I can only speak for my daughter, and her various “Barnumbia” friends I met over time.
Maybe from a corporation/budget standpoint to a casual observer - but not from a student standpoint.
Very many classes taught at Barnard or Columbia College will have a complete mix of students from three, and sometimes all four undergraduate colleges of Columbia University: BC, CC, GS and SEAS.
The dining halls, libraries, etc. on both sides of Broadway are used by all undergraduates of all the colleges, as are the clubs, gyms, sororities, etc.
99% of the time students would not even know, which of the colleges the person next to them anywhere happens to be enrolled in - nor do they care! Of course, especially in smaller classes, you’ll eventually connect to a few and you’ll likely become casually aware who is enrolled where. And still no one cares.
They’ll be working together seamlessly on group projects/assignments, etc., and the grades achieved for each test, paper, class,… make abundantly clear that it’s a complete level playing field.
The top students in any given class will be from any of the colleges.
It’s not specific to any one college!
General Studies students might feel different, because they often have different life experiences and situations.
SEAS students feel differently, because they are so math/science focused and some could feel “sentenced” to sit through some “core” classes,
CC students feel differently, because some might envy the fact, that Barnard women can walk from their dorm to the basement in their PJs when they are sick to see the Doctor, and some envy the freedom that Barnard students have in choosing from an extremely broad course offering to satisfy several foundations and other breadth requirements at once – oh, and some still fester an inferiority complex because years ago Obama chose to speak at BC, not CU graduation.
Finally (in the case of my daughter) Barnard students felt sympathy for her CC friends struggling through music theory classes (I hope I get that sample right) that they had no interest in.
Yes - there are differences between the colleges, and yes they are being “felt” by every student of that respective college - EACH college! And yes, like between all peer groups, there can be friendly “ribbing” in all directions.
FWIW, my daughter was editor at one of the Columbia University undergraduate journals, was in the leadership of another club, and after freshman year, got a University stipend for summer studies in Italy. Nothing “complicated” at all.
In PRACTICAL terms, the only REAL difference my daughter ever felt annoyed about was:
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Living in the first-year BC dorm, she had to sign-in her CC friends downstairs - AND also walk them back down later at night - because the CC ID won’t get you dorm access, and at BC, any visitors can’t walk the halls unattended.
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First-year parties in the CC dorm meant that BC students needed someone to “swipe them in”, for the same reason.
The other differences were advantages!
Actually, it doesn’t just “say” it. Their degree is the Columbia University degree, conferred by the CU president, during the big graduation event all colleges and graduate schools jointly attend. The added feature is, that the degree of Barnard students, will also carry the additional signature of the college president.
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