<p>Yes, I think the educational quality is the same. I’d even argue that Barnard’s stronger than those schools in some subjects, such as writing, dance, psychology, urban studies… but overall, education’s pretty much the same. I know a GREAT many transfer students from institutions much more “prestigious” than Barnard, and they all agree. I’m not exactly concerned about prestige, here. I seem to have learned well enough and grad schools seem confident of that, despite how few famous professors taught me.</p>
<p>The student body average statistics are higher at A, S, Williams, but not at Wellesley. If you think having peers with 50 point higher SAT scores is a critical factor in your education, then yes, A, S, W are better.
Of course NYU has more well known profs and more publications, something true of almost all big U’s as compared to LACs–that doesn’t necessarily translate into a better education. How many LACs have “top departments,” in your mysterious metric?</p>
<p>And actually, as a student here now I’m pretty confident I can say that your back door claim isn’t true. Starry-eyed and self-important freshman might think that, but after meeting Barnard students, most are disabused of that notion, unless they’re completely blind or inalterably biased. The fact is, Barnard students do just as well in Columbia courses as Columbia students, and vice versa. So is Columbia’s education bad?</p>