Barnard College Top Questions

Depending on the class, professors will know your name (usually once you enter more advanced classes as juniors and seniors). Students seem to be studying a lot, but around midterms and finals time, naturally, the most. Most students are competitive, but usually not in a cut-throat way. One can schedule their classes so work takes a back seat to partying, or one can punish themselves with an impossible workload. Professors want you to do well. Class participation is very common. The academic requirements are easy to fulfill. I'd say the education at Barnard is geared for learning for it's own sake and not for getting a job (unless you want to become a teacher and do the education program). Many unique classes are offered, and one can always take advantage of the classes offered at Columbia.

Academics at Barnard are what you make them. I thought I would hate the "9 ways of knowing" core curriculum, but I have actually found I have loved my classes I chose to pick random requirements are the most interesting. I am Pre-Med at the moment which has been really hard, but for most people like me who science doesn't come naturally Pre-Med will be really hard everywhere. I don't like the the Introductory Pre-Med course are huge. I really like the dance department. It might seem unorganized or insanely just straight up odd sometimes, but if you really want to dance and really allow yourself to get into your different teachers' techniques you can really learn a lot. The dance department will give to you as much as you give to it. Its really what you make of it. The student run shows like Orchesis, and CoLAB are fantastic.

Yes, professors know my name. And i've only had one bad professor. I've learned so much and evolved in more than one ways because of my classes. Culpa helps.

I much prefer classes at Barnard to classes at Columbia. I'm not a big fan of the Nine Ways of knowing but I heard that they are decreasing it next year. The professors are all great and you know that you are going to get a good degree when you come here. I prefer seminars to lectures because I don't like big classes, but that's just me. I don't really feel a competitive vibe as of now.

The academic experience at Barnard is wonderful. In smaller classes, professors make an effort to know your name and to get to know you as a person. Participation is a huge part of most classes. I had the opportunity to form friendships with a few professors and advisors. Barnard's academic requirements make is imperative that you have a well rounded liberal arts education. You are required to take a certain number of classes in each of nine different discipline, but there are no "required" courses as there often are at larger universities such as Columbia.

Each professor becomes someone that know. The classes are mostly small and hte largest are lecture classes but even then you do not feel lost or forgotten. There are always office hours and chances to meet your professor face to face. The relationship with the professor's here at Barnard are what makes this school exceptional. There are also veryl commonly seminar classes which allow each student the opportunity to share their opinions and to speak their mind. These classes are very personal and you grow to love the girls in the class along with the professors. The students who attend Barnard are all here to learn. Though people party and go out to have a good time and take away stress, people are always studying and working as you must remember the future leaders of the country in every field imaginable are studying within these campus gates. There are academic requirements and although sometimes seem unnecessary and difficult to fulfill, can be. Each student is given an advisor who knows them by name and help you each year figure out your schedule and your future plans in the school. They are always there for you and helpful. Every student choses for themselves how they will take their classes and how they do in their classes. School is hard and students are asked for a lot of work and dedication but when you love the class you are taking be it Organic Chemistry, American History, or French you will do what you can to do well. Some people go through college with a job in mind but that is their choice, others take their time finding a major and dabble in multiple areas of interest. Whatever you decide to do is good for it is your learning experience.

Many classes are very small-- my largest (academic) class at Barnard this semester had nine students!-- and the professors are excellent. However, classes are easy, expectations are low and good grades are often undeserved. There's little emphasis on learning and analysis and applying knowledge to the world. I say this particularly in comparison to my first two years at a different liberal arts college.

Academics are amazing here at Barnard. I am taking 10 classes this semester, which is a bit unheard of for anyone, and i only have one class that is bigger than 20 people. And most of them are less than 10. Which means you get a lot of individual attention. The conversations always carry on outside of the classroom. In my Oral french class, when we see each other outside of class, we automatically start talking to each other in French, and from all of the seminar classes, its impossible to leave the class without having something to talk about with a friend! The professors here are incredibly thought provoking and encourage discussion which can sometimes lead to very interesting conversations at late night in Hewitt dining hall with your friends. Students here are very competitive, and really sleep for the amount of studying they do. A lot of people I know hole up in their rooms studying all day. But that's certainly not everyone! Barnard's academic requirements are nothing to complain about. When you even think complaining thoughts about having to take some required class, you remind yourself that you have it much better than your columbia friends and their core! Barnard also accepts a lot of AP or IB credit, which helps a lot with the requirements.

My classes at Barnard have mostly been small-ish seminar classes with about 30 people. On the whole my courses have been challenging and very rewarding, but one thing I've noticed about Barnard students is that they're sometimes shy about speaking up in class. This varies hugely, of course, but I have been disappointed sometimes with the lack of class discussion. On the other hand, this means that very few Barnard students are the kind of pretentious know-it-alls who just like to hear themselves speak and quote Foucault five times in one sentence (there are a fair number of these across the street). But just because Barnard students aren't jumping out of their seats to participate in discussion doesn't mean they're not paying attention: on the whole students here study A LOT. We take academics seriously, because believe it or not most of us aren't here to find a husband at Columbia. We're here to learn from some of the most brilliant and accomplished scholars in the world.

Very helpful in getting advice and internships