thenextredlight

I made a similar decision for college five years ago - although it wasn't local, I decided to go where I got a full ride over Barnard, which was my top school out of my acceptances. I loved my college experience and my art history department turned out to be amazing. Most of all, graduating not only debt free but with a lot of money that would have gone to tuition saved has been ideal-- it allowed me to afford to study abroad for a year and then move to the UK for a top MA program without debt. Where is your local school? NYC may have a lot more opportunities but it is also likely infinitely more competitive to get those opportunities. Sometimes being a big fish in a small pond is the best way to make yourself stand out (for example, I was top in my dept at my school; may not have been that way if I went to Barnard and then may not have gotten my MA acceptance).

Hello! Recent Barnard grad here. I can attest that the art history department is incredible, with many, many resources, opportunities, and special attention paid to you and your interests/research. Happy to chat more about the school/my experience if you'd like.

Ditto to the above. You may stumble into a history class or an English class and decide that you have an entirely different passion! Currently, the field has alot of issues. I don't need to repeat them here. I have been super fortunate (and beyond lucky) to have been able to garner external fellowships during this horrible climate. But these fellowships came with many sacrifices (social, sleep wise, being single and in my 30s, etc) and often felt as if I was a pigeon fighting on the ground for breadcrumbs of money.  
 
With the above stated, I do want to make some notes regarding the current choice you have. Barnard is great. But do look at the dollar signs. Entering grad school with debt can be hard. The top PhD programs typically offer students 4-5 year funding and health insurance plans. However, alot of these packages may not be enough to live in expensive areas (look at Columbia and NYU stipends). Sometimes you may have to pay out of pocket for a publication, for conference attendance, etc. Some have already begun (thank God like my program) to make up for this by offering summer stipends, conference funds, etc. But it sometimes takes months to get reimbursed and I have gone at times several months without insurance or even pay due to administrative issues. What I am trying to say is that it is good to start grad school with some dollars in the bank for hiccups along the way. Something to consider is the fact that if you are to attend Barnard, it might be quite some time until those debts get paid off. The system is crummy but yet we are all here...:/ 

Also, as a side note, because I feel ethically obligated to say it: do make sure you explore other career paths while you're in college. There are many wonderful things about getting a PhD, but the job market is horrendous and just when you think it couldn't get any worse it gets worse. You want to make sure you fully understand the sacrifices a PhD entails and that really, really want it. You will learn and experience a lot in the next four years. It may confirm that you want a PhD--or not. All I'm saying is, keep an open mind. 

It really depends on what your local school is and what opportunities you would have there. That said, if you do well at Barnard and cultivate relationships with some of your professors, you should have no trouble at all getting into a top--fully funded--program. It seems like half the PhDs I know did their undergrad at Columbia/Barnard.