Hi all! What are your thoughts, should I go to Barnard or Georgetown. At Barnard I’m undecided, but I love the flexibility at Barnard and Columbia. I really like the small Barnard community too, and NYC feels super comfortable for me. However, I’m not part of the lgbtq+ community, and I’m worried I might be ostracized/not fit in since i know hwc have sizeable queer communities. At Georgetown I know what I will major and minor in, however, i’m not as comfortable or eagar to go to DC over new york. However, I think the school is a better size for me, and sfs has lots of opportunities and connections!! Currently, with my aid packages, barnard is about 20k a year more than georgetown, but i’m appealing for more. Barnard sent me a likely letter, and was my ultimate dream school all throughout high school, but I’m not sure it’s worth 80k more than georgetown sfs. Thoughts?
A) If GTOWN (major/minor) fits your academic needs, that’s a plus.
B) If you don’t want to be in DC and you can afford the $80K, then that’s a plus. Or you can spend $2K over four years and take trips.
C) I think if any HWC could identify you, they would revoke your admission for making such an insulting and inexplicably ignorant statement.
Good luck
Do you really mean to say that you think that HWC (I assume you mean historically white colleges, a term I’ve never heard before, but I suppose it is accurate, since most colleges that weren’t historically black, were by discrimination or default historically white until the late 1960s) have more sexual minorities than historically black colleges? Guess what? People of color can also be sexual minorities, too! Probably at the same rate as Whites are. Or do you mean that you’re seriously worried that you might be ostracized for being straight just at Barnard? REALLY?
I am afraid that with such an attitude, the only place that you will feel comfortable is in a school that discriminates against sexual minorities. Unfortunately, there still are a few of those, all rigid, conservative church schools, usually with a not-too-remote history of racism, too.
If you are choosing between Barnard and Georgetown, you must have qualities that caused them to admit you. I suggest that you do some serious soul-searching. It’s too bad that school clubs aren’t meeting right now, because you could really benefit from attending your school’s gay-straight alliance club, just to try to become more comfortable being around students who are sexual minorities. Straight kids go there too, just to provide support for those who are sexual minorities, to help them with the day in day out ostracization that they tend to have to confront in middle and high school.
Are you afraid that Barnard, because it’s a women’s college, has mostly women who are other than straight? Women choose to go to Barnard because it’s a great school with access to excellent education, both at Barnard college and at Columbia, too. Plenty of straight women at Barnard, of all races. Trust me, you wouldn’t be the only straight woman there, and you won’t be ostracized for being straight. But I am curious - if this is how you felt, why in the world did you apply there? Did you just consider it a less competitive way to get into Columbia?
Since neither institution awards merit aid, I’m kind of puzzled by the disparity in the offers. But if you truly were in need of financial aid, I would imagine that you wouldn’t have the resources to pay an extra 20K/yr to go to Barnard, where it sounds as if you’d be uncomfortable, anyway.
I took it to mean historically women’s colleges - so if i missed that for color. But she mentioned LGBTQ - yes, since when do you need to identify as such to go to Barnard - hence my #3 above. Not trying to be mean - but it was such a - hmmmm - uninformed comment.
The world needs to work together to grow, not divide…
Oh, you’re surely right that she meant that. Stupid me. I missed that because I just think of them at this point as women’s colleges or co-ed colleges (which they are), since the ones that went co-ed pretty much did it in the late 60’s-early 70’s, at the same time that the Ivies went co-ed. Historically Black colleges are still virtually entirely Black, whereas women’s colleges that went co-ed have been co-ed now for over 40 years. At the time that they went co-ed, the men who were willing to go to them had lower stats than the women, whereas the women who went to Ivies when they first admitted women had stats equal to those of the men who went there. But I think that has evened out a long time ago, so that now women’s colleges that have gone co-ed have a substantial proportion of men, and I believe that their stats are similar for men and women.
But I think that OP can rest assured that attending Barnard (or frankly, any other school in the country, whether it is a women’s college or a co-ed institution that used to be a women’s college) will not be like stepping into a gay bar or going on a gay cruise.
I feel sorry for her upbringing - this is where attitudes like this come from.
Hello! I meant hwc as historically women colleges. I did not even know that historically white colleges existed. Additionally, I am lgbtq+, and I heard barnrd was the “straightest” women’s college and i was interested in hearing if people would confirm my theory if i said i was straight.
additionally, I did not apply to barnard because it is “easier than columbia.” I hope you reflect on that comment and understand how deeply misogynistic it is. We can all learn from our mistakes in the future.
Whether you were lying before, or are lying now, masquerading as something that you are or aren’t when it comes to one’s sexual identity, just in order to elicit a response from people, is revolting and will push people away from you. You should know that if you pull that kind of an “I was only testing you” move on people, they will quickly ostracize you, which was your original fear. Is this something that you have done before? Did it lead to that? Is that what you’re afraid of happening at college?
