Women's college experience and random questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
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Hi! It seems a lot of people on this forum apply to Barnard either despite, or indifferent to the fact that it is a women’s college. As someone who really wants the experience and all the benefits of a women’s college, would I be satisfied here? I know I will be definitely taking classes at Columbia and Columbia men will be in classes at Barnard, and I’m completely okay with that, but will I still gain all the confidence and empowerment one might gain at, say, Wellesley? And will there be other women there who are excited to be at an all women’s school? I heard someone describe it as a coed school, just with all-female dorms. Is this the case? I was hoping the all women’s school aspect would be more prevalent than that.

A couple other miscellaneous questions:

On the Barnard forums, there seems to be lots of questions about boys and dating. Are a lot of Barnard women obsessed with guys and finding a boyfriend?? I know that’s a pretty baseless and silly question, but I’m just curious if dating is an important part of social life for most people there, because it’s not for me.

Are there any clubs/extra curriculars that are only for Barnard students, or all they all mixed with Columbia?

I’m an avid dancer and I’m interested in auditioning for either Orchesis or the Columbia Ballet Collaborative. Could anyone offer me some insight into either of these programs? Particularly, how big of a time commitment are they? How are the quality of the dancers? Is it a welcoming, supportive community, or is it more cutthroat?

Is the student government really competitive and hard to get involved with, or are there lots of opportunities with varying time commitments that aren’t too difficult to join? Similarly with the columbia democrats, I’m assuming it is a super popular club, but is it easy to be involved and feel like you’re really a part of it, even as a first year? Or do most people just sit and listen at club meetings. I also have the same questions about Hillel. Is it easy to find your place? Is it a good place to meet people and make new friends?

How’s the poli sci department? How does it compare to Wellesley’s? Would it be one of the departments where I’m really taking most of my classes at Columbia, or is it more Barnard-centric? I’m considering it as a possible major.

How many clubs are most students involved in? How many hours a day do you spend studying? Is studying abroad a popular decision? I’m considering taking a gap year before college, would that be extremely out of the ordinary? Would it be difficult socially to be a year older than the most of the other first years? Are most people at Barnard part of close-knit group of friends, or do students just have lots of good acquaintances?

If you do barnard bartending, how often do jobs come around? I hear they pay well, but are jobs super rare?

I here lots of Barnard students are very fashionable. Would I be looked down on for being more of a leggings/sweatshirt/ no makeup kind of girl?

As you can see I have a lot of questions…god bless anyone who read this all the way through! Any responses to any question will be appreciated! Thank you!

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As a parent of a 2010 Barnard grad I can answer some of your questions, although some info might be out-of-date. But I’ll have a go:

  1. My daughter was a fairly highly trained dancer, who did not want to major in dance in college. She was satisfied with the quality of the dance department for classes -- she took ballet & modern and placed into the higher levels from the start. She did not participate in Orchesis. You can get a sense the quality of dancers if you go to YouTube and do a search for "Barnard orchesis" you will find videos from past performances. Here's a video to get you started that has excerpts from various dances - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IbXxooxG8w

  1. My D. did Barnard Bartending all 4 years and absolutely loved doing it. She had plenty of work, but more experienced students would generally get the best gigs. That was partly because over time the students learned which gigs would be the best (and which to avoid); and they would also develop a clientele who would specifically request them – so by the time she was a senior, my daughter was pretty much part of a small group that were in very high demand. She was very sad when she graduated and had to give up that source of income, plus all the cool parties she got to attend. But she also had plenty of gigs her first year – she stayed in NYC over spring break and was able to work every day and earned enough money to pay for her summer internship housing.

  2. D. was a poli sci major and took all of her classes for her major at Barnard, or at Smolny (Russia) where she studied abroad. She did take a lot of classes at Columbia, just not classes for her major. Probably just a matter of scheduling and preference for some profs for the intro & elective courses --the colloquia and senior thesis seminar had to be completed at Barnard

  3. As noted above, D. studied abroad for a semester in Russia. Barnard does encourage and support study abroad, and it was not a problem with as a poli sci major, as the abroad program had strong poli sci offerings and course offerings were easily approved. Also, at her program, those particular courses were taught in English, so no barrier there.

  4. My D. got involved with Hillel her senior year when she went on a winter Birthright trip. After that she got a part-time job working at Hillel doing administrative stuff, plus Hillel was a source of a lot of referrals for odd jobs – her final semester she had completed most course requirements so dropped down to part-time and was working multiple jobs, trying to earn enough money so that she could stay in NYC post-graduation. D, is not religious but made some good friends though Hillel, but I honestly don’t know if she participated in social events.

  5. D. definitely had a strong sense of attending a women’s college & became more keenly aware of women’s issues during during her time at Barnard. But that wasn’t her goal for college and she wasn’t involved with any women-only activities or clubs - in addition to Columbia she also socialized regularly with students at other colleges like NYU. I am also not sure why you would perceive Wellesley as being any more or less confidence-building or empowering. I understand the reputation & the marketing – but when it comes down to it, colleges provide oppportunities, and student experiences vary depending on how they avail themselves of those opportunities.

However, if you are certain you want a women’s college, I’d suggest that you visit as many as you can, and also include some less selective women’s colleges on your list.

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Thank you calmom! I really appreciate your response, it was very helpful. I’m pretty sure Barnard is my number one choice, but I’m also looking at Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and a couple coed schools.