Serious Question: If I attend Barnard, will I feel like any less of a student than those admitted to Columbia? How is the general attitude between both student bodies?
Whether or not you feel like “any less of a student than those admitted to Columbia” is totally up to you. Generally, any attitudes of superiority by CC students over Barnard students (if those CC students can even know which you are, since you will be in classes together) are to be found on College discussion forums (and usually by high school students who don’t really know what they are talking about). Oh, and maybe in jokes made at the annual Varsity Show. All in good fun.
Barnard is full of young women who are bright, who are motivated and who really don’t put stock in the opinions of those who would be that shallow. 
Also, this has been discussed time and time again on this forum. You can find a lot of info if you do a search.
My D. is at Barnard. She says that no one makes any distinction. She has taken about 75% of her courses at Columbia and frequently easts in JJ. But she likes Barnard housing and student support. Contrary to what some (non students) say, she says they all feel part of Columbia University.
My daughter is a sophomore at Barnard. Barnard and Columbia are ‘partners’. When you graduate from Barnard, your diploma will say your degree is from Barnard College of Columbia University. The two colleges have separate admissions processes. The students from both can take classes at the other, with no problem. Barnard students can participate in Columbia sports teams and other co-curriculars.
If you are intent on attending either Columbia or Barnard, give Columbia a serious look. Barnard’s housing policies during winter break, and just before fall classes start, is horrendous. They render students homeless in New York City. Read about it in the Columbia Daily Spectator newspaper - petition drive in response to Barnard’s administration telling students to get out of student housing during winter break and find a friend’s couch to sleep on.
Being kicked out of student housing during winter break might not be a problem for students who have family or friends near Barnard, or who plan to return home anyways, but, there are a large number of students who can not afford to return back home, or who have no place to go. Barnard’s response to their needs - go find a friend’s couch somewhere. Columbia allows students to stay in their student housing during winter break. Looks like they care for their students.
We’ve been disappointed with Barnard. For the $62,000+ they charge each year, I frankly don’t see the value in light of what we’ve experienced and learned during these two years. Had we known this about Barnard, my daughter would have applied to Columbia and elsewhere.
http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2015/11/23/barnard-changes-winter-break-housing-policy
They changed the policy.
Looks like Barnard listened, and responded by changing their policy. It’s actually now a much better policy than most colleges have.
Please read previous posts. This same tired question gets answered every year. Visit, talk to students. Barnard and Columbia are different in two important ways: Barnard is for women, and Columbia has CORE. But they are part of the same university, you can take courses at both institutions, the libraries etc., are shared etc. My daughter studies most days at Butler and eats at John Jay. She goes to Barnard. So please, let’s not have the same question over and over.
Truth12: you are posting this everywhere. I am sorry, but Barnard is a college. It is not a social service program. It has zero “responsibility” for housing your child, or anyone else, on a year-round basis. You have a responsibility to your child: you don’t “outsource” that simply because you pay tuition. But that said, Barnard does grant financial aid and other assistance to low income and international students who need housing over break. If you didn’t get it, you simply didn’t qualify. And the housing policy has changed, so you are out of date.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are doing yourself a disservice by posting misinformation.
The only time you feel like less of a Columbia student is when you’re waiting in line at East Campus (a columbia dorm) and you’re drunk texting that friend of a friend to come sign you in for a party.
xoxo
I have two friends at Barnard who said this wasn’t an issue at all. Some insecure Columbia undergrads occasionally make snide comments, but that’s about it. I guess you could ask them why they didn’t go to Harvard…
My d is a current freshman and sees no problems between Columbia and Barnard students. As a matter of fact, she is happy she is a Barnard student and not a Columbia student as she prefers the 9 ways of knowing to the core curriculum. She is on the Columbia campus a lot- she takes classes there, she eats in their dining halls, she hangs out at their coffee shop, and sits on the library steps when it’s warm, and participated in the giant snowball fight and the lunar eclipse watching- all feeling like part of the whole.
My sister loved Barnard but also loved Columbia. She said she always felt Barnard was a division of Columbia University, like Columbia College or SIPA. She took many (most) of her courses at Columbia and never had any issues. What she preferred about Barnard was its advising system and the administration. Columbia’s is far more distant. And for those who ask, her diploma says Columbia University but has two signatures. She also noticed that over the past 5 years, Barnard increasingly refers to itself as “Barnard College of Columbia University” as opposed to just Barnard College.