‘An application within an application’: On Barnumbia club culture and how Barnard freshmen navigate it
Barnard freshmen share their opinions on Barnumbia’s competitive club culture and how it affects their experience acclimating to the university.
Photo by Jacquie Traenkle/The Barnard Bulletin
November 11, 2026 at 9:21 a.m.
One of the main draws of Barnard College and Columbia College is the extensive network of student organizations. Combined, the two schools have over five hundred undergraduate clubs and organizations, ranging from pre-professional clubs and athletic teams to identity-based and hobby clubs. The clubs, according to Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, allow students to do what they love to do at Columbia and create “the kinds of adventures, memories, and moments of delight that New York City’s best stories are made of.”
To many new freshmen, the prospect of being able to create these adventures and memories is new and exciting. These organizations certainly do not hesitate to make themselves known, either. From flyers placed inside of various buildings, to an Activities Fair so large it encompasses the entirety of two plazas on Columbia’s campus, student clubs and organizations advertise themselves constantly. And with the amount of variety among them, there is bound to be a club that fits every freshman’s interests. The question for the freshman then shifts from if there is a club of interest to them to whether they will be accepted into said club.
Many student organizations feature an extensive application process, from lengthy applications to multiple rounds of interviews, and even coffee chats, which are informal conversations with individual club members that play a role in many application processes. Clubs also often have low acceptance rates, causing students to have to reapply multiple times before being accepted. For the unsuspecting freshman, the process of applying to these organizations can be surprisingly stressful. “It is fundamentally just a very stressful environment to be coming into as a first-year,” explained Haviva Zenack (BC ’30). When you already have to grapple with adjusting to college life, finding your friends, and the myriad issues that come with your first year, being asked to apply to clubs for a chance of finding community can simply be another stressor on an already overwhelming experience.
Many freshmen found themselves surprised by the competitive nature of the clubs at Barnard and Columbia. “Honestly, coming in, I didn’t expect it to be so competitive,” Jessica Eudovic (BC ’30) said. “I know that Columbia, especially, is a very competitive school, but I didn’t expect it to extend to something like clubs … I didn’t realize that people were actually going into clubs that were pre-professional and putting it on their resume.” She further elaborated on the feeling of competitiveness, saying that she thinks “that there isn’t a very good balance between clubs for competition and clubs that are just for leisure.”
Zenack likened the experience to an “application within an application, because you’ve already gotten into this selective school, and then there are societies and clubs within that that are so selective.”
Having a stressful and negative experience with Columbia’s club culture is something many freshmen experience, particularly in their fall semester when the culture of the school is still unusual to them.
Some freshmen also feel as if the club culture actually discourages them from pursuing their interests. “If you only select four members out of fifty members, that’s a very small percentage of people who are actually getting in,” explained Zenack. “What it does is discourage people from following their interests or learning more about what they might be interested in.”
However, not every freshman has had bad experiences with club applications. “Honestly, I thought it would be a lot more intimidating, but I feel like just with the sheer number of clubs, there will be one that you can fit into,” stated Michelle Turner (BC ’30). “Maybe it’s not the ones that you anticipate joining, maybe things won’t go your way, but I’ve filled my plate as much as I wanted to with a diverse range of clubs.”
Similarly, Sara Xa-Chin (BC ’30) said she wanted to join clubs that made her “feel welcome.” She told The Bulletin that she has “had great experiences so far.”
Despite the stressful nature of club culture, many freshmen still appreciate the opportunities that clubs have given them. As Turner stated, “I’m very grateful for the extracurriculars that I’m in because if I wasn’t in them, there’d be nothing in my life except school.”
