<p>I get this feeling that most people at Barnard major in some form of humanities. I want to major in biology or biochemistry, so should I not consider Barnard and look into Columbia instead? But I’m actualy not particularly interested in Columbia, especially with “THE CORE”, and am looking for a more intimate college experience. Do science majors at Barnard have to have classes with Columbia students or does Barnard have its own thing? Thanks.</p>
<p>You usually have a choice of a Barnard class or a Columbia class, just as the Columbia students do, and you choose the class that best meets your schedule.</p>
<p>There are many, many science majors at Barnard. Half the female doctors were once educated at Barnard and over the years Barnard has turned out the most Chem PhD's. Most women say Barnard courses are more rigorous.</p>
<p>I don't think you have to worry about being a science major at Barnard; in fact, I would question the statement that "most" are humanities majors. Psyche, bio, and econ are big majors, just as they are everywhere.</p>
<p>Churchmusicmom knows more than I do because her D is a very satisfied senior neuroscience major.</p>
<p>i'm not a science student, but i know many girls who are, be it bio of chem or neuroscience. because there are more humanities students, the science classes tend to be smaller and are usually easier to get into (with the exception of psych, because all us humanities students want those labs to fulfill the LAB requirement). </p>
<p>like most classes, there will be students from both sides of broadway in most classes, unless there are some restrictions in certain departments that i'm unfamiliar with.</p>
<p>if the core doesn't appeal to you, don't take that lightly and go there anyway. the core very much defines the columbia experience, while barnard's system is completely different.</p>
<p>What a great question!</p>
<p>Mythmom is correct: My d is a Senior majoring in Neuroscience and she will have completed requirements for both the cellular and behavioral concentrations when she graduates. Interestingly, she found out she loved Neuroscience only when she took the intro to Psych mentioned above, that she had to have in order to take the two Psych classes to fulfill the lab requirement for satisfying the "Nine Ways"! When she discovered this passion, she then took EXTRA organic chem, more math than she needed and has loved every minute. I can also tell you that she feels strongly that Barnard science is much more rigorous than at Columbia and that you get much more individual attention.</p>
<p>She applied for and was awarded a very competitive Columbia summer research internship (the AMGEN scholars program) last summer, and this was a University-wide applicant pool. Several of the AMGEN scholars that year were Barnard students, so Barnard was well-represented. She is now in the process of applying to grad school programs and has been assured by her advisor that people out there in the academic world understand how rigorous Barnard is. The completion of original research and a thesis by graduation is an added bonus and very well-regarded. </p>
<p>If science at Barnard is your goal and you make that clear on your application, I believe you will be well-considered indeed!</p>
<p>Best to you....if you have more individual questions, I will try to get my d to look at this thread (she posts on the Grad school boards occasionally).</p>
<p>in response to your statement that it seems like most barnard students major in the humanities, i think that's a misconception. while the most popular major at barnard is english, according to the site, the second and third most popular majors are psychology and biology. and i dont know the stats on how many pre-med concentrators we have, but i feel like they are EVERYWHERE!</p>
<p>even though science is pretty popular at barnard, i would still consider the "humanities" more so. i just know that there's never a problem getting into, say a chem class+lab, but there needs to be a lottery for physch+lab. there's also a mob scene (or, there was) to sign up for eng classes, and for many humanities seminars, regardless of you're credentials/level, you sometimes need to write a letter stating why you want/should be in the class.</p>