<p>I’m looking for a LAC with an open curriculum and a strong English department. So far I’ve been looking at Vassar and Smith. Possibly Reed as well, but I’m not sure if they have an open curriculum or not. Any suggestions? Thanks!</p>
<p>Vassar was the school I was going to suggest when I clicked on this. Also consider Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>Hamilton College has no distribution requirements and is known for its focus on written communication (throughout its programs). Grinnell College has the most open of open curricula (the only required course is the freshman seminar).</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a fairly permeable distribution system that most students equate with an open curriculum. It also has an alumni honor roll as long as your arm: [Wesleyan</a> University people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“List of Wesleyan University people - Wikipedia”>List of Wesleyan University people - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Here are just a few more things im looking for to maybe narrow down the search. Id like to go to a school with a strong art program as well. I also would like to go to a school that doesnt have a huge party/drug scene. good financial aid is a must. Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>also, absweetmarie, ive been looking at grinnell a bit. do you know anything about their english department?</p>
<p>Grinnell has a truly open curriculum. The only requirements to graduate are the freshman tutorial (there are about 40 different tutorials to pick from every year), completion of a major, and completion of 128 credits.</p>
<p>Drug/alcohol scene is definitely there, but I’m not sure what school you could find that doesn’t have one. If you absolutely want to avoid the party atmosphere, you’d have to go to Brigham Young or a religious school like that (BYU is a fantastic school).</p>
<p>Financial aid at Grinnell is top notch. 100% of need met for every student admitted.</p>
<p>I don’t know enough to comment on the English department at Grinnell. I’ve heard good things about it secondhand, but I haven’t taken an English class here.</p>
<p>Ditto what Kudryavka said about the English department. Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the academics overall.</p>
<p>Grinnell allows no more than 48 units from one department, and 92 units from one division to count to the 124 units needed to graduate.</p>
<p>[Requirements</a> for Graduation - Student Handbook | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/studentaffairs/shb/academicpolicies/requirementsforgraduation]Requirements”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/studentaffairs/shb/academicpolicies/requirementsforgraduation)</p>
<p>The divisions are humanities, social studies, and science.</p>
<p>[Divisions</a> - Divisions | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/divisions]Divisions”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/divisions)</p>
<p>So you can completely avoid any one of the three divisions, but not two of them.</p>
<p>Kudryavka; just to clear up, i know that every school is going to have some alcohol/drug use, but id just prefer to be at a school where it isnt as prevalent.</p>
<p>Amherst.</p>
<p>Look too at Princeton and Brown. The former is exceptional for its undergraduate focus, and the latter is distinctive among elite universities for having an Open Curriculum.</p>
<p>I know the OP specified co-ed, but, in view of the drug and alcohol proscriptions, I’d take a look at Barnard; it’s tiny campus only permits a certain amount of partying, most of it taking place off-campus or at Columbia. And, there’s no core curriculum the way there is for the boys. :)</p>
<p>I would, as priorly stated, suggest Amherst! Good art programs, good English programs, and open curriculum.</p>
<p>Reed has one of the least open curricula, being quite old-fashioned traditional.</p>
<p>Oberlin has a pretty flexible curriculum–general area distribution requirements, and no foreign language requirement. It has good English and art–including a world class art museum.
[url=<a href=“http://oberlin.edu/amam/]AMAM-Information[/url”>Allen Memorial Art Museum]AMAM-Information[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I would say in general that any academically rigorous college would have a good English department. Many have open curriculums meaning that there are few requirements outside the major, but don’t eliminate schools with distribution requirements. These are usually not very demanding (e.g. one or two courses in science/math or social studies) which you would probably do anyways.</p>
<p>For LACs that are strong in English as well as studio art/art history I would suggest Williams, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Kenyon, Vassar, Oberlin, Smith. The combination of Bryn Mawr and Haverford.</p>
<p>You need to be careful on the financial aid part. There’s a difference between need based aid and merit aid. If you qualify for need based aid you can have a fairly open list. If you require merit aid, many of the schools recommended here will not be options. </p>
<p>Ask your parents to use an on-line calculator to determine how much need based aid you might expect. If this isn’t enough then concentrate on colleges that offer merit aid.</p>
<p>vonlost: Ok, thats what I thought was going on at Reed but I wasn’t sure. Thanks for clearing it up for me!
momrath: I qualify for need based aid, so I think I’ll be alright with these colleges. I’ve been using the online calculators, very helpful!</p>
<p>Hamilton College seems perfect for you!</p>