<p>I have a rising senior cousin who is composing a list of colleges to apply to. Knowing that the academics of Barnard are top-notch, we want to find out whether the school will be a good fit for her to ad to her list. It’ll be very helpful if Barnard students, parents, and alumni can help enlighten us about the school. Here are some general questions about the campus culture:</p>
<p>1- The following may be a prevalent question. How do the student’s, both Barnard and Columbia students, view Barnard relation to Columbia? Is the unfair stereotype true that Barnard students generally pass themselves off as Columbia students, or are Barnard girls happy about their school identity and thrilled to eventually call themselves Barnard alumni, not Columbia alumni?</p>
<p>2- Does Barnard have an overwhelming feminism present on campus? If so, is this feminism constructive egalitarian feminism? Is it likely to often meet those who advocate negative supremacist feminism? I’m assuming that egalitarian feminism is present on campus, but just want to make sure.</p>
<p>3- How is the campus atmosphere? Is the campus community tight-knit? Are there a plethora of diverse clubs to join to exchange ideas and develop as individuals?</p>
<p>4- How is the competition at the school? Is it cut-throat or are classmates readily willing to help each other? Are there mainly professors teaching introductory courses or does the school mostly utilize TAs?</p>
<p>Barnard is a great academic institution and we would like to learn more about it in terms of fit. Insightful input is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Hi! It’s great that your cousin is considering Barnard. I’ll weigh in on some of the points you’ve mentioned and I’m sure many of the more experienced posters will contribute as well.</p>
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<li><p>The fact is that Barnard College is part of Columbia University. Barnard students graduate from Columbia University, and their diploma says “Columbia University” at the top. Columbia is comprised of close to 20 colleges and Barnard is just one of them. Barnard girls are therefore rightfully alumni of both schools. BC admissions recently wrote on their spring.me account “We’re both independent from and part of the University. We have an inter-corporate agreement that provides for the degree to be conferred by Columbia (as well as cross-registration, among other things), but we also have our own board of trustees, faculty, president, classes, etc. Think of the University as the big umbrella.”</p></li>
<li><p>I know that feminism and female empowerment are present on campus but it doesn’t seem to be too extreme. I’ll leave this to more experienced posters.</p></li>
<li><p>Barnard girls are part of the more tight-knit Barnard community, which provides for excellent advising, close relationships with professors (President Spar even sits in on many classes!) and also have Columbia available for broader resources.</p></li>
<li><p>TAs don’t teach classes at Barnard-that’s the beauty at being at a small LAC that’s part of an Ivy League University.</p></li>
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<p>I am the parent of a 2009 Barnard graduate. She is currently working on her PhD in neuroscience.</p>
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<li><p>
This has definitely been my daughter’s experience, though she also is very proud and happy to have spent 4 years as part of the Columbia community. She was a dancer and enjoyed being a part of Orchesis, a University-wide extracurricular organization that presented student-choreographed performances. There was absolutely no distinction in this organization among students from the various colleges. I believe this to be characteristic of all campus activities (sports, newspaper, etc).</p></li>
<li><p>My daughter had NEVER considered going to a college for women until she found Barnard. She did not find the environment to be overwhelming at all. As I write this, I find it difficult to avoid using phrases that sound (to me) to be trite —“empowering” is so overused…but it does fit here! For example, as a PhD student in her current well-known co-ed University program, she taught an undergrad science course. She noticed that the women in that class did not participate or seem as confident as the students at Barnard had. She now thinks that she would like to teach at a women’s college when she gets her degree…</p></li>
<li><p>My impression is that the Barnard college atmosphere is indeed very “tight knit”. The poster above noted excellent advising and close relationships with profs, but also the College Activities office does a great job of creating opportunities for students to participate in all kinds of fun things….free tickets to Broadway shows, trips to the opera, ballet, museums, etc,; traditions such as midnight breakfast (where the faculty serves breakfast to the the students before exams); even offering fun jewelry-making classes, for example. And, of course as I mentioned before, there are University-wide extracurricular groups as well which provide for a more traditional college experience (with guys involved!). </p></li>
<li><p>Classes are not taught by TAs at Barnard. Introductory classes will be large, and science labs may be lead by select students, but advanced class sections are very small. Academics are very challenging, but I would not consider it to be “cut-throat” by any means. </p></li>
