<p>I’m curious to know how selective Barnard is when compared to Columbia…Do Barnard admissions officers take the same approach when looking to GPA/class rank/scores? Are all of those “academic” areas just as important?</p>
<p>I’ll be applying to both this fall (Columbia ED, Barnard RD), and I’m just a bit curious.</p>
<p>Thanks for any insight!</p>
<p>You can get the stats on line. Princeton Review for instance gives Columbia a selectivity rating of 99 and Barnard a 97. The two committees look at some of the same stats but they also have their non-statistical info they look at in selecting students. In selecting where you spend four years selectivity is probably the last thing you need to consider. Check out “the core” Vs. “nine ways of knowing.” Visit both campuses for a gut feel.</p>
<p>Good advice, Mardad. See you in a few hours! :)</p>
<p>Enjoy the graduation ceremony!</p>
<p>We did, Calmom, we did. Beyond belief!</p>
<p>Wej – instead of looking at the Princeton Review, you can just look at the admissions stats on each institution’s websites. The difference in selectivity will become clear based on the numbers (No, I’m not offending anyone by stating facts).</p>
<p>As for what the respective adcoms consider – Barnard and Columbia have different applications and different admissions representatives.</p>
<p>barnard is much easier to get into.</p>
<p>Here are the SAT score ranges, which pretty much sum it up:</p>
<p>Barnard: 1910 - 2180
Columbia: 2180 - 2350</p>
<p>So as you can see the best student at barnard is equivalent to the worst student at columbia.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that Barnard is “much easier” than Columbia. If it is 100 degrees where I am and it is 120 in Palm Springs, I would not say it is colder where I am. I would say it is less hot where I am. In a similar fashion, I would say that Barnard is less selective, not easier.</p>
<p>Secondly, the SAT ranges quoted are for the 25th and 75th percentiles not the bottom and top. [I am personally acquainted with two Barnard Alumnae who were above the range.] Also, quoting these percentiles assumes a bell curve. Columbia, because of its selectivity may have a distorted bell as it reaches below its range to recruit students with particular artistic or athletic talents.</p>
<p>The post also represents the false assumption that SAT scores are the sole criteria for admission, and that they accurately reflect the academic abilities of the student. At least at the time that my daughter applied, Barnard students tended to have slightly higher GPA’s than Columbia admits, and high school GPA had been shown to have a somewhat stronger predictive value on college performance than SAT scores. That could have changed as Columbia had gotten more selective over the years (maybe they are now also weighing GPA more heavily) – but the point is, Barnard uses a different set of criteria for admission than Columbia.</p>
<p>The SAT is a convenient screen for large, highly selective universities with huge numbers of applicants. It provides an easy way for them to discard a high percentage of applications at the outset. But it tells very little about the capacity of the student.</p>
<p>My point was simply that SAT serves to gauge how selective is school is on the whole. </p>
<p>Median SAT for Columbia: 2260 (highly selective)
Median SAT for Barnard: 2040 (selective)
Median SAT for Boston U: 1900 (not very selective)</p>
<p>Surely there is a substantial difference.</p>
<p>Actually, the best way to judge “selectivity” is percentage of admitted students overall. For example, Julliard accepted 5.5% of applicants in 2011. As far as I know, they don’t require SAT scores.</p>
<p>By the way, in reference to your example – my daughter was accepted at Barnard, waitlisted at Boston U.</p>
<p>^thats an anecdote… My sister was accepted at Brown but waitlisted at BC, probably because she expressed little interest in the latter, but who knows?</p>
<p>I think you guys are deluding yourself. Sure Barnard is a selective college, but it is no where near as selective as Columbia.</p>
<p>To SheepGetKilled: Based on information that you’ve posted in another thread, I’m pretty confident that your chances of getting admitted to Barnard are -0-. </p>
<p>If you don’t think your chances of admission at Columbia are any better than that, you might want to save yourself the application fee.</p>
<p>I’m male so I think your correct about Barnard^</p>
<p>I think people here have a vendetta against me just because I pointed out Barnard isn’t in the Ivy League…</p>
<p>And for the record I have decent chances with my stats (I’m not asian by the way):</p>
<p>800M
800W
700CR</p>
<p>800 Math II
800 Chem
800 Physics</p>
<p>valedictorian</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“You’re.” Sorry, force of habit. I sided with the Militant Grammarians of Massachusetts in the MIT Language Riots of 1997 (I really hope someone gets that reference…). </p>
