<p>I’m a student going into my junior year of high school, and I’m hoping to start narrowing down a list of possible colleges. I’m very interested in Barnard; the school has the academics and the atmosphere I am looking for. My only concern is that I would commute from the Bronx everyday, approxiamently a 1.5 hour train ride w/ bus transfer. I was wondering if there was any feedback regarding life as a commuter, whether classes are held more often in the morning/afternoon/or evening, and how commuter student fare in becoming involved with campus activities, clubs, etc. I would definitely want to be a part of the Barnard Bulletin or Columbia Spectator–would having to commute back and forth each day conflict with meetings? Of course, being accepted is the number one concern, but these are issues that may influence my decision on whether to apply early, etc. Any response is appreciated! Thanks…</p>
<p>there are lots of commuters at barnard, and they all seem to have assimilated quite well into the school environment, although since most people live on campus you might get an unintentional yet distinct sense of being left out. i'm not myself a commuter, but i know a few, and the skip-stop commuter student group is pretty active, so you can meet other commuters. i think they have slightly different orientation activities as well. barnard bulletin meetings are wednesday evenings at 8, and layout/editing happens on weekends, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to do that. spectator runs a lot later every night and is a more intimidating time commitment, but i'm sure you could make it work. as for the times of your classes, you have complete freedom.. you could have 9:10 classes every day and have your afternoons free, or you could have all your classes start after noon and have your mornings free (recommended!).
the thing about being a commuter is that you might miss things like midnight breakfast, orgo night, late-night runs to morton williams, dorm bonding, and waking up 5 minutes before class. however, this would be true at any mostly-residential school to which you commuted.. it's not specific to barnard. overall, barnard is super friendly to, well, everyone, and as long as you don't mind the commute (could be a nice time to catch up on reading) or living with your parents or missing out on the constant activity that comes with college, it should be great for you.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the feeback--your comments were great and well appreciated! It seems that being a commuter is definitely an option, and that I could enjoy life as Barnard without a problem...</p>