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I doubt seriously that any Barnard graduate would be dumb enough to do that, given that the resumes will be screened by HR personnel who are likely to do a quick verification of enrollment or degree before passing the resume on. Employers also like to see references and transcripts, and the Barnard alumna network is amazing. Why pass on that? </p>
<p>(Human nature is such that there tend to be greater feelings of loyalty among people toward a smaller rather than a larger group, and the Barnard name also taps into the whole womens’ college / Seven Sisters network as well.)</p>
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As you are still in high school, I can understand that you have not yet experienced the nuances of college academics. My d. is firmly convinced that Barnard is far more rigorous than Columbia. I won’t debate the point, it could simply be based on the specific courses she took – there is grade inflation at both schools, but it seems like it was somewhat easier for her to pull A’s in Columbia classes – but I do know that most Barnard majors require a senior thesis, and Columbia generally does not have similar requirements. So at least in my daughter’s major, she had to work a lot harder than her Columbia friends with the same major. </p>
<p>Similarly, Barnard students are likely to take more seminar and colloquia type classes. Smaller classes tend to be very demanding because you can’t really get away with missing class and written work is read & critiqued very closely. In a large lecture course the grading is more likely to be based on exams, and often most of the grading is done by TA’s rather than the profs. The TA’s have been instructed on the rubric to apply in grading, but they aren’t likely to focus much on details beyond that. So basically in a larger class a student can get away with doing the minimum expected and still pull an A, whereas in a small setting the student is likely to be pushed to do a lot more. (Note: Barnard also has many large lecture courses and I am sure that there are plenty of small seminars at Columbia, it’s just that on balance the Barnard student is more likely to be taking more seminar style courses)</p>
<p>A good deal of a university’s departmental reputation comes from their graduate level offerings, and the research or publications of their top professors. But undergrads may have little contact with the stellar profs who give the school its top academic reputation, at least not within their first couple of years. </p>
<p>That’s the whole LAC vs. large university debate in a nutshell – you might as well be debating whether someone will get better academics at Harvard vs. Swarthmore. Barnard is simply unique because of its ability to combine the LAC-environment with large-U type resources. </p>
<p>I mean, years ago I took chemistry at a highly regarded research university, in a class of hundreds of students, attending labs with a TA who barely spoke English. My son took chemistry at a LAC not known for sciences, in a class of roughly 10 students, where he became close friends with his chem prof and did most of his lab work one-on-one with the prof. Which university had the better chem department? Which student ended up with the better learning experience? I’d advise a prospective chem major to look for something in-between, but the undergraduate student is probably going to learn more in the smaller environment – and I think you would find that sentiment echoed by many Barnard students in the sciences. On the other hand, Columbia students are free to enroll in lab sciences at Barnard if they prefer the smaller classes, and I think that many of them do – that’s one way that Barnard’s presence gives Columbia students a benefit not available at many other larger universities. </p>
<p>I think Barnard students who are seeking to challenge themselves may have something of an advantage because students at both Barnard and Columbia are free to enroll in courses at any level, but Barnard students don’t have the core. That means that a first year Barnard student can sign up for advanced level courses at Columbia, including graduate level courses – the Columbia student would have the same opportunity in theory, but might find it harder to fit within their schedule. (I don’t think it’s a particularly good idea for first year students to sign up for graduate courses, but I know that it can be done.). But that flexibility is something that a highly motivated student with a clear idea of what she wants to study might be considering, especially if the student wants a double major. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I’m sure that a Barnard student who wanted to go light on academics could probably settle on an easier major and opt for the easiest courses, so in the end its up to each student. The information on CULPA is pretty extensive, and makes it easy enough to figure out which courses and which instructors are the most vs. least demanding. So on both sides of the street, there is going to be a wide range of experiences and it really depends a lot on the individual student.</p>