Barnard or Georgetown SFS

parentologist
Mon, 05 Apr 2021 08:45:52 +0000

Do you really mean to say that you think that HWC (I assume you mean historically white colleges, a term I’ve never heard before, but I suppose it is accurate, since most colleges that weren’t historically black, were by discrimination or default historically white until the late 1960s) have more sexual minorities than historically black colleges? Guess what? People of color can also be sexual minorities, too! Probably at the same rate as Whites are. Or do you mean that you’re seriously worried that you might be ostracized for being straight just at Barnard? REALLY?

I am afraid that with such an attitude, the only place that you will feel comfortable is in a school that discriminates against sexual minorities. Unfortunately, there still are a few of those, all rigid, conservative church schools, usually with a not-too-remote history of racism, too.

If you are choosing between Barnard and Georgetown, you must have qualities that caused them to admit you. I suggest that you do some serious soul-searching. It’s too bad that school clubs aren’t meeting right now, because you could really benefit from attending your school’s gay-straight alliance club, just to try to become more comfortable being around students who are sexual minorities. Straight kids go there too, just to provide support for those who are sexual minorities, to help them with the day in day out ostracization that they tend to have to confront in middle and high school.

Are you afraid that Barnard, because it’s a women’s college, has mostly women who are other than straight? Women choose to go to Barnard because it’s a great school with access to excellent education, both at Barnard college and at Columbia, too. Plenty of straight women at Barnard, of all races. Trust me, you wouldn’t be the only straight woman there, and you won’t be ostracized for being straight. But I am curious - if this is how you felt, why in the world did you apply there? Did you just consider it a less competitive way to get into Columbia?

Since neither institution awards merit aid, I’m kind of puzzled by the disparity in the offers. But if you truly were in need of financial aid, I would imagine that you wouldn’t have the resources to pay an extra 20K/yr to go to Barnard, where it sounds as if you’d be uncomfortable, anyway.