<p>Blizzard, I see in the other thread that you’ve been accepted. I asked because I am happy to help out a prospective student, but didn’t want to get involved in another one of these long Barnard/Columbia debate threads. But I see that you really want or need to know so here goes:</p>
<p>1. Some tell me that Barnard is simply another undergrad school in Columbia like the engineering school/arts and science. However this seems unlikely because you apply separately to Barnard, the curricula are different, there are different sports teams, etc.</p>
<p>Barnard is an “affiliated” school with Columbia, which means that it is part of Columbia University but also has an independent administration for its own admissions and finances.</p>
<p>The fact that admission is separate isn’t all that significant because it is common in many US universities. For example, the various undergraduate schools of NYU all handle admissions separately – being admitted to Tisch is a very different thing than getting into Stern. </p>
<p>The curricula at Barnard & Columbia is overlapping, not different – but the basic education requirements of all students is different. (more below) Columbia has the “core”, while Barnard has “9 ways of knowing” which is a broader and more flexible set of requirements, but for some individuals might seem like a bigger barrier than the core if they find they have to take a lot of courses outside their main areas of interest. </p>
<p>Depending on your major, you could find that you are studying mostly at Barnard, mostly at Columbia, or a mix of both. Some majors are duplicated between the schools – for example, both Barnard & Columbia have history departments and both offer their own majors. But a history at Barnard might sign up for history courses at Columbia, as well as the other way around. You would just look in the catalog and sign up for the course you want – you probably wouldn’t pay much attention to where it was taught while signing up.</p>
<p>Some majors are coordinated between the schools – for example, the slavic languages department is a joint department, with Columbia and Barnard profs in the department. </p>
<p>Some majors are offered by only one school, and students who want to major in that subject do so through whichever school offers it. For example, if a Columbia student wants to major in architecture, they would take their courses at Barnard. </p>
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<p>Barnard’s academic standards are the same as Columbia, and Barnard faculty members are for the most part responsible for teaching Columbia classes as well, because a very large number of classes are considered joint between the schools. </p>
<p>My d. took about 40% of her course work at Columbia and generally found it easier to get A’s at Columbia than at Barnard. I don’t know if that is because of the specific courses she took or because of higher expectations from Barnard profs. </p>
<p>As noted above, Barnard does not have the core curriculum – so the specific course work is somewhat different between the two schools. Someone who doesn’t want to do the core might see Barnard as “easier”.</p>
<p>However, I actually think that Barnard is more demanding for many majors, because most Barnard majors require a senior thesis, whereas at Columbia students in the same majors might opt to do an honors thesis, but it isn’t required for graduation. My d. essentially spent her entire senior year buried in a pile of books working on her thesis – definitely not an “easy” way to get a degree. (But she loved doing it – it’s kind of cool to really have the opportunity to immerse yourself in a particular subject for a full academic year, and my d.'s thesis topic was interesting & fun to research). </p>
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That has not been my daughter’s experience. The Barnard degree commands a lot of respect, particularly in New York. </p>
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<p>Well, yes – but I think it is really strengthened by its affiliation. It is a mid-sized LAC with the resources of a large research university. So you get the LAC-style education and reseach-u. level resources and study options.</p>