Reconsidering Barnard

brearly12 · 10-03-2009, 07:00 PM

I have to say, I have been planning applying ED to Barnard, but after reading this forum I am seriously reconsidering. Not only do these chat threads make Barnard out to be a cultish haven of female intellectual superiority, but the amount of over-involved parents posting constantly on this forum is rather disturbing. It doesn't say good things about a school when the level of parental enthusiasm about the school is higher than the level of student enthusiasm, which is what I have found in this forum. Not only do parents talk about Barnard like it is a school that they themselves attend rather than their children, but they have arguments about really trivial things, such as the change in acceptance rates at Barnard over the past few years. Undoubtedly, Barnard is a school of great caliber, but if it's greatest asset as a school is to fuel the egos of the parents of attendees, than I do not want to go there.

I strongly hope that this is not the case, because I love Barnard. As a note to the parents who post on College Confidential forums: as prospective students, we do not want to hear your points of view about the schools in lieu of your children's points of view. However proud you Barnard parents are of your daughters, we want to hear about the college from them and not from you.

mythmom · 10-03-2009, 07:42 PM

Well, you've tied my hands in saying anything. I will say that my daughter was too busy enjoying her experience to post on a forum. And that is all I will say.

churchmusicmom · 10-03-2009, 08:24 PM

Wow, op. I have no vested interest in posting here; my daughter has graduated. My only intent is to inform and to help.

You will obviously draw your own conclusions, but my own daughter's situation is very similar to mythmom's: she is very busy and involved in "real world" things and just does not have time to post on this forum. And I suspect that this is pretty much why most Barnard students are not all that active in posting here. They are generally pretty busy young women!

and

Quote:

cultish haven of female intellectual superiority

Really??

Sorry if our attempts to inform and support here on this forum have somehow turned you off to Barnard. your loss.

Kiwi_Nights · 10-04-2009, 01:39 AM

There's about five people posting on the overall board.....most of whom have questions about the college apps. I'd hardly characterize that as "female intellectual superiority". If anything, I think Barnard girls will probably have to struggle against Ivy-superiority from Columbia students.

I attended Barnard PCP over the summer, met plenty of girls who were planning to apply to Barnard, and they were all fairly nice, fun and down-to-earth. I felt very comfortable there. I'd say that applies to the Barnard population more than some over-obsessive Barnard moms would.

I don't agree with your assessment, but I think it's fine if you don't feel that Barnard suits your instinct. It's NOT "your loss", though I'd say that most competitive colleges (or any college, really) will have a small population of intellectual snobs, Barnard included.

calmom · 10-04-2009, 05:07 PM

One other parent here with a daughter who is far too busy to spend time posting on internet forums. (My daughter has a total of 13 posts on CC).

The reason I have the time is that I am an empty nester, living alone -- and given the costs of putting my daughter through college, I can't afford to go out frequently. So I'm home alone most of the time. I can work, read, watch tv, or go on the internet.

I would make one additional comment: the cost of attendance at Barnard now runs in the $50K range. Even for those of us whose daughters receive need based aid, it can be a financial stretch. Other than my house, my daughter's Barnard education is the most expensive thing I have ever paid for in my life. So I think I have a vested interest in the school. My daughter has also taken on debt and worked to pay her share, but the ratio of my investment to hers is at least 3:1 and probably more like 4:1.

Given your attitude toward parental involvement, I think you should seriously reconsider attending ANY private college. Look for a college that offers you a full ride scholarship, or a public college that you can finance on your own. It would be selfish and immature for you to expect your parents to make the financial investment required for you to attend a school like Barnard without also taking a high interest in the school.

Phedre · 10-04-2009, 09:30 PM

I think you need to deeply reconsider your approach to the college selection process if you're basing your judgment of a school by a small message board. I currently attend Barnard and I can tell you the parents who post here gave helpful and encouraging information during my application process, whether directly to me or to other posters. That being said, they were in no way the defining factor in my choice to apply or attend. As for Barnard being a "cultish haven of female superiority"---you are completely wrong. Barnard is not perfect by any means, but it does not resemble anything like that description. And I never, ever got that impression reading any of the posts on this board.

thedonald · 10-04-2009, 10:44 PM

Brearly12, I wish you every success in your college choice. I know it's an extremely stressful time, and it often seems that your entire future is depending on the outcome of the various applications you'll soon be filing. Try not to draw too many conclusions from any one source of information (this forum included). If you're at all unsure about whether Barnard is right for you, by all means keep your options open and don't apply Early Decision. But if you'd like to find more information in order, perhaps, to resolve any of your questions or uncertainties, do take advantage of the resources that are available to you online. Try, for example, Columbia Daily Spectator | News, Sports, and Entertainment Coverage for Morningside Heights for the pulse of the University as seen through the eyes of the student newspaper. Take a look at the University pencilbook feature on the "Academics" portion of the Barnard website to see the selection of courses you might want to take. Look at the upcoming events pages on both the Barnard and Columbia websites, and the lists of extracurricular organizations available at each campus. But most importantly, try to have an on campus interview so that you can meet other students, walk around the campus and sit in on classes.

Posters on this website are genuinely trying to be helpful, and are trying to help prospective students like you get an accurate feel of the place. That large numbers of current students no longer frequent this site is a testament to the fact that they've moved on to the business of being a college student -- as you will too, soon enough. To the extent you find these posts less than helpful, your comments have been noted. But you might want to reflect at some point on the tone of your original post (which, honestly, comes across as a bit crass).

Again, I wish you the best in your college search, and I'm sure everyone else who contributes to this page will be happy to answer any other questions you may have. Good luck.

liaku · 10-07-2009, 03:46 PM

Yeah, it's going to have to be a very slow, very boring day when I bother checking this site. Or maybe when I really don't want to study for a test, kinda like now.

I'm a little curious why you're concerned that there aren't many students here. Why would they be? They're already enrolled, after all, so unless your ideal vision of college involves lots of time spent chilling online (which is fine, I had lots of that at my old school, and it suited a lot of people), I'd consider being too busy for here to be a good thing. Last year, I only came back to these forums to answer questions about Boston College when I'd decided I wanted to transfer away from there, and while I stayed positive, I can't say that reflected all that well for the school. :P

soshi · 10-08-2009, 04:09 AM

This is a totally unrelated question, but I didn't want to make a new thread for a silly question like this, sorry. Why can't I see all the threads for Barnard? Right now there's 11 threads, but people like calmom and mythmom have posted in threads that aren't visible on the Barnard page.

thedonald · 10-08-2009, 10:05 AM

soshi, I believe at the foot of the page is a "Display Options" section which has a default setting for "This Month". So only message threads that have been active within the past month are listed. You can alter the default setting to go back as far as you'd like, and sift though all of the old threads.

soshi · 10-08-2009, 09:27 PM

Thank you!

aube88 · 10-14-2009, 01:29 AM

It is ridiculous to judge a school based on an online forum! There are what, like, 10 people who post on this. NOT A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE!!!! And maybe the students are just too busy to check forums about college...

Also. You do not interact with Barnard parents when you go to school here.

If you want to see what the students are really like, come visit!