Sarah

Okay...so I'll write about my college town, New York City...

First of all, you'll never, ever be bored. New York is the most incredible and exciting place to be. Morningside Heights, which is the area Barnard's in, is calm and far from the hustle and bustle of midtown. It's a nice area with lots of great restaurants, book stores, and other little fun shops. The campus, however, is right next to the subway, so if you want the fast-paced city experience, in 30 minutes you'll be downtown. I can't even begin to count the amount of incredible experiences I've had in New York...but to name a few: walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, going swing dancing in a club downtown with my friends, getting orchestra seat tickets to Avenue Q, Phantom of the Opera, and the Drowsy Chaperone through CAO, eating gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches near NYU, exploring the huge number of incredible museums of New York, interning at an art gallery in Chelsea...and so so many more. There's definitely a lot to see and do on both the Columbia and Barnard campuses, but the city also offers incredible experiences that you'll never forget.

Oh I have so much to say about this... Okay first off, all my professors know my name, except in my lecture classes (1 out of 4 of my classes is a lecture). The relationships among professors and students are very close here, and I've learned so much from one on one meetings and discussions with my teachers. My favorite class would have to be "Spain through its art," which is an upper level spanish course over at Columbia.

However, what I found most incredible about Barnard (especially its art history department) is how academics are incorporated into the city. I'll read about a piece in my textbook, take the subway to the Guggenheim and study it in person. For my spanish class, I've been to 4 museums in Manhattan that feature Spanish art. If you want to study art history, this is definitely the place to do it.

The student body at Barnard is incredible; the women here are smart, gorgeous, articulate, and interesting. Students here are usually political aware and conscious of what's going on in the world.

I've made incredible friends here and have had wonderful experiences with extra curriculars, however, I had to put myself out there to make it happen. if a student is shy and doesn't want to put herself out there, it can be a difficult to make friends. The dating scene at Barnard can be pretty difficult, because the girl to guy ratio among the schools is 2:1 and some of the columbia guys can be a little anti-social, high-strung or pretentious. At the same time, it depends on your personality. If you put yourself out there, it's totally possible (I'm dating a wonderful Columbia boy!) to find nice guys.

Some students over at Columbia think that we're less intelligent and...how do I put this...desperate for men?

Not at all! After the first year people realize how stupid and completely untrue these stereotypes are.

Hewitt has the best cookies ever!!!