<p>Accepted at both as a transfer student. Two great choices. Can you help me decide?</p>
<p>Sorry, these are both excellent schools with obvious differences. You must decide where you best see yourself, or see yourself best. :)</p>
<p>I had the same decision! I posted my question in three places: Wesleyan’s page, Barnard’s, and the general page, and got varied answers, all very helpful. You can find them in my “more posts.” I personally ended up deciding to go with Wes, but both schools are honestly amazing and you can’t go wrong. I could probably help you because I have pretty good knowledge of both schools after researching so much to make the choice, and I know it’s a tough one. What are you wanting to study/what are you wanting out of your experience?</p>
<p>Thanks… some very thoughtful replies.</p>
<p>I’m really interested in two very different tracks. The first is government/political science/ urban studies. I’d love to do something in urban revitilization or development or urban public policy. If I continue on this track, I will most likely want to go to law school. But I am also very interested in English/journalism/writing. I can see myself being a writer, theatre critic or book editor. At Barnard I would probably major in urban studies with a concentration in political science and a minor in english. BUT I am not really sure what I would major in at Wesleyan. Do you know if they offer minors? I don’t know what it is, but the more i look at wesleyan the more I LOVE it. Why did you end up choosing Wesleyan?</p>
<p>Sorry to be long winded… I forgot to address your second question :)</p>
<p>Honestly, the more I think about it the more confused I get about what I want. I just know that I want something completely different from my current school (remember, I am a transfer student). I definitely want an intellectual environment, a school and peers that will enhance my intellectual exploration and who just love to learn. I know that I will find that at both of these schools. I think I would be very happy with either a city experience or a rural one. I am a New York City girl at heart but, like what was mentioned in one of your other posts, I have my whole life to live there. I really want that sense of community that comes from a campus experience, although I hear that Barnard is a very tight knit community. As a transfer student, I need to pick the school that I can assimilate into the quickest. I know that there will, of course, be a transition, but I don’t want to feel like an outsider forever. </p>
<p>Also, something I’m concerned about is the all girls aspect of Barnard. I don’t want to go to college and not meet, be friends with and go out with guys. Furthermore, I’m not really a big “partier”, which was a problem at my former school. I don’t have the money to go clubbing every weekend in manhattan, nor would I want to. I read on another site that wes kids are the type of kids that you would more than likely find “sipping tea and discussing philosophy until dawn than going to local bars and getting wasted”. Is that true? Do you have any idea what the “social scene” is like at Barnars/Columbia?</p>
<p>You can’t minor at Wesleyan, but you can double major, and that’s much more feasible then it sounds because Wes has no general education requirements, so the only requirements you will have to fulfill are those of your major(s). Barnard has their core, the Nine Ways of Knowing. I personally was looking at English/writing and the writing programs at both schools are extremely strong. I would think New York probably has an edge on urban studies (being within an urban environment) but Wes has an absolutely amazing government/poli sci department.</p>
<p>I had the same confusion; I really love New York and had a really tough time giving that up, but in the end I decided that the college campus experience was one I would regret not having, and New York will always be there for me. And if your wish is to go into urban studies, you will probably be heading there anyway, and I don’t think a college experience within New York will necessarily give you an edge. I do think the community at Barnard suffers a little just at its core from being within New York; socially a percentage of the action goes on in the city while at Wes literally everything is on campus. You will definitely find that intellectual environment at both places. From what I’ve heard of Wes students, they’re a really accepting bunch, ready to welcome transfer students. I don’t know what the case is at Barnard with that so I can’t speak to that either negatively or positively.</p>
<p>Money in Manhattan was an issue for me too. I ended up deciding I would benefit from living in Middletown pretty cheaply and having more money for when I wanted to move to NYC as opposed to constantly scrimping in NYC for four years of college and then trying to live there as well. There will be guys at Barnard, because of Columbia, but it isn’t the same as a true coed experience like you would have at Wesleyan, and at Barnard the odds aren’t in your favor (many more women than men). I think both schools have vibrant party scenes as well as sizable portions of the student body that aren’t into that sort of thing. Wherever you go you will be able to find people with similar interests and willingness to party/stay in/whatever. I do know that Wesleyan’s social scene is extremely varied: so you will have the raging drunken parties, but you will also have plays, concerts, lectures, discussions, etc etc, whatever you could want. The resounding chorus from Wesleyan students is that you will never get bored on campus; there are always 5 or 6 things you are wanting to do on a given night. I’m sure you could go your whole time at Wesleyan without “partying” at all and still have amazing social opportunities every night. Conversely, at Barnard, you do have all of New York City at your disposal, whatever that means to you, so you don’t have to go clubbing if that’s not your thing.</p>
<p>As you can tell, most of my answers are giving the edge to Wes, but that’s natural because I ended up choosing it over Barnard. The vibrant community, the amazing classes, the eccentric vibe, and the people at Wes ended up making it for me. Barnard is truly an awesome school and I’m 100% sure I would be happy there as well, but in the end I had to make a choice, and I chose “the campus experience.” That’s not necessarily the same choice you will make, so take my biased opinion with a grain of salt. Either way be confident that you’ll be heading to an incredible school this fall.</p>