<p>Could someone please put down some schools similar to Brown (in terms of atmosphere, social life and academics)? Classifying them as (general) reaches/matches/safeties would help as well.</p>
<p>In terms of the open curriculum, Amherst and Wesleyan have that open curriculum. Wesleyan is probably more like Brown than Amherst though. Both schools have the same caliber of academics. If you're looking for a school with similar academics, it's going to be hard to find another university with an open curriculum (at least as far as I know).</p>
<p>I'm not applying now, I'll only be applying in a couple of years' time. I'm just curious :)</p>
<p>Haha.... wow.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know, I'm retarded :)</p>
<p>Have fun at Swarthmore!</p>
<p>Vassar has an open curriculum, save a language requirment, and is very similar in atmosphere to Brown. </p>
<p>It's news to me that Weslyan and Amherst have open curriculums!</p>
<p>I remember hearing from an Amherst admissions officer that the only schools in the country that have completely open curriculums are Brown, Amherst, Grinnel, and Hamilton. I'm sure schools such as Wesleyan and Vassar have minimal requirements as well, though.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a very easy distribution requirement that is "suggested." (You take 3 courses in each of 3 very general areas: arts/humanities, math/sci, & social sci.) I think one needs to do it in order to earn a degree with honors, but one is not technically required to do it to graduate. As far as I know Amherst, Grinnell & Hamilton are all open curriculum. Hamilton is not much like Brown though. I didn't know about the language requirement at Vassar. Maybe you can place out of the language requirement with an AP?</p>
<p>As far as atmosphere in descending order of selectivity: </p>
<p>Yale
some would say Dartmouth?
Amherst
Wesleyan, Vassar
Grinnell and Oberlin
Smith (if you are female) and maybe Bates?
Beloit and Goucher</p>
<p>Very few schools give you the whole enchilada: open curriculum, medium size, undergrad focus, and a decent city.</p>
<p>Dartmouth's Quarter System puts it into a category all by itself. The constant cramming of material into 90 day sections means that you are being "taught for the test" almost from the moment class starts. That's a pretty different atmosphere from Brown's.</p>
<p>Brown was almost my first choice, until an overnight at Wesleyan convinced me Wes was the perfect place for me. However, the point is I was looking at schools that reminded me of Brown. So, some of my suggestions (some of which are repeated from above, but hey, doesn’t that tell you something?):</p>
<p>Schools that have a hippy/alternative/activist/artsy culture (some of these moreso than Brown, actually): Wesleyan, Vassar, Haverford, Oberlin, Bard, Hampshire, Skidmore, Lewis+Clark, Goucher </p>
<p>Schools that don’t have quite as alternative a student body as the ones above, but that have the smart-but-laid-back, not-too-preppy kind of feel that Brown has: Yale, Tufts, Amherst, Pomona, Carleton, Bowdoin, Grinnell, Macalaster, Occidental </p>
<p>All of the schools above have pretty minimal requirements, as far as I know.</p>
<p>Schools that have VERY different academic systems/environments than Brown, but that some people who like Brown still like (ie. these aren’t really an answer to your question, but they might still end up interesting you. Or maybe you’ll hate them, but I thought they were worth mentioning): Columbia, UChicago, Swarthmore, Reed</p>
<p>Yale, Tufts, Wesleyan, Oberlin</p>
<p>I am a huge fan of Brown and I also like Dartmouth, Stanford, Pomona, and Vassar a lot.</p>
<p>i don't think dartmouth (from what i know) is much like Brown. Yes, it's a good school with a focus on undergraduate education, but there's a huge frat scene and i think it's rather preppy.</p>
<p>And FYI distrubution requirements are not the same as an open curriculum!!!</p>
<p>ClaySoul: While it's true that distribution requirments aren't the same as an open curriculm, thre really arn't that many schools with open curriculms, and it's even harder to find ones that ALSO have a simular atmosphere as Brown. And unless someone is REALLY attached to an open curriculum, normally loose distribution requirments don't seem so bad/restricting.</p>
<p>The University of Rochester has a "cluster" academic system that might be of interest to prospective Brunonians. Other schools that come to mind (file under: alternative, small, hippy/activist, intellectual) include New College of Florida, Hampshire (already mentioned), and Colorado College, which would be low matches for somebody who is competitive for admission to Brown.</p>
<p>To me, the appeal of a school like Brown is that students seem to be more concerned with classroom learning and less concerned with the end effect in terms of grades and future job opportunities. To that extent, I think a school like Swat, Chicago, Reed, etc. compares quite nicely to a school like Brown, though I don't think that we at Chicago are "laid-back" the way Brown kids tend to be.</p>
<p>Weskid: agreed. I just wanted to make the distinction.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is far less preppy and far more liberal than its made out to be. Brown is much less radical than its made out to be. Both are great undergrad focused schools, with liberal, laid back students and have a strong social scene.</p>
<p>Yeah, I meant the laid-back , learn-for-the-sake-of-learning kind of atmosphere and undergrad focus more than anything else.</p>
<p>i had a tough time choosing between brown, swarthmore, and yale. i think the academic cultures of those schools are very similar.</p>
<p>I'm assuming you chose Brown in the end?</p>
<p>I think Swarthmore was the most work-intensive of all those choices, so if you aren't a workaholic...</p>