<p>Okay, I know a lot of people have been asking about Biology at Barnard, and pre-med and things like that. Fortunately, I just came back from the Emily Gregory dinner, honoring a Bio professor for her great teaching, and most of the department was there, so here's some more info:</p>
<p>The seniors there raved about how well their job searches are going. They said employers have huge respect for the quality of lab experience students here have, and many have contacted Barnard professors to ask if they have any graduating students who might like a lab job for a year or two before grad school. Students have close working relationships with their professors, and the chance to get involved in work from the beginning level. In fact, I didn't even broach this subject; everyone just happened to be talking about their job searches and grad/med school apps and comparing notes on their successes and I just prodded them with a question or two.</p>
<p>Anyway, like I said, the average bio major GPA at graduation is about a 3.2-3. I don't think you'll find much more inflated science grades than that. But like anywhere, it's still gonna be a lot of work.</p>
<p>NYU's dorms are much better, but they're also a lot more expensive. So pick your poison.</p>
<p>ok, I went to studentsreview.com and found this entry on Barnard and I just want to know how much of it is true and how much is exaggerated:</p>
<p>This school was a bad experience. While some people here are okay, most girls are very snobby and self-absorbed. The surrounding environment is great (school is located on Broadway in New York) but it doesn't really make up for the "badness" of the college. The only reason I came here is of Barnard's affiliation with Columbia University. If that's why you are considering this school, I should mention that my experience at Columbia was wonderful. Students are very dedicated to coursework, professors are overall interested in teaching and opportunities are endless.
Barnard on the other hand is a school full of Columbia rejects, lesbians, feminists, and people who like to fill their resumes with thousands of meaningless "extra currics." Most girls here are JAPS (Jewish American Princesses) from the Upper West side, Long Island, and the lovely New Jersey area. They dress Jappy, the party Jappy, and they think Jappy.
Another similarly annoying part of campus community is prominent lesbian community. All of these morons refuse to shave, dye their hair a thousand and one different colors, and pollute this side of Broadway with their Anti-men, pro-**** propaganda.
I am a physics major and whoever said that science and females don't mix was right. This college is known for its psychology, art history, gender studies, african american studies and other "waste of time" studies departments but when it comes to hard core science or math, these departments are partly if not entirely non-existent. (There is no Math Department at Barnard! At all!) The physics department, if you can call it that, only has 2 professors and offers only 2 classes both at the introductory level. In other words, it's total CRAP!
Overall, the school is so liberal that the concept of counter-culture is lost giving way to simple culture of the college. If there are any conservatives here, which I will be shocked to find, they stay nice and quiet as if to avoid the wrath of sweet open-minded Barnard girls will soon shut them up for good.
In conclusion, I don't recommend coming here unless you enjoy watching re-runs of the Golden Girls(yes people do do this here), viewing poster size picture of vaginas during your lunch break(yes, these can be seen on V-day), and having 24 hours/ 365 days a year of female bonding. This school is like the ****ING Lifetime channel.</p>
<p>I don't even know where to begin with this.</p>
<p>1) "The only reason I came here is of Barnard's affiliation with Columbia University." Sounds bitter. "Barnard on the other hand is a school full of Columbia rejects, lesbians, feminists, and people who like to fill their resumes with thousands of meaningless "extra currics."" Gee, wonder which group she fits into.</p>
<p>2) re: Lesbians and "Japs," I've said before that anyone coming to Barnard hoping for a vibrant queer community will be disappointed. And the gay students I know also don't particularly hate men, and most look pretty "normal," so I think this might just be ignorant stereotyping. There are a lot of Jewish students, sure, but I don't think they behave any differently than anyone else, so maybe she's just got some hate issues.</p>
<p>3) Anyone who complains about the lack of courses at Barnard doesn't really understand the point of being affiliated with Columbia. It makes NO DIFFERENCE which school offers the classes you're taking, the whole idea is that both schools can have more classes by sharing. And there is, btw, a math department at Barnard. Unless I've just been imagining much of my college education. Not that it would make a difference either way who hired the professors; the classes are all mixed up, anyway. One of my best friends is a physics major, and she's practically being fought over by REU programs. I doubt she's missing out by having to cross the street to take E&M. And I don't resent Barnard every time I have a class at Columbia. If I even thought about it, I'd probably be thankful that this setup exists so I can have a liberal arts college but not have to deal with limited offerings.</p>
<p>4) There are plenty of conservative students. Barnard is NOT overwhelmingly crazy liberal. And the liberal students don't start foaming at the mouth when you express a conservative point of view. Yeesh.</p>
<p>5) I bet some people do watch Golden Girls. I prefer old game shows, myself. And others like cartoons, or Iron Chef, or nature documentaries. So?</p>
<p>I'm glad that was cleared up. Yea, I guess she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed 365 days a year at Barnard. welp, I'm feeling pretty good about Barnard! Thanks for everyone's input, I appreciate it~ college decisions are hard >_<</p>
<p>JL618 - I went on that site as well.. and if you notice.. there was only ONE bad review, and the rest were all positive..
