College question! I'm seriously considering barnard. Just wondering why you loved/hated it and what you thought of Columbia. I'm thinking of studying human rights, do you happen to know anyone in that majored in that? If so, what did they think?
Hello! Sorry this is so late; I haven’t had access to a computer in a while, and I hate typing this kind of stuff up on my phone :/
For me Barnard’s social scene was pretty diffuse, which I’ve mentioned before; it’s hard to really get involved in clubs, especially if, like me, you miss out during your first year due to mental stuff or academic stress or something. Most of the things I was interested in were solitary anyway; I was into the lit mag, and I tried the theater scene one time before backing far far away from it in a haze of “too much work” and “this comes too close to high school KILL IT”. You can certainly make friends--I’ve made some of my closest ones at Barnard--but it will be harder. Most of the non-school social stuff is off campus in New York, which can make the school seem really not-spirity as well as a financial burden to some. It can feel kind of lonely. Another aspect of Barnard that I was not a fan of was that, like most Ivy League schools (and let’s not go into the weird Barnard/Columbia thing, Barnard’s basically an Ivy League), there’s a feeling of stress and perfectionism that can coat everything. People routinely make jokes about not wanting to go into the libraries because the smell of self-loathing and fear of failure sticks to everything and reeks. It’s competitive, and if you’re not that type of person it can eat at you. Hell, even if you are that person it can eat at you. I feel like both of these things are things you can combat, but you have to be ready for them.
This isn’t to say that I didn’t love Barnard, because I did! I really did. I grew so much there; i discovered my academic passion, I made some of the best friends of my life. I can really only speak for the English department, but almost all the teachers are wonderfully kind and open, and willing to share their knowledge in a way that you don’t see in other schools. They’re all intelligent yet approachable, and you can do independent studies with them and really shape your interests and passions. It was nurturing to me when I went through a mental breakdown during freshman year. New York has become the city I love most in the world, and I wouldn’t have discovered it if not for Barnard; if nothing else, I will love it for that.
The Barnard and Columbia relationship...most of the time you really don’t notice it. In terms of classes, you can take as many across the street as you want, and you can get into some amazing stuff! All of the classes I took over there were big lectures, which can be exhausting but the lecturers i had were so awesome I didn’t care. (Except for one, which I can’t name, but you shouldn’t have to take his class and I would recommend not doing it. My friend and I would tag team as to who would show up and take notes for the both of us, because he took attendance and you couldn’t get out of it.) Most of the more traditional social clubs are over there as well, as well as sororities. Barnard students mesh pretty seamlessly with Columbia students, and 99% of the time it’s really nice. I will admit I’m biased: I was unfortunate enough to be a first year when Obama showed up. It got nasty. BUT, I think that was just BWOG, which should never be taken as a measure of the actual student population. Get involved with Columbia; if nothing else, you
Finally, I didn’t do any human rights stuff, but i have friends who DID, and they seem really happy with it! A lot of them are currently involved with some kind of activism now that they’ve graduated. Human rights isn’t an official major, btw; it’s a program that goes alongside another major. Most of the people I know did it with Women and Gender Studies, but you can do all sorts of combinations.
I hope this answers everything! I’m trying to give as balanced an interpretation as possible, but ultimately it comes down to this: Barnard sucked in some ways, but it was amazing in a lot of other ways. I don’t regret it. If you have any other questions, let me know and i can answer privately.