We didn’t look at college curricula in such a granular way (in term of credit hours, courses, and subspecialties). For my older one, who attended UChicago, we were focused on whether there was a “common core” to the undergraduate curriculum, intellectual experiences that all students would share. All colleges have major fields, and most major fields have prereqs, so this wasn’t a decisive issue in choosing among colleges. But as a Reedie I really liked the idea of a “general education” core, even a few classes that all students must take – whether they end up majoring in literature, chemistry, political science, economics, mathematics, music, or whatever. That helps to generate a sense of common fate, a common language of discourse, and an intellectual community among students who may end up in very different majors.
For my daughter, who attended art school, there was definite a set of foundation courses that all students take, along with electives; after the foundation year, a focus on major fields, yet also a variety of courses and requirements in non-art disciplines. While she was attending RISD it was exposure to elective courses at Brown that gave my daughter a perspective on ecological design that shaped her choice of majors at RISD as well as her career.
In sum, we weren’t focused primarily on the details of the curriculum for majors and minors. We were focused on foundational curricula and on the sense of intellectual community that students with very different academic interests might share.