<p>Hi, I’m a current sophomore keeping the annual tradition of ask-me-anything threads on Barnard’s page.
Also, I am an international student, so anything related to travel/support for internationals/culture shock is welcome, too!</p>
<p>what’s the community vibe like at barnard? I’m an incoming transfer and I’m starting to feel a little put off from what I’ve been hearing from friends who go there… is it really that hard to make friends?</p>
<p>I am an international student as well and I will be applying to Barnard this year. I have two questions for you:
- Did you receive financial aid? Are a lot of internationals around you receiving healthy aid packages?
- What are the recreational facilities available at Barnard?</p>
<p>Bumppps.
Barnard is my first choice and one of my dream schools but I want a friendly atmosphere where everyone is accepting. Is barnard like that or does everyone just go their separate way?</p>
<p>Shoot. Guys, I’m a terrible person for forgetting about this thread. Please forgive me!</p>
<p>contages, people are very different. I promise you that. I happened to become friends with a group of people at the beginning of the year, and then gave up on it because their lifestyle wasn’t compatible with mine. What do you know, two months later I found <em>my</em> people. I’m happy!
I think, as long as you try, you will find your group. If not, PM me, let’s meet up, have a cup of coffee!</p>
<p>GADGETPRINCESS, thank you for your questions!
- Yes, I did receive financial aid. The majority of internationals are not getting any financial aid, to be honest. But if they accept you, they will make sure you can attend.
- There is a weight room in the basement of Barnard Hall, a running track in the same building. Oh, and the gym has lots of sports there, and you can request the equipment. You also have a lot of PE classes like Zumba and such. Also, you can go to any of Columbia’s facilities.</p>
<p>jwajwa, I honestly don’t think I understand your question. Can you please clarify? Is there anything more specific you are worried about?</p>
<p>I have a silly question that I’m sure I can find on the website. . .but can you graduate early from Barnard?</p>
<p>Another question, is Barnard typically generous with financial aid? At Columbia I know all needs are met–is that how it is at Barnard?</p>
<p>Thanks! I visited Columbia a few months ago but wasn’t even aware of Barnard! I just found out about it and from my preliminary investigations it seems like the perfect college for me :)</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about early graduation. I imagine that you could if you’d taken college courses previous to starting there, etc. But they do not take AP credits towards graduation…just to place you in more advanced courses.</p>
<p>Barnard and Columbia both are full-need schools. That is, they guarantee to meet your demonstrated “need” financially. Note: this is according to THEIR definition of what that need is, and that will vary from school to school. It does not mean you will be getting some kind of free ride. There will be grants, yes, but also work-study and loans as part of most financial aid packages. Columbia does have a larger endowment and thus can often offer more generous financial aid (more grants, for example, and less loans). </p>
<p>When our daughter was applying back in 2005, Barnard was, we thought, generous with the aid we were offered. It was far more affordable, for example, than University of Michigan (we are not Michigan residents). Your best bet is to apply to a broad range of schools and then compare acceptances and financial aid offers in the spring and make your decision accordingly. Meanwhile, if you can, you should visit and take a tour of Barnard. Then you could ask your early graduation question. :)</p>
<p>Best to you!</p>
<p>If you have enough credits and complete all your requirements, you can of course graduate early from Barnard. My d. had a friend who graduated a year early.</p>
<p>And Barnard DOES award credits for APs! My daughter’s AP’s gave her a full semester’s worth of credit – she could have graduated a semester early, but for her senior thesis requirement. Instead, she opted to drop to half time her final semester – she took her senior thesis class, a couple of dance classes, and then spent the whole semester working on her thesis and also working extra hours at part time jobs to raise enough money so that she would be able to pay rent when she graduated. I know for sure that my d’s AP credits applied toward graduation, as she didn’t have any credit to spare when she did graduate.</p>
<p>The AP credit can provide points needed for graduation and be used to fill a prerequisite and also apply to fill some of the 9-ways-of-knowing requirements. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to the information about the AP credit:
<a href=“http://barnard.edu/registrar/external-credit/ap[/url]”>http://barnard.edu/registrar/external-credit/ap</a></p>
<p>Whoa. Thanks for correcting me, Calmom. I totally remembered that wrong…or they have changed their policies since my D started there.</p>
<p>I think your daughter was just one year ahead of mine – and the AP credit was something that I was checking in the fall before my daughter applied – so I know that it generally was the same back then – although of course it is likely there may have been minor changes as specific AP courses and available credits.</p>
<p>Maybe your daughter just enjoyed attending school and taking classes more than mine, and was happy to take a full load of courses all 4 years – nothing says that anyone has to apply the credits to their program. 
