guitars101

Can a student who has been admitted or attends Barnard say that they attend or have been accepted to Columbia? I have heard from a newly admitted student that they are basically the same school, only one is on one side of Broadway and the other on the other side. Curious.

lvilleslacker

the newly admitted student is mistaken.

mardad

In New York among the cognoscenti this would be considered misleading. The required courses are different. The admissions committees are different etc. Barnard chose to maintain a separate identity, which it has on the East Coast.
In distant parts of the country Barnard students will often describe Barnard as part of Columbia in order to explain where Barnard is. The people they are talking to have only a vague idea of what Columbia is much less Barnard. This is not an incorrect statement. Barnard has a 30% course overlap in terms of where classes occur. The diploma says Columbia University. The university president sits on Columbia's board. Barnard women compete on Columbia's teams etc.
I would avoid making that statement except to answer a follow-up question.

confidentialcoll

Barnard is a Columbia Affiliate, here's what constitutes their relationship:

what seperates them:
1)you can apply to both, get admitted to one and rejected from the other.
2)your degree does say Barnard so, if for whatever reason you want to, you can't hide the fact that you go to barnard instead of cc/seas
3)there are different requirements for barnard academics
4)There are two seperate presidents, Shapiro for Barnard College, Bollinger for Columbia university.
5) Housing and disciplinary action is seperate, although there are cases both in which a columbia kid lives in barnard housing and vice versa, (the latter occurs less frequently). Barnard and Columbia students need to be signed into the other's residence halls like any other visitor.
6) Barnard has its own seperate campus across the street, and is not a coed school.

what connects them:
1)your degree says columbia university, Barnard College.
2) you can take columbia classes in large numbers.
3) ECs overlap - clubs, sports teams et al.
4) You can eat at and use campus facilities (such as the gyms and computer labs) of both campuses.

ilovebagels

And of course in our modern world, the most important indicator of all:

Barnard shows up as Columbia on Facebook

NightOwl1082

GOD that's the worst.

Godfatherbob

Is there, like, a way to formally apply for that?

churchmusicmom

To find out the procedure for applying to live in Barnard housing, go here:

Housing : Groups with Barnard Students

Snivellus

The admit probably said that because many people have not heard of Barnard, but she still wants recognition for where she is going (there is nothing wrong with that!)

There is a huge overlap between both schools, especially because of the shared clubs and classes, but there are significant differences as well. They are certainly not the same school, however, I think that one should be able to say that they are a part of Columbia University if they are going to Barnard.

viva_sweet_love

Not really- I think the Core is a huge factor differentiating the schools (even within SEAS).

Skraylor

No, they can say they are affiliated with columbia, not part of columbia.

Snivellus

From Columbia's website:


Applying to Columbia:

Columbia University has 4 major undergraduate schools: Columbia College , Barnard College , the School of Engineering and Applied Science , and the School of General Studies . Each school has its own application procedure, however online information is centralized under the following webpage: Applying to Columbia

NightOwl1082

Where on Columbia's site can that be found? Because in the Prospective Students section (from which you start to get to any of the applications) it lists CC, SEAS, and GS as the only "Undergraduate Schools" at Columbia, with Barnard listed as an "Affiliated School":

Columbia University: Prospective Students

And as for how a Barnard student should best introduce herself...isn't it best to tell the truth before talking about any affiliation with Columbia? Say "I go to Barnard"; if the person you're speaking with doesn't know what that is, you can say simply "It's the women's college affiliated with Columbia University" or even "the women's college of Columbia University". That's easy enough, no? Somehow I don't buy the argument that Barnard girls need to start out by saying "I go to Columbia" just because not everyone knows what or where Barnard is.

Columbia2002

This is undoubtedly misleading, let alone clearly inaccurate.

NightOwl1082

Certainly, but I think less so than just claiming to go to "Columbia" without any other explanation.