Columbia's Core vs. U of Chicago's

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Can anyone compare and contrast U of Chicago's core curriculum to Columbia's?</p>

2

<p>i might be wrong with this, but i think that u of chicago requires a lot more science. you should probably just go on both of their websites and compare that way.</p>

3

<p>I also may be wrong, but what I remember from our visits to both with our son a few years back, Chicago's offers some choice in the first few years, whereas at Columbia all the first years take LitHum, Frontiers of Science, and University Writing, and all the second years take Contemporary Civ. Everyone takes MusicHum and ArtHum at some point. The idea at Columbia is that everyone is reading pretty much the same books in the core part of the curriculum, then discussing them in small classes.</p>

4

<p>Columbia's core is based around a "Great Books" sequence. Lit Hum (fiction) and Contemporary Civ (nonfiction) are its cornerstones, and Music Hum (history of western music), Art Hum (history of western art), and University Writing (research & essay composition) are the other big ones. With one exception, everyone takes all of those, and CC students take a few more things involving science and major non-western cultures</p>