As the title reads, how does the curriculum of Yale and Brown differ? I thought there i no core at both universities and students get to tailor their own education?
It is great that you have confidence in this forum. But I suggest you get in the habit of going to the source anyway. I have done it for you this time. After reading this, what is your conclusion?
Yale:
Students must fulfill disciplinary area requirements by taking no fewer than two course credits in the humanities and arts, two in the sciences, and two in the social sciences. Students must also fulfill skills requirements by taking at least two course credits in quantitative reasoning, two course credits in writing, and courses to further their foreign language proficiency. Depending on their level of accomplishment in foreign languages at matriculation, students may fulfill this last requirement with one, two, or three courses or by certain combinations of course work and approved study abroad.
http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/yale-college/distributional-requirements/
A student working toward a bachelor’s degree takes four or five courses each term, and normally receives the B.A. or B.S. degree after completing thirty-six term courses or their equivalent in eight terms of enrollment. To balance structure with latitude, and to achieve a balance of breadth and depth, a candidate for the bachelor’s degree is required, in completing the thirty-six term courses, to fulfill the distributional requirements described in this bulletin as well as the requirements of a major program.
http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/yale-college/
Brown:
Like many institutions dedicated to the liberal arts, Brown encourages its undergraduates to study broadly, to become self-reflective, to engage in community life and to rigorously develop their communication skills. Unlike other American colleges and universities, Brown has no required core curriculum or distribution requirements that students must complete in order to graduate. Students at Brown have unparalleled freedom to shape their own education and to make their college curricula a more thorough reflection of their own interests and aspirations.
Brown’s Open Curriculum is based on three principles. The first is that students ought to take an active role in their education by assuming responsibility for the direction of their learning. Secondly, an undergraduate education is seen as a process of individual and intellectual development, rather than simply a way to transmit a set body of information. Finally, the curriculum should encourage individuality, experimentation, and the integration and synthesis of different disciplines.
The only specific curricular requirements at Brown are that all students must successfully complete at least 30 courses in eight semesters, that every undergraduate must complete at least one concentration program (often called a “major” at other colleges), and that students must be able to demonstrate excellent skill in written English before they graduate.
https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/what-open-curriculum