<p>Hi!
I’m currently an incoming senior, and I have been researching about Barnard. I really really love this place! Although I haven’t visited it yet, after reading so much about it I know I want to go there.
But the thing is, my mom is concerned about its name. I know the rankings and names aren’t meant to be everything, but to my parents, and to some extent me, is quite important. Do people really know what Barnard is? Also, my mom is not convinced about the Barnard-Columbia affiliation. So, if I graduate Barnard, does that mean I receive a degree from Columbia as well? I just need some clearing up.
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Oh and P.S: how do liberal arts colleges compare to national universities. Because so far, I’m finding that more people are really into national universities, but I’m looking into both.</p>
<p>You ONLY get a degree from “Columbia University” – Barnard doesn’t grant a degree of its own. The degree is in latin – but translated, it says at the top that it has been issued by Columbia University – then in the body of the text it says that you are a graduate of Barnard College, and it will be signed by both the President of CU and the President of BC. FWIW, the degree that Columbia College (CC) students is exactly the same, although of course it says that they attended CC and is signed by the Dean of CC. </p>
<p>When you apply for a job, your resume would probably say either “Barnard College, Columbia University” or “Columbia University (Barnard College)”.</p>
<p>Despite the kerfuffle that generally is raised about this, this is exactly what my undergrad and grad diplomas were like, at a totally different U. I attended the University of California, which had 9 campuses at the time and each campus had its own set of colleges. So my diplomas say “University of California” at the top, and then the text in the body of the diplomas has the information about which campus I attended, and the college or school that was granting the degree. And of course I always listed both the name of the state U. as well as specifying my campus & school/major for job applications.</p>
<p>Outside of CC, there is also no one who cares about the distinction. My d. graduated 3 years ago; she lives in NY & shares an apartment with a Columbia grad, their circle of friends includes grads of both BC & CC, they all seem to have good jobs, there is no distinction at all (other than the fact that some are male, and all the males went to CC)</p>
<p>And yes, most educated people generally know that Barnard is affiliated with Columbia. Most do not know or particularly care to know details of the distinction – for example, most would not know that Barnard is financially separate from CC or other nuances. </p>
<p>Most larger “Universities” are comprised of multiple undergraduate colleges or schools. So I think that most people outside of the very narrow BC/CC universe would be very puzzled by what all the debate is about.</p>
<p>We were not familiar with Barnard when my D was your age either. She was in NYC for a summer dance intensive at NYU the summer before her Senior year and heard about Barnard and went on her own to check it out one day and fell in love. Her dad and I visited with her that fall when she went for her admissions interview and we were also convinced it was the perfect school for her. Both of our older kids had attended large Universities, so the Barnard/Columbia experience that she had was different than theirs (football was NOT a big deal at Columbia, for one thing. ).</p>
<p>You asked about differences in liberal arts colleges vs large Universities… thing is, with Barnard and the affiliation with Columbia, you get the advantages of both. Barnard students have access to great research opportunities and increased diversity of class offerings; huge library system; all kinds of extracurricular clubs and organizations and sports through their affiliation with Columbia. Yet they have the more intimate class sizes (this is really true of the more advanced courses in your major…the intro courses are pretty much large classes), better advising and closer relationships with faculty of the small liberal arts environment. </p>
<p>I strongly suggest that, if at all possible, you and your parents visit Barnard. Take the tour, set up an appointment with someone that teaches in an area of particular interest to you. We met with the head of the department of dance, for example. </p>
<p>I will also note that my daughter quickly changed from wanting to be a dance major to being a neuroscience major during her first semester. She graduated in 2009 and is currently working on her PhD. Her excellent undergraduate education at Barnard certainly served her well.</p>
<p>Thank you both so much!
Hopefully this will clear things up for my mom.
Haha, I think my parents aren’t so keen about it because they never really heard about it before, and both my siblings graduated from Ivy Leagues. So, I guess this was one of the factor that made them wonder why I want to attend a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>So, Barnard IS well-known, and people do recognize it?</p>
<p>yes. Please tell your mom she is welcomed to send me a private message if she needs more info or perspective from the parent of a Barnard graduate.</p>
<p>If you ask 100 random people on the street … not so much. If you ask people at grad schools and at schools that hire students from top schools … very much so (especially on the east coast). Very similar to other liberal arts colleges which are not well known by the general public but very well known and regarded by the those that matter in your career.</p>
<p>If you read about the Barnard-Columbia relationship on CC you’ll read a bunch of pretty contentious threads about how to define the relationship. My daughter graduated from Barnard and from my viewpoint these threads are missing the point … however the relationship is defined the relationship between Barnard and Columbia is VERY close and as a Barnard student and allows both a liberal arts and research university experience simultaneously in a pretty unique way. One example, lots of schools allow cross registration … typically the timing of the classes are different at each school, travel is involved, and there is a quota of how many “visiting” students can take slots in classes … the Barnard-Columbia set-up is MUCH tighter than this … the Barnard course catalog includes virtually all the Columbia classes and there is no differentiation (other than a slight variation in the course numbering scheme) and no quotas. My daughter tool classes at Columbia, did research with Columbia professors, did some EC stuff at Columbia, etc. This is one of the HUGE bennies of the Barnard experience.</p>
<p>When we started our college visit trip spring break of my daughter’s junior year she was set on a attending a large research U in a big city and not interest in a LAC or an all women’s college … and Columbia was her leading choice going into the week. One morning we toured Columbia and she liked it … since were there we toured Barnard in the afternoon. Halfway through the tour I knew Barnard was the place for her … and in the end she ended up applying to Barnard ED … and LOVED her 4 years there.</p>
<p>If you have a chance tour both Columbia and Barnard and I’ll bet pretty big money you’ll prefer one over the other. Good luck!</p>
<p>Is your mom concerned about how well-known the college is? or the quality of education?</p>
<p>Because from an objective standpoint, the education QUALITY at Barnard is the same as Columbia – it has to be, because Barnard faculty hiring needs to be approved by Columbia, and most of the permanent faculty have potential teaching responsibilities at Columbia as well as Barnard. </p>
<p>Further, a Barnard student has virtually coextensive access to Columbia’s courses and resources – if you are at Barnard, you can enroll in just about any Columbia course, at any level (including graduate level courses), and you have full access to all Columbia libraries.</p>
<p>My d. feels that the educational quality at Barnard was better than Columbia, because of factors like smaller classes, more personal attention from faculty, and an advising system that promotes close relationships between students and faculty, plus better overall faculty/administration/student relationships – but that’s an opinion. CC’ers might argue that the Columbia Core provides a stronger foundation, therefore boosting the quality of their education.</p>
<p>If your mom is concerned about name-recognition, then if your mom is talking to someone and they say haven’t heard of Barnard, she can explain that Barnard is at Columbia.</p>
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