mayaic4, can you elaborate more on why you feel you made the wrong choice ? like what parts of the environment you found at barnard was true to the image it cultivates, and what was completely unexpected ? im also planning on applying ED as an english major from NH
My DD is a first year at Barnard. It seems forever and yet not that she was in the midst of the application season! She is loving it. Her courses are challenging but she has said her professors assign really interesting readings. Her work load is pretty heavy (17 credit hours) but she is managing. She is very driven, but loves how friendly and social many of the students are. She is in a club at Columbia, and enjoys it but did mention she feels the difference on the Barnard campus in terms of connections and support for each other. Some of the clubs at Columbia are extremely competitive to join… multi-step application process with interviews, etc. She has been impressed with her classmates, and is thrilled to be in a culture where working hard is admired. She indicated interest in a campus job and filled out a survey, and was matched with a fun job that fits her interests within the week. A dislike is housing… she was matched in a quad with 3 great roommates, but they are a top floor of an un-airconditioned building. “Warm and stuffy” does not even begin to describe their dorm (room hit 106 degrees) and res life was pretty tone deaf about how serious an issue that is. In terms of the city, she’s been out and around a little bit (Central Park, Soho, Brooklyn, the Village), including spending an afternoon vintage thrift shopping with her roomie. She’s happy!
Yeah, can you elaborate? What threw you off when you got there? What was unexpected? What do you hate and what do you love? I really liked barnard when I visited I just don’t want to go to a school where I’m going to be stressed and have low self esteem 24/7 (but I plan on going pre med so a lot of that is inevitable but some schools are more competitive than others)
@purplepenguin333 – it’s now been a number of years since my daughter attended Barnard, but I always had the impression that it was a fairly high-stress environment filled with highly ambitious and competitive students. Good environment for my daughter … but if you are hoping for a more supportive or less stressful environment … then I’d suggest that you forego ED entirely (since it’s a problem for financial concerns as well).
You can still apply RD --but also broaden your college list and also include more schools that would be safeties or low matches – because one way to have a less stressful premed experience is to choose a school where academics are not quite as demanding. And with RD you don’t have to decide until the spring – so if you get into Barnard or other reach schools, fine — but you can have other options to consider.
I’m applying ED!! I’m an IB student so I’ve been in a very competitive environment for quite sometime and personally I love it! I love being academically challenged and I feel like Barnard is a great fit for me.
Some people have already asked, but I’ll reiterate the general thought: Could you expand on what you meant in your comment about Barnard?
@honeycasper – @mayaic4 has posted before with more detail:
Here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21068915/#Comment_21068915
and here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20705656/#Comment_20705656
I don’t think that one student’s experience is necessarily representative, but my daughter had very mixed feelings while she was at Barnard. She is very happy in hindsight that she attended Barnard and still participates in some ways as an alum, but she also had some rough spots, and at least weighed the possibility of transferring for a time. Her happiest semester by far was the semester she spent abroad. In the end I think she felt that the academics at Barnard were amazing but that overall the school was a very poor social fit for her. And in hindsight the experience from one year to the next was highly influenced by the quality of housing & relationships with roommates. So that is also something that is variable and unpredictable at any college.
I do think it can be a problem with ED and when students focus on one school as their top choice or dream college, because there is a tendency to develop an idealized view of the college… and no college, anywhere, will ever fit that ideal. Sometimes it makes sense to go ED because of higher chances of admission (for some students, not all – it’s a lot more complicated than simply looking at admission stats). — but the students who come in during the RD round often have an opportunity to make a more carefully considered decision, more open to identifying and weighing pros and cons. And the experience of attending admitted students events is also different than the experience of prospective student visits.
The good thing about ED is that, even though colleges deny this, it seems like you have a better chance of acceptance and, if you get in, you are done with the college application process by Christmas. So if you absolutely know where you want to go (based on actual investigation (i.e., visiting the campus, talking to students/alums, researching the curriculum)), it is something to consider, even if you won’t be able to compare financial aid packages offered by other institutions in RD.
The worst thing that will happen is that you don’t get in/get deferred or can’t go because the financial aid offered doesn’t work. In that case, you will still have the RD decision process available.
For my daughter, ED worked well. She had spent a month at Barnard in the pre-college program, was sure she wanted to be at Barnard (no interest whatsever in any suburban college or the University of California). She was well-qualified with grades and test scores, was a legacy and was not applying for financial aid. So it absolutely made sense for her to apply ED.
So you should consider all the factors and figure out what is best for you. I caution you to pursue parallel paths with applications to other schools (including EA if that is offered by a school you are interested in). Merit scholarships at those schools frequently require applications be submitted before the regular deadline. You need to assume you won’t be accepted ED and put all necessary effort in submitting great applications to other schools, taking time with the essays and conveying that you are interested in those schools.