<p>Anyway, back to the point. No one is denying the fact that Columbia is more difficult to get into than Barnard, but the way you’re going about explaining your case isn’t exactly helping you. For example, your claim that “the best student at Barnard is equivalent to the worst student at Columbia” comes across as inflammatory and has no basis in actual fact. Have you studied every Barnard/Columbia student to come to this conclusion? Have you found an exact correlation between SAT scores and success as a college student? If you have, you should publish it, since that question has caused considerable controversy and has driven some prestigious schools (i.e. Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, and NYU) to go SAT optional/flexible.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that most highly selective schools look at a lot more than just SAT scores. I know one girl who had a 2210 who was rejected from Barnard and another with a ~1950 who was accepted, and the people I know who attend have scores ranging from the 1900s to the high 2300s. Columbia is no different. If they wanted to, they could easily fill a class with 2400s (or at least 2350s+), but instead they choose to select from a more rounded and diverse pool of applicants.</p>
<p>And I don’t mean to sound hostile here, but from what I’ve seen, polemicists who attempt to validate themselves by posting their obviously-good SAT scores all over the place without being provoked aren’t really the sorts of people high-ranking institutions are rushing after. I’m sure you’re going to get into a damn good school, but if you come across as smug and elitist it’s inevitably going to hurt your chances.</p>
<p>Re post #14: This is the Barnard thread at CC. It is a place for students and parents interested and/or knowledgeable about Barnard to post. That would include some males (like fathers, siblings, or even current Columbia students) who have some personal knowledge concerning Barnard and therefore something positive or helpful to contribute. As you are a male high school student, you simply don’t fit that description. It seems that your only “knowledge” is jealousy and resentment of some girl at your high school in a previous year who got into Barnard and (you claim) told people she was going to Columbia – a statement that is technically true, given that Barnard itself is not a degree-granting institution, but is an affiliate of Columbia and Barnard students are awarded Columbia University degrees. The fact that Barnard has a quasi-separate administration and financial status is actually more of a technicality – most people outside of the college admissions world aren’t really aware of the distinction, and assume that the Barnard relationship with Columbia is the same as other university relationships with their undergraduate colleges. </p>
<p>As to post #15, your stats are meaningless in the context of the schools you list under your user name. You seem to be misguided as to the importance of test scores and the way in which they are used for admission, both in the comments you have made online and in your own practices-- it is clear that you have retaken the test scores numerous times in order to attempt to achieve marginal gains in scores. As you have not shared more details about yourself, it’s hard to say what your own chances are – but your constant focus on test scores & your valedictorian status suggests that you may not have noteworthy achievements or talents beyond the numbers – though I realize that its also possible that you simply aren’t talking about them to preserve your privacy. </p>
<p>So basically your post #15 demonstrates that you are potentially qualified to apply to top schools, not that you will get in or are even likely to get in. Those decisions will be based on subjective factors: the quality of your essays, LOR’s, your range of interests and activities and whether you have distinguished yourself in any way in those areas. Most of the Ivies place a surprisingly high value on athleticism, for example – that is, at any given high school, it is fairly common for varsity athletes to be admitted to top schools over classmates with higher test scores. </p>
<p>In any case, I wish you the best of luck in admissions, but you will get a better reception if you focus your energies online on contributing in areas where you have actual knowledge or a clear interest. I suppose that you can probably give useful advise in the SAT topic, given that you have sat for the tests 7 different times. I’m sure your input and participation will also be more welcome on the threads devoted to the colleges where you plan to apply. </p>
<p>And please, for your own sake, be sure to apply to a safety school that you will be happy to attend. Your test scores and class rank means that you will be guaranteed admission at many terrific schools, so you should have a good range of options both public and private to choose from. Unfortunately, however, those scores/class rank mean very little to the Ivies, which are deluged with applicants with similar credentials – so hopefully you have something else to to offer with your application.</p>
<p>I’m deeply sorry if I offended anyone. I was just venting my frustration with one particular girl who chose to flaunt her Barnard acceptance. I realize that one student doesn’t fully represent an entire college. Sorry.</p>
<p>Very nice, sheep. Apology accepted. Really. Best to you!</p>
<p>Hello I have a question
If i am enrolled in Barnard, is it possible to take courses at Columbia? I want to major in Business which is only offered at Columbia but if i am a Barnard student would i be able to major in business?</p>