</p>
<p>Barnard is actually quite generous with the credits – a student can get up to a full year (30 points) with AP or IB. I think many students simply use that as a foundation for a more challenging 4 years-- perhaps giving them the flexibility for a double major.</p>
<p>Do AP credits fulfill the Nine Ways? </p>
<p>Trust me, when my D started Barnard she was all about trying to not take as much math and science as she could get away with. Kind of funny, actually, as she (as you know) ended up taking extra of both once she decided she loved neuroscience. I distinctly remember that we were disappointed in something about how the AP credits were applied, though, and maybe it has something to do with Nine Ways?? </p>
<p>Any way, thanks so much for the correction. I do NOT want to steer anyone wrong here!!</p>
<p>According to the link I posted, AP credits can be used to fill some but not all of the 9 ways – for example, a score of 5 on an AP language exam will exempt a student from the foreign language requirement; a score of 4 or 5 on AP stats will fill the Quantitative and Deductive Reasoning requirement. My d. didn’t have AP’s in those subjects – math is not her thing, and her foreign language does not have an AP exam available. </p>
<p>AP credits really are variable by subject. For example, my d. had AP credit in econ, and she could get points for that, but it would not have exempted her from an econ course unless she also passed a departmental exam. On the other hand, her AP Psych credit also qualified her to skip the basic introductory psych course, and to take an advanced psych course her first semester. So there are no across the board rules. Also, the score requirements vary somewhat – some subjects require a score of 5 for credit, in others a 4 would do.</p>
<p>I’d advise high schoolers to take as many AP exams as they can, assuming they are reasonably confident of a high score.</p>
<p>Another question. . .whenever I fill out the Net Price Calculator for Barnard, it tells me I’ll get no aid. Is that tool pretty accurate?</p>
<p>The net price calculator is as accurate as the numbers going in. Is your parents income over or under 150,000? (I’m just trying to get a ballpark sense without invading your privacy)</p>
<p>Yes, they both work and make a little over $150,000. However, there are 5 kids in my family. And my parents and I still get no FA?</p>
<p>I don’t know, I’d have to know about other assets as well. I just wanted to ballpark the numbers – because I do think that if your parents earn $150K, and have the types of assets you might expect them to have saved or acquired over the years, that it is quite possible that you will not qualify for aid. (Please don’t give me all the numbers – I really can’t give you better information than the calculator – I just wanted a rough idea as to whether the results might be reasonable in your circumstances).</p>
<p>If you have a sibling in college that should help you qualify for aid, but if the siblings are younger – not so much. </p>
<p>Do your parents own a home? How did you calculate home equity? Try using the calculator on this page - [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Federal Housing Index Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid) – it’s a little bit outdated, but I know that Barnard will use the federal index to determine home value. That made a huge difference for me, though that was before the housing market crash, so I was living in a house with a highly inflated value compared to the value that Barnard assigned.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for your help. I probably won’t qualify for any aid, but I plan on graduating in 3 years so hopefully it won’t matter much.</p>
<p>Hey, my GPA is a 3.44 (unweighted) I received a 2100 on my SAT, I have about 600 hours of service, I have multiple awards, I participate in several extracurricular and many of them I lead. Do you think I have a chance?</p>
<p>Also, how complex is Barnard? What type of work do students do such as the work in English class?</p>
<p>@SuccessfulMe the number of hours you have in community service is irrelevant if you have nothing to show for it. Make the essays meaningful and don’t focus on stacking up infinity hours for whatever community service activity / extracurricular. I had (maybe) 30 hours of community service and obviously the hour count doesn’t matter as much as how you can reflect on your activity.</p>
<p>Hey Adversa, could you give like a rough percentage of the international students attending Barnard who are on financial aid in your year or the incoming freshmen class? Thanks so much for being kind enough to start the post! i need all the help i can get! x</p>