<p>My very best friend goes to Columbia, and judging from her there’s definitely a negative stigma associated with Barnard in some quarters. The reputation is undeserved, but Barnard girls are often stereotyped (by Columbia girls - and guys to some extent I suppose) as being a little easier to get with and less smart.</p>
<p>D2 just graduated from BC. In her last semester she took seven classes for 22 hr.s credit, mostly on the Columbia side of the street. Pulled a 3.7 which resulted from a B- in a Barnard class. The idea that the Barnard students are less intelligent may be a subterfuge perpetrated by the Barnard side so that their students are not viewed as a threat. Sort of like a stealth bomber is not viewed as a threat.</p>
<p>“interesting” theory…</p>
<p>In New York I don’t think Barnard and Columbia students are viewed differently for employment purposes. This is probably not true for the rest of the country. For professional/grad school they are definitely not viewed differently because academic institutions are completely aware of how seamless the transition for Barnard to Columbia is and how many classes are shared.</p>
<p>I think there is enough testimony to say that some Barnard students do experience some discrimination and some Columbia students mete it out.</p>
<p>For some students (monydad has talked about this) this is a problem. My daughter didn’t find it so.</p>
<p>Every school has pluses and minuses. It’s up to each student to measure how much this might bother her.</p>
<p>For my D, Barnard was the perfect school. She preferred it to Columbia, wanted a Woman’s College (to make women friends which wasn’t her strong suit) and wanted to be in NYC. She adored her school and her time there.</p>
<p>Others have differing experiences.</p>
<p>She has landed an excellent judicial internship. She is working for a female judge who chose two women as interns. Did her Barnard experience affect the judge’s choice? We’ll never know.</p>
<p>In my own professional career, sadly I’ve received more help from women than men. I say sadly because I like men, and some of the obstacles they created for me were totally unnecessary.</p>
<p>For my D the empowerment of being at a woman’s college richly compensated for any catty anti-Barnard remarks.</p>
<p>She did make wonderful friends, too, which was her goal.</p>
<p>And since she still lives in NYC she finds Barnard connections invaluable.</p>
<p>
Well, what “Columbia girls” think has no bearing whatsoever on what Barnard women experience … but if it makes you feel any better, I’ll bet that Barnard women harbor a few unflattering stereotypes of their own about Columbia students. Especially when it comes to their opinion as to their counterparts’ social skills, or lack thereof.</p>
<p>“In New York I don’t think Barnard and Columbia students are viewed differently for employment purposes.”</p>
<p>Possibly true in many circles, however my impression was that it was, actually, viewed differently than Columbia at the NYC investment bank where I worked.</p>
<p>Thanks Berngen, for your statement. Just to go off topic for a bit, I can’t believe the negative connotations that feminism has in society today because of terms like “femi-nazi”. I actually keep running into this problem whenever I tell people I’m going to a women’s college next year… it’s always not-stated-but-hanging-in-the-air-somewhere whenever somebody jumps to the logical fallacy “Oh… you’re a feminist?”</p>
<p>Hey, I’m definitely a feminist!</p>
<p>There was a very interesting article from the Huffington Post authored by a father of a young woman who is getting ready to apply to colleges next year. The author stated that he was initially skeptical about women’s colleges but after visiting Barnard and doing some research, he became a true believer with regard to women’s colleges. </p>
<p>[Tom</a> Matlack: Are Women’s Colleges Outdated?](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Are Women's Colleges Outdated? | HuffPost College)</p>
<p>In addition to Barnard, my D applied to Bryn Mawr and Wellesley because she favored an all-woman college experience. My D is young (she’ll start Barnard at 16) and very shy about boys, so I believe that the all-female college experience is indeed best for her. And the data show that graduates from places like Barnard typically do better in graduate school and professionally in comparison to their co-ed peers.</p>