Barnard ED 2020 applicants

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
1

Hey everyone! Good luck on your ED!! While we’re all waiting for our results let’s compare stats!

[ ] SAT I (breakdown):
[ ] ACT:
[ ] SAT II:
[ ] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[ ] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[ ] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[ ] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ ]Senior Year Course Load:
[ ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ ] Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis):
[ ] Job/Work Experience:
[ ] Volunteer/Community service:
[ ] Summer Activities:
[ ] Essays:
[ ] Supplements:
[ ] Teacher Recommendations:
[ ] Counselor Rec:
[ ] Additional Rec:
[ ] Interview:

[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ ] Applied for Financial Aid?:
[ ] Intended Major:
[ ] State (if domestic applicant):
[ ]Country (if international applicant):
[ ] School Type:
[ ] Ethnicity:
[ ] Gender:
[ ] Income Bracket:
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

2

Hello! My stats are low, but I am hoping that Barnard looks at the whole me because they have a holistic admissions process. I’m praying every day for my acceptance to Barnard!!! Fingers crossed, and wishing everyone the best of luck! (:

[ ] SAT I (breakdown): 1880 highest in one sitting (620 CR, 630 M, 630 W), 1920 superscored (620 CR, 660 M, 640 W)
[ ] ACT: 28 (only took it once)
[ ] SAT II: 780 Korean w/listening, 610 Math II (I took many others, but scores were low)
[ ] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65
[ ] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[ ] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[ ] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ ]Senior Year Course Load:
(year-long courses)
English IV
Japanese IV Honors
Differential Calculus
Physics Honors
European History
AP Psychology

[ ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ ] Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis):
Key Club member
NHS member
Japanese Okinawan Club

[ ] Job/Work Experience:
Aloha Gelato Team Member
Worked in school
Jamba Juice team member

[ ] Volunteer/Community service:
Luke friend (type of service in school)
Honolulu Discovery Center (more than 100 hours)
Tutoring (more than 50 hours)
Volunteering at preschool utilizing my trilingual ability)

[ ] Summer Activities:
LABO summer program: Korean Language and Culture program for 3 weeks
Working at specified jobs
Volunteering (assisting children’s camp)

[ ] Essays: Very strong. I have put my utmost effort and time into the essay!! Wrote about my identity, and I’m very proud of my work!
[ ] Supplements: Very strong! Cleary wrote to emphasize and answer WHY I want to go to Barnard. I really hope they see my determination and will to attend their school.
[ ] Teacher Recommendations: Hopefully strong because I waived my right to read them. I had good relationships with my teachers, so hopefully they wrote me good recommendations.
[ ] Counselor Rec: Hopefully strong!
[ ] Additional Rec:
[ ] Interview: Went very well!

[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ ] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[ ] Intended Major: Anthropology
[ ] State (if domestic applicant): Hawaii
[ ]Country (if international applicant):
[ ] School Type: You mean my high school? It was a private school.
[ ] Ethnicity: Asian-American. To be specific, full Korean.
[ ] Gender: Female, of course!
[ ] Income Bracket:
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Currently on a gap year due to personal reasons and emphasized that I have learned and experienced many things thanks to this break. I am from Hawaii and traveled all the way to New York to visit Barnard. During my visit, I got the opportunity to tour the campus, visited Professor Scott’s Anthropology class, and had an interview with a senior Barnard student. It was absolutely amazing!!! I sincerely hope I get accepted and if I do, there is no doubt that I will work and study hard during my time there (: Good luck to everyone! Better things are coming <3

3

Parents and women who are thinking of applying to Barnard - take note! My daughter is a sophomore at Barnard. She was accepted ED - it was her one and only choice. Her SAT/ACT scores, GPA, extra curriculars, and national awards were exemplary - she could have gone to other Ivy League schools.

Now that she has been there for two years, we’ve learned a lot about Barnard that frankly, has been very, very disappointing. Had we known what we know now, my daughter would have applied elsewhere.

Why Barnard has been a great disappointment:

  1. They render their students homeless during the time period between the end of summer and beginning of fall classes, and, during winter break. They don't tell you this in their materials, or during any of the tours. For winter break, Barnard closes their dorms and student apartments. Students are not allowed to live on campus during winter break. In November 2015, Barnard announced their plan to completely shut down all housing during winter break - despite the fact that Columbia (with whom they are partnered) allows their students to live in student housing during winter break. After a huge petition drive and outcry, for now, Barnard has changed their minds - for now. It is only a matter of time before they re-institute a housing policy that renders their students homeless in winter.
  2. They refuse to provide housing for students for the time period after 'summer interim' and before fall classes start - this is about a two week period. They are happy to take your money for summer interim housing, but, they kick you out for two weeks before fall classes start. They allow 'certain' students - athletes, international and transfers - to move in 'early'. But if you work for or participate in any other student activity - they refuse to allow you to move into your assigned student housing just a little bit early, to avoid being homeless.

My daughter, a sophomore, was rendered homeless by Barnard College, this past summer. She had an internship in NYC, and was living in Barnard summer housing for which we paid. It’s expensive. There was a two week gap in between the end of summer housing and fall classes starting. She was required to start work for a school sanctioned activity, but now allowed to move in early when athletes, international students, and transfers were allowed to.

She was lucky she had a friend who allowed her to sleep on the couch for a week, and she came home for a week. Barnard College did nothing to help her to find alternate housing - all they had to do was let her move in early, along with other students.

  1. Huge turnover in administration staff. There has been a great exodus of administration staff at Barnard, in the two years we have been involved with this school. Not sure why, but it seems to be an indication of internal problems and strife within Barnard College, which is probably affecting the quality of education and care of the students there.
  2. Inconsistent response by administration staff to parent inquiries. I've contacted different Deans at Barnard, with inconsistent quality of response. Some have responded to my questions in a timely fashion and provided answers that were satisfactory. One, so far, has not responded to an email I sent in follow up to a phone conversation we had.

We are paying in excess of $62,000 for tuition, housing, fees, and food - annually - to Barnard College. At this point, I have to say that we are not receiving an adequate return for our ‘investment’.

We will be requesting a personal meeting with Barnard College administrators to ‘iron out’ these problems, which continue to fester. I am not sure what the result will be - stay at Barnard or transfer out. However, unless Barnard College improