FAQs from Campus Tours
Each and every campus tour includes a different mix of classroom anecdotes, special guest run-ins (such as President Beilock), and on-campus events happening that same day. As a tour guide, some of my favorite questions to receive are about Barnard’s campus happenings that guests would not have witnessed if they visited on any other day: “why is this class of students dressed for a period piece?” (See: First Year Seminar “Reacting to the Past”) “What are all of these sandwiches for?” (See: Big Sub). While these sorts of inquiries are calendar-dependent, there exists a set of questions that always seems to surface on campus tours despite the presence of a 750-foot sub. I will be exploring these campus tour FAQs below!
What’s the First-Year living and community-building experience like?
Barnard first-year students get to live in The Quad, which is a set of four on-campus dorms connected via hallways into a square with a greenspace quad in the middle featuring benches, picnic tables, and trees (yes, even in New York). As a first-year, you move to campus a week earlier than the upperclassmen students for New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) which gives students a strong sense of community with their class from the very beginning. During my NSOP, I got to visit Coney Island, meet with other students from the midwest, and go to a Yankees game (paid for by Barnard)! NSOP is run by older students so first-years can build connections outside of their class and also, each first-year hall also has an upperclassmen Resident’s Assistant (RA) semester-round. I am still friends with people I met during NSOP even as a senior!
Is it difficult to adjust to living in New York if you’re not from a city?
Although moving to New York can be intimidating coming from a suburban or rural area, there are lots of Barnard students in the exact same boat. I grew up in Kansas City, so navigating public transit and city safety was entirely new to me when I moved onto campus. During NSOP, orientation leaders (OLs) help students gain confidence with these topics, and Barnard CARES is always there to help! The biggest adjustment for me was no longer having immediate access to nature, but I have since found my favorite spots in Central Park and on Barnard’s Futter Field to reconnect with grass, trees, and animals.
Where is your favorite place to study on campus?
When I’m feeling social, I love to pick up sushi from the Barnard Dining Bubble Tea and Sushi Spot and get some work done in a first floor Milstein (famous) green chair. Off-campus, I enjoy working at Hungarian Pastry Shop on Amsterdam among other coffee shops on the Upper West Side (honorable mention to Shakespeare & Co. at 70th). When I’ve got a deadline coming, I pack my snacks and head to the fourth floor of Milstein or Columbia’s Butler Library. As Barnard students, we have access to all of Columbia’s libraries along with our own.
Are Barnard professors approachable? What does a typical student-professor interaction look like outside of class?
The relationships I’ve built with my professors at Barnard have aided in not only my academic growth, but also in my confidence about my curiosities and my ability to voice my opinions. As an Environmental Science and Sustainability major (see: my Major Spotlight) with a Sociology minor, my degree is all about noting the problems and phenomena around me and striving to address it all. Such a task calls for inspiring, curious, and motivated professors and mentors to learn from, which I have found tenfold at Barnard. My professors are consistently willing and eager to work 1-1 with students on assignments they may be struggling with and discuss their academic interests even outside the scope of the class in regard to research and career opportunities. I am confident that the relationships I have built with my professors, along with the connections I have established in the greater NYC area through their guidance, will extend far beyond my Barnard years.
Do you sense competition between students in your classes?
Not at all in my experience! A typical scene in my dorm kitchen last semester included all five of my suitemates and I sitting around the table taking turns helping each other with our homework assignments, baking cinnamon rolls, and taking music breaks. I could not have come this far to be graduating a semester early without the help of my friends and classmates who truly want me to succeed! No matter how stressed out I am about an assignment, knowing that I have peers who I can call on their 15-minute work shift breaks to explain net ionic equations to me via napkin (yes, this happened last semester) motivates me to always try my best and not be afraid to reach out for help when I need it. Barnard loves to collaborate!
How do you balance school, work, and fun?
I have had one or more part-time jobs every semester I’ve been at Barnard, my favorites including being a BSAR and helping out with Upper West Side families through Barnard Babysitting. Also, I make sure to stay organized using Google Calendar and Google Sheets to track my assignments; lots of students use Notion to creatively personalize their study schedules! Along with learning, of course, my biggest motivator for finishing my school work is having fun outside of class, and New York City has more than enough places to explore. Surrounding myself with friends who value school, work, and fun in the same ways I do has been vital for my academic success and weekend de-stressing. Check out my Instagram takeover story highlights on @BarnardAdmissions on December 8, 2022 and February 9, 2023 to see what a day in my life of balancing these variables looks like!
Whether or not you are able to visit Barnard before making your college decision, I hope these FAQ answers will give you a better picture of what makes Barnard unique, even to guests who have just stepped foot on its campus for the first time. Thanks for reading!
–Sophia Durone ‘24 (ps: Check out my Major Spotlight on Environmental Studies!)