Hello there, I am deciding between the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Barnard. I want to do international affairs/Econ/pre law maybe? I am not totally sure but everyone tells me to go to Walsh but I love Barnard so much for the culture, I don’t want to sacrifice my education by going there. Does anyone know about international affairs at Barnard and taking classes at Columbia and if it leads to strong careers in government or international policy?
Barnard has full access to Columbia classes and vice versa. In addition NYC is the campus for the schools, including the UN. Columbia also has SIPA a top international affairs program.
Do you have offers from both?
I don’t know in what possible way you could “sacrifice your education” by going to Barnard??? There is no school (yup, I said no school- don’t bother to @ me, fellow posters!) in the US that compared to which Barnard would be mean ‘sacrificing your education’. That’s not saying that it is the best in X category or Y college for a particular field, but it is saying that Barnard can hold it’s own against any undergraduate education going.
SFS is a fabulous program. It is one of the top schools in the US for IR, along with Fletcher, SAIS, the program formerly known as Woodrow Wilson, SIPA*- oh wait! where is SIPA? oh, that’s right- it’s at…Columbia.
Apologies for the sarcasm above, and the cranky tone here, but seriously, if you have offers from both schools, how do you not know this? If you want a ‘strong career in government or international policy’ you are going to have to hone your research skills.
*yes, I know these are the grad programs; the expectation is that a top 10 grad school is unlikely to have an undergrad program so bad as to ruin your education
I just thought that I’d add that Columbia, being in NYC, attracts all sorts of world leaders. Virtually everyone comes to NYC and they often stop by the campus to give a talk. The talks take place at SIPA, at the Law School, in the world leaders forum each year. It’s a unique environment.
Barnard literally has a 4+1 pathway with Columbia’s Schoool of International and Public Affairs.