<p>Hi…
Getting to be Admissions time of the year… If you have questions about Barnard, I’d be happy to answer them. I don’t work for admissions, but I do love Barnard and know a lot about it. =) </p>
<p>Oh, and I don’t know what your chances of getting in are. I don’t even quite understand the new SAT score system, so please don’t ask. ;)</p>
<p>What are you favorite and least favorite things about Barnard?</p>
<p>Hm... my favorite things about Barnard would have to be the people (both students and professors), the classes, the atmosphere, and of course, the location. Barnard students are incredibly friendly and enthusiastic people. They're very bright and passionate too. There's something about Barnard that instills a sense of pride, passion, and social awareness into its students. I can't really explain it, but it comes out in the classroom, the on-campus events, and various initiatives taken. In the years that I've been here, I've met many people who are determined to come out of Barnard and into the world to make it a better place. They don't believe in traditional gender restrictions or even the glass ceiling, and I think that's more than you can say for a co-ed institution since it doesn't always put so much focus on women's issues and interests. Because Barnard is such a renowned institution, many prominent women come to speak about their careers or their work, which gives students great exposure to the people they could one day become. In fact, many of these prominent women are alumnae themselves! There's something about being at an all-women's college where your interests and your goals are tended to that makes this all possible. It doesn't mean that we're all raging feminists. In fact, the majority of us aren't, but it does mean that we are much more aware of women's issues and the inequality in society. I love the students that I've met here. They're approachable, friendly, and always willing to help out. And they love the college, so it's great to see a student body with so much enthusiasm and spirit. There's a sense of underlying pride and love, and I think it's best shown during huge campus gatherings, like Midnight Breakfast during finals. Everyone has a great time mingling with each other and the faculty. There's music and lots of interaction. It's a really fun time, especially when everyone's stressed out over finals. But I definitely think it's times like these when you can see the Barnard spirit come out through both students and faculty, and it makes for a terrific atmosphere.</p>
<p>I also love Barnard classes. They're engaging and challenging, and you learn so much from them. I've taken an equal amount of Columbia classes, but I definitely prefer Barnard classes and professors. In some ways, Barnard classes are more challenging and enriching than Columbia classes. The professors are also more approachable and friendly.</p>
<p>And finally, Barnard's location is in the greatest city in the world. What's not to love? Concerts, nightlife, food, caf</p>
<p>if you had to summarize Barnard into one word, what would it be?</p>
<p>i'm applying ED, and i've read in another post that you did too. do you have any advice for me? :-) thanks!</p>
<p>thanks for the reply, it was very insightful :]</p>
<p>also, do you know anyone who is doing the double degree program with the jewish theological seminary? if you do, what do they think about it and what is the workload like?</p>
<p>Wow, one word to describe Barnard? I feel like I'm supposed to write an essay to elaborate. ;) Well, it's hard to summarize Barnard in one word. As an institution? Its student body? Faculty? Philosophy?</p>
<p>I'll do all of them. :)</p>
<p>Institution: Confident
Student Body: Ambitious
Faculty: Enthusiastic
Philosophy: Empowerment</p>
<p>As for ED, I wouldn't be able to give you very good advice granted I was on the receiving end of the admissions process, and so were my friends. I would just say to work on your essay a lot. Make sure you really show your enthusiasm for Barnard and understand what the college and its philosophy are all about. And show that you're ready to contribute to the campus.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I do not know of anyone doing the double degree program at JTS.</p>
<p>My D does, both at Barnard and at Columbia. The workload is definitely manageable. JTS students at Columbia have their own dorm; JTS students at Barnard live at Barnard as part of the Barnard community.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in the double degree program with JTS. So far, she is in love with her experiences at both institutions. She originally considered the Joint Program between Columbia and JTS, but wanted the closer relationships with advisors and greater sense of community that Barnard offers. She is very happy with that decision -- was accepted ED to the double degree program. As for workload, she is definitely busy, but feels that it is definitely manageable. She carries a somewhat heavier load than the typical Barnard freshman because of her JTS courses (and will increase that load further for the spring semester), but everything gets done and she is getting good grades. She is very organized and had very strong study and writing skills to begin with. </p>
<p>Double degree students have the option of living in the Barnard housing or in JTS housing; all of the first year double degrees this year chose to live in Barnard housing. The Joint Program students can only live in the JTS housing; they are not able to participate in Columbia housing.</p>
<p>ptmom: Thanks for clearing up some of my misinformation. Your D sounds like a keeper. I'm so glad she's enjoying Barnard.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. :] I have some other questions too about the program.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to do premed as well as JTS and be able to get all the requirements needed for JTS's core and Barnard's nine ways of knowing, and my major?</p>
<p>How many people apply to the program? And how many are accepted? Do you know if you get accepted at one institution, they accept you at the other? Or do you have to be accepted at both?</p>
<p>How many extra classes would I have to take in a semester? Would I still have time to do something like research or an intrenship with the extra classes?</p>
<p>Thanks again!!</p>
<p>Snivellus,
You are a true overachiever. You will fit right in at Barnard. All of this study seems like a real good idea at the beginning of the semester. About the middle of the semester the work load really builds to a crescendo, and it doesn't seem like such a good idea. But like the pain of child birth it is soon forgotten, and you will be signing up for too many courses for the next semester even as you suffer from your last overload selection.
Read some of the other threads about the work load. This is a top women's college and is therefore filled with bright high achieving young women. The professors don't have to slow up for the less sharp students. There aren't any. Combine that with the location across the street from a Columbia, mix in a little of the "we try harder" attitude and you have some serious work loads, but lots of fun.