and I dunno, this person that wrote the negative review sounds like she needs help.. I wouldn't go by this crazy psychotic review.</p>
<p>AHhHHH TheDad I totally love that analogy!!!!!!!</p>
<p>ahhhh lol!!! I just went to a Christie's exhibition.. with quite a few impressionist paintings!! lol.. Ah I cannot pass up NYC :) I love it too much.. and the art.. omgggg!!!</p>
<p>well, everybody did a great job convincing me!~~ </p>
<p>mmm...I think I'm leaning a bit more towards michigan though. I know they're two opposite schools but I think I would fit in rather well in both. Michigan-slightly cheaper (esp with living expenses), football team, lots of opportunities for a pre med student like me ^^ I'm still not completely sure where I want to go yet. Thanks for all the help to everybody here.</p>
<p>Actually, UMICH was the other school my D was considering...but, being an out of state student, it actually ended up costing MORE for her to attend there than to attend Barnard (we qualified for some aid primarily because she has a brother in college). She would also have loved Michigan, but the opportunities for a dancer in NYC and at Barnard were just too much....and she loves the school. Attending Columbia football games, though, will be quite different than Michigan ones <sigh>. She does love football!</sigh></p>
<p>This is one of those serious questions for fit. For someone with an intense interest in Modern Dance combined with serious academics, I don't think you can top Barnard. Dance at NYU is convervatory style...you have a hard time getting into many academic classes because of scheduling problems...and many other schools with high-end Dance programs like U/Indiana and U/Utah simply aren't in the same league academically.</p>
<p>The individual ballet classes at Barnard are among the best in the country, too...it's too bad the program as a whole doesn't put more emphasis on ballet, because they certainly have the resources available.</p>
<p>I agree totally. My d attended the Tisch summer dance intensive last summer...up until then, she thought NYU was where she wanted to go...and discovered the conservatory atmosphere to be (as you described) NOT conducive to academic development. That's why her options for really high quality dance programs coupled with strong academics were so limited. UMich and Barnard were the best two for her (as different as the two situations are), and she would have been very happy at Michigan. She chose Barnard...and it was always her top choice.</p>
<p>Thanks, CMM. What's the Dance scene at U/Mich like?</p>
<p>Fwiw, D's almost-Safety was UC/Irvine. The academics are a definite cut below Barnard but still not shabby. It was also waaaay too close to home, about an hour away.</p>
<p>But the Dance department there is seriously good...has to be one of the top five in the country and ballet is just as good as the modern.</p>
<p>Dance at U/Mich is also very modern-oriented. Ballet training is solid, though. At her audition, my daughter had an AMAZING modern class and came away with the strong sense that if she went there she would definitely become the best dancer she could be...the program is obviously more structured than Barnard's...thus, more discipline or rather externally applied discipline is in place to reach certain levels of achievement. As opposed to Barnard's dance program where, I get the sense, you must be more internally motivated...</p>
<p>And, of course, academics at Michigan are excellent.</p>
<p>One big drawback for my d, though, is that at Michigan, as a dance major, you really have no access to Musical theater classes/performance opportunities. Of course their MT program is amazing...just kept separate from the pure dance program. There are more opportunities at Barnard to participate as a performer in everything from ballet to modern to musical theater to rhythm tap to jazz (all of which she loves).</p>
<p>Thanks for the thumbnail sketch. As you might imagine, we know lots of young dancers, some who are still a few years away from going into "college mode." One never knows when this info will be useful.</p>
<p>Ok, here's my last shot at this. My teachers suggested that I list all the qualities I want in a college and assign points according to importance. I have the list and the points, so I was wondering if anybody here would care to use my list and points and tell me what YOUR final score is. Thanks!</p>
<p>Location (10 pts)
Opportunities for research and internships (15pts)
focus on the students (10pts)
decent GPA for those majoring in biology (10)
social life-parties (5pts)
Culture (museums, restaurants..etc) (5pts)
Dorms (5pts)
living expenses (really high-1, really low-5) (5pts)
Study Abroad programs (how easy it is to go, how many people go etc)
(5pts)
School sports (school pride in sports, variety of intramural sports) (5)
acceptance rate into med school (10pts)
Prestige (5pts)
Education worth the money? (15pts)</p>