<p>I also found it surprising that I could sign up for anything I wanted (even as a transfer student). I find that, here at Barnard (an at Columbia too), professors don't expect to be able to tell the difference between a first - year and, say, a third year. There is a Barnard Freshman in an advanced course I am taking right now and I can tell you that she's probably doing better than I am right now! Professors and advisors here (at least in my experience) have the utmost confidence that admissions has done their job very well.</p>
<p>Barnard students do get priority in some cases. In the P.E. lottery, priority is given to Barnard students. I think the more common thing is that priority is given to current and potential majors. For example, priority for Education classes at Barnard is given to people in the Education program or applying to the Education program. Other than little things like L course signup, the whole registration process is really seamless. Most of it is done with the click of a button, which is nice.</p>
<p>As for the question about the food - it's not always bad, but it's not amazing either. I remember one night when we got back from Thanksgiving break where every single thing my friends and I had on our plates was either molded or had gone bad or was stale. It's not always like that, but be prepared to take those bad nights with the good ones. There were so many times where there was only one station open in Hewitt and we just didn't like what they were serving. On some occasions we stuck it out, and on others we wasted the meal and left to find something along Broadway or order in. Lack of options is really what turned me off about the meal plan. You can eat at John Jay at Columbia, but the food there is the same - if not worse - than it is here. I once had a grilled cheese sandwhich at John Jay that felt and looked like it had been made a week ago! I often wonder why, with the wonderful relationship we have with Columbia, we can't eat at the wonderful places they have there with our meal plans...I am in no way saying that the meal plan is completely horrible (I looooovvvvveee the pizza, sandwhiches, and salads in Mac), but I really do want to be honest with you about the offerings. </p>
<p>I also want to warn you that we may be getting the worst of the offerings next year. Since Mac is coming down and the Nexus is going up, Barnard is NOT relocating the food stations in Lower Level Mac, (the places where you can use your points)according to what has been posted about the Nexus. Hewitt dining hall will be open later, but the only other option we will have will be John Jay or Java City (a cafe). </p>
<p>As for residential life, first years do things in a different way than do other students. I think there is a person in the residential life office who deals with only first years, and all room change requests must go through that person rather than through the general Res Life office. I am not sure of this, but think I remember reading it somewhere. Because first years only live in multiple rooms in the Quad, room changes are probably harder to do if no one else wants to switch with you (but I don't know completely...).</p>
<p>I concur on the food -- my d. is very unhappy with Hewitt & John Jay food, and we both are unhappy about the cost of the food plan. I think my d. feels like she is stuck eating at Hewitt because so much money was paid toward more meals than she could ever eat. But this is very typical for many colleges, which seem to like to rope first year students in to expensive meal plans (probably because after the first years most students opt out, especially in NY where you don't have to go far to find better options).</p>
<p>I did eat at lower Mac when visiting my daughter and I thought the food and the food options were passable there. I wouldn't call it fine dining, but I opted for the salad bar and had plenty of options to pile on my plate - and there were choices of pizza, pasta, & various other goodies. I think the loss of Mac next year is unfortunate -- I can see where it would be the most attractive dining option. </p>
<p>I got a really great Mocha at Java City, but that really is a place for coffee or snacks, not a full meal. It's not cheap and I think the students have to use their points or "dining dollars" rather than apply it against meals on the pre-paid plan. Collegegirl can correct me if I am wrong there. </p>
<p>My d. says that the kosher food is better, but she has never actually eaten in the kosher dining area -- so I guess she is basing that on word of mouth. The Kosher costs extra, but may be worth the money (even if you don't keep Kosher -- many years ago I became a vegetarian simply because the vegetarian dining option at my college was so much better than the other options).</p>
<p>It's just our luck that Mac is being torn down the year after they added many wonderful food options. As of now Mac has a salad bar, stir-fry/pasta station, paninis, sandwiches (grilled veggies, grilled chicken with mozzarella, turkey with brie, etc.), pizza (more choices than you would think possible), sushi, prepared salads. Many of what I listed above was added for the 2006-07 year, and it will all sadly be gone next year. If admitted students are around for the admitted students weekend, enjoy it while you can!</p>
<p>I, personally, have never enjoyed Hewitt. I'd like to remind everyone that last year Hewitt actually failed the health inspection, a little bit of information they don't really like to share. The Kosher section is much better, and the servers are much nicer as well. I've found Hewitt's choices to be very repetitive. The same gross creamy sauce that is on the pasta option one night will be there four nights in a row. I've always thought Hewitt should be set up more like John Jay is, where they serve plain pasta and many different sauces so that you can have the option. Unfortunately, Hewitt has never really learned that that is something that many students would both enjoy and benefit from.</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Barnard last year and, although she took some Columbia courses, she preferred Barnard courses. She felt that the quality of the classroom experience she received was superior at Barnard. Columbia students can take Barnard courses, and they do, just as Barnard students can take Columbia courses. My daughter joined a joint Columbia/Barnard student group. There were a few random comments here and there about Barnard but, for the most part, it was a non-issue. Most of her friends were from Barnard, but she also had some friends from Columbia. One of her Barnard friends chose to live in Columbia dorms her junior year. </p>
