<p>Hi! Off the bat I mean no offense in anyway whatsoever! I have just recently (I know, very late in the game) discovered the wonderful gem that is Barnard! I love its campus, location, academics, and EVERYTHING. I am just a tad bit wary of the all female population-I have personally never experienced a situation like that. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge supporter of gender equality, but not to the degree of disliking men! Is the atmosphere at the school conducive to an extremist feminist view (I really just have no clue because I can only postulate reasons from intentionally attending an all women institution). Any thoughts are appreciated! Thank you:)))</p>
<p>P.S. On a side note, I want to be a biology/ biochemistry major! However, would I be able to major and minor in more specific areas not particularly offered at Barnard, that are instead offered at Columbia?</p>
<p>My D never, ever thought of applying to women’s colleges…until she found Barnard. She kind of went there in spite of the fact that it was a college for women. Not that she’s really anti-feminist…she sounds a lot like you in that regard. But I cannot emphasize enough how much she loved Barnard and appreciates the level of confidence, the quality of her educational experience, and the excellent preparation she had as a Barnard undergrad for her continuing studies. Now, as she is finishing up her PhD in neuroscience, she is hoping to perhaps teach at a local women’s college some day…</p>
<p>In short, I don’t at all think you will feel like you are in the minority in your perspective at Barnard. There will be men in most of your Barnard classes, after all. </p>
<p>As for your last question concerning your major, I don’t think I understand exactly what you are getting at there. But I can tell you that one of my D’s suite mates designed her own pre-med major combining Barnard and Columbia science departments. Sorry I don’t recall the specifics of what she focused on… But I can tell you that the science undergrad education my D received was excellent and certainly has served her well.</p>
<p>Thank you very much churchmusicmom you answered by question exactly! As for the science part, that is what I meant as well (just having more options in my major choice)!</p>
<p>halcyonheather I am aware of what feminism is, but at my current high school, certain clubs/organizations are WAY out of control and have really embittered by view on feminist extremes that are in truth not feminism at all. Sorry for the use of “feminism” to describe man hating, it was just mere convenience:)</p>
<p>There are stripes of feminists are Barnard.</p>
<p>My D, a proud Barnard alum and friend of churchmusicmom, is a proud man-loving, make-up loving, fashion conscious feminist. She would call herself a feminist, but she lives with her boyfriend, loves to bake, scours ebay for fashion bargains and believes passionately in human rights. </p>
<p>Like churchmusicmom’s D, she is in a PhD program and strongly believes she would never have had the confidence for a PhD program without Barnard’s thesis program.</p>
<p>One of her majors, Human Rights, is only offered at Columbia. Her other major, American Studies, she pursued at Barnard.</p>
<p>She went to a year of law school, and is now in a History PhD program. She had many academic courses in legal studies that were not offered at Barnard. She is also earning a certificate in Women’s Studies so she’ll be able to teach that too.</p>
<p>Like churchmusicmom’s D, she has dreams of teaching a a local college that was once a women’s college and now has a strongly female to male ratio.</p>
<p>Right now she is teaching undergraduates at the research university where she is earning her doctorate, and she is very fond of and supportive of her male students.</p>
<p>Wow you must be very proud of you daughter, she sounds like an amazing woman! Thank you very much for the information, it has greatly consoled many of my fears regarding the all female student body Should I be accepted, it will really come down to visiting the campus and getting a feel for whether or not it is the right place for me! thanks again ((:</p>
<p>I just posted in a similar thread over on the women’s colleges forum. Basically, I am far from a radical feminist and I felt perfectly comfortable at Barnard. Like churchmusicmom’s daughter, I went to Barnard DESPITE it being a women’s college. I never thought I would attend a women’s college, and while at Barnard I never really felt that I WAS at a women’s college. All of my classes except for three were coed, I lived in a coed dorm my senior year, I belonged to coed extracurriculars, and played my sport on the Columbia team. If you WANT a more single-sex oriented atmosphere, that is always possible, but for me it just so happened that the activities and classes I was interested in involved men. </p>
<p>Barnard doesn’t have a strong campus vibe, because of its location in Manhattan. The city is our campus! So by its very nature, Barnard is extremely diverse. You will find radical feminists, of course, but you will also find a very large percentage of conservative Orthodox Jewish women, for example, who dress only in long skirts because of their religious beliefs. But because you can leave the campus, take a few steps, and get on the subway to anywhere in the city, you don’t feel stifled by one particular group or another. So basically, if you are someone who “dislikes men” as you said, Barnard is not a good place for you. Men are everywhere! So no matter what political/religious/social group you find yourself in, there will most likely be a niche for you at Barnard.</p>
As for the science part, that is what I meant as well (just having more options in my major choice)!</p>