Barnard stereotypes, promulgated by Columbians

<p>Not only do some CC students realize that Barnard is preferable over CC, but we were told by a well-known Columbia English prof that he thinks CC students would be well-served by taking as many English (and other) classes at Barnard as possible. Better taught, more individual attention, etc. And he said this in the presence of a student (a friend of my d) who had just been accepted to CC and had been awarded the John Jay Scholar thingey...</p>

<p>That kid ended up not attending Columbia...</p>

<p>I just recently visited Barnard and fell head-over-heels for it. However, I was concerned after talking with a Vassar student about it's relationship to Columbia. He described Barnard as the "ugly stepchild" of Columbia, stating that Barnard women often felt snubbed by Columbia professors and classes. Is there any truth to this, or do Barnard women really have all of the accepted (by CC students) access to Columbia that that the admissions people declare?</p>

<p>No, no snubbing by profs or "classes". I put the latter in quotes because I am not sure what you mean by the reference to classes -- Barnard students can sign up for classes the same as anyone else. It's an open system done by computer -- the students just browse and select, and the computer reports the number enrolled. There are a few classes that have "limited" enrollment, but I only know of my daughter having that issue with Barnard classes -- and she's gotten into everyone that she wanted, so that hasn't been a problem except for the inconvenience of having to email a prof or two to make it happen.</p>

<p>My d. has taken almost half of her classes at Columbia and I don't think that the profs know or care which school the women in their class are enrolled in.</p>

<p>As to the Columbia students, there are all kinds, including some who are jerks. However, my d. is an officer in a Columbia student organization -- the two co-officers are guys who are frat brothers. I think its probably one of those organizations where the "offices" are held by the only 3 who ever show up to meetings, but the point is that if there are any barriers whatsoever, I've never heard my daughter complain about them. (She's complained of other things, so its not that she wouldn't tell me). Other than her roommate, her best friends her first year were Columbia guys. </p>

<p>I mean, its a big school and she also has met plenty of students on both sides of the street she doesn't like very much, but she hangs out with the people she does like and all is fine. </p>

<p>How would the Vassar student know anything ?</p>

<p>Some of the Vassar student's best friends had gone to Barnard, so he was just repeating what he had heard from them. </p>

<p>Thanks very much for all your information.</p>

<p>I didn't apply to Columbia, didn't even think of Columbia whn applying to Barnard. Anywhere to those who want to go to Columbia, don't dilly dally just go quickly. The wait list kids are suffering in anxiety, please give us a break :).
Barnard rocks!!</p>

<p>There are many of these threads. Most conclude that there is no validity to these fears.</p>

<p>Barnard's new prez comes from Harvard Business School and I think she wil lay these negative stereotypes to bed forever.</p>

<p>I went on a tour of Columbia with my brother yesterday, and our guide was a political science major there, who said that he likes to take all his polysci classes at Barnard because their department is better:]</p>

<p>I graduated from Barnard in 1996 and I never felt any stereotyping or “iciness” from the Columbia women. I rowed for my first two years on the Columbia crew team (all sports teams are Columbia/Barnard) and to be honest, I took most of my classes across the street at Columbia. However, I did read an article my senior year that noted that more Columbia students take classes at Barnard than vice versa. A Barnard experience is what you make of it: you can feel as though you’re at a small women’s liberal arts college or you can feel as though you are at a large Ivy League university. I chose the latter, and many of my college female friends are from Columbia College, not Barnard. I had a good college experience and I definitely made the right choice.</p>

<p>That is true. Our PoliSci department is known to be better than Columbia’s and we have the amazing Jervis teaching at Barnard. I know many columbia students who have told me time and time again to take PoliSci at Barnard</p>

<p>Also I was talking to a boy at Columbia (who is rather misogynistic and annoying) and he said that he felt that since Columbia girls have more of a thirst to prove themselves, they tend to be the more “slutty” ones. I don’t actually believe this, but it just goes to show that the rumor mill cuts both ways.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure that Robert Jervis is on the Columbia faculty, not Barnard – see: [Faculty</a> Directory](<a href=“Political Science”>Political Science) – also on the SIPA faculty:
[SIPA:</a> Faculty Robert Jervis](<a href=“http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/rlj1-fac.html]SIPA:”>http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/rlj1-fac.html)</p>

<p>Here’s a list of the Barnard poli sci faculty:
[Faculty</a> & Staff | Political Science](<a href=“http://polisci.barnard.edu/faculty-directory]Faculty”>http://polisci.barnard.edu/faculty-directory) – you’ll note that Prof. Jervis isn’t listed there.</p>

<p>Maybe your confusion is because Dr. Jervis teaches V1601 (Introduction to International Relations) which is a “crossover” course required for the poli sci major at Barnard. My daughter happened to take the course from Kimberley Marten (Barnard faculty) – but in any given semester the course could be taught by faculty from either college. FWIW, Kimberly Marten is an amazing professor & my daughter still talks about that class.</p>

<p>My daughter majored in poli sci (international relations) at Barnard & her boyfriend majored in poli sci/econ at Columbia, and I do get the sense that they both feel that my daughter had a better educational experience, but I wouldn’t want to get into debates over which department is “better”. I think the difference is more in the structure and the relationship among the Barnard students & faculty. </p>

<p>As a parent, I was very struck by the high degree of interaction between faculty and students, and by how open and approachable the faculty were. I sat in on a couple of poli sci classes in 2 different years, an the profs made a point of greeting me and chatting with me after class. A Barnard poli sci major requires 2 colloquia and a 2-semester senior research seminar along wit a senior thesis; so that is at least 4 very small classes where the student is working very closely with professors. Columbia requires 2 seminars and a thesis is done only optionally by top students as an honors component, so it is very likely that the Columbia poli sci major will generally be in larger classes. From what I can tell, Columbia also makes it difficult for a poli sci major to use Barnard classes to support major requirements-- so it may be a little easier for Barnard students to take advantage of the Columbia faculty than the other way around. However, my daughter never actually took any poli sci classes at Columbia – I think that’s simply that the Barnard faculty is pretty amazing and there was no need for her to cross the street to take the courses required for her major. </p>

<p>I’d just note that the fact that you can be a current student at Barnard and still apparently be confused as to which college a specific faculty member is affiliated with is an illustration of how tightly interwoven the actual academic experience is. I am guessing that you did have not yet actually taken the 1601 course from Jervis, as you probably would have noticed that it was being taught on the Columbia campus — but perhaps you have heard other Barnard students talking about him or recommending his class, or perhaps you have signed up for his spring course not yet realizing that it is given at Columbia.</p>

<p>Anyway, this just illustrates the pitfalls of playing a game of deciding which faculty is “better” than the other. Columbia has a pretty amazing faculty of its own.</p>

<p>I thought it was strange that he wasn’t mentioned on the Barnard website, but I had a friend who basically swore that he was a Barnard professor and how the PoliSci department is better at Barnard (he’s a PoliSci major as well). But thanks for clearing it up and everything.</p>

<p>I also didn’t really mean to play that “game” and Columbia of course has an amazing faculty. The fact is though, Barnard PoliSci department being better than Columbia’s is simply something I’ve heard time and time again on both campuses.</p>