates.

What is the open school model of curriculum?

It provides open and distance learning (ODL) opportunities at the school level, mainly through self-paced, home-based learning. The Open school features the convenience of flexible learning option without barring age where students can learn subject of their choice and interest.

Is Brown harder than Harvard?

With a 6.6% acceptance rate, Brown admits 2% more candidates than Harvard, which is the most challenging school to get into. Out of 38,674 applicants, that equates to around 2,552 admissions. Although Brown may accept more applicants than non-Ivy League schools, they maintain a rigorous standard.

Is Brown as good as Yale?

Neither Brown nor Yale is objectively "better," as the choice depends on your priorities, but Yale often ranks higher overall, while Brown is known for its unique Open Curriculum and relaxed culture; Yale offers more traditional prestige and stronger graduate programs like Law, while Brown attracts students seeking exploration and a less competitive, happier environment with greater academic freedom. Yale might suit those prioritizing global recognition, specific top-tier grad schools, or a classic Ivy experience, whereas Brown appeals to self-directed learners wanting flexibility and community. 

What is the #1 hardest school to get into?

There isn't one single #1 hardest school, as it varies slightly by year and source, but Harvard University, Stanford University, MIT, and Caltech consistently rank among the top, often with acceptance rates below 4%, with some lists pointing to Harvard or even Minerva University as the absolute lowest (around 1-3%) due to extreme competition and high standards. 

Is it harder to get into Yale or brown?

Yale is generally considered slightly harder to get into than Brown based on recent acceptance rates, with Yale often having a lower percentage, but both are extremely competitive Ivies, meaning the difference is minimal and the process is highly subjective, with many factors beyond just statistics. For example, Yale's Class of 2028 acceptance rate was around 3.7%, while Brown's was about 5.2%, but both are among the most difficult schools to gain admission to. 

Why is brown so prestigious?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In recognition of its exceptional teaching, high-impact research, generous financial aid and signature student experience, Brown University continued in 2025 to place among top schools in national and international rankings of universities.

Is brown the happiest ivy?

Campus happiness: Brown is widely known as the happiest Ivy, perhaps because of students' freedom to choose courses with almost complete autonomy.

What makes Brown University unique?

Our commitment to educational innovation, diversity and inclusion, collaboration and making an impact in the world is at the core of what we do. Brown is an internationally-renowned Ivy League university known for innovative education, multidisciplinary research, complex problem-solving and community service.

Can I get into Brown with a 1480 sat?

Yes, you can get into Brown with a 1480 SAT score, as it falls within the middle 50% range (1480-1560) for admitted students, but admission is holistic, meaning your strong GPA, compelling essays, extracurriculars, and recommendations are crucial to stand out in their very selective process, especially since 25% of admitted students score below 1480. 

What college has the hardest curriculum?

Most Rigorous Colleges – Top 10 Colleges That Will Kick Your Butt 05/20/22

• 9.) California Institute of Technology.
• 8.) Johns Hopkins University.
• 7.) University of Pennsylvania.
• 6.) Harvard University.
• 5) Carnegie Mellon University.
• 4) University of Chicago.
• 3) Swarthmore College.
• 2) Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Is it harder to get into Cornell or Brown?

While both are extremely selective Ivies, Brown University often appears slightly harder to get into than Cornell University due to its lower acceptance rates (around 5-7% versus Cornell's 8-9% in recent years), though Cornell's vast size and varied colleges also influence its numbers, making them comparable challenges, with your major significantly impacting difficulty. 

Is Brown a tier 1 school?

The Ivy League is a group of eight prestigious private universities in the Northeastern US: Harvard University, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. While the eight Ivies are all considered Tier 1, not all Tier 1 schools are part of the Ivy League.

Why is Brown so hard to get into?

It is extremely difficult to get accepted to Brown University. The grade point averages of people who get accepted to Brown are in the top tenth of their class. People who successfully get into Brown also tend to have impressive extracurricular activities and college applications essays.

What type of student thrives at Brown?

We are a community that celebrates deep intellectual curiosity, creativity and individuality. And Brown has long enjoyed a reputation for students who are at the same time happy and fulfilled.

Why did Bill Gates quit Harvard?

In 1975, the MITS Altair 8800 was released based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw the opportunity to start their own computer software company. Gates dropped out of Harvard that same year. His parents were supportive of him after seeing how much he wanted to start his own company.

Can a 2.5 GPA go to Harvard?

While it's technically possible to get into Harvard with a 2.5 GPA due to their holistic review, it's extremely improbable and requires truly exceptional, world-class achievements in other areas (like being a top recruited athlete, a Nobel laureate's child, or having massive family donations) to overcome such a low academic record. The average admitted student has a GPA near perfect (4.0+), and a 2.5 signals significant academic risk that most candidates can't compensate for, even with high test scores. 

Why is Brown's open curriculum good?

At most universities, students must complete a set of core courses. At Brown, our students develop a personalized course of study — they have greater freedom to study what they choose and the flexibility to discover what they love.

What are the 4 types of curriculum?

The four common types of curriculum are the Explicit (or Formal), Implicit (or Hidden), Null, and Extracurricular, representing what's planned, unstated, excluded, and done outside core classes, respectively, with other models focusing on intended vs. learned, subject-centered vs. learner-centered, or different stages of implementation like the taught, supported, and assessed curricula.
 

Is open curriculum worth it?

Pros of open curriculum schools

Students can design a personalized course of study. Students have greater agency and flexibility when selecting courses. An open curriculum fosters independence and creativity. Students are more likely to take courses they enjoy.