<p>The question to ask those putting down Barnard is: would they ever suggest choosing a woman's college over Brown.</p>
<p>If the answer is no, then these are not opinions you should listen to. There are aspects that are unique to women's colleges. They are not for every female student. But if they appeal to you, you should consider Barnard, which has the advantage of being a woman's college that gives you access to Columbia classes and professors. I'd start with that question: do you think you might like a woman's college. Those who are most unhappy at Barnard seem to be those who would rather be at Columbia. Those who chose it for what it is -- an excellent woman's LAC in a vibrant city -- seem to love it.</p>
<p>If the woman's college aspect does not appeal to you, then the questions are different. Brown is a university with a very happy undergraduate student body. It seems like a less stressful place. Barnard and Columbia strike me as more intense. You need to visit both, to see which one is "you".</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>Evidence, please? (For the record, I LOVE Brown, and think Barnard's main problem is that it is connected to Columbia, which it uses as a crutch, and which gives students an inferiority complex, even though there are certain departments at Barnard, i.e. theater, that are better than Columbia's.) But the record of graduates of the best women's colleges -- relatively to the females at any of the Ivies or top LACs - is pretty hard to argue with.</p>
<p>I go out all the time and talk to Barnard students. They overall are much less happy than the Brown students I have met. That is a fact, I have no agenda.</p>
<hr>
<p>need to transfer!!! </p>
<hr>
<p>Hi, my college now is killing me softly with its song. I really need to transfer, and I'm very interested in Brown. It has a great atmosphere, something desperately lacking at Barnard. </p>
<p>Here are my stats:
3.74 GPA / 4.0 at Barnard College, Columbia University in the City of New York
800 V / 780 M
SAT IIs: 800 US History, 780 Writing, 760 Math IC</p>
<p>Intended Major: Classics Minor: Human Rights
Extracurriculars:
Women's Clinic Escort, SAT Tutoring, clarinet in a university ensemble, work part-time in the Barnard Library</p>
<p>I also am a published haiku writer:
the city sleeps now.
but i do not: i'm awake.
how ironic, no?</p>
<p>Recs from my Latin prof, Political Science Professor Richard Pious, author of the critically acclaimed "The Presidency," and my Yoga teacher.</p>
<p>Of course you have a chance. Realize, that for every person who hates the big city, someone else loves it. (I'm someone who hates it, btw, but I was advised to go there in the first place over a school I probably would have preferred by someone who hated a less-urban environment...)</p>
<p>I think you are right on with urban schools, I also know people in the woods who hated it too. I think people make mistakes on both ends, but more people make the mistake favoring the urban schools. That is why I think I have run into so many unhappy Columbia and NYU students.</p>
<p>And you think that post was serious, and not an account created to try to continue this debate? An account created immediately after this thread, posting only once, interested in transferring to only one school for the one reason argued about in this thread? And then not responding to the sincerely helpful post? You are much more trusting than I. It would make maybe the second post I've seen about someone wanting to transfer OUT of Barnard, though.</p>
<p>Overall, the Barnard students I know are the happiest people I've ever met. That might not have been just because they were at Barnard, because they're still right up there after graduation. Maybe they're just happy-type people.</p>
<p>i go to barnard and was never remotely interested in brown, so i am biased. it is extremely difficult to compare them because they're just not on the same level. i dont mean academically - lots of people get into both schools or are rejected at one but not the other and would do fine at either. but barnard is a small women's college in a huge city and brown is a large coed university in a small city.</p>
<p>barnard students have soo much pride and tradition. everyone is very into their classes here, and the reason campus is "dead" on friday nights is because everyone is either out partying or in their dorms having what basically becomes a permanent sleepover. it's so much fun being surrounded by all these passionate women who are smart and want to be in the city (which is amazing and beautiful and pulsing and has TONS of cultural, academic, social, and employment opportunities, not just prada shopping). they are hardcore and driven and fun. im sure you could find similar students at brown, but...</p>
<p>also, doesnt brown have a super liberal curriculum? i dont know anything about them, but i thought they had hardly any required courses and you basically created your own major. this is not the case at barnard. while there is a lot of flexibility, they have 2 first year required courses, a core curriculum called the 9 ways of knowing, and usually pretty stringent major requirements, particularly for english. this forces you to take classes you might not otherwise have taken (for instance, you could take "dance in new york city" to fill the arts requirement) and is just a great experience that people can talk about and share, but it's not as rigid as columbia's core. this would probably be the largest difference between barnard and brown academically.</p>
<p>Brown has no required courses, and you can create your own major, but the vast majority of people fulfill pre-existing majors. So there are no general requirements, but there are requirements within majors.</p>
<p>Those who believe that New York and Providence are similar environments have never lived in one or the other. Compared to New York, Providence is a small town.</p>