I heard that Barnard switched from the 9 Ways of Knowing to a new program, Foundations. What is that actually like? I’m not really a math and science person, so I don’t want to be forced to take a bunch of math classes. Are the distribution requirements for gen. ed. curriculum at Barnard rigid? Also, can you take a class for Foundations and have it count for major requirements too? Are the distribution requirements and/or major requirements hard to manage?
Everyone has to do the distribution requirements regardless of major or anything. It’s not that bad, but you do have to do at least one math class to fulfill thinking quantitavely and empirically. You also have to do a course in technology (which is usually some sort of computer science) and you have to do two sciences with one including a lab and one being a lecture. There’s a list of what classes fulfill what and you pick from that. You can take a class for Foundations and have it count for major requirements or for a distribution requirement, but you can’t have it count for all three. They’re not that hard to manage. You have all four years. Most majors are around 14 courses and then you have to do electives. To fulfill the amount of credits needed to graduate in 4 years, you apparently have to do 15.25 credits a semester. Most people do 15. Last semester I did 14 and I’m doing 17 this semester, but I came in with AP credits. It sounds like a lot and like it’s complicated, but it’s not that bad once you’re in it to figure everything out
It is a very flexible curriculum. Barnard wants you to have a well-rounded education but also take classes you are passionate about. There are tons of different classes you can take to fulfill the different requirements. I would look through the website and look at which classes fulfill different requirements to get a better idea.