<p>For the longest time, I’ve ruled out Barnard without doing much research because, ironically, of its location in NYC. I’m not much a fan of cities in general–I prefer small-town Carleton to urban Macalester, for instance, although I’ll be applying to both–and NYC in particular has a (perhaps unfounded) reputation in my mind of fostering a “city” community to the detriment of a “college” community. And there are the obvious negatives to a city environment: comparatively little green space, smaller (and apartment-style) dorms, cockroaches…</p>
<p>However, Barnard’s unique relationship with Columbia makes it an excellent academic fit. I’m interested in English, creative writing, computer science, and linguistics–the latter two being progressively more difficult to find in a small LAC.</p>
<p>So I turn to CC: if I hate cities, can I still love Barnard?</p>
<p>Also, if anyone is familiar with both schools, how does Barnard compare to Macalester, a liberal arts college in the middle of St. Paul, MN? Both are urban; I won’t be able to visit Mac until next spring post-acceptance, although I could take a trip up to Barnard if it’s worth the effort.</p>
<p>Neither Barnard nor Columbia has a linguistics department, and linguistics offerings are quite limited…so scratch that. </p>
<p>As a parent who has visited my daughter a couple of times & stayed with her in her dorm for a few days… I really think that if you “hate” cities, then you would find it very frustrating to attend Barnard or Columbia. I think that the benefit of Barnard is that students are very integrated into city life – especially if living in a suite away from the quad. I think that many kids from suburban or rural environments could learn to love that – but the “urban-ness” is a constant part of life. </p>
<p>Have you looked at Vassar? I think it might be a better fit.</p>
<p>Huh… somehow I had been under the impression that Columbia had a thriving ling department. But now that I ponder it some more, I remember reading an article about the ling department being dismantled.</p>
<p>So it looks like Barnard would not be the best fit. That’s okay.</p>
<p>There are students & profs interested in reviving it – and I think that it would be very possible to cobble together a passable independent major focusing on linguistics, or create a linguistics concentration with another related major – but the point is, it would be a huge mistake to come to Barnard because of a desire for the non-existent major. </p>
<p>(It’s ok. My daughter answered the “how did you learn about Barnard” question on her application saying that she had was looking for college to study linguistics. She took a linguistics class at Columbia her first semester. After taking that class, she never wanted to take anything remotely related to linguistics again… so, problem solved.)</p>
<p>The first academic interests you mentioned: English, creative writing and computer science, (particularly English and creative writing) are certainly excellent offerings at Barnard. If you can indeed visit the school, I think it would be silly not to at least check it out. The Upper West Side environment of the Columbia and Barnard campuses is very, very different than the rest of Manhattan. You never know how your horizons will be broadened. Again, don’t eliminate Barnard from your consideration without at least a visit particularly if English and Creative Writing are among your primary interests!</p>
<p>My daughter and I visited most the top-tier urban schools in the NE and one of the big draws to Barnard was that it had the MOST urban campus among those we visited (along with Georgetown and NYU) … with uban being defined as walking off campus into the hussle and bussle of big city life. I would certainly recommend visiting to see if the evironment works for you … I was pleasantly surprised by the Morningside Heights neighborhood which is quite urban but also a lot quieter and residential than a lot of other areas in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Smith is a another LAC with relationships with other schools (Amherst and UMass among others) which is in a less urban environment. A bunch of folks mentioned Swarthmore … which is a great possibility … while the Philly area has a ton of schools many with working relationships with other close by schools and many in non-urban settings while being very close to a city (Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Villanova, Haverford, etc).</p>
<p>I would be hesitant to recommend Barnard to someone who strongly dislikes cities. While I know a lot of people who have come from rural and suburban areas and enjoyed Barnard, I think a lot of them liked cities before they came here. </p>
<p>Barnard has its own campus and Morningside has a very college town atmosphere, but NYC is a very big part of life at Barnard. Friends will want to check out a club in Greenwich, go to Broadway shows, visit museums, central park, etc. A huge amount of students have internships off-campus, which is a major benefit of living in NYC. If you do not want these things to be part of your college experience, I don’t really think this Barnard is the right fit for you.</p>
<p>Plus, there are so many lovely LACs in rural and suburban areas! I have to follow the crowd when recommending Swarthmore. I also suggest Mt. Holyoke, Amherst and Smith (a friend of mine raves about Smith).</p>
<p>as a linguistics major at barnard, i’d just like to state that while we don’t have a linguistics department (we used to have one of the best in the country, but alas, that is no longer) it is perfectly possible to take many wonderful linguistics classes here so DON’T BE DETERRED by everyone saying not to come here for linguistics. We have two highly regarded and respected linguistics professors here who teach basically all of the linguistics classes (there are a few other linguistics professors as well) so Barnard can and will do a great job preparing you for a career in linguistics.</p>
<p>in terms of coming here if you’re not a city girl- don’t do it. i AM a city girl and sometimes still wish i’d gone to a lac in a suburban/rural area (look at brown, that’s where i’d go if i had to do it over again)</p>
<p>also please PLEASE pm me if you have any questions about taking linguistics classes or creating a linguistics major at barnard. i would love to talk to you about it.</p>
<p>I agree with dolphins3636. Don’t consider Barnard if you don’t like cities. New York is too significant an entity for it to be a negative factor for you. There are scores of amazing colleges in suburban/rural settings that I’m sure you could thrive at.</p>