If you really want to know what life is like for sexual minorities at Barnard, coming on here and making anti-sexual minority statements is most definitely NOT the way to do it.
I suggest that you stop playing games, and instead contact women at Barnard who are sexual minorities, and ask them what life is like there for them. There are several sexual minority organizations. Club Q is one of them. Their email is clubq@barnard.edu.
hey bestie! the word gay is not a bad word. you can use it. xoxo
What anti-sexual minority statement did she make?
What was the insulting statement and who was being insulted? I’m confused because I didn’t read it that way.
this thread is confusing. both georgetown and barnard have thriving lgbtq+ communities so if you are lgbtq+ then youll be fine at either! and from your post I think you should go to barnard. additionally if your not lgbtq+ then theres nothing to worry about. no one is going to force it on you. And in either case, college is a time to learn keep an open mind and dont be afraid to question your past opinions on things, I wish someone told me this sooner!! Good luck OP
I’d try to get a better sense of the vibe at each school. Maybe see if you can speak with a student in your area of interest? Instagram accounts, niche? NYC and DC are both great cities so you can’t go wrong with either one. If you’re from NYC maybe consider a new experience for your college years.
SFS and DC are a potent combination and will enhance each other and your experience.
As far as LGBTQ, whether you are or aren’t part of the community, both schools are quite liberal and you’ll find friends!
Congratulations on great choices!
I’m not part of the lgbtq+ community, and I’m worried I might be ostracized/not fit in since i know hwc have sizeable queer communities.
Well Bill she just said she is a part of it - so she lies - teenager or not. It’s fine - she’s allowed to lie - but I can’t have respect for that person who is just playing games.
If she’s really LGBTQ, why not say so and say I’m not sure if i’ll fit in. Instead of saying I’m not, and women’s colleges are filled with lesbians, so i’m not sure I’d fit in.
And then she connected women’s colleges to being all lesbian.
I guess it’s her right.
But it’s insulting, I’m sure, to people who attend women’s colleges.
Anyway - moving on from this chain.
@anon46577322 , I hope you ignore the childish jerkish responses on this thread and focus on the people mature enough to offer thoughtful advice. It makes no sense for adults to try to “win” conversations with teenagers looking for honest helpful advice.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough first-hand information about either school as it relates to lgbt topics. However, from a financial perspective, it would seem Georgetown is the clear answer for now. Also, from an academic perspective, it seems Georgetown has a ready-made major for you.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like you have non-school related reasons for preferring NYC over DC. If that’s the case, I’d caution you to step back and consider if that’s enough reason to spend extra money and also try to shoehorn yourself into a major that may not be as natural a fit for you as SFS. Sure, NYC is unique, but it’s not like DC is podunksville. I think you’ll find enough to do in DC.
Congrats on two great opportunities and good luck to you!
Might I remind members of the forum rules: “Our forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."
The conversation is getting a bit salty and adults on this site should know better; please be mindful.
I can’t imagine by what metrics one would either affirm or dispute that!? Which person has attended all women’s colleges during the same four years to draw any kind of actual comparison?
Frankly - I don’t see why you would draw a line particularly between “women’s college” and sexual preference in the first place? Some people choose women’s colleges because they feel that they won’t be distracted by “antics of immature jocks”, or by the drama of “party schools”, others have some conservative religious believes and wish to minimize premarital exposure,… — and very many just see a huge opportunity in a learning environment, where successful women make up half (or more) of faculty and senior management.
None of that has anything to with with one’s sexual orientation, unless in your mind, women who excel cannot possibly also be straight?
The short answer and absolute reality is: it’s a non-issue - because the question is based on a false premise in the first place!
In reality, Barnard stands out nationally for its diversity. Less than half of the freshman class is Caucasian, 2/3rds of the faculty are female, about only 1/2 of the faculty is white. You will have a lot of religious conservatives of all faiths, mixed with secular followers, and agnostics.
And, yes, being a highly diverse and tolerant environment, any sexual orientation is welcome and not the least bit relevant to you going there to STUDY!
I don’t know how you arrived at the “knowledge” which community there might be “sizable”, or not - other than that I would agree that any queer person at Barnard, and in NYC, probably might be more comfortable to identify - where in other schools, or part of the country, they simply might feel it less distracting not to be “counted” by someone who’s attempting to estimate how (equally) “sizable” their community is.
I believe for most people the difference in cost of attendance between most highly selective schools would be hard to justify! While there are various reports and stats by periodicals, using all kind of arbitrary “metrics”, they don’t really apply to any one single person.
You might end up with a job after graduating from either school that happens to be better than what in that particular year and in that particular field you might have gotten from the other - and it might have nothing to do with that college, but rather timing and coincidence.
The only way to set aside “cost” is if you have have looked at both schools in every possible detail and from every possible angle and have developed a strong sense that one will be a much better match for you than the other. So it’s your own personal choice and preference.