Underwood International College

1. Host school’s size, its physical location, climate and etc.

Though Barnad's campus alone is tiny at a size of 4 acres, you'll never feel cramped or restrained for two reasons. First of all, most of the structures are beautiful and lofty with plenty of space to study or carry out your tasks at ease (a favorite study spot was Milstein Center, the newest library on the Barnard/Columbia campus). Second, Barnard is under Columbia University's larger institutional umbrella and your student ID will give you access to all spots on the Columbia campus (excluding the law school library and other labs requiring personalized authorization) so feel free to think of the entire CU campus at your disposal. Being in NYC, the winters are long and windy- be prepared to dress warm late into the semester if you're visiting during the spring. 

2. Host school’s periphery environment

The Barnard/Columbia community resides in Morningside Heights, a quiet and cozy little area littered with parks, cafés and restaurants in Upper West Manhattan. You have the Hudson River just to the left of Barnard’s campus, and Central Park next to Cathedral Gardens, the dorm most distanced from campus. I was happy with the availability of public transportation for the most part (delays only happened occasionally) and being in the city was amazing.

You’ll have all the time in the world to visit museums, Broadway shows, clubs and touristy spots in NYC. I was told that Lerner Hall (the student service center) provided discounted tickets for museums and shows to all Columbia students but you might want to double check! Most places will offer you a student discount anyways. You have access to all the resources of Columbia and NYC, meaning amazing guest speakers, networking opportunities, plus groundbreaking research facilities, professors and graduates. I’d advise you to push out of your comfort zone and explore the city as much as possible- there are so many amazing things to do and you’ll meet awesome people on all different walks of life!

3. Living style/condition, food/meal

I stayed in Cathedral Gardens, the dorm farthest down from campus. The dorm is the newest one on campus, and I never had a problem with pests (the biggest reason I chose to go with CG). The rooms in CG are beautiful, with lots of natural light and lofty ceilings. I shared an entire apartment with 3 other suitemates, and had our own kitchen, dining table and a living room. Since all my morning classes were on the Columbia campus and near the law school, the commute wasn’t bad at all- only about 15 minutes on foot.

If you’re on a meal plan, you’ll find yourself grabbing food from one of the three main dining halls frequently- Hewitt, Ferris Booth or John Jay. I loved the food from all three dining halls and wasn’t surprised by the fact that Columbia Dining was ranked #1 among US universities a few years back. You can also use meal points at Diana and a few other cafés. But if you’re not happy with school food and you’re craving other stuff, don’t worry, you happen to be in NYC. There are some really good food trucks (try the Mexican and the Belgian waffles) down Broadway and diners/restaurants lining the street as well. Shake shack, Panda Express, Tom’s Restaurant, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Dig Inn, Famous Famiglia, Junzi are all within reasonable distance and there’s even an Hmart on 110^th if you need Korean food.

If you’re a dessert person (I am), I strongly recommend the Hungarian Pastry Shop and Insomnia Cookies (they deliver! Late night pizza + cookies is the way to go).

Some useful apps: Uber Eats (delivery), Yelp, Resy, OpenTable (reservation apps)

It’s almost impossible to get a seat at that fancy place you’ve heard so many good things about without making a reservation in advance in New York. You might even have to wait for weeks if you have your eyes on a really popular place. Reserve, reserve, reserve!

4. Course curriculum, library

I ended up taking 2 Barnard courses and 4 Columbia courses, choosing mostly econ courses on topics that weren’t so common at Yonsei (or had very bad course ratings at Yonsei). Because I was interested in economic development, I took courses offered by SIPA (Columbia’s Graduate? School of International and Public Affairs) professors and Corporate Finance from the Business School. In addition, I picked up French and Piano Instruction.

I was happy with most of the content with the exception of one course that was heavy in econometric methods. Overall, classes were very engaging and though the workload was heavier than what I had at Yonsei, I had a lot more fun with my classes. Not only were all my professors genuinely passionate about the subject matter they were teaching, they wanted us to get as much out the classes, and didn’t limit the amount of involvement/engagement because we were “undergrads.” In my Environmental Economics class, I even learned how to work with ArcGIS, a mapping tool that I’d been dying to get first-hand experience for years. While Barnard’s classes were more participatory in nature with a lot more discussion, Columbia’s classes were more lecture style and self-study based.

Barnard has a very supportive academic environment and all the students and professors that I met were intelligent and inspiring. I noticed that my friends were unhesitant to speak of and ask about my academic endeavors, my thoughts on politics, history and really anything intellectually stimulating.

When planning your course schedule, I strongly encourage you to do A LOT of research beforehand to make the best out of all the resources you’ll have at Barnard, Columbia and NYC. If you’re interested in grad school, take courses from someone you would want to a recommendation letter from. If you want to intern at one of the labs, sign up for that course where the Professor might refer you or take you in. If you’re looking for a fantastic writing class, look up as many reviews on Virgil to find that one great Professor.

Libraries

If you’re a library person, Columbia is THE PLACE FOR YOU. There are about 15 libraries scattered across the school campus (you’ll find a Columbia University Libraries Guide at Butler), and I wasn’t able to make it to half of them. Butler is the largest one and most “social” one. A lot of students go there when they’re ready to pull an all-nighter. Personally, I really liked Avery, the Architecture Department’s library. It’s quiet, spacious and known for its beautiful windows. The East Asian Library at Kent was also one of my favorites, with its stained glass windows and attic-like study spots lined on the 2^nd floor. The Milstein Library at Barnard is the newest and neatest library on campus, and great for team projects. It reminded me a lot of Yonsei’s libraries, all sparkling new and modern.

5. Host school’s administrative support

Administration was always very helpful and accommodating. Even though I missed NSOP week (don’t do that) because I had to take winter courses at Yonsei to graduate on time, International Student Services was understanding and tried to make the move in process as smooth as possible. For every admin related inquiry, I’d usually get a reply from the school in 1-2 days.

I was surprised at the amount of attention Barnard paid to their visiting students. I was assigned to an academic dean who helped me plan my schedule and had me visit her multiple times to make sure everything was okay and I wasn’t overwhelmed by the new semester. The career center, Beyond Barnard, tried to help me prepare and secure an internship after the semester, encouraging me to take advantage of all the resources the school had to offer. I was touched and felt welcome in a way that even my home institution had not made me feel.