Schools with zero or few requirements

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am searching for schools that not only do not have a core curriculum, but also do not have distribution requirements. I would also be happy to learn of the existence of schools that only require a class or two. Do you know of any?</p>

<p>Yes, I have looked at the multitude of threads like this - most of them point to Brown and schools that have distribution requirements, whereas I am looking for schools with almost or totally complete academic freedom.</p>

<p>Finally, I am also happy to look at universities that have special programs that allow one to avoid distribution requirements - while Cornell certainly does not have an open curriculum, one can apply to the "College Scholar" program which waives distribution requirements.</p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>

<p>There are not that many:</p>

<p>[Open</a> Curriculum Colleges & Universities: Examples in Action | Open Jar Foundation](<a href=“http://openjar.org/curricular-freedom-examples-in-action]Open”>http://openjar.org/curricular-freedom-examples-in-action)</p>

<p>Some other schools commonly named as examples, like Grinnell and Rochester, do effectively have breadth requirements. One list that comes up at the top of searches includes St. John’s College, which has the complete opposite of open curriculum – the core “great books” curriculum is the entire curriculum.</p>

<p>What are you trying to avoid (not judging, it’s a serious question) What are you interested in learning?</p>

<p>You could go to your local CC, or probably a local university, as a non-matriculated student and take classes.</p>

<p>I’m interested in mathematics and have done a fairly extensive amount of self-study (currently teaching myself out of Spivak’s Calculus on Manifolds and Hubbard’s Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Differential Forms). As such, I am almost 100% certain that I will get a math major. I would like to go to a university so that I can take some grad classes.</p>

<p>I am not trying to avoid anything specific - I like philosophy, especially the writings of Wittgenstein, and would like to learn more Esperanto (if it is offered at the university). I just want the liberty to learn whatever I want, and not have the burden of fulfilling requirements (even if I will probably fulfill them anyway).</p>

<p>Rather than limiting yourself to open curriculum schools (which would be very limiting), you may want to look up the schools which have good math departments and then check their breadth requirements to see if these could be fulfilled by courses you are likely to want to take anyway.</p>

<p>Of course, you also need to consider the affordability of the various schools.</p>

<p>Thank you for the advice, ucbalumnus - I am doing that at the moment, but I (along with many of my friends) would also like to know of various schools that have few or no requirements, which is why I started the thread.</p>

<p>It looks like, of the schools listed in the link in post #2, only Brown would be suitable for an advanced math major who is likely to want to take graduate level courses as an undergraduate. As it is a reach-for-everyone type of school, you need to relax your constraints in order to put suitable safety schools on your application list.</p>

<p>I do believe that Vassar only has three requirements outside of your major. Freshman writing, a math course, and a language course. I have no clue if they would suit you for a degree in math.</p>

<p>Would you consider schools that do not have a large number of general education requirements that also meet your need? Carnegie Mellon is in this category and for math should have plenty of classes that interest you. This too is a highly selective school. Also some colleges have a core curriculum that is heavy on math/science classes. Harvey Mudd has a common core that consists of many math/science/ computer science classes that could be of interest to a math major anyway although it is not an open curriculum. Consider your state of residency for possible affordable schools.</p>

<p>If you happen to get an invite into UVA’s Echols Scholars Program, you’ll be exempt from Gen Ed requirements, get priority registration, have an advisor designated for Echols students only, and live your first year in a dorm reserved for Echols (Rodman for engineering majors) students. However, you’ll still be required to take courses specific to your major.</p>

<p>Hampshire College has very few, I think. [Division</a> I](<a href=“http://www.hampshire.edu/academics/div-i.htm]Division”>Division I | Hampshire College) Same with New College of Florida. [The</a> Academic Program - New College of Florida](<a href=“http://www.ncf.edu/general-catalog/academic-program]The”>http://www.ncf.edu/general-catalog/academic-program)</p>

<p>A note of caution about Harvey Mudd: approximately 1/3 of their required courses are outside of the STEM arena. They pride themselves on producing well-rounded students. The “Common Core” is courses common to all of the STEM students enrolled at HM, but there are also general ed requirements.</p>