Afraid I won't get into Barnard because of a B

I’m currently a junior in HS, and I ADORE Barnard, but I’m afraid I’m not going to get in because there’s a chance I’m going to get a B in AP English this semester. I’ve only gotten A’s and A-'s over the past couple years of high school. By the end of this year I’ll have about 7 AP exams (hopefully mostle 5s, maybe a few 4s) and I think my extracurricular activities are pretty good (600+ hours at science museum and on their volunteer committee, state/national competitor for speech and debate, NHS, founder and co-president of literacy club at school, Girl Scout Gold Award, summer program in England, a couple Scholastic Writing Gold Keys, etc.). Do I still have a chance? English is my strong subject. I’m honestly freaking out right now. Do girls admitted to Barnard ever have a few Bs on their transcript? Thanks

Yes they do. stop freaking out. if they did not admit people with Bs, their average GPA of admits would be 4.0 and it isn’t. so there you go. you have a great chance with what u detailed above.

i am a parent so i am kind of used to telling my daughter the same thing from time to time about some college or scholarship or whatever else that is getting her into a tizzy.

bump

From the Barnard Common Data Set, 25% of last year’s class had GPA between 3.5 and 3.74. So relax…one B will make no difference at all. Your life is not ruined.

One B isn’t a problem. They look carefully at trends. You should also note that the Common Data Set isn’t much use given that Barnard practices holistic admissions and a considerable number of students come from schools that do not use the tradition 4/5 point scale. They also definitely do consider your school when reviewing GPAs since the equivalent of a 3.7 from Andover or Dalton is much different from a 3.7 elsewhere.

Could you tell me what the Barnard common data set is? Thanks

Is it the case that you have one B or a few?

@goldenbear2020 one B. Semester 2 of AP English. It’s probably going to be an 87-89

You’ll be fine with one B, and your ECs look fine too. How are your test scores?

@goldenbear2020 2270 on SAT- taking ACT and SAT IIs soon. Should I retake?

@smartspencer you do not need to retake the SAT. Barnard’s 25/75 SAT range is - CR 640-730, M 620-720, W 650-740. you are above the 75th percentile by 80 points (probably by more because it is highly unlikely that the 75th percentile kids in math were also 75th percentile in CR & W as well). You need to keep your grades where they are, keep at the ECs, and focus on your essays - Barnard requires 3 essays and they are a lot more important to admissions that just your scores and grades. Few applicants to Barnard realize that the reason they have 3 supplemental essays is because they wish to gauge if you are interested enough in the college to invest your time doing 3 full careful thought needed essays.

Academics alone should not be your concern. Especially the 1 B.

You do not need to retake a 2270 for Barnard. That’s equal to a 34 ACT, which is way above Barnard’s 25th-75th range of 28-32. If all you have is one B this semester, then keep up the course rigor in senior year and perhaps consider applying to Barnard ED, and you should have a decent chance.