barnard vs. wellesley

[Anonymous]

DD is interested in attending a women's college. There are about a dozen in the country but they are all quite different. Barnard is urban while wellesley is sorta suburban. Other than that, what are some main differences in attending these two colleges.

[Anonymous]

Hi! I go to Wellesley and I absolutely love it. The campus is gorgeous and the community is pretty tight knit. People go into Boston often (although it’s a little further than advertized) and there are a million opportunities. The food is pretty good imo and the dorms are solid. I’m willing to answer any questions she has!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! I go to Wellesley and I absolutely love it. The campus is gorgeous and the community is pretty tight knit. People go into Boston often (although it’s a little further than advertized) and there are a million opportunities. The food is pretty good imo and the dorms are solid. I’m willing to answer any questions she has!

Thank you! I've heard many people saying they love their experience at wellesley.

For kids who are still figuring out what to do in the future, is wellesley is good fit?

[Anonymous]

Wellesley is a stand alone LAC, Barnard is deeply integrated with the larger Columbia University experience. Barnard students say they have the best of both worlds- at Barnard, they can have the social experience of a women's college and intimate connections with Barnard affiliated faculty. Through Columbia, they get access to their classes, world class faculty members and associated researchers, Ivy league networking, and a larger undergraduate student body and extracurricular activities reflecting 12000 students.

Wellesley historically has a better reputation as the crown jewel among the women's colleges, but currently Barnard is seen as more desirable due to the Columbia/Ivy relation. Barnard actually has the highest yield of any LAC in the country, and it is considerably harder to get into vs. Wellesley these days.

[Anonymous]

I think start with the question of why your DD wants the women’s college experience. As PP have pointed out Barnard is very much a hybrid — it is a separate campus with some separate classes but otherwise pretty integrated with the rest of Columbia (Barnard students were front and center during this spring’s Gaza demonstrations for example). Columbia boys can often still be found in the Barnard dorms….

Wellesley is going to be much more isolated from that. Girls still date and bring their boyfriends over (assuming straight girls, queer girls — of which there are many attending all women’s schools — of course have no issues with finding and bringing over other girls to date).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! I go to Wellesley and I absolutely love it. The campus is gorgeous and the community is pretty tight knit. People go into Boston often (although it’s a little further than advertized) and there are a million opportunities. The food is pretty good imo and the dorms are solid. I’m willing to answer any questions she has!

Thank you! I've heard many people saying they love their experience at wellesley.

For kids who are still figuring out what to do in the future, is wellesley is good fit?

Yes, it’s great! I’ve changed my idea of what i want to major in maybe 4 times already haha. I’ve found my best friends and we are all figuring out what we want to do together!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wellesley is a stand alone LAC, Barnard is deeply integrated with the larger Columbia University experience. Barnard students say they have the best of both worlds- at Barnard, they can have the social experience of a women's college and intimate connections with Barnard affiliated faculty. Through Columbia, they get access to their classes, world class faculty members and associated researchers, Ivy league networking, and a larger undergraduate student body and extracurricular activities reflecting 12000 students.

Wellesley historically has a better reputation as the crown jewel among the women's colleges, but currently Barnard is seen as more desirable due to the Columbia/Ivy relation. Barnard actually has the highest yield of any LAC in the country, and it is considerably harder to get into vs. Wellesley these days.

I'm a Barnard alumna. My cousin is a Wellesley grad. PP is right on many things. I would like to add the following:

1. Barnard's popularity is also due to its location. Friends and Sex in the City really popularized NYC.
2. Wellesley has more space due to its urban location. Barnard's campus is very crowded due to its urban location.
3. Wellesley probably was more prestigious historically, but Barnard's alumnae list is pretty impressive. Fact is, if you see any woman out in the world doing something interesting with her life, good chance is she's a 7S alumna.

[Anonymous]

Which one would be a better fit for public high school kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which one would be a better fit for public high school kids?

What an odd question…. Sounds like a troll…

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t matter. There’s a mix of both kinds of students there.

[Anonymous]

All I can say is that if Barnard is chosen, and the student introduces herself as going/having gone to Columbia, and it is found out to be Barnard, a significant portion of people will think poseur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is that if Barnard is chosen, and the student introduces herself as going/having gone to Columbia, and it is found out to be Barnard, a significant portion of people will think poseur.

But they would be wrong.

It is poseuse.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the protest mess at Columbia, so I guess Wellesley, but why not a more well-rounded LAC like Bucknell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is that if Barnard is chosen, and the student introduces herself as going/having gone to Columbia, and it is found out to be Barnard, a significant portion of people will think poseur.

But they would be wrong.

It is poseuse.

Yes, they would. Maybe one of them could go to Columbia while the other identity attends Barnard.

[Anonymous]

Check out Bryn Mawr as well. Smaller than Wellesley, suburban but easy access to Philly.