Barnard College Top Questions

there are all types at Barnard. Cute girls, ugly girls, girls that dress up all the time, girls that never dress up, gay girls, straight girls, bi girls, athletic girls, non-athletic girls, girls that hook up alot, girls that never hook up. Seriously, I really think it would be hard for someone not to find ANYONE at all that they get along with, unless they were a complete idiot with no redeeming qualities, but then they probably wouldn't be at Barnard in the first place! Students are pretty divided along racial lines, but there is still definitely interaction. Most people are liberal. Me and my friends talk about how much money we're going to make, but its more in a wishing sense than in a concrete - (aka we're going into finance) way. Seriously, Barnard has something for everyone.

My classmates are very different even though they have the similar background. Most of my classmates are white and range between upper and middle-class. Some are down to earth and are concerned with helping others, they understand if someone is underpriviledge. Others are not as tolerate and have narrow-minded views. But most of my classmates are very nice and they will go out of their way to help you out no matter if you are a first year or sophomore. They are giving and proud to be strong, beautiful Barnard women.

They are incredibly intelligent

Barnard students are brilliant, driven, capable, high-achieving; they consistently go above and beyond, both academically and with regard to extra-curriculars.

They are eager to learn.

Barnard women are, in general, smart, driven, independent, outgoing, hardworking, have a healthy social life, can talk about anything from Corinthian columns to the election to new movies knowledgeably, and are overall just really amazing women.

the student body is not very diverse. there are a LOT of jews. as a German jew this is really nice for me but i can imagine that being anything else at barnard might almost feel a little uncomfortable. there are a lot of asians and indians also. in general, people tend to be a little more on the conservative side. but when you do find people from the LGBT community, these tend to be very liberal and liberated! there is a sizable amount of rich white girls at barnard which gets on my nerves, personally. wearing a name means a lot here. most barnard girls are politically active and/or at least highly aware and almost a little opinionated. the girls that go to this school are very intelligent young women which makes it a pleasure to interact with most any barnard girl. as mentioned before i have found the most wonderful friends here and i have had the most interesting conversations with very intelligent women here at barnard.

Most students (at least for freshman year) get very dressed up for class--it is New York City after all. Lots of very religious Jews, who tend to group together. Many, many different socioeconomic classes are present. Most students are fairly "left".

It's NEW YORK CITY. You will find all sorts of people in and out of campus. You have feminists, activists, people of all different backgrounds, from all over the world and country, all different gender preferences, different economic situations, GET USED TO IT. You wear what you want to classes, if you're a first year you have to live in the Quad, which are the residence halls inside campus, sometimes girls just roll out of bed and go to class in pjs if its a morning class. I don't recommend wearing an evening gown to class, but your style is you so whatever you feel comfortable in, just nothing trashy, please. You find the people you get along with. FOr me my motto this past year has been "Crazies attract the Crazies" basically because I find my close group of friends to be insane and I am too (not literally, but just in a carefree, fun, way insane). We're all loud and outgoing and somehow we all became friends on basically the same day.

Student's Body is very diverse, there are all kinds of racial, religious, and socio-ecomomic groups, therefore, whoever you are, you will not feel left out. Students wear very different outfits, depending on what your taste is like. You can never rule out meeting somebody who is racially, religiously or socio-economically prejudiced, but in general students are very respectful of their backgrounds.