<p>Hey, guys! I'm stuck between Carleton and Barnard right now and would love if y'all could list some pros and cons. Location-wise, they're the exact opposite, and that makes them awesome for different reasons! Btw I live in NJ if that helps for location debate</p>
<p>Two awesome schools! Have you visited both? The feels are totally different. While I love women’s colleges, I think I would pick carleton over them. It’s such a cute community and their traditions are so cool. (one of my favorites is the Silent Dance Party.) I realize Barnard is closer to you, but you may never get the chance to live in Minnesota again! It’s quite the experience.
Additionally, what are you looking for? Carleton is a very independent school ie no consortium or relations with other schools. On the other hand, Barnard has a close relationship with Columbia University, which can be both a good or bad thing. What are you planning to study? Carleton is very strong in almost all areas.</p>
<p>As far as Minnesota goes, I was thinking the same thing! When will I live there again? It’s so unique, and everyone there seemed so nice! The winter sounds crazy but fun at the same time (i.e. hockey rink on the quad!). As far as areas of study, I’m a humanities person, probably leaning towards French, Spanish, philosophy, international studies @iddy09</p>
<p>With Barnard, you can cross-list with Columbia courses - that’s a huge advantage as far as philosophy goes, where you’ll have access to some of the top philosophy faculty in the world. </p>
<p>Also can anyone speak to the social aspect of Columbia-Barnard life? I heard tensions die down after first semester when ppl realize that Barnard and Columbia students are all human beings and not stereotypes of their respective schools. How do the students interact? I want friends who are boys and maybe a boyfriend…It’s not my #1 concern, but heeey </p>
<p>My daughter is a Barnard grad and never experienced any “tensions” over the Barnard/Columbia thing. Her best friends her first year were males at Columbia. She had a boyfriend attending a different college, and she ended up spending most of her free time with an older (mid-20’s) Columbia GS student who had a girlfriend at a different college-- so they weren’t dating, just keeping one another company. She graduated 4 years ago, lives in Brooklyn, and still socializes with friends from both Barnard and Columbia. </p>
<p>There really isn’t that much separation – you’ll take classes at Columbia and attend various events and activities there, Columbia students are attending classes at Barnard and attending events and activities in Barnard buildings. </p>
<p>I actually think you should focus on the urban vs. rural issues in choosing the colleges – that’s probably going to be the most significant difference in your experience. I am thinking that with Carleton, your social life will tend to be centered around the campus – whereas at Barnard, students spend a lot of time socializing and attending events off campus. I’d note that my daughter regularly socialized with students at other colleges like NYU while she was at Barnard. So maybe it depends on what type of overall experience you want in a college. </p>
<p>@calmom thanks for the insight!</p>