<p>I want to major in linguistics. I like the NYC idea, but Brown is also extremely appealing for many opposing reasons; namely, curricular freedom versus the dreaded Core (which I think I would still enjoy a great deal, despite it being very restrictive).</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I received a likely letter from Columbia, but none from Brown (although I still have high hopes).</p>
<p>I have also applied to Penn, but I think I have less of a chance of getting in there than Columbia and Brown. If I get in, I’d like to go there, as well - it has the best linguistics department.</p>
<p>Wow, you’re the first person ever to think about the open curric vs a core, I doubt you would find anyone else who has ever had to choose between Columbia/Penn or Brown if you used the search function on this site. You may even be the first person to ever apply to a college!!</p>
<p>Sorry, new user here. Cut me some slack.</p>
<p>nope, alvie.singer is not the first person to debate between core/open curriculum. i had a really hard time picking brown over chicago. i suppose as a freshman, given that i was quite clueless in what i’d want to do, the idea of taking a rigorous set of ‘basic knowledge’ was sounds pretty good – i can use it as a soundboard to decide what i really want to do.</p>
<p>that said, i think rather than confusing between core/non-core, why don’t you take a look at the linguistics department in both colleges and see which one piques your interests more? i’m pretty blind when it comes to that field, but hopefully we have some linguists here that can fill in the gaps.</p>
<p>I looked. Brown is significantly better than Columbia in this regard.</p>
<p>I also love how Brown is enjoying a surge of applications right now; although this could be bad for me!! ;)</p>
<p>I do think that Brown is particularly strong in this area. That being said, I’ve made many posts about the open curriculum on this board and I think you should search around for those. They may be helpful and help spur a bit more of a specific question that we can help you with.</p>
<p>“nope, alvie.singer is not the first person to debate between core/open curriculum.”</p>
<p>look up something may have gone over your head LOL</p>