<p>…take most of their courses at Columbia University?
I’ve read the FAQ on the website, but it doesn’t say which courses(and how many?) you can take outside Bernard.</p>
<p>BArnard students can take most, or at least many, of their courses at Columbia (college). But why would you want to??</p>
<p>I don't mean to sound snippy, but seriously most students that I have spoken with prefer Barnard classes over Columbia ones (though, in many instances, the two are the same). Generally Barnard classes are smaller and you get more individual attention. And, at least according to my daughter who is a senior majoring in neuroscience, they are more challenging.</p>
<p>My daughter is in an upper level seminar at Columbia on the Supreme Court taught by a judge. She is a Barnard student and had no difficulty getting into this class. She doesn't distinguish between the schools much, but her favorite courses are definitely the American Studies courses at Barnard.</p>
<p>My older daughter is an Art History major in her senior year. She is taking two required senior level AH courses at BC, one upper level seminar at CC, one graduate class at CU and a 6000 level seminar in the school of architecture. The last class was suggested by an Art History prof. at CU who thought it would fit with her thesis topic. The impression I get is that they send the students where they feel it will be most helpful in terms of: interest, scheduling conflicts etc..
If you specialize in rare languages or even some common ones such as Italian you will spend a lot of time at CU. If you take theater you may spend a lot of time at BC. Again where you go will reflect your interest.
On the other hand my younger daughter is a sophomore currently taking intro physics and chemistry at BC. Lecture size may be a selection factor as well as time of day.(Physics 2001 at BC has 37 students Physics I at CC has 141; Chem 2001 at BC has 110 students, sections of Gen Chem at CC are about 150 strong.)
Many items will factor in where you take your classes.</p>
<p>There is no limit on the number of courses that can be taken at Columbia, except that some courses must be taken at Barnard to fulfill specific requirements along the way. (e.g., first year writing, specific requirements for majors). My d. is a junior and has always taken at least 1 or 2 classes at Columbia each semester, but many of the courses required for her major are Barnard-specific -- so I think all of her major courses have been at Barnard. In any case, the profs in her major are pretty well regarded and accomplished-- some are amazing -- so I don't think she would have any reason not to choose the courses at Barnard. But the 9-ways of knowing requirements can pretty much be filled by courses at both campuses -- in some cases, my d. had no choice but to take Columbia courses, either because of scheduling issues or because the course was only offered at Columbia. </p>
<p>There really is no significant difference when you are there -- I mean, you will generally look at courses offered and pick out what looks interesting or what fits your schedule without usually paying attention to where it is offered.</p>
<p>I'd also add that I don't really understand the "why would you want to" comment. My daughter only applied to medium to large colleges & universities. She was appalled when she visited some LAC's simply because they felt "too small" for her-- Barnard academics & advising are great, the faculty & students have wonderful relationships -- but Barnard by itself would never have the resources to keep a student like my daughter happy -- she turned down NYU, Chicago, & Berkeley for Barnard, but she would never have done that if her choices were constrained by the Barnard catalog. It's not a problem with Barnard -- Barnard has a large array of course offerings and departments for a school its size, but that in itself is partly because of its association with Columbia and shared resources. A student with a narrower range of interests might feel differently -- but for my d. the thing that sets Barnard apart is the combination of the LAC structure with full access to the resources of a large university.</p>
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but for my d. the thing that sets Barnard apart is the combination of the LAC structure with full access to the resources of a large university.
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<p>I absolutely agree that this is a defining and very, very positive characteristic of a Barnard educational experience. However, my "why would you want to" comment was trying (and not very effectively, I am afraid) to address the idea that someone approaching a Barnard education with the primary focus upon taking "most of their classes at Columbia" would most likely be missing some of the best things Barnard has to offer. </p>
<p>My concern was that the OP might not look beyond the prospect of taking classes at Columbia, and miss the many advantages that a Barnard educational experience has even over that of being a Columbia College student. My notion that the OP might not be looking very closely at Barnard was, admittedly, heightened by the fact that she spelled the school's name incorrectly. Obviously, though, that could have just been a type-o.</p>