How challenging are Barnard's classes compared to Columbia's?

honied_dreams
Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:42:22 +0000

Difficulty of classes, in my experience at least, has been more dependent on the department and professor rather than the school. I’ve taken about an equal number of courses at Barnard, Columbia, and through School of the Arts, and my grades in each have been quite varied. I spent two years taking comp lit/english courses at Barnard and Columbia and got an A or A- in every one; when I switched to Visual Arts and Art History, I had a range between A+ and B+. In philosophy I once got a B. Long story short, I think it really depends both on the department (at both schools) and on your own abilities. Everybody always talks about Columbia being harder, but it simply isn’t true. I’d say, if anything, Barnard even expects more of you. Also note that, graduation requirement-wise, Barnard requires you to pick a major and write a thesis, while at Columbia you have the option, but can opt to pick “concentrations” and do no thesis paper or project.