Barnard - Social Scene and Academics?

FireSale
Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:55:25 +0000

Current student here! I’ll try to be thorough…



I’ve never been to an all-girls school before, and having done a bit of research, I’ve found that the general consensus is that many of the girls at Barnard are spoiled, preppy rich girls. Is this true?



Nope. Of course there are some spoiled, preppy rich girls, but that’s par for the course at an elite liberal arts college. There are all kinds of people here and the majority are very friendly and down-to-earth. Also, as someone who’s far from rich and has to be careful about spending money (I have significant financial aid and all of my disposable income comes from my work study job), I actually feel like my situation is the norm rather than the exception.

And I’ll answer your question about breaking into the social scene and cliqueyness here as well. It’s no more cliquey or difficult to break into the social scene here than it would be at any other school. If you’re shy and tend to isolate yourself, of course you’re going to have more trouble getting socially integrated than someone who’s naturally outgoing, but I think it’s quite easy to make friends. Admittedly, it can be hard to find a “group” because social life isn’t 100% centered on campus and a lot of people prefer to go off and do their own thing around the city, but almost everyone here is able to form meaningful relationships.



Furthermore, I would greatly appreciate it if a current Barnard student could elaborate a bit on the social scene: I understand parties are not a big part of Barnard, and that it may be difficult meeting guys. What do you recommend, then, to meet guys?



Who told you parties weren’t a big part of the social scene? There are a lot of people who choose to either hang out in the dorms or explore NYC’s bars and such for nights out, but if you want to get involved in the party scene, it’s absolutely present. On any given weekend there will almost certainly be frat/club-sponsored parties all over the place and if you’re really desperate you can always just get signed in at EC (East Campus, arguably Columbia’s biggest party dorm) and party-hop. Also, even if that’s not your scene, chances are you’ll find yourself at plenty of parties through club involvement and the like.

As for the guy situation, it’s not much different than any other school - I’d say it’s more like living in a women’s dorm at a co-ed college. There are girls who’ll tell you it’s hard to meet guys, but as long as you join clubs and/or go to parties and actually make an effort instead of expecting guys to come flocking to you, you’ll be able to meet them easily.

The only issue with getting involved with guys romantically is that it is still a college campus, which means there’s a HUGE hook-up culture. If you want casual hook-ups you’ll have no trouble finding them, but dating can be harder and serious relationships are somewhat rare. Plenty of people still do date (in fact, I’ve been seeing a Columbia guy from one of my clubs all this year and we’re still going strong, though now that I think about it we did actually start with a drunken hook-up…), but if you’re uncomfortable with casual sexual encounters, you’re going to have a harder time.

Also, if you’re a bit more adventurous and are willing to expand your reach past Columbia, online dating is a pretty big thing here. It is NYC, after all.



What types of clubs might one join? I am big on philosophy, politics, international relations, and such. Are there any specific clubs you might recommend?



It sounds like CIRCA would be up your alley - it’s Columbia’s IR/Model UN club and it’s big and very active. CU Dems is another gimme, since it’s easily one of the biggest, most diverse groups on campus. Your options may be more limited if you’re conservative because the vast majority of the student population here (especially the politically active population) is liberal, but the conservative groups do tend to attract more guys so if that’s your primary concern…



Also, in terms of academics, what do the professors go for here? I’m sure classes vary depending on the teacher and subject, but for any political science/philosophy student, what has your experience been? Do the gunners get the top grades? Are grades given based on discussion and participation or exams? Or am I completely misconstruing the college academic scene?



Ooh, this is a tough one to answer because you really can’t generalize. There’s not really a universal thing that professors “go for,” but I will say that they can pretty much all detect BS from a mile away. Also, contrary to what the brochures may tell you, it can be difficult to form relationships with professors in your freshman and sophomore years because intro classes are pretty large and you’re surrounded by 50+ other super smart, type-A students who are trying just as hard as you to get on the professor’s good side (though you definitely will get to know your FYE and FYS professors quite well). That said, I’m an underclassman, so I imagine it gets easier once you’re taking upper level seminars and the like.

Now, for the grading procedure. The weight of class discussion/participation varies depending on the class - it will hold a lot of weight if you’re in, say, a small English seminar, but in a larger lecture, you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on your interpretation) if attendance is even taken into account. The math and science classes can be pretty brutal because every exam is weighted VERY heavily and if you mess one up you can’t really redeem yourself through class participation, but since your interests tend to be in non-Econ social sciences and humanities, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you.

In your typical (non-Econ) social science lecture course, your grade will most likely consist of two essay tests, a final paper, and, in most cases, attendance - sometimes there’ll be a little more than that, sometimes it’ll just be the midterm and the final. If you’re an excellent writer, you attend all of your lectures, and you at least try to keep up with the readings, you’ll be a-okay; if you’re not a natural writer and you skip class all the time, you’re screwed. That said, don’t get too cocky - almost all of the girls here come in thinking they’re brilliant writers and most of them get smacked in the face once they start getting their first essays back.

Another thing worth noting: There’s a HUGE stress culture here. You’ll constantly be competing in the stress Olympics and everyone LOVES to brag about the absurd amount of work they have to do. The truth is, it’s really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. You just have to learn how to prioritize and accept imperfection because there’s no way you can do every reading and get As on every paper.

Hope all of that helps!