<p>Hey everyone! Just got back from the open house which was amazing!! I saw a lot of you (including figureskater! who I roomed with but didn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye to!!! There was so much going on. My head is still spinning!). I think I’ll just copy and paste the schedule above and share my experience.</p>
<p>SUNDAY</p>
<p>1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Check-in and hostess match-up</p>
<p>I arrived at around 2:00, which was perfect! I dropped my stuff off in the semi-hidden information center and then collected a bunch of pamphlets and papers from the front of Barnard Hall. (Including a 15% off coupon from an item at the Barnard store and breakfast coupon in the morning). I then went to a room full of beautiful women (some I knew from here, some I knew from my area) and they matched me up with a delightful current student. I chose a class for the next day, which ranged from environmental sciences to English seminars and then filed into the gymnasium where all the perspective students and parents flocked.</p>
<p>1:30 PM – 3:00 PM Activities and performances</p>
<p>There were a few performances on Lehman Lawn, but it was a bit rainy upon arrival, so nothing to get too hyped up about. I did arrive a bit late, so any women can jump in and share their experience with these “activities” here.</p>
<p>3:15 PM – 3:45 PM Campus welcome</p>
<p>We had a wonderful welcome from who I believe was one of the admission councilors. She went over some brief statistics about the incoming class (including some select exerts from essays and recommendations, how we come from 48 states and 15 different countries). They then split the room into thirds and showed us off to a more intimate student panels in separate rooms.</p>
<p>4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Student panels</p>
<p>A suggestion: sit toward the front. I had an awfully hard time seeing these very informative women. There were about five current students who were absolutely out of this world. Their extra curricular activities were both quantitative and qualitative. It went how a normal panel would go: there was a woman from Barnard’s staff facilitating the panel, asking a few start-up questions after the women introduced themselves, their year, and their major. Then, it was basically a Q&A format from there. I’d encourage you come with a LOT of questions and open ears. I learned a lot!</p>
<p>5:10 PM – 6:00 PM Self-guided campus or Morningside Heights tour</p>
<p>I used this time to get to know my host and grill her while questions with hanging around in her dorm.</p>
<p>5:10 PM – 6:00 PM First generation to college family welcome</p>
<p>6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Reception for parents</p>
<p>6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Dinner in the neighborhood for students</p>
<p>All prospects met in LaFrak gymnasium once again, where we were split into groups (about 10 to a group). They sent us off with student volunteers to one of many designated restaurants in the Morningside Heights area. We were allowed $20 for a meal, which was more than enough. I went to a very good panini place just 5 blocks from campus. The food was excellent and I was given ample time to get to know my future classmates/convince those who were on the edge that they really should come to Barnard.</p>
<p>9:30 PM Student performances</p>
<p>We came back and heard a spectacular performance by Barnard’s a cappella group, Bacchantae. They sang six very groovy, very recent, very well done songs for us. After that, we went to “bed”, though a group of girls and I wanted to see Columbia’s campus at night, which is a whole new experience entirely.</p>
<p>MONDAY</p>
<p>8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Luggage drop off (for those who spend the night)</p>
<p>8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Day student registration or breakfast for overnight students</p>
<p>I discovered the tunnel system and enjoyed a breakfast in Hewitt dining hall.</p>
<p>8:10 AM – 9:00 AM Guided campus tour</p>
<p>9:00 AM – 10:25 AM Class option 1 or faculty panel or alumnae panel</p>
<p>I attended the alumnae panel, which was very very similar to the previous student panel. The women were successful, some recent grads and some grads from up to twenty years prior. We had an admissions councilor facilitate the panel. Again, very informative and very impressive.</p>
<p>10:30 AM – 11:55 AM Class option 2 or extra-curricular panel or co-curricular panel</p>
<p>I enjoyed yet another panel, where staff (from health services, res life, disabilities, and student services) answered various questions about adjusting to life on Barnard. Move-in day sounds like a well-runned machine! Again, very loose ended Q&A format. Come with lots of questions!</p>
<p>12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch</p>
<p>I happened to come on a very good weekend. The weather was nice (in the upper 80s and sunny!) and the Greek Games were going on (which basically including people in togas doing tug-of-wars, spinning loops with a stick, and various other field-day like practices in the background of loud music, Millie the Dancing Bear, and togas. Super fun filled!). We ate gourmet bagged lunches.</p>
<p>1:10 PM – 2:30 PM Class option 3 or guided neighborhood tour or academic options</p>
<p>I finally got to witness my first class, which was Chaucer before Canterbury with professor Christopher Baswell, which is not for the light hearted. This was a very academic class with a professor who, I could tell, would rather do nothing else with his life than teach. He is the stereotypical teacher who talks the whole time and dishes out sentence after sentence of beautiful insight into a passage that I had little clue about. The class was a good mix of Barnard/Columbia students.</p>
<p>2:40 PM – 3:55 PM Class option 4 or guided campus tour</p>
<p>I made my way to a second class, which was a First Year English seminar. Right off the bat, I could tell this class was going to be different. Instead of the normal seats facing a blank chalkboard, students sat around a desk, with the teacher fitting right in with the class. The girls were very welcoming and allowed me to look over their shoulders to the passages of Virginia Woolf. The teacher acted more like a prompter of questions and one who clarified the raw ideas the students threw on the table. This was a very good juxtaposition with the first class I went to. Both were VERY small in number (about 15 students at most, including prospects).</p>
<p>4:10 PM – 5:25 PM Class option 5</p>
<p>I had to scoot for the night but, overall, I was incredibly happy with my stay! I have been to overnights at Cornell, UPenn, and Wesleyan, and though they all had their shining moments and nice girls, Barnard beat them handedly. I am always amazed not at the campus (though beautiful) or the staff (though absolutely beyond anything I could ask for!). I am always amazed by the current and prospective students. I didn’t have to launch into any conversations. Many were willing to talk, introduce themselves, ask where I was from, what I wished to study. A weighted abundance of Barnard women knew how to listen and engage in conversation. They all gave off this intellectually secure and confident vibe. I am so pleased that this will be my university next year.</p>
<p>Now, I know what all of you are wondering: worth the trip? I applied ED, so most of the information I already knew (Lordy, lordy… If I hear one more person ask about the connection with Columbia, it will be too soon). Some of the stuff I learned, one will know eventually (Urban New York, NSOP, eBear, move-in day, roommates). So, information-wise, I’m not sure you should fly from California. If you are undecided, however, this is a moment you mustn’t miss!</p>