<p>My daughter transferred from Wellesley to Barnard for her sophomore year and lived in Elliot, which had kitchens. As a vegetarian, she chose to go without the meal plan and do all her cooking herself, which worked out very well for her. (She loves to cook.) The food at Wellesley was also not very good. However, I have worked at five colleges and students have always complained (rightfully) about the food at all of them. I think that is just an unfortunate part of the freshman experience.</p>
<p>As for affiliation, my daughter just says she graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University, which alleviates some of the confusion.</p>
<p>Can any current/former Barnard girls comment on what girls do at night/on the weekends?
I'm not a huge party girl but i'm not an egghead either...
do most girls go to Columbia to drink/party or stay on Barnard?
Do most girls drink/party, or just hang out at Barnard and go around the city?</p>
<p>I can tell you that my daughter has done things like play a game of hide-and-seek on the Columbia campus at midnight with friends she met during first-year orientation week; go and ride the ferris wheel at the Toys R Us in Times Square; seen broadway shows (for free through the CAO where she also works); had dinner, and/or parties with friends either out or at someone's apartment/suite; gone to the park; taken a dinner cruise around Manhattan (expensive treat for her and her boyfriend); gone to movies in Harlem; gone to comedy club; gone to the Met, the planetarium, and the Fed.</p>
<p>coffee, there are frat parties with plenty of drinking for those who want them. My daughter doesn't. I had a long online chat with her today -- she told me that on Friday she spent the day with her boyfriend walking around Central Park and they went to the Metropolitan museum and saw a Dali exhibit and walked through a room with ancient musical instruments. When I went to visit her earlier this month, on Friday night we went out to eat an Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks away, then stayed in so my d. could work on an essay - on Saturday we went to Greenwich Village and spent some time at a friend's apartment, then came back and visited another friend a few blocks away in Columbia special interest housing, then went to midtown to see a dance performance; then we walked to Lincoln Center and ate at a really great Japanese restaurant. My d. has seen at least 5 performance by major dance companies so far this year. She has friends all over the city -- at NYU, at CUNY, at Julliard -- plus her high school friends attending schools all over the country are always coming to NY to visit!</p>
<p>She has had a harder time making Barnard friends -- I've pointed out to her that she can't expect to meet people if she's never on campus, and she acknowledged that she really does go off with her other friends a lot. She is very close friends with her roommate and they do a lot together - so she isn't lonely, its just been harder for her to get to know many other Barnard girls that well. I noticed when I was there (on a weekend) that all of the dorm room doors were shut and nothing was going on in common areas, and also that it was very quiet. When I was in college at a state U, doors were open in my dorm and kids were running about from room to room with a lot of noise and activity, with everyone's stereo blasting "Nights in White Satin". (It was 1970, that was the best music we had). As a parent I appreciated the more sedate and quiet environment at Barnard.. but my d. said that my description of my college dorm life sounded like a lot more fun. </p>
<p>I am saying this because my impression is that Barnard doesn't offer a whole lot in the way of organized on-campus activities, and that a good deal of social life takes place off campus. Off-campus can be anything: museum, parks, clubs, cafes, shows, shopping. So it seems like a great place if you want an urban lifestyle, taking advantage of what the city has to offer and at the same time living close to where you go to school -- but it might not be a good place for someone who wants a typical college experience where the social life centers around campus (unless you really want to attend those frat parties mentioned above). </p>
<p>Yes, there are things to do on campus... just not all the time. I can see why not -- I mean, there's too much to compete with in the rest of the city. Who is going to want to hang around campus to see some lame student play when they can get rush tickets to a Broadway show? </p>
<p>So basically, I think my d's attitude has been to look at her college as if the "campus" is Manhattan. I think that's pretty cool - it was fun for me trailing along as my daughter so deftly navigated the subway system. But to me, the college life just seemed more like - living in a high rise Manhattan apartment building than living in a dorm.</p>
<p>Ummm, I really hope some students post on this topic soon because you all probably don't want/need to hear about all this just from parents! But I do want to expand a bit on Calmom's point: that you do need to sort of make an effort to get involved in on-campus activities to make on-campus friends.</p>
