<p>how highly is barnard ranked, since i know they intermingle with columbia students and classes. i mean, it is a separate school and campus right?</p>
<p>and also, what are they famous for (i.e. what are their strongest programs or most popular majors)?</p>
<p>Barnard has a separate campus (across the street from Columbia), separate housing, separate faculty and I think, if I remember the tour correctly, they even have their own library. That being said, I understand there is a lot of cross registration, because you can take classes at Columbia for free if you are a Barnard student, but Barnard is statistically easier to get into (not casting aspersions here on Barnard student quality, which I think has nothing to do wtih admissions statistics, just citing). </p>
<p>I’m not a Barnard student, but I strongly considered going there. However, you have to consider if you’re going to be really comfortable studying right in the midst of New York City. And if you’re looking for a traditional women’s college/liberal arts campus feel, the draw of New York is going to diminish that somewhat. You have the whole city as your playground, so by default, everyone is not going to be as focused solely on campus life. However, I was really pleased with the atmosphere at Barnard when I visited, several years ago.</p>
<p>I go to Barnard right now, and I love it! I don’t know whether you are thinking about the “women’s school” aspect, but I will tell you anyways that I think that everyone here is kinder and friendlier towards one another because of it (no catty behavior trying to impress guys every minute).
As for rankings, don’t looks at usnew’s. It has a “low” ranking because usnews doesn’t consider anything that Columbia and Barnard share, and because of it, Barnard doesn’t give a rats foot; note that there isn’t even a picture for it. I would suggest looking at Princeton Review, Barnard receives rankings that it deserves (5 in career services for example).
The campus is separate, closed by gates all around (but not prison-like, it’s just that it is safe), and everything is so nearby that I can leave my dorm and be sitting in class at Milbank (which is as far away from dorm than all the other buildings) in eight minutes! But Columbia starts right across the street, and only takes a few minutes (like 5-10 really) to get to the Low Plaza.
English is definitely one of its strongest programs - they have churned out many great writers. Their dance program is very good too. I believe anthropology (we have so many other social sciences too!), pysch (like most schools),and biology are also popular majors. But if you have something in mind, look up if they have the major available. Don’t worry too much about renowness, the classes are mostly small so you will have so much attention, and if they are big, there is most likely a ton of Columbia students in it, so you aren’t getting a bad education either way.
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