<p>I’m a sophomore at Reed College who was hating her life for two and a half semesters, applied to Barnard, started to settle into Reed in the interim, got into Barnard, now has a few days to decide and still has no idea.
As far as Reed goes, I love the high academic expectations, the relationships with professors, the conference-style classes; I’m about as happy with the academics here as I could be. However I find Portland hellaciously boring, am generally uninterested in the college culture, am generally devastatingly underwhelmed by my surroundings. But I’ve begun focusing on my academics as a way to fight that, and have been pretty content. I am in college for the academics, after all.
But maybe I should be looking for something more. I am rarely actually happy here, past what satisfaction the academics deliver. I think some of that could be alleviated in New York City. However, I wonder how much of the academic side of things I’d have to compromise if I was to go to Barnard. I sat in on some classes and wasn’t terribly impressed–sitting at desks, being talked at by a professor, raising hands. But it’s hard to tell much from one day’s visit, sitting in on three classes. It took me a year to get a grasp on Reed.
(Additionally: I’m interested in Philosophy, English, and “creative writing”.)
So I’m looking for advice. Would a transfer to Barnard from Reed really mean the kind of compromise in terms of “intellectual community” and “academic rigor” that I imagine a reality? If there is, would being in a big city with more to offer culturally and intellectually make up for this? I realize there is probably no right answer to these questions, but I would love some insight.</p>
<p>I have never heard anyone describe Barnard as anything approaching a “compromise in terms of ‘intellectual community’ and ‘academic rigor’ …”. Of course I am not in your reality there at Reed, and I am only a parent of a Barnard graduate, not a student there. But I can tell you that I personally know many Barnard graduates and each one seemed to genuinely celebrate the intellectual stimulation and the academic community into which they were immersed while there. There are certainly high academic expectations at Barnard, and I know that my d had excellent relationships with several profs. In particular, with her thesis advisor and mentor. The head of her department major went out of his way to network for her at a national convention when she was applying to grad schools, for example. </p>
<p>Last thing that stands out to me: you mention an interest in creative writing. Barnard’s writing program is excellent. Just look at the writers that this program has produced!!</p>
<p>AND you are correct: the opportunities presented by living in NYC are just not available anywhere else in the world. </p>
<p>Best to you in making this decision…</p>
<p>‘intellectual community’ -
Reed kind of markets this, doesn’t it, and therefore maybe attracts an atypically high proportion of people for whom this is the major draw?</p>
<p>Such people are no doubt well represented at Barnard, but D2 reported a lot of people there who were driven towards the professions, not pontificating about Plato, also dressing quite fashionably and heading to downtown bars on weekends. So I’m not sure whether it, or virtually anyplace else really, save maybe three or four schools- will completely match the “intellectual community” one may find at Reed. Though there may be subcommunities that do match it.</p>
<p>However I did not attend either school, this is just my conjecture.</p>
<p>The creative writing courses are good, and they are small.</p>
<p>“academic rigor”- This is the other thing that Reed markets, and/or is known for.
Barnard/ Columbia does not market this, as a big deal. FWIW, Cornell gets a rap for “academic rigor”, and D2 reports her Columbia/Barnard courses were at the same level as her Cornell courses, essentially. Is that as “rigorous” as Reed? I’ve no idea.</p>
<p>The college culture is likely different than the one you say you are not interested in, so maybe that’s a good thing. </p>
<p>To me, how sucessfully and happily one might explore NYC, or Portland, has a lot more to do with who is around to explore these things with, than just what there is to do. You might inquire as to what Barnard does to integrate transfer students socially and help them establish their place in the “community”, such as it is.</p>
<p>Barnard has a very successful program for transfers. DD’s BFF was a transfer from Wesleyan who transferred to Barnard for academic rigor and wasn’t disappointed. She is in a top flight law program.</p>
<p>Transfer students are housed in their own dorm and have their own orientation program for their first semester at Barnard. This is a cohesive group to explore NYC with.</p>
<p>Later on they branch out. DD lived with her friend senior year in a suite of singles.</p>
<p>However, if the pedagogy at Reed is really to your liking, you should consider this move seriously. I think Barnard is rigorous but more traditional. Senior year is really focussed on writing a thesis, but creative writing students don’t. They produce two small written works instead of one 50+ page thesis.</p>
<p>Since it sounds like you’re setting in, maybe this isn’t the best time for a change.</p>
<p>OTOH: I don’t think Barnard’s academics are really a “come down” – just a different style. However, style matters.</p>
<p>Monydad: Glad your D2 found a congenial atmosphere at Cornell.</p>
<p>“Since it sounds like you’re setting in, maybe this isn’t the best time for a change.”</p>
<p>On the one hand, but on the other hand if she is posting “I am rarely actually happy here…” three semesters is long enough to make that determination, it is no longer a settling in issue. It doesn’t have to be that way, necessarily, one is entitled to aspire to more than that from one’s one and only college experience.</p>