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<p>@churchmusicmom
Very helpful indeed! You seem very knowledgable about the university. Would you know if it possible for a student to explore numerous academic fields at Barnard for ~3 semesters before eventually declaring a major?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. Also, good luck to your grad on her grad work!</p>
<p>Barnard students must declare their majors officially by the end of their 4th semester. </p>
<p>As for exploring various academic fields, I think Barnard’s requirements (the “Nine Ways of Knowing”), in fact, encourage just that. My daughter is a great example of that, actually. She entered Barnard with aspirations of being a professional performer (she was a dancer and already had a couple of professional gigs on her resume’ when she started school). She chose to go to Barnard precisely because it afforded a broad and challenging academic environment as well as excellent dance training. She also was very excited when she started school that she only “had” to take two semesters of a science and little-to-no math. She chose the science she was going to take (psychology) based on the fact that it seemed, at the time, to be the “least science-y” of the sciences. During her first semester of “Intro to Psych”, though, she discovered the field of neuroscience and fell in love with it. She proceeded during her four years at Barnard to VOLUNTARILY take EXTRA classes in Organic Chem, Calculus, and statistics (beyond what was required for her major with double concentration both in behavioral and cellular neuroscience). </p>
<p>@churchmusicmom
I believe that four semesters will be plenty of time for my cousin to discover her passion. The “Nine Ways of Knowing” appears to allow students to do just that. Your daughter’s experiences seem to be a testament to that. Thank you for all your help! I’ll pass on all this information to my cousin the next time I see her.</p>
<p>I agree with everything churchmusicmom said! My daughter is a rising junior at Barnard. </p>
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<li><p>My D feels a part of two distinct communities and is proud of both in different ways. She loves Barnard as a school and is proud to be at Barnard. She only uses the Columbia thing when talking with people who have never heard of Barnard- like “the women’s college affiliated with Columbia”. She is in a Columbia sorority and was active with the Columbia Marching Band her freshman year. She has loose involvement with the Columbia Democrats but she is also a “well woman” counselor at Barnard. One of her jobs is calling Barnard alumnae for donations and she is very impressed by how much women love their college and give Barnard a lot of praise. They have pride in their school.</p></li>
<li><p>It is not the She Woman Man Hater’s Club- it is egalitarian feminism. My D probably has more awareness of the misogyny and patriarchy in our society now, but the Supreme Court and other societal trends is raising that awareness in our society in general, I think. I would say it is the “Lean In” type of feminism. </p></li>
<li><p>It is a tight knit community from the students to the professors to the staff in Health Services. My D takes most of her classes at Barnard but from what she says, a student could easily take a lot more Columbia classes. My D has tended to like her Barnard courses more. </p></li>
<li><p>It is not cut-throat. That said, there are a lot of very accomplished young women there. That can be intimidating to someone who compares themselves to others all the time. In my D’s experience, the women do not brag about their accomplishments or grades. There is kind of a “I’m so busy” culture because the college is full of women who are ambitious and want to take advantage of all the opportunities afforded them at Barnard. It could be overwhelming to someone who has an internal competitive streak and thinks they have to keep up with everybody else. Sometimes I have to remind her “Do you, don’t try to do anybody else”. This is her own trait though, not the college. It is definitely more academically challenging than her high school and she had to adjust her perfectionist tendencies, but I consider that a great life lesson and good personal growth. </p></li>
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<p>Just a quick correction, and a small one. Columbia comprises several SCHOOLS but only four COLLEGES. The four colleges are Barnard, Columbia College, The School of General Studies, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. These are the undergraduate institutions of Columbia. The other schools are mainly graduate institutions , such as Teachers College and the law school, or more distant affiliates. </p>
<p>It is true that there are only 4 undergraduate institutions.</p>
<p>It is also true that there are roughly 20 schools in all. The word “school” is broader than “college” – a “school” could be at any level, pre-school through graduate level; in the U.S. the word “college” generally refers to a school offering post-high school level instruction, but it can be graduate or professional level as well as undergrad; and the word “university” generally refers to an institution made up of multiple colleges and schools. </p>