<p>I’m currently a rising senior and am looking into some universities. My dream school is Columbia, but I’ve also been thinking about applying to Barnard. </p>
<p>The thing is, I’m only going to spend the time applying if I would actually go to the school.</p>
<p>I’m actually not that well-informed about Barnard itself. Sure, I’ve read their pamphlets but most college pamphlets give you a skewed view of how their college is like. I feel like if I got accepted to Barnard and not Columbia, I wouldn’t even want to go to Barnard because I will be constantly reminded of how I DIDN’T get Columbia. </p>
<p>Can anyone who is well-informed about this issue explain to me why Barnard is a great school, not just a “lesser” version of Columbia? Maybe I would feel better about applying.</p>
<p>A major difference is that it’s a women’s college. Students can have a Small liberal arts women college life along with a large coed university.</p>
<p>A major difference is that Barnard has distribution requirements but allows choices while every Columbia College students takes the same courses in the core curriculum. Every Barnard student writes a senior thesis (year long research project). I’m not sure if every Columbia student does. Very few Barnard classes are large lectures. Columbia has more large classes.</p>
<p>My friend ended up transferring out of Barnard this past year. She said it was waaaay too feminist for her, and essentially anyone who wasn’t a feminist was, in fact, a “columbia wannabe” (like herself). This is probably exaggerated, but you get the idea.</p>
<p>I think one huge difference is the relationship that Barnard students have with the faculty and administration. When I visited my daughter I really was struck by the sense that the faculty really cared about and respected their students — I did not expect that I would be meeting and talking to professors when I visited, but that is exactly what happened. </p>
<p>I think that there is a greater distance between faculty and students at Columbia, in part because of tensions related to school administration, and in part because Columbia functions more as a large research institution – so faculty tends to focus their attention more on their grad students than their undergrads. </p>
<p>Do keep in mind that most Barnard students take classes at both campuses, so you will end up with large classes as well as small. (Columbia students who want smaller classes can also opt to take classes at Barnard).</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter did not apply to Columbia. I’d say that Barnard met and exceeded her academic expectations. She has a very jaded view of Columbia, probably influenced largely by her experience with Columbia classes and the opinions of her Columbia-graduate friends.</p>
<p>Both daughters went to Barnard. For D1 this was the happiest place on earth. For D2 it became happier in the third year.
Both took their earlier classes on the Barnard side of the street, and took more classes in their majors on the Columbia side. Some of the intro classes at Barnard are larger than their usual classes: Intro to Bio, Intro to Chem and Intro to Physics. The other classes are smaller at Barnard are smaller, but the core discussion groups at Columbia are also small. The fact that the upper level classes are at Columbia is a reflection of the specialized nature of those classes. The cost of maintaining these classes is shared by Barnard. In some subjects the department is headquartered at Barnard (Theater and Architecture)
Student groups are usually made up of both Barnard and Columbia students.The same is true of the sororities.
There is better attention to the students on the Barnard side, but the student has to ask for it.
There is a pervasive feminism, but it takes a Republican bent in the politically conservative. Think Olympia Snowe or the two Mrs. Bush. They would be right at Barnard.</p>
<p>The end result of our experience is that I am a strong supporter of single gender education for college women. (Secondarily, for men. If all the young women go to women’s colleges, it is difficult for the young men to go to coed schools) Barnard and some of the other women’s colleges have an ideal combination of the single gender environment for much of the education and student government with the social contact and academic variety of a large coed school. Barnard/Columbia has in addition the geographic advantage of closeness.</p>
<p>Did I forget to mention New York?</p>
<p>Bhchamp mentioned “Columbia Wannabes” and wisely so. Our daughters applied to both and would have been happy at either. If one has a very strong interest in Columbia but not in Barnard as well, applying to both is a waste of time and money.</p>
<p>I think Mardad’s post illustrates that each student’s experience is different. My daughter took more of her classes at Columbia during her first two years – but as she got more focused on her major, most of her classes were at Barnard. She also didn’t really experience Barnard as a “single gender environment” – yes, Barnard itself is all women, and Barnard classes generally have mostly female students, but it’s part of a larger community, both in terms of the relationship with Columbia and with the larger city. </p>
<p>I think there is an educational value in Barnard’s focus on women’s issues; Barnard is a very empowering environment. But my daughter’s social circles tended to alway include men, and her schedule the first couple of years kept her on the Columbia campus at least half of the time.</p>
<p>My mom went to Barnard and she’s seriously active in the alumna network. My impression is one of an amazing sense of community. You get this nurturing environment–in NYC, of all places–with all of the resources of Columbia University at your feet. And, when you graduate, you have the Barnard sisterhood pulling for you, the heft of which I’ve seen first-hand. </p>
<p>I suspect that women who opt for Columbia instead of Barnard are doing so out of insecurity. Too bad for them.</p>
<p>When my oldest did her college tours we did a Columbia tour in the morning … and since we were there a Barnard tour in the afternoon. She was not interested in a LAC or an all women’s college … and ended up applying to Barnard ED … and I knew she would half way through the tour. If you’re interested tour both schools … and I’d bet you’ll have a strong preference for one over the other.</p>
<p>Are there students attending Barnard because they didn’t get into Columbia … sure there are … but they are swamped by the students who chose Barnard. Including lots of top students who were top candidates for any school.</p>
<p>I think this topic gets discussed backwards on CC all the time. If a student has any interest in women’s colleges my daughter’s experience suggests the Barnard-Columbia relationship provides opportunities the other women’s schools have a tough time matching. Socially, the guys are literally right across the street and are in the students classes and ECs. Academically, Barnard (and Columbia) students have almost complete access to both schools. The Columbia core courses are pretty much off limits to Barnard students as are some of the Barnard requirements to Columbia students … but after that the two school are working off a common schedule and a common course catalog. This is not a set-up where a student needs to get permission to sign up at the other school or a certain number of slots are reserved … when scheduling the students can pretty much freely sign up for courses at either school (assuming they have pre-reqs) … and there is no bus to catch to get to classes and no working around differing schedules. My daughter took classes at both schools, participated in ECs at both schools, and had research gigs at both schools. </p>
<p>That does make a lot of sense. I actually am interested in a single sex (liberal arts) college because I feel it would be very conducive to my studies with less distractions around.</p>
<p>In addition to Columbia and most likely Barnard, I will also be applying to Wellesley and Smith.</p>
<p>Again, great info and I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>@Prowlings,
great choices. I loved all three schools. I like Smith quite a bit, but neither daughter applied. Both chose Barnard which at the time was my third choice.</p>