<p>I am very close to saying yes to Barnard, but I have a few final questions.
Because I am from the South, few people are familiar with Barnard, and therefore I am worried about the overall recognition of Barnard throughout the nation. In comparison to the other colleges I am considering, it is ranked lower and is not well-known in my area. Do employers and grad-schools (particularly med schools) feel that Barnard is well established and somewhat prestigious? </p>
<p>Finally, any last words of wisdom that could enlighten me just that little bit more about Barnard would be appreciated. You all must understand the gravity of this decision and I am running out of time. </p>
<p>Yes, Barnard degree is a Columbia University degree. When you graduate, 5-6 years hence, no one will ask about Barnard, they will see the Columbia U degree.</p>
<p>Employers, grad-schools and med schools are very familiar with Barnard not only because of it's affiliation with Clumbia University but also because its one to the Top LACs in the country. It is not unusual for people in the south not to be familiar with Barnard, I am from NYC and probably haven't heard of a few thousand schools. Just the other day Fredo posted a thread about Hanonver and I though she was talking about Dartmouth. In the end it is about attending the best school for you, not necessarily the school with the best name recognition. What matters most is are you happy with your decision to attend Barnard?</p>
<p>sarah4, Barnard's rep and name recognition among medical school or graduate school admissions personnel will be fine. I wouldn't let that worry you at all. It is Barnard, sister school of Columbia and unique among its peers. Be proud of your acceptance and your choice. I admire your confidence and spirit that led you to make a decision that was not conventional among your peers. Now , don't go against the intuition that led you there instead of any other place. Trust in yourself.Tie your shoes a little tighter and get back in the game.</p>
<p>What IS Barnard anyway? Is that a school???</p>
<p>J/K, but I did have a question. achat says above that people will see the Columbia degree, not the Barnard degree. Are you saying that the transcript and diploma come from Columbia and that at graduation, Barnard loses its identity? On your resume, you would put Columbia???</p>
<p>Barnard is Columbia- yes but it is also NYC- and not every student wants to do undergrad in NYC.
lots to do- lots to get distracted by
what other schools are you considering?</p>
<p>I don't exactly disagree with what has been said regarding Barnard's overall quality, but I think it is important to point out that although Barnard is of course part of Columbia University, and was once truly the sister school to Columbia College, Columbia College is now coed. Hence, at least in the NYC area, Barnard is often not the school of choice for top women students; if they want to go to Columbia they apply to Columbia College, and that's what they mean when they say they are going to Columbia. If top female students around here want a single-sex school they generally apply to Wellesley or the other Massachusetts schools, depending upon qualifications and preferences. (There are exceptions to this of course; among other things, Barnard is very popular among observant Jewish women.) Frankly, I have never heard of a student in my children's school who describes herself as going to Columbia when she is going to Barnard. Female students who go to Barnard say they go to Barnard; they are not attending Columbia in the same sense. I do not know the specifics of class registration, but I know there are faculty members whose appointments are to Barnard specifically so I would be careful about assuming that Barnard "is" truly Columbia in every academic sense.</p>
<p>Barnard is well regarded by those who know it, including those on admissions committees and such. Virtually all national employers should know it, too...your local bank president may not, however.</p>
<p>I am also considering Davidson and Wake Forest, both quite different from Barnard. I went to all three of their admitted students weekends, and clearly felt like Barnard was the most "real" place. The other two seemed to give off a Stepford Wives type of impression. In addition, I found the girls at Barnard much more interesting that those that I met at Davidson and Wake, basically I was more comfortable at Barnard. </p>
<p>So now, after all of your advice, I believe I am decided. Now I just have to tell my parents, I haven't given them any opinions thus far.</p>
<p>There's a lot to be said for going to school outside your own region, and of course NYC is an exciting place. The women's colleges have a great tradition. If Barnard is the place you felt most comfortable, then it's probably the right choice for you.</p>
<p>Regarding the diplomas - you actually get one from each. Sarah, I've wondered about Barnard for my teenaged daughters from Georgia who love the arts and NYC. I'm interested to hear that you didn't feel culture clash as a Southerner there. BTW, I graduated from Wake Forest and have been to Davidson numerous times. The latter two are essentially Southern - polite, genteel, Greek-oriented. The contrast with Barnard must be striking.</p>
<p>I said no to Barnard w/o hesitation because I could not consider BC as a completely separate entity from Columbia. I felt like if I attended there, then I would not do any justice for the great school Barnard, obssessing over Columbia. And I didn't want to face the superiority that CU students feel toward the BC students. But that's just me.
As for the recognition factor, people don't seem to consider Barnard as a part of the Ivy(at least in my community) nowadays for Columbia accepts women. It seems like that a BC girl shouldn't say that she goes to Columbia.. However, BC does get recognitions on its own.</p>
<p>Of course, a benefit that BC offers is the Columbia degree along with the wonderful education and experience..</p>
<p>BUt if your heart is already set on Barnard, I don't believe that its prestige should alter your decision.....</p>
<p>Sarah, you sound as though you really clicked with Barnard. I think you'd have a wonderful experience there. A small, supportive, women=-centered environment within a great university...well, I don't have to tell you that! :)</p>
<p>Just to be another voice echoing what has been said already--it's hard sometimes to gauge college reputations, because your peers and your neighbors have a skewed view. They know the hyper-prestigious places, they know where local students tend to go to school (so this is often heavily skewed toward regional campuses), and they know whose games get televised during football and basketball season. That's about the extent of your average person's knowledge of higher education. That's who they've "heard of." No offense to these gentle folk, because there are, after all, over 1000 4-year schools in this country, and the average person doesn't need to know much about them.</p>
<p>But as others have said here, generally the people who really know institutions, and who may matter a lot in your future life (top corporate recruiters, grad school and professional school admissions committees)--they know about places like Barnard.</p>
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I do not know the specifics of class registration, but I know there are faculty members whose appointments are to Barnard specifically so I would be careful about assuming that Barnard "is" truly Columbia in every academic sense.
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<p>Thought it might interest you that my son at Columbia has signed up for a math class in the Fall that is taught by a Barnard prof. He e-mailed the Columbia math department and was told that, in math, they consider Columbia and Barnard as a combined department. Sometimes a Columbia prof teaches this particular course, sometimes one from Barnard. The Barnard prof, by the way, is a recent PhD from MIT.</p>