<p>the guy (an alumni) , towards the end, started his “selling the school” speech. He discussed all the oppurtunities a university like Columbia offers , like taking lcasses at the grad schools and Barnard. He then went on for literally five minutes about how his classes at Barnard were some of his favorites because of the close faculty attention and the encouragement of discussion. i like barnard better than columbia anyways… .(though i prob wont get into either!! 
) so it was kinda hard not to laugh.</p>
<p>I have to warn you about something. My daughter took 2 academic classes at Columbia her first semester, and 2 at Barnard. She got B's at Barnard, but A's at Columbia. That's only one student's experience after a single semester, of course, but so far it looks like the academic standards are a little higher on the Barnard side of the street.</p>
<p>We also had a Columbia prof tell us that the academic offerings at Barnard were superior in many ways to what is available at Columbia...</p>
<p>Keep your chin up, AUBE88...you never know what will happen!</p>
<p>don't worry, I'm still hopeful -- I guess what I should have said was that I probably wont ultimately be choosing between Columbia an dBarnard but if it did come down to that, I would almost definately pick Barnard... so it was rather ironic that his Columbia "selling my school" speech served mostly to deepen my respect for Barnard and strengthen my conviction that it would be a better school for me out of the two ;)</p>
<p>Calmom, I had the same experience as your daughter after only one semester. My Columbia classes were not a breeze, but they were the courses that I recieved A's in. I had a little more work and more papers to do in my Columbia courses, but my Barnard professors expected alot more out of me with regards to the quality of my work and the ability to contribute to thoughtful class discussion. My Barnard courses have proved to be and are continuing to be my most rigorous yet.</p>
<p>That's interesting, since Columbia is supposed to be one of "the best." Probably Barnard's small size and cohesive student body adds a different element. Oh, how I hope I get in!</p>