<p>I'm a freshman at Colgate, trying to transfer (Gtown, Swat, Barnard). But I keep hearing bad things about Barnard. So many have already told me to apply to Columbia instead...hmm. Anyway, I just hear that the girls get really catty...NYC, probably wealthy girls...I don't know. What have you heard? Because I'm starting to reconsider now...</p>
<p>Uh...I really wouldn't advise you to transfer from Colgate to Barnard...if you've got a good GPA you may as well try for Columbia, but I guess either would be cool since if you go to Barnard you're so close to Columbia.</p>
<p>When I was at the info-session for Columbia, I basically just got the feeling from the speakers that Columbia students look down on Barnard ones...probably not all, but if your tour guides are talking crap about another school, you can only imagine how widespread that feeling is.</p>
<p>On Studentsreview.com, Barnard only has 1 negative comments and a lot of positive ones. That's pretty rare really.</p>
<p>From what I've heard, Barnard has a bad rep for being a school for girls who just want to be the trophy wife of some Columbia guy. While I think becoming a trophy wife is a fabulous reason to pick a school (:P), I'm positive not everyone at Barnard is there to meet her husband. I'm pretty sure it's a lot harder to transfer into Columbia than it is to transfer into Barnard, but if you have the stats, why not go for Columbia?</p>
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When I was at the info-session for Columbia, I basically just got the feeling from the speakers that Columbia students look down on Barnard ones...probably not all, but if your tour guides are talking crap about another school, you can only imagine how widespread that feeling is.
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<p>When I visited Columbia, my tour guide was a guy who took some classes at Barnard and told us how it was great because he met so many girls. He seemed like kind of a tool. Anyway, your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>You'll always have people talking garbage about women at women's colleges ("trophy wife" etc...) That's simply NOT true. I have 3+ friends who've had fabulous Barnard experiences. A lot of times you'll get a much better education at small women's colleges that really focus on the individual etc. I don't know what people's beef w/Barnard is, but I know that in reality, it's a fantastic school in a great city. I'm also a first year at Colgate who's looking to transfer. jh87- What dorm do you live in? Do I know you? Good luck getting out of here!</p>
<p>Also, this thread would probably get better more informed answers on the Barnard or College Search boards.</p>
<p>Some legitimate criticisms of Barnard I've heard: it's harder to take classes at Columbia than they say it is, dorms suck compared to Columbia's, unresponsive administration. </p>
<p>I wouldn't apply to Columbia as a transfer due to the dismal transfer rates (~5%), the difficulty finding a niche once you do transfer (so I've heard), and the Core. I would only apply there if your major is predominantly a Columbia department. Barnard is easier to get into and has better advising for students. But some Barnard women do feel like they're second-class citizens compared to Columbia students, then again, some don't... It's all in your perspective I guess.</p>
<p>i'm in west. boo.</p>
<p>I can't understand the "trophy wife" stereotype...Everything I've heard about the college is the EXACT opposite!</p>
<p>From what I've perceived from reading CC, a certain segment of Columbia students look down on nearly everyone. You'll see disparaging and self-inflating comments posted on CC about numerous schools they have any contact with. If Colgate was next to Columbia these same people would be talking smack about Colgate. And IMO this would say a lot more about those individuals than about Colgate.</p>
<p>IMO something happens to some people when they get to be one of the "chosen few" from a sub-10% admit rate. All of a sudden they start believing that they really are all that wonderful. And some people who have conducted themselves to survive a sub-10% admit rate are just like this in the first place.</p>
<p>There are reasons to attend Barnard, and reasons not to. Like everyplace else. That there is some number of pompous asses at its neighboring school can certainly be evaluated. My own D decided that this was a minor consideration, and that the postitives outweighed the negatives.</p>
<p>I have a friend that goes to barnard..she said columbia students, especially the girls, do look down on them, but thats probably just the stuck up ones.
Also, the thought of being surrounded by tens of girls PMS-ing at the same time makes me want to scream. yikes.
If you have at least a 3.7-8 at Colgate i would definitely try for Columbia</p>
<p>I personally like Swarthmore though, haha</p>
<p>'the stuck up ones'</p>
<p>^ probably the majority.</p>
<p>i think columbia has one of the highest percentages of pricks..if i had to totally judge...and passing judgement is always fun..</p>
<p>I don't think it's a Columbia thing: the preponderance of Barnard girls I have encountered actually maintain themselves as if they attended Columbia. That's pretty pathetic, and demonstrates a huge insecurity.</p>
<p>Some people prefer the environment of a liberal arts college such as Barnard or Colgate to the environment of a much larger, grad student-heavy university. Barnard is an excellent liberal arts college located in a major american city, not in the suburbs. This appeals to many people who prefer liberal arts colleges overall but want to be in a big city. </p>
<p>The weak link of some liberal arts colleges is limitations in upper-level course selection. Barnard is advantaged over many others in this regard, since courses can be taken at Columbia.</p>
<p>Other people prefer universities such as Columbia, Georgetown, NYU, etc and these are of course excellent choices for those people.</p>
<p>The relation between Columbia and Barnard is quite confusing. Barnard College is organized administratively to be distinct from Columbia, as an "affiliate", However its students seem clearly to be part of the greater Columbia University community in most substantive repects. Course enrollment, clubs, athletics, student organizations, sororities are all completely shared by the schools. Barnard students get Columbia University degrees. So how Barnard students refer to themselves at any point in time might depend on context. From what I can tell most are proud to be attending Barnard, but also derive significant benefit from their place within the greater Columbia University community. At the end of the day, when all the chatter, commentary is scraped away, bottom line is substantively there's a lot of upside there for Barnard students, seems to me. We hope, anyway.
YMMV.</p>
<p>hi, i am a barnard student actually currently looking to transfer, but i just wanted to clear some things up that people are saying so that you can get a better idea of barnard.<br>
it is not difficult at all to take classes at columbia - there is essentially no difference between barnard and columbia classes except for location and which school the professor belongs to. all students at the university - columbia college and barnard college - select their courses from one joint pool. (and also in response to ohcomely, the dorms are just as nice and some better than columbia, and the administration is extremely responsive due to the small number of students.)
yes, there are some barnard girls that pretend that they go to columbia. while the fact is that you are academically on essentially the same level once you are into the university (through CC or BC), this also causes some tension between columbia and barnard students. however, there are many students at barnard, a majority, that cherish their barnard experience as one that is just that - an experience at barnard under the greater "umbrella" of columbia university.
barnard is a great school, and if you're not sure which to apply to between the two undergrad schools, apply to both. the main difference between the two is the core curriculum, with the core at columbia being much stricter (and a lot more boring and difficult, i hear) than the barnard one. honestly, as a barnard student, i dont know why you would choose to go to columbia as a girl. you get the academics you would get there, the resources, everything, the ivy league diploma, plus you are part of another community at barnard, which opens up a whole separate set of connections in school resources as well as external resources (like intership connections).<br>
barnard girls are not trophy wives. they are serious about their education. and if you do end up here, you won't be concerned about what other people think because you'll be getting a wonderful and unique education</p>
<p>Turtle56, my D is hoping to transfer to Barnard in the fall. Can you tell me why you're thinking of leaving?</p>