In addition to avoiding the overload another reason to build in some slack is to explore some other interests that you don't know you have. My D1 is an art history majot, totally unexpected. Churchmusic's D is doing Nueroscience, also unanticipated. Read the other posts. There are reasons that Barnard doesn't have you pick a major until the end of 2nd year.</p>
<p>What Mardad said.....ditto!!!!!</p>
<p>My D switched from Classics to American Studies. With her extreme interest in the US Constitution and US Supreme Court cases it seems a no brainer now, but she really hadn't considered American Studies.</p>
<p>it is nice to ask so many questions about barnard here...
do many students pursue internships in NYC? what is the most popular major?how are the economics and politcal science majors? how would you say the grading is at barnard (too hard to the point of unfair, grade inflation, reasonable...)? how is the racial and socio-economic diversity? i know it is accepted at barnard, but have you encountered any classmates that had a ged? what are the core requirements like? does it seem flexible or not flexible? can you give us an idea of what your first year schedule was like at barnard? thanks!!</p>
<p>about the intrenships, I asked an admissions counselor about it and she said that there were a TON of intrenships available, and most students have intrenships. she said that there are about 2500 avaible intrenships posted for barnard students.. and there's only about 500 undergraduate students, so there's a lot to go around! also, there aren't many classes on fridays, so most people use it for their intrenships.</p>
<p>i don't really know much else about it, because i'm a hs senior :]</p>
<p>Barnard has about 2300 undergrads - see:
<a href="http://www.barnard.edu/catalog/Enrollfig.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.barnard.edu/catalog/Enrollfig.pdf</a></p>
<p>(From looking at that chart I have gained new insight as to why the housing situation at Barnard was so tight this year -- apparently they've got more students than ever before)</p>
<p>As to internships, my daughter hasn't run into any difficulty getting exactly what she wants, but she really don't rely on the campus resources other than as a starting point. It's rather misleading to quote figures as to the total number of posted internships vs. student enrollment in any case, because very few internships would be reserved for Barnard students -- in most cases, students from Columbia & NYU are likely to be competing for the same ones. </p>
<p>But I think a Barnard student is certainly able to hold her own in that respect.</p>
<p>Almost everyone I know has had one or more internships throughout their time at Barnard. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't know of anyone who hasn't had one. The city is full of opportunities for college students, but you have to know how to find it. Career Development is a great place to start, but they don't have all the answers. Don't get me wrong, they're great people and know a lot, but depending on your interests and goals, sometimes it's better to do your own research and pursue your own things. I landed my internship over the summer by chance actually. I spoke to a friend who interned at a public interest law firm and asked her how she liked it. She subsequently sent me the contact info for the coordinator, and I e-mailed the guy asking if they had any positions available. It turned out they only had one position for an undergrad, and I got it because I got to them first. So, a lot of it also has to do with chance as well, I guess. But don't hesitate to pry other people for information regarding internships or any other opportunities. Most students are friendly and willing to give you information that you need.</p>
<p>As for workload, I wouldn't recommend taking on too much your first semester. Barnard workload is really something you have to adjust to. Like the others have said, people are very competitive here. Nice, yes, but competitive. They're sometimes characterized as "sharks with a smile." But don't let the competition take you down. I find often it's just a facade that people put on. We're all bright and ambitious people at the end of the day, and we're all hungry for a good education. Nothing wrong about that.</p>
<p>I think the most popular majors are psychology, economics, history, english, and biology. I'm not an econ or polisci major, so I can't really elaborate. But I do know that polisci is a very hard major. Lots of reading and writing. Basically a heavy workload, even compared to English and History. (I'm a history major.) As for grading, that really depends on the course. I know that there's usually some grade inflation in the science and math classes. There hasn't been much grade inflation in the classes I've taken, and I've taken mostly history, French, and sociology classes among some others here and there. The only class that was inflated was an econ class I took my first semester.</p>
<p>I don't think I've ever met a Barnard student who had a GED. And that probably says something about the admissions office here, either good or bad. I've met some grad students at Columbia who had a GED, but that's completely different. :)</p>
<p>as for racial and socio-economic diversity, Barnard is pretty diverse for an American liberal arts college, but the average student is still white, upper-middle class. There is no shortage of over-privileged students here, but it is very diverse ethnically and culturally.</p>
<p>my first year schedule was manageable. I took four academic courses and one required PE class my first semester. My second semester I took five academic courses. I knew I wanted to major in history, so I've taken at least one history course every semester since my first semester. I would recommend taking five academic courses per semester at the most. Six would really be pushing it. Anything more than that would be academic suicide.</p>
<p>My daughter is a poli sci major so I can answer some questions about that, mainly because I went on line and figured out that things looked pretty tough so I had an IM conversation with my daughter that was pretty ridiculous with me in panic mode over whether she could get into specific courses and she reassuring me that she was already enrolled and had talked to an advisor about her plans. Poli sci requires 2 colloquia, usually in the junior year, but my d. (now a sophomore) wants to spend a semester abroad, which led to my parental angst. Anyway, it does look pretty difficult to me. </p>
<p>I think that "ambitious" is the word that showed up a lot in my daughter's high school recommendation letters, and probably is what got her into Barnard. If you are highly ambitious and goal oriented, then Barnard is probably a good fit -- that's what I am seeing with my daughter. Once she sets her sights on a goal, she is very systematic about doing what she has to do to get there.</p>