Columbia with Barnard sororities

calmom
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:02:47 +0000

You also have to keep in mind that in some cases classes that are required for Barnard students are taught at Columbia --for example, I believe that most of the introductory foreign language classes are on the Columbia campus, generally in small sections taught by TA’s – but that probably accounts for a significant amount of cross registration.

Actually I think its a little misleading to refer to it as “cross registration” given the way the courses are all intermixed together for class listings. I mean, when my d. is looking up classes, especially to fulfill the 9-ways-of-knowing requirements, she really doesn’t care where it is – she is going to select whatever looks the most interesting and fits in her schedule. And very often you will see the same “W” or “V” course offered on one campus one semester, the other the next – when the courses are labeled “interfaculty” they could be anywhere.

That’s another Barnard/Columbia difference that impacts on the registration. Obviously Columbia students need to take the Core courses at Columbia; whereas Barnard has this rather complex array of distribution requirements along with lists of classes that meet them at both colleges. So actually, I think it is somewhat surprising that there isn’t a greater imbalance in favor of Columbia – you have more classes overall, and Barnard students are more likely to need those classes to meet their own graduation requirements. (Believe me, if my daughter is taking statistics next semester at Columbia, it is not out of love of the subject or any desire to impress anyone with her “Ivy League” math course – but she’s got to take a math class to meet Barnard’s requirements, and Columbia seems to be the place to go for the math that is more appropriate to her level - Barnard’s very small math department doesn’t seem to be offering anything lower than Calculus II for fall semester).