<p>My d has a very close group of Barnard friends with whom she now lives and also a group of CC students with whom she is very close. She also has an expanding group of friends that she knows through Orchesis (the Columbia student dance organization) and through her on-campus work-study job at the College Activities Office. She makes concious efforts to do things with "new friends", like go to Columbia basketball games or movies.</p>
<p>She went in really excited about meeting new people and making friends. She knew absolutely nobody there when she started orientation week, so she was extremely excited about meeting new people. She made connections that first week that have become stronger and stronger and has since met more. Point is, you have to be open and make an effort to meet people and find your "place". Sounds like Calmom's d's place is much more wide-ranging over Manhattan since she already had off-campus friends. That is also very, very cool!</p>
<p>Calmom hit the nail on the head when she said that "campus" is Manhattan. There's ALOT to do here, enough that you could do something every weekend and have very little repetition. Some weekends there are events here, like the ever-popular Orchesis (dance group) performances that just took place two weekends ago. There will sometimes be productions here at Minor Latham or over at Miller Theatre also. If you have any theatre friends, you will become quite familiar with students productions there. Also there will sometimes be little events held by various campus organizations, which can be quite fun. There's not alot to do on campus, but you can sometimes find something.</p>
<p>There are movie theatres, countless restaurants and cafe's that celebrate pretty much every culture you can imagine, Broadway shows you can see for a discounted price (or free), hockey games, basketball games (school and professional), Times Square (you can probably do something different every time you go there - I didn't even know about the ferris wheel!...), SoHo and The Village, Lincoln Center, museums, events at Central Park, free ice skating at Bryant Park, Union Square (MAX BRENNER'S!!!!), food tours in the Meatpacking District, hanging out on the roofs of swanky hotels in Chelsea (yes, I've done that...)for absolutley no charge, jazz clubs, outdoor festivals (in the fall / spring), The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, shopping in Harlem, staying in and cooking with friends (some of these things have been previously mentioned)...the possibilities are LITERALLY ENDLESS.</p>
<p>I have not been to one party here, yet I've had more fun in the last 7 months than I have probably had in my entire life.</p>
<p>Hmm. A lot of you have said that people socialize and hang out a lot in the city. It is nice to hear about the discounts, but I'm wondering about social life in general. I'm not going to have very much spare money to go to bars and plays on the weekends -- do most barnard students spend a lot of money for this type of thing and will my options be limited because I will only be able to spend little or no money on going out?</p>
<p>another question. My Columbia interviewer said that a Columbia College student can also take classes at Columbia grad schools. Is this true of Barnard students , too? I am specifically asking for photography. I have taken photo intensively for four years, including some advanced college- level courses . There are no photo classes listed in the barnard course selection guide, and when I searched for them on the columbia course selection site, I only found two (other than architecture photography - there were like three of these?!?!)... photo I ( not an option for me if at all avoidable - I've taught this course!) and photo II (also not an exciting prospect, though possible...but obviously, this would only take up one semester). I know that Columbia has a great graduate program in photojournalism, though. Would it be possible to pursue classes at this level?</p>
<p>It's been my experience that the procedure to get approval for graduate classes varies from department to department. You should probably contact the professor or department head in order to get more information about this. All of the University classes can be found here: <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/</a>
(This includes undergraduate courses at Barnard and Columbia, as well as all graduate courses)</p>
<p>You don't need THAT much spare money. I can't tell you how many times I've had a blast in Times Square spending nothing but subway fare and the cost of a cup of coffee. You can get discount movie tickets through the CAO office, and if you like ice skating in the winter, it's free at Bryant Park. Also, because you're a student, you will be able to gain free / highly discounted access to many of the museums here. Many times, my friends and I have a great time just window shopping and then grabbing coffee and a pastry at some random cafe'. Furthermore, there are often free / discounted tickets to sports games and other things. Do you like outdoor festivals? There are many of those in the fall and spring, and most of them cost nothing. You can walk to a soul food restaurant in Harlem and get dinner for under 5 bucks. If you like photography, just being out in the city doing nothing will excite you. I, too, am interested in photography and often just get on the subway and go somewhere totally out of the way to shoot photos. There are jazz and comedy clubs here free before a certain time. I know people who make it their second job to find free things to do in the city, which just goes to show that you don't need a million dollars to have fun here. </p>
<p>Call me crazy, but it's the people I hang out with that make being here fun. For me, I can hang out for two hours at Hungarian Pastry Shop or take a walk with my friends and have more fun than going to a full-price Broadway show with people who aren't as fun as they are.</p>
<p>How about the physical education requirement? it seems annoying;
I work out on an elliptical everyday for an hour; can't i just do that? why do i have to take a class on developing a workout routine/habit when i already have one? is there anyway to go the gym on our own and fulfill the requirement?
