<p>Columbia's prestige history:
-1920's-1950's- It was up there with Harvard, ahead of Yale and Princeton.
1960's- Protests = Columbia falls to pieces
70's and 80's = Collapses even more as NYC becomes increasingly dangerous
90's - Today = Back on the rise</p>
<p>I don't know about Columbia "falling to pieces", but my parents tell me that NYC really was a rough place in the 70's and I can see that as a big factor. Additionally, if my father is any indication, I think that staying single-sex for a few more years while places like Yale and Princeton were going co-ed might also have hurt Columbia. He, for one, would not have applied to a single-sex school that wasn't named Harvard (Yale and Princeton turned co-ed for his freshmen year). Of course, that's just one person, and while there were other reasons why he did not apply (for one, admission as a suburban NY kid was brutal), I would think that if it was true for him, it was true for others, as well.</p>
<p>Well, to be fair to Columbia, they did try to turn co-ed a lot earlier than they ended up doing it, but Barnard was very difficult about the whole thing.</p>
<p>Basically:
-Columbia tries to open to girls by making Barnard part of Columbia
-Barnard says no, wants to maintain independence
-Columbia decides to admit girls on its own
-Barnard insists it is not independent, but part of Columbia.</p>
<p>ugh Barnard....what a silly little school</p>
<p>Just sayin'. I have to believe that if it was an issue for my father, it was an issue for other applicants, who usually don't care how much a school is trying to do something :).</p>