Hi guys! I applied ED for the class of 2022, and I was absolutely convinced that it was not going to work out for me. But I am currently writing this from my dorm room at Barnard 
If anyone has any questions or would like their essay edited or would just like to commiserate with me about the college process, please let me know.
I should mention that my SAT was a 1360, which is not good for an extremely selective liberal arts college. Barnard doesn’t value “stats” as much as they do your writing and extracurriculars.
woah thats great ! whats your major ? i know youve only been there a short time but hows your experience been so far ?
@sobu32 @purplepenguin333 @honeycasper and to anyone else curious,
Hello! sorry for the delay, been busy as the semester’s picking up.
As I’m sure you saw, @calmom linked to some of my previous grievances with Barnard. I’ll just elaborate more for you all.
So for some background, I applied ED in 2015 for the class of 2020 and was deferred and later accepted RD. That deferment was absolutely devastating as Barnard was my dream and I was sold that this is the place for me for many of the same reasons that you all I’m sure like it. I thought I loved the city and the opportunities that come with it, the connection to Columbia, the small campus within a larger community, etc. So getting accepted was amazing and I immediately accepted my place and disregarded all other offers.
My first year was shaky and was marked by a terrible roommate situation. I realize that this could have been remedied if I had talked to RAs and administration etc., but being shy and non confrontational, I did not do this and suffered for the year. I fully realize that that is my fault, but it did tarnish the shine that Barnard had for me. Besides that, my freshman year was okay, but I did feel like I was collapsing under the culture and lack of sleep and the fun I used to get out of school was disappearing.
My sophomore year had me despairing more as I had had an incredible summer job and felt happiness that I had not felt since starting university, so the idea of coming back was just terrible to me. I did and tried to deal, but realized that I needed to get out of here and chose to go to Melbourne, Australia on exchange my second semester. That was amazing and the most fun I’ve ever had since starting university, and again, the idea of coming back was absolutely terrible to me.
But again I did and I’m currently in the beginnings of my junior year. I almost dropped out this semester and transferred to university in England. I’m keeping busy more this semester with two jobs and a lot of credits to try and keep myself busy and enable me to graduate a semester early. I think that that is the only way for me to try and finish at Barnard.
I realize that much of this is personal issues, but I’m trying to serve as a warning. You may in NYC which is a city so busy that it seems impossible to be lonely, but this could exacerbate the loneliness you feel if you feel it. My original post in this thread was in response to someone thinking that Barnard was more relaxed compared to Columbia, and I’m just to say it’s not. Barnard is incredibly competitive. I am a mathematical science major, and I will tell you that in math and hard science classes, everyone is fighting for grades and hoping the rest fail, because that makes the curve stronger and your grades go up if you did okay. I’ve seen and heard people talking about not wanting to help their friends because that will make them do better and won’t help the curve. It can be incredibly demoralizing. Barnard also has a lot of issues with administration. I’m currently fighting with the registrar to get my Australia credits to show up on my transcript even though they were preapproved before I left.
Barnard has a lot of issues, but all schools do. I know many people that love Barnard and think it’s the best decision they ever made. But I also know a lot of really sad people just barely holding on. Again, I’m sure that you’ll see this at all schools. I just want to serve as a cautionary to keep your minds open and if you don’t end up getting accepted, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.
Hi everyone! I am also a new student writing this from my Barnard dorm room! Please ask any questions you might have about the application process and what life is like as a Barnard student!
I turned in my app! FInally
Hi all! I’m applying to Barnard for early decision at some point this month and am absolutely terrified. I’ve got low scores on everything compared to their average (1320 SAT, 3.7 unweighted, 3.9 weighted), but have taken higher level classes each year and had my GPA improve each year. I am applying for scenic design, which is a pretty strange major, so that’s what I’m hoping will help my admission. I’ve also got some interesting extracurriculars. Let’s’ hope we all get in!
@suchkatie Not to burst your bubble, but Barnard does not really take intended majors into account. Everyone goes in undecided and there’s no competition for majors because everyone can study what they want. But don’t count yourself out because of your stats, even if you’re a bit lower than the averages. You can sell yourself in your essays and show them that you can succeed should you be accepted.
hey!!! i’m currently in the midst of finalizing my application to apply to barnard ED for the class of 2023. would you mind if i contacted you to ask some questions?
Guys I just submitted my app yesterday 10/30. But I didn’t receive a follow up email yet!
That follow up email is supposed to contain info on how to submit my CSS documents right?
Will Barnard accept financial aid documents after the 11/1 deadline?
I received an email a couple days later that gave me my barnard application status portal pin, but this has nothing to do with the CSS. You complete the CSS through the College Board (I believe before 11/1, but I’m not sure). There are other financial aid documents you submit through the portal, but I’m not sure about those deadlines either.
Go to Baranard website, click on the Admission and Aid > Financial Aid tab.
Click on the Apply for Aid on the left side. There you can see all the financial aid deadlines.
Seems like you failed to submit the necessary financial forms by the ED deadline. Call the office and find out what you can do now.