<p>...Colleges that allow you to literally make up whatever schedule you want.</p>
<p>The only two I know of are Grinnell College and Amherst.</p>
<p>Amherst is too much of a reach for me and I'm already applying to Grinnell. Are there any others?</p>
<p>Brown is the only one I can think of right now....</p>
<p>I am pretty sure New College of Florida.</p>
<p>I think Cornell somewhat. They require two semesters of freshman writing and two semesters of gym. The writing can be in any discipline though. It can be about art... literature... movies... engineering... whatever. I consider that pretty much no core but you may not.</p>
<p>Amherst and Brown. Cornell has a swimming requirement or you cannot graduate. It's like the Navy. You have to PASS swimming, not just take a course. You can test out, or take a course as one of the PE requirements. Either way, you have to pass their swim test.</p>
<p>The swim test applies with Columbia too. I didn't think it was worth mentioning considering you have to take two semesters of gym. If you fail, you're automatically enrolled in the swimming one level class.</p>
<p>...hmm.</p>
<p>Those schools seem too difficult. Grinnell is a reach for me.</p>
<p>Vassar has what is pretty much an open curriculum. There are only three requirements...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One Freshman Writing Seminar during your first year at Vassar. This is offered in a variety of different departments (English, History, Political Science, German Studies, American Culture, Africana Studies, Francophone Studies (French), Italian Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, etc.) and is basically a class of no more than 18 students which focuses on getting you used to writing in college and allowing you to meet and work with a professor on a deeper level than you might be able to in introductory classes. It's really low-key and because it's offered in so many different departments, it's really not that hard of a requirement to fulfill.</p></li>
<li><p>One credit in a foreign language. You can get a language credit through a year of an introductory foreign language or a semester of an intermediate language (to do this second option, you'll need to have taken the language before). You can also get out of this requirement through a variety of different means: a score of 600 or better on a language SAT II, an AP score of a 4 or 5 on an AP foreign language/foreign literature exam, or a high enough score on a competency test given by the foreign language department at the start of each year. Even if you don't fall under any of these categories, it's not the end of the world. Vassar offers a huge variety of languages, including two that aren't traditional "learn to speak, read, and write" courses: Latin and American Sign Language.</p></li>
<li><p>One quantitative course. This might sound bad if you're not a math person; however, it's really not. There are quantitative courses offered in a variety of different departments each year, many of which require little to no math: mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, biology, psychology, physics, chemistry, geography, geology, and son on. Quantitative courses are meant to teach you a mode of thinking rather than how to perform complex mathematical calculations.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>not familiar with all of these schools, but I got this list from here: Schools</a> with more flexible curricula</p>
<p>Amherst
Austin College
Bard (NY)
Bennington
Brown University (RI)
Eugene Lang College (New School, NY)
Evergreen State College (WA)
Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU
Grinnell (IA)
Hamilton College (NY)
Hampshire College
Marlboro College (MA)
Moravian College - Add-Venture program (PA)
New College of Florida
New England Institute of Technology
Oberlin (OH)
Pitzer (CA)
U of Redlands - Johnston Center (CA)
University of Rochester
Sarah Lawrence
Smith College (MA)
Vassar College (NY)
Wesleyan (CT)
Whitman
Wheaton (MA)</p>
<p>wesleyan, bard, vassar</p>
<p>jarsilver, that's perfect. thanks</p>
<p>Off topic, but doesn't Dartmouth also have the swimming requirement?</p>
<p>Do you have any preference where you want to go to school?</p>
<p>Good research, jarsilver. Nice list.</p>
<p>Blackbird1, good luck with Grinnell, seems like a great school, mine applied there too. if you go, do a full year abroad as I think you can there.</p>
<p>I know a kid who went to Hampshire and liked it quite a bit. Less reachy than Grinnell, but part of the 5 college consortium, so you can take classes at Amherst, Smith (even if you are a boy), Umass and Mt H. He was a very smart outside the box thinker and a bit of a Reniassance man. He had skills. At Hamshire, your Senior year is a Independent Study Thesis in your major, somewhat like a grad school year.</p>
<p>I have heard that U of Redlands - Johnston Center is quite good and maybe underrated. That school has more regional appeal, but I think that if you are in the Johnston Center, then you get to write your own program and you have serious faculty support. Like Hampshire, and Brown's open ciric, this was a product of the 60's. Redlands gives good merit aid if your are in the top of their pool, and you have to be if you are accepted to Johnston, perhaps. But check it out. Like the Claremont schools, you can actually ski and surf in one day.</p>
<p>If you are female, Smith College is a wonderful place and is known for small classes, academic excellence, terrific advising and mentoring, and available, committed professors. It has an open curriculum which gives you lots of room to explore your interests.</p>
<p>And, as others have noted, Smith is part of a 5-college consortium (with Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Univ of Mass). You can take classes at any. There is a free shuttle bus to get to classes and activities at the other campuses.</p>
<p>I agree that if you want to create your own education, it doesn't get any more progressive than Hampshire.</p>