Hello,
I recently visited Barnard College and was so amazed by all the opportunities and people there. It didn’t hurt that our tour guide was extremely eloquent and intelligent, and as a senior she had much to say about how the college impacted her post-grad opportunities in retrospect.
The Columbia College info session and tours that I attended the next day were very subpar - the info session was huge and impersonal, the tour was led by a freshman who was clearly confused and could not answer most of the group’s questions.
I really loved both college campuses, the top notch professors, intelligent and ambitious people, and the city. However, it seemed to me that Barnard was an LAC with all the advantages of a research university - they had a smaller (Max 14 per teacher) advising system, tight alumni network that is especially helpful for women in STEM (in the majors I am interested, men sorely outnumber women so this is a huge plus), a more flexible core, equal access to the rest of Columbia’s classes, a huge array of internship/job opportunities available only for Barnard women in the city, a tight-knit smaller women’s community as well as a community of the larger university via classes and extracurriculars. Overall, Barnard seemed like a Columbia + more support/opportunities for its students aka a more successful experience.
On CC, I’ve been searching for the differences between Columbia College and Barnard, and despite the many voices stating that Columbia was their first choice not Barnard, there was little info about what exactly made Columbia more attractive to certain students than Barnard. Barnard seems so much more advantageous to women. I met with a group of friends who currently attend Barnard and Columbia College, and the Barnard friends say they don’t even notice that they’re in a women’s college most of the times and the Columbia College students said they take classes at Barnard and think Barnard is just one of the 4 undergrad colleges in the university (there’s not much of a social divide). They live together in a Columbia suite dorm which is possible when there are more Columbia students than Barnard students in the dorm.
Sorry for the long post - my real question is, what makes Columbia College more attractive than Barnard to people? Barnard seems so much better for women but most women seem to like Columbia College better on CC and I want to understand why better. I think this confusion might be due in part to the bad Columbia info sesh and tour I had. For example, does Columbia College have a significantly better financial aid program? Do they have a better job/internship/etc program?
(Note: I don’t think the women’s college atmosphere, prestige, and different professors are really valid differences between the two colleges. The different core doesn’t concern me much)
Thanks in advance!
@MijoChbulkan Bit bizarre given that Barnard diplomas are issued by Columbia and say Columbia University. This is the type of response you invariably hear from applicants and not students.
If you are going for pure prestige, go for Harvard or Princeton. They have much nicer campuses and living arrangements too.
Regarding FA, Columbia is no loans whereas Barnard isn’t, but Barnard like Columbia meets full need for US citizens.
That said, this topic has been rehearsed to death. Major reason is Core. Some people want it, others don’t. Apply to the university YOU like. Other people’s opinions don’t matter.
@klingon97 Thanks! I heard from a friend that Columbia has more money and is able to fund more student endeavors (projects, internships, etc.). Would you say this might be true?
Some students WANT the Columbia Core experience. My D2- a voracious reader- has read a few of the books on her own and thinks college discussion of them and the others would be the ultimate. She has been accepted at 3 of the other Sisters.
@Oregon2016 You are saying the same thing only in reverse. Some want Core, others don’t. I agree however that Barnard is very different from the other seven sisters colleges. It is much more similar to the old Radcliffe.
As for money to fund student internships etc, I don’t think that’s true. The members of my family who have gone to Barnard have had things funded if they qualify. Barnard also has the Athena Women’s Leadership program that, unfortunately, is only open to Barnard students. I’ve also heard, though I don’t know if this is true, that Barnard funds more health services specifically for women than Columbia.
As I said, the real difference is Core and whether you want to be in a part of the university that is structured around women or not. You can take classes in either part of the university.
In the interests of full disclosure, I’m a bit biased. Barnard gave me a full scholarship.
Honestly, many people choose Barnard because it’s easier to get into. Barnard’s acceptance rate is around 23.8% while Columbia’s is only 6.9%, which honestly is why many Columbia students say that Barnard isn’t or shouldn’t be the equivalent of Columbia. That being said however, Barnard does get many of the same benefits as Columbia students, such as classes, professors, and networking.
An administrator from Columbia told me that Columbia always wants Barnard to really become a part of Columbia. However, Barnard doesn’t want it. It wants to keep its identity as a women’s college, and it manages to be the best women’s college in the nation 
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Barnard’s acceptance rate was 16% this year.
Hi. Perhaps I could offer some perspective. I’m a current female high school senior that is Columbia-bound for the fall.
First of all: I really love NYC. It’s such an incredible city and I really wanted to study there, if possible. I preferred Columbia’s location to NYU’s (though I still applied there as well) because I think it really preserves a campus feel. I thought about applying to Barnard but in the end decided not to. It seems great: it has all the advantages of Columbia while being easier to get into. And that was all it presented for me: an easier way in. I don’t want a female-driven community: I don’t want a girls only school. I don’t think I’d be able to stand it if most of my friends were women, even in a big city where I’d be able to step out and see boys all the time. Most of my current friends are male, and I like it that way. I want male classmates, dorm buddies, study partners. You could argue that Barnard students are allowed to take Columbia classes, and could stay in Columbia dorms. Then what’s the point? Why not just go to Columbia? I love the Core curriculum and can’t wait to start my classes. The Nine Way of Knowledge seems less appealing.
I want a Columbia education. Barnard girls can still get a Columbia education, with their added female community. I don’t want that female community. So I just went straight to the source, the co-ed college.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Columbia is the one with all the prestige. I feel really proud to have made it through its more competitive admissions process. I was even named a Scholar in the incoming class.
In the end, I was deciding between Columbia, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, UC Berkeley, and Dartmouth. Columbia’s location in NYC and their Scholars program won me out.
(I was also admitted to UCLA, UC San Diego, NYU, and UVa.)
Speaking as a current Columbia student that has worked with a lot of Barnard students in clubs - I think prestige is a the biggest factor - Columbia College is the harder admit (hi thetsaria, I’m also a scholar ). The core is also different, and I honestly, after having done both CC, Lit Hum, Music Hum etc., believe that I have enormously by reading and learning from my professors and peers.
Socially - it’s not that different if you try. That being said, I think, it’s very easy as a CC student to have mostly CC friends and rarely cross over into Barnard, socially or otherwise. You make many of your friends from the people on your floor/res hall first year, and you probably won’t come into contact with Barnard people until classes/clubs. In contrast, I think the social life at Barnard (excepting some clubs, of course) is not as much there (based on my talking with other Barnard students), probably because there is no avenue for heterosexual socializing.
I also think a lot of CC/SEAS people are pretty neutral/dislike Barnard b/c of particular stereotypes and some elitism. I think after we graduate though, it’s not going to be a big deal.
I honestly would have loved to attend a legit LAC, not in NYC (because I think it prevents the idyllic rustic experience that I invariably imagine), and particularly a women’s college for both political/social interests, but as an international student who needed significant amounts of aid, I didn’t think it was worth applying.