(upbeat music)
- Hi, my name is Emma Barnett
and I'm a senior at Barnard majoring in political science
with a minor in psychology.
I'm involved in the Student Government Association,
the Columbia Music Performance Program,
Greek life, and Hillel.
I'm also currently
interning at NBC.
(upbeat music)
I chose to come to Barnard
because it is a school like no other.
You are at a women's college and constantly empowered
by the people around you.
You're part of an Ivy League institution
and have access to everything
a research university has to offer,
and you're located in the greatest city in the world.
When I first stepped onto Barnard's campus,
I knew it was the perfect school for me.
I was surrounded by incredible women
who were just doing the most amazing things,
pursuing their dreams, pursuing their passions,
and I wanted to be just like them.
The best thing about Barnard is being constantly surrounded
by people who inspire you
and who empower you to always do your best.
The worst thing about Barnard is that there
are so many incredible things to do
on campus and around New York City,
that it makes it really hard to balance your schedule.
If I could change one thing about Barnard
it would be the swiping policy.
When I go to visit my friends
who live in Columbia dorms,
they have to be signed in,
and it can be a little bit annoying.
I think what surprised me the most about Barnard
is all of the amazing opportunities I've had
to study and work internationally.
During my time at Barnard, I got to work in Israel,
in New Zealand, in Copenhagen, and in Korea.
So, really being able
to take what I've learned in the classroom
and bring it with me while I'm traveling,
and working in different countries has been super valuable.
Before I came to Barnard,
I wish I'd known how easy it is to get addicted
to Insomnia Cookies.
For those who don't know,
Insomnia Cookies is an incredible cookie store
that sells the most delicious, warm, freshly baked cookies
that, and they're open until really late at night.
One thing almost nobody knows about Barnard
is that there's an underground tunnel system,
so you can walk to one end of campus to the other
in the cold without going outside.
In high school I was known as the kid
who kinda did a little bit of everything.
I have been playing violin since
I was three or four years old,
so I was involved in orchestras, chamber music,
violin ensembles, solo lesson.
I was a competitive swimmer, a black belt in Taekwando,
involved in student government,
and did a lot of volunteer work.
College is very different from high school.
First of all, you have a lot more freedom
both academically, in the schedule that you're creating,
and just in your personal life.
You get to choose when you want to see your friends,
when you need to study,
and college is a lot more about creating a balance
in your life,
while high school was a lot more about routine.
For me, I was very lucky,
I applied to Barnard early decision
and was fortunate enough to get in.
But something I like to stress is that
you will end up in the school that you're meant to go to,
and just apply everywhere you think you would be
a good fit, and it will work out.
When applying to schools, I wish I'd known
that SAT scores are not a defining factor
in your application process,
and that it's a holistic review for most schools
that you're applying to,
and to just relax a little bit more,
and enjoy the journey.
Barnard does have extra supplementary essays
in the application process.
Something else that I recommend
is if you're a a musician
or do something in the art world,
submit a video to show off your awesome skills.
I wrote my Common App essay about Interlochen.
Interlochen is a summer arts program up in Michigan
that I attended for two years,
and it was kind of a failure-success story.
My first year at Interlochen,
I didn't get into the top orchestra.
So, I spent the entire next year practicing my butt off
in order to be able to get in the second year,
and I talked about that process.
And, also, the night before camp started,
I snuck onto stage with my brother,
and there's a big quote on the stage that reads,
"Dedicated to the promotion of world friendship
"through the universal language of the arts".
And I talked about what that quote means to me
and how it inspires me to be the person I am today.
I applied early decision to Barnard
because I immediately knew when I walked on campus
that Barnard was the place that I wanted to be,
and at the time, couldn't envision myself
being anywhere else.
So, I put all my eggs in one basket and went for it.
I am majoring in political science
and minoring in psychology.
I came into Barnard completely undecided.
At first, I was gonna be a music major,
then an urban studies major,
and then an anthropology major,
I was all over the place.
And then, in the summer of 2016,
Brexit happened and Trump became
the Republican nominee, and I realized
that there were a lot of things changing politically
in the world, and I thought it was really important
to understand political theory,
understand American elections,
which is why I decided to major
in political science with a focus on American elections.
The best part about being a political science major
at Barnard is being taught by world class faculty
and having the most enticing conversations in class.
The advising system at Barnard is top of the top.
When you are first year,
you get matched with an advisor
just like you would get matched with a roommate,
and at Barnard, you don't feel like a number
because you're a real person
who's working with an advisor who is there to help you.
The advisors at Barnard are full-time faculty
who do not get paid to be your advisor,
and they want you to do your best,
and they want you to succeed,
and you can go in and meet with them at any time you want.
And then, when you're a,
once you declare your major,
you get a new advisor who becomes your major advisor
and they help you make sure
that you're gonna graduate on time,
and that you're taking all the classes that you wanna take,
and are there to answer any questions for you.
Also, besides academic advisors, there's also a lot
of extra help that you can get while at Barnard.
Every single student, once you get here,
is matched with a personal librarian
who will help you find sources for all your papers.
There's also the economic resource center,
there's the Speaking Fellows, and the Writing Fellows,
and all of these different resources
to make you are doing your best.
The best part of the political science major
is that it's very versatile and you can do a lot with it
after you graduate.
So, I'm pursuing journalism,
I wanna be a political reporter,
and will use the knowledge
that I've gotten from my political science major,
and apply it to commentating on politics in the future.
The best piece of advice that I got
when applying to college
was that if you wanna be a journalist,
you should be in New York City
and have as many internships as you possibly can.
So, because I was located geographically in Manhattan,
I've been able to have 10 different internships
throughout my time at Barnard,
and that has put me ahead of some of my peers,
because I've been able to use my political science skills
to do political journalism while in school.
Social life at Barnard is awesome
because everyone who comes here is so cool,
and has done something amazing,
and it's just so great to hear all of their stories.
All right, my favorite spot to go out
used to be this incredible dance place
called Cannon's, it was a dance bar, and it was so fun,
and they played all throwback music,
but it shut down after my first year.
So, on campus, I would say my favorite bar to go to is
1020 or The Heights.
Bacchanal is undoubtedly the most fun weekend of the year.
They bring in a famous artist
who does a huge concert at Columbia
and it's just a great spring festival-like way
to get the community together
and to get out the library,
and enjoy, hopefully what always will be good weather,
and music, and just lots of, lots of fun.
Yes, there are two kinds of school spirit at Barnard.
First, there's the women empowerment spirit,
where it's constantly uplifting
and people are supporting each other.
And then, there's also school spirit in sports.
Barnard is the only woman's college
that's attached to Division 1 sports
because of Columbia,
and it's really cool to go and support
all the different athletes.
The weirdest tradition at Barnard, in my opinion,
is called Big Sub.
They build a huge sandwich across campus,
and everyone stands by the sandwich,
and there's a count down,
and then you eat the sandwich at the same time.
And some people come with, like, huge containers
and put the sandwiches in the containers
and bring them home for lunch and dinner,
living on the true student budget.
My goal in life has always been
to be a political reporter,
so I'm just going for it, full steam ahead,
and we'll see what happens.
But, hopefully, you'll catch me on TV
in a couple years.
I think you should like and subscribe
to Crimson Education
if you wanna learn more about America's top universities.
(upbeat music)
♪ DC on the track, boy ♪