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[quote]
This is one thing I don't get about some barnard students. What's the point of going to an all-womens college if you are going to choose to take the majority of your classes in a coed setting?
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Barnard students do not necessarily choose Barnard because it is a women's college -- my d. is there in spite of that fact, though she certainly does not take classes at Columbia out of a desire to study with boys.</p>
<p>What Barnard offers is an urban LAC-type atmosphere with the resources of a large university. My d. also wanted flexibility with course choices (ie., no core) and she appreciates the close advising and relations with the faculty that Barnard offers. </p>
<p>However, my d. has taken about half her courses at Columbia because that is where the classes she wanted or needed are. For example, she has signed up for a stats class and a history class at Columbia next fall, in order to fill her only 2 remaining unfilled "9-ways of knowing requirements" at Barnard. Like every other student on either side of the street, she went on line and looked at what was available by subject; checked out profs on Culpa; and signed up for courses that looked interesting, filled needed requirements, and/or fit within available or preferred time slots. In her lab science course, the class was at Barnard and the lab was at Columbia. So basically a student at Barnard is likely to spend a lot of time taking classes at Columbia whether they plan to or not -- it's hard not to.</p>
<p>But more than that: Barnard students who participate in various activities on both sides of the street are proud of their connection to both their college and the University. My d. has more than once done things that put her in the capacity of a representative of Columbia or its students (she's an officer in a student group) </p>
<p>There probably are some students who try to fudge because they want the prestige of Columbia... but a lot of other students simply feel a connection to Columbia University because they are involved with many Columbia-things, and probably simply refer to themselves as going to "Barnard" or "Columbia" depending on the context in which it comes up. </p>
<p>Anyway, this topic gets beaten to death here on CC, but to people who are actually living in campus housing and attending school at Barnard, its pretty hard to get the elephant out of the room. Columbia, without a doubt, is the dominant presence -- and as far as I know, my d. carries a student ID card that says "Columbia" on it. Believe it or not, its possible to have a sense of belonging and school spirit for both.</p>
<p>But in answer to the OP: no, they are not the "same", any more than two siblings are the "same". They are closely related, but different. (Try to visualize it all as a Venn diagram -- there are areas of overlap and areas of separation.)</p>