<p>monydad: Since you know more about transferring, I bow to your experience.</p>
<p>Actually I draw on two experiences, not just one.</p>
<p>True, D2 did transfer, after three semesters, and has been ecstatic with it, couldn’t have worked out better.</p>
<p>But I also have the counterpoint. D1 felt she wanted to transfer, didn’t, and it never got better. It actually got worse.</p>
<p>Of course neither of these outcomes are inevitable. If one is to transfer, it would be helpful to transfer wisely, and then to be lucky.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I was friends with someone who graduated from Reed and then went to Columbia (obviously not the same, but similar) and she seemed to love it just as much as Reed, if not more.</p>
<p>Also, I meant to add: If you are still considering transferring, and the only reason you are happy at your school is the academics, you should transfer. College is a long time to be unhappy in a big aspect of your life, and I know I would regret staying somewhere that made me unhappy like how you describe.</p>
<p>“College is a long time to be unhappy in a big aspect of your life”</p>
<p>I would have said the opposite, that college is a tiny time blip in life, and that the resulting education is what mostly counts.</p>
<p>Have a look at this post (starting at “THEN!” in the middle):</p>
<p><a href=“Daughter talking about dropping out - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>Daughter talking about dropping out - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums;
<p>I think the perspective on this is different. If the question is dropping out of college altogether, college is a short amount of time to be unhappy, and you should probably tough it out (although college is not for everyone). If the question is (as it is here) transferring, college is a long time to be unhappy, and you should consider transferring.</p>
<p>Just my two cents.</p>
<p>FWIT, I agree with dolphins3636. No need to be unhappy when there are great alternatives out there.</p>
<p>“If the question is dropping out of college altogether …”</p>
<p>No, the ‘starting at “THEN!” in the middle’ context is transferring from Reed (I didn’t write the thread title), which following the link shows.</p>
<p>The post shows the difference between “unhappy now” and “super happy later.”</p>
<p>I’ve looked at the thread you linked to and have no idea where it says anything about Reed but I might just be oblivious…</p>
<p>In the middle of the post I linked to (might as well post the whole thing now 
):
</p>
<p>Yeah I skimmed through the link and missed that whole thing as well.</p>
<p>But I must say that you can be challenged and intellectually stimulated during college, as my D and all her classmates at Barnard were, and at the same time be affirmed and strengthened in many ways, and not need to have your “ego beaten up pretty badly” as was described above. I am sure that is not everyone’s experience at Reed, but that surely is not the college experience I would want!! Nor is it necessary for achieving all that you can academically.</p>
<p>Vossron – just for future reference – when you refer to a “post” that generally mean a single entry – since you linked to the #1 “post” in a “thread”, you left everyone feeling confused. The part you quoted is actually in post #25, on the 2nd page of a 3 page, 43 post thread… which is why no one could find it. </p>
<p>You can create a direct link to a particular post by navigating to the post that you are referencing, and then right-clicking the number in the upper right side in order to pick up the link address; i.e. -> <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1065985453-post25.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1065985453-post25.html</a></p>
<p>(Note how the word “post” and number appears at the end of the URL, just before the .html part --
)</p>
<p>Churchmusicmom – I just want to say that agree with you – I felt Barnard provided a very challenging but also very affirming academic environment. </p>
<p>I think the OP needs to evaluate her reasons for wanting to transfer. I’d tell her to think twice if the primary motivation is a desire for a more stimulating city. I had always heard that they rolled up the sidewalks at 10pm in Portland, so I think it is a far cry from NY (“the city that never sleeps”) – but the city can be overwhelming as well as exciting. Academics really should be the prime concern in choosing a college – and the OP will have to figure out which type of academic environment she prefers. </p>
<p>One problem is that a transfer from one college to another can be like taking one step foward and two steps back. The transfer student has to adjust to a whole new environment, and may also have to focus on filling distribution requirements that didn’t exist at the other college. So the OP might want to look at the “9 ways of knowing” and get a sense of whether her existing course work would fill most of those requirement (usually at Barnard, juniors have mostly completed those requirements, and able to focus more time on their major).</p>
<p>“You can create a direct link to a particular post …”</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I did, what I always do in such cases (I’ve been around a few years ); the link’s raw form is:</p>
<p>[noparse]<a href=“Daughter talking about dropping out - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>Daughter talking about dropping out - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums;
<p>When I click the link (not the one above; it’s disabled in raw form) it takes me directly to the post (#25) I referenced, like it always does. Does it work for anyone else (please say so, and which OS/browser you use)? When it doesn’t work, which browser/OS do you use? It works for me with Mac/Safari and Mac/Firefox.</p>
<p>It doesn’t work with a Mac with Chrome.</p>