ideally i'd like to wake up early before class, work out, shower, and then start my day. is this possible?</p>
<p>Also...when we schedule our classes, how easy is it to fit everything together? are there many conflicts?
Do students often get the sections/times that they request, or no?</p>
<p>
[quote]
do most barnard students spend a lot of money for this type of thing and will my options be limited because I will only be able to spend little or no money on going out?
[/quote]
There is a lot that you can do for free or low cost -- for example, one weekend my d. and friends took a ride on the Staten Island ferry just for fun -- that would have cost them each $4 round trip on the subway, the ferry is free. The parks are free, most of the museums have a "suggested" (not required) entry fee. Free or very cheap tickets are often available through Barnard & Columbia -- one of the first things my daughter did last fall was go to a Yankee's game, which cost her $5. (She said they had good seats at the stadium, too!) </p>
<p>That being said: it can get pricey. It's hard to be there in the middle of Manhattan and ignore all the cafes and restaurants. A discount ticket to a Broadway show can still be pricey. My d paid $22 apiece for the tickets to the dance performance she invited me to -- they were orchestra seats, normally about $95 -- so good deal for my d, but $44 is lot for a student to pay to take her mom out. </p>
<p>My d. has found that it is also easy to earn money in Manhattan, too - so she is working to get her extra spending money -- so very often on a weekend day or evening she will be working rather than playing. It's a balance that she is comfortable with - Barnard has a couple of agencies (Barnard Babysitting, Barnard Bartending) that make it easy to earn a little extra this way.</p>
<p>coffee, there are classes here that are self-paced, but they require an entry evaluation to make sure that you are physically able to do them. Also, I do not know that you can take them as a first year. It is an annoying little requirement, but they try to make it as painless as possible. For example, you can take classes like yoga, dance, or swimming, which I hear are pretty good. Right now I am taking a class called Wellness, which requires 30 minutes of physical activity for the WHOLE semester (it's a small lecture class...). </p>
<p>Scheduling your classes is generally pretty easy. If something doesn't fit in one semester, just plan to take it in another. Generally though, classes at both schools fit well together. You may have some instances were you will really have to "run" to your next class, but both institutions being on the same sort of time schedule makes everything alot easier.</p>
<p>Thanks!
Also...
1. can i wait until sophomore year to complete my science requirements?
2. will your advisor accept your courses or will she/he be open to what you want to take as long as you have a plan to complete your requirements?
3. can classes taken abroad count for your major/9 ways of knowing?</p>
<p>1.)You have all of your Barnard career to complete all of your requirements with the exception of Phys Ed - there are time constraints on those courses (I think one by the end of your first year and one by the end of your third year). If you are going to do Psychology, however, I would suggest that you look into those courses early because a lottery is required to get into the labs and competition is pretty stiff.</p>
<p>2.) Generally, your advisor will accept the courses you want to take as long as you have a plan to complete your requirements. They are there to provide you with answers and encouragement, and to make sure that you are on track with what you need to be doing. I have yet to have an advisor object to my scheduling plans, even when I wanted to take more than 18 points last semester. </p>
<p>3.) I believe that, with careful planning, courses can be taken abroad for your major and for the nine ways of knowing. You will just want to talk extensively with your advisor about it when the time comes around.</p>
<p>coffeetoffee--A lot of your questions are similar to my own. I too already have developed a workout schedule that works for me, and it kills me to waste a class on PE. On the other hand, it might be nice to be able to take free yoga/pilates/etc. I think there is also a running/jogging class I saw that seems pretty self-paced.</p>
<p>Were you accepted to McGill too? I remember seeing you on those forums. I too got into Arts.</p>