<p>Heh, I transferred from the University of South Florida. I know parties. My best friend came from Dartmouth; she liked Barnard's social life better. More parties != better college experience. And Bacchanal is a Columbia event.</p>
<p>The same league of what? Both schools will give you a great education and introduce you to interesting, diverse people. If you like Bucknell better than Duke ("Which do you like better overall?"), then go to Bucknell. Not like Duke's going to give you some secret to genius and a life of wealth that you couldn't get elsewhere.</p>
<p>Of course, in this case if she really wants to major in linguistics, THEN it becomes a concern. But English or History? Please.</p>
<p>Yeah but South Florida parties are different than parties at Brown, Dartmouth or Penn. Its all about the people. Barnard you might see someone walking around but its not like Brown. You just get to interact with them much more often at these other places.</p>
<p>Duke vs. Bucknell is a real difference just as Brown and Barnard is. Sure, plenty of people from Bucknell and Barnard are incredibly successful, but I would wager more from Duke and Brown are. Brown is a top grad school feeder (WSJ), Barnard isn't in the top 25.</p>
<p>Personally Brown is all upside. A better school with a better social life with smarter students and a real college town (east providence).</p>
<p>Barnard is a good school, a great school, but its not Brown.</p>
<p>I agree that it's all about the people; that's why we liked Barnard parties better than Dartmouth or USF parties.</p>
<p>Oh, the WSJ article is complete bunk and everyone who's read it knows it. Did you bother reading the methodology, or just look at the numbers? I'm sure it's been critiqued somewhere on this site. The fact is, per capita, Barnard sends more people to grad (not professional) school than most other colleges. It's somewhere towards the top of the list of schools producing PhDs.</p>
<p>Well, that's your opinion and you're welcome to it. From my perspective, an equally good school with a better social life with more interesting students and an awesome city full of resources is too good to even consider Brown.</p>
<p>You don't seem to know a whole lot about Barnard in general, and you're saying a lot of things that have no basis in fact. No one traded "everything" for the city. There's a great social life and community, and yes, the classes are just as good as an Ivy League school, if not better. The Barnard students I know love their school and the experiences they've had there- some of which involve the city, all of which involve hanging out with the people they've met. I have heard from my friends that Columbia has a more "independently minded" undergraduate experience, and if that's been the case for you and you're not happy about it, I'm sorry, but that doesn't mean it's like that at Barnard.</p>
<p>Well, good for the Dartmouth people? We still don't like their kind of party.</p>
<p>You can get a good to excellent education at Brown or Barnard. Brown is probably stronger in several respects. Many students could be happy at either place BUT a very happy Barnard student is unlikely to be very happy at Brown and vice versa. You need to visit both schools and know yourself--to oversimplify, Brown's environment is dominantly suburban in feel and this affects the mentality and social outlook of the students. Barnard students are deeply urban and thrive on the City's pulse. Providence has its pleasures but it's not NYC.</p>
<p>I know Brown has a better reputation, but I am beginning to think Barnard would be a better fit.
-- I prefer small classes with supporting teachers
-- I am not into big parties
-- I didn't realize how much more I liked urban schools until I visited both suburban and urban colleges</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure Brown has small classes, too, but something I really liked about Barnard was that all of the professors were there because they wanted to help you succeed (however you defined that). I got to know some of them really well on a personal level, and they were incredibly supportive when I was applying to grad school. I think part of it's the women's college thing.</p>
<p>"Brown students are better than Barnard students"</p>
<p>Fine then Harvard students are better than Dartmouth students. Most Dartmouth students cannot get into Harvard. (yes I know some can)</p>
<p>Is this the kind of logic you are espousing?</p>
<p>Everyone on this board knows about rankings and the ivy league. Being an ivy league snob (I went to one) isn't pretty. Just makes it appear you don't have much real world experience, where for the most part no one gives a hoot where you went to school. I have no Barnard agenda, but I think your comments are pretty insulting (and to Bucknell,etc)... time to get down off that high horse?</p>
<p>Yes that is my logic. Harvard students are better than Dartmouth students. </p>
<p>What is insulting? Saying that one school is better than another? I don't think its out of line to asset Brown is better than Barnard. It isn't an Ivy thing, I think Haverford is better than Barnard too. I never said Barnard or Bucknell are bad schools, all I said was Duke and Brown are better schools. Just like Harvard is better than Dartmouth. Better enough that it makes a difference? Probably not too much but a little. There is nothing wrong with being objective. I would have chosen Brown over Harvard, but I would also be aware that I would be turning down a better school. </p>
<p>Anyway my point is that I would say Brown is a better experience socially and academically/ reputation. This poster wants an urban experience and doesnt seem to care too much about the social scene so in that case Barnard sounds like a better bet.</p>
<p>There is some overlap at all these schools. Some Barnard students do much better than some Brown students after graduating. The thing is, a student who could get into Brown could probably be just as successful coming from Barnard, and moreso if it was a good fit for them. The only time the name of your undergraduate school matters is if you're going into business. Otherwise, some other degree or work experience will be what gets you jobs. So go where you want, and don't listen to this moron. If you do feel you are too good for Barnard after attending there, you could probably transfer to Brown after freshman year.</p>
<p>You can do absolutely fine from Barnard, maybe it won't matter much at all. But Brown is a better school. You guys are reading way too much into my comments. I am defending objectivity not elitism. Objectively Brown is better.</p>
<p>Ah, but slipper... objectively, the raw material that comes into Brown is better. But how much each product is improved before leaving, is an entirely different issue. And I would think the fact that Barnard students would be held to the same high standards as Columbia students in those classes, is a very meaningful thing.</p>
<p>Actually, in your words, you are defending elitism.</p>
<p>"I hate defending elitism, but sometimes you gotta defend the truth."</p>
<p>Just sayin'.</p>
<p>I also find it funny that one of the top things Barnard alums say they loved about the school (the community, social environment, feeling like part of something, like they connected to the school and their peers and had found a new home) doesn't exist.</p>
<p>barnard students actually get columbia degrees. i heard their classes are the same hardness as columbia. are you going to tell me brown is better than columbia?</p>
<p>but then again... barnard students usually get looked down upon by columbia students</p>
<p>"Sure, plenty of people from Bucknell and Barnard are incredibly successful, but I would wager more from Duke and Brown are."</p>
<p>Are you sure that is true for female graduates? It might be true, but I have serious doubts. (The last study I saw indicated female graduates of the top five women's colleges outperforming their peers at the Ivies and top LACs, etc., in virtually every category, from Ph.D. productivity to Fulbright Scholarships to number of members of Congress.)</p>
<p>You might be right about Barnard graduates success. I am not sure. I do know however that Barnard seems to work for a certain type of person (like the poster) but conversely others don't like it at all. There is much more community than at Columbia or many other places, but this has as much to do with it being a LAC than anything else. Almost all LACs offer this comfortability. Barnard classes aren't as hard as Columbia from what U have heard on campus. I took two Barnard classes my first year, they were easier. It depends on the Professor though too of course.</p>
<p>""Brown students are better than Barnard students"</p>
<p>The question is whether they are so four years later? (What little study I have seen of questions like this suggest pretty strongly that they are not.)</p>
<p>Why not just apply to both if you're applying RD? Let's face it, they are both good schools, and it is great to like both, especially since Brown ss insanely hard to get into, and quixotic in who they take (they took a boy from our school with a 3.2 average with interesting ecs over a 3.9 gpa student with a 1600.) So if the OP likes both, apply to both, and if it ends up as Barnard, hey, that's not such a bad thing.</p>
<p>If you were luck enough to have a choice, it's clearly Brown.</p>
<p>People can discuss the semantics of the "actual level of education" to the nth degree, but at the end of the day having a Brown degree > Barnard degree (I would argue on all levels - i.e. before, during and after graduation).</p>
<p>Further, if Barnard really = Columbia, then Barnard wouldn't even exist (it would have been folded into the larger institution like Pembroke->Brown and Radcliffe->Harvard)</p>
<p>As it is, Barnard is Barnard and Columbia is Columbia.</p>
<p>"Brown or Columbia?" - now that's an entirely different discussion.</p>