<p>I was just wondering if anyone would be willing to clear up some of the rumors and truths regarding womens colleges and Barnard.
Such as…
Will there be any chances to socialize with guys?
Are the majority lesbians? I mean is that a stereotype? ARE there any stereotypes?
Are the student snobby?
Would the coursework be extrmely difficult for those who graduated from a small, public school?</p>
<p>Also, I’ve never visited the school. What is the campus like?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Parent, here:
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Will there be any chances to socialize with guys?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, all the time. Based on the pictures I saw of my daughter's first semester, I don't know if she realized that there were girls available to befriend. In fact, other than her roommate, I think pretty much all of her close friends were guys. She didn't really get friendly with many other girls until her sophomore year, when she ended up in suite with some truly amazing women. </p>
<p>
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Are the majority lesbians?
[/quote]
Er, no. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Are the student snobby?
[/quote]
It depends. I guess I would have to say that there are some who are pretty snobby, but they aren't typical. </p>
<p>My daughter is on financial aid & went to public schools, so she was not used to being around rich kids. There are some students at Barnard who are very, very rich -- and some can be insensitive in their remarks. They probably aren't deliberately trying to be snobby, but I think that they are simply clueless and don't realize what it is like to live on a budget or have to worry about money. My son also went to an expensive private LAC for awhile, and found the same thing -- so I really don't think it is a Barnard thing. I think it is a something that will happen at any private college. Even though a lot of kids are on financial aid, at least half aren't -- and at $50K+ a year for tuition, you are going to get a sizable fraction of kids who are from wealthy families. Not all of them will make the adjustment to college dorm life all that well. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Would the coursework be extrmely difficult for those who graduated from a small, public school?
[/quote]
My daughter comes from a small public high school and has a better GPA at Barnard than she did in high school. I think she has found some of her classes very challenging, but the lowest grade she ever got was a B -- and that was in upper level class her first semester where she was the only first year student. The only reason she got a B was that the messed up the first midterm simply because she didn't realize how much depth was expected in written answers in a college midterm. Once she knew what was expected, she aced the other exams in the class.</p>
<p>My d. does say that she works very, very hard -- but I think the key for her is that she is disciplined about her study habits, she doesn't fall behind, and she seeks out help if she needs it. So I wouldn't really say the course work is "difficult" so much as "demanding". </p>
<p>My d. does feel that many students from private schools had better preparation; but I think that there are advantages to public school as well. I think coming from public school, my daughter was more self-sufficient and also more assertive about her needs. She was used to having to seek out opportunities on her own and speaking up for herself.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I've never visited the school. What is the campus like?
[/quote]
Very small, actually. You can actually get a good sense of what it looks like (from the outside) by going to maps.google.com -- searching for "Barnard College" -- and then use the street-view feature to drag the little person around to the areas you want to visit. Of course that's not a substitute for actually being there, but it's a start. Do keep in mind that because of the urban location, you end up spending a lot of time in the city neighborhoods near campus as well. The Columbia campus is somewhat larger than Barnard, but its not all that big, either -- and so in a sense the whole city is the "campus".</p>
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<li><p>This TOTALLY DEPENDS on how things work out for you. There are definitely guys around. But I ended up doing a bunch of extracurriculars at with all women and haven't met any guys from classes, so I don't have any male friends here. It's definitely my least favorite part of Barnard, because I had a lot of male friends in high school. I'm starting to get a little bit insane about it, to be honest -- there are perks to living with all girls but I've never been particularly girly so I do miss being able to screw around with my guy friends sometimes. BUT there are lots of girls at Barnard who do have male friends from Columbia; so, as I said -- totally depends.</p></li>
<li><p>I have met one lesbian (that I am aware of).</p></li>
<li><p>Not that I have seen particularly. There are definitely some stuck-up rich girls, but they are a VERY significant minority. I think we are for the most part a down-to-earth bunch.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't think so. It can be very difficult, yes. It really depends on what courses you're taking. I inadvertently ended up in four VERY work-intensive classes my first semester, which was hellish, even though they were for the most part very interesting. This semester I ended up, somehow, in a slew of boring, non-work-intensive classes, which isn't great. You have to try to guess what will be a good balance. It will be a lot of work but it's generally manageable.</p></li>
<li><p>TINY. Seriously: so, so small. Columbia is a bit bigger (whether or not you'll be over there a lot depends on your classes and your social scene; I'm there a few times a week but that's all), and Morningside Heights has a campus feel overall, but Barnard (though very pretty) is very small. It can feel snug, and it can feel claustrophobic, but I think most people just get used to it pretty quickly. And having things like the dining hall/gym so close is really nice.</p></li>
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<p>Thank you!
that's AMAZINGLY helpful.</p>