Kiwi_Nights

For Barnard students - how would you describe the intellectual atmosphere outside the classroom? Do most students participate in debate and lively discussion in their free time, or is it more of a clique thing? Is the student body fairly diverse, or homogenous? And I don't mean diverse as in racially or nationally, I mean by behavior, attitude, dress, etc.

Kiwi_Nights

Bump......anyone willing to give it a shot?

mythmom

My daughter is a recent Barnard grad. She did find the campus culture very intellectual and filled with lively debate.

Academic work is often discussed outside the classroom as are books, ideas, world events.

There are more heterogeneous campuses, but it is a very heterogeneous environment. Hey, it's NYC!

aube88

- In terms of the intellectual atmosphere outside of the classroom: I think that like at any college, you can find groups of friends who never talk about intellectual topics, and groups who spend their weekend nights debating Kant. Most people are somewhere in-between. I would say that compared to students at other colleges, students at BC and CU are more likely to be intellectual, up on news, etc. It is not uncommon for even the most social of people to discuss intellectual-esque things at parties...people here tend to be smart, enjoy their classes, and talk about them. Of course, there are also people who spend the least amount of time possible thinking about, doing, or talking about work, but that's nice sometimes, too! All in all I think it's a good balance, but it's definitely not a party school.

In terms of the student body...to be honest, the Barnard student body is diverse but far from heterogeneous -- very large percentage is white, jewish, liberal, similar style of dress. BUT you still meet people with really interesting backgrounds at Barnard, to be sure. Plus, you spend time at Columbia and meet other undergraduates, and graduate students...and of course in the city you'll meet all kinds of people. I have friends from all over the country and several friends from different parts of the world who I've met at CU one way or another.