Barnard College Top Questions

Diverse enough, not really interaction between different types of students, but that is the nature of this entire university. California is the 3rd most represented state, after NY and NJ, 4th is probably PA. Different financial backgrounds, students are very politically interested and active, mostly liberal / left though the Orthodox Jewish population is right / conservative both politically and socially. Last question - no.

Lots and lots of Jews here. The Jewish community on campus is HUGE. Lots of people identify really strongly with their ethnic and religious groups, so they're pretty popular on campus. In general, students are very trendy. People sometimes wear pajamas or sweatpants to class (but not me). Most students here have money, but not all of them. It's incredibly expensive to live in the city, obviously. Definitely, definitely, definitely very politically liberal. There are probably four Republicans in the entire student body.

Alternative, shocking, and loud, students at Barnard are seriously amazing women.

Barnard is definitely a liberal 4 acres in the city, and students don't blink an eye at anything different or unusual. I think the Columbia Democrats pretty heavily outnumber the CU Republicans. Most people here are pretty idealistic and want to help make the world a better place. For example, many of the pre-med students I know have a fantasy of going to Africa for "Doctors Without Borders." I think it says a lot that the school has no business major or anything remotely in that realm. Upon graduation, anything goes: some people go straight to grad school, some to travel around Europe, some get a job in investment banking, and others decide to try their hand at auditioning for shows in the city (one last chance at fame before growing up or something). I think at all colleges people dress relatively the same; you have a range from the "I just woke up 30 seconds ago and ran here" look to the very neat, clean, "put-together" look at the other end. Most people just dress normal. I don't really know what normal is, but it's like me. You know, not flashy but not a hot mess. You walk a lot in the New York, so uncomfortable shoes are just silly.

Although sometimes it feels like everyone at Barnard is Jewish, the college is actually quite diverse. I think that there is a varied enough population here that it would be hard not to fit in somewhere, unless you prefer a place where people are more laidback about academics and there's a party going on every night of the week. Also, Greek life on campus is not very popular, although the inter-fraternity council was just officially “recognized” by the Student Government Association with the intention to better incorporate Greek organizations into campus life. Student style ranges from jeans and a Barnard or Columbia hoodie to quite trendy threads. Although people don't seem to judge you on what you wear, it's definitely a bonus if you look good without looking like you thought about what you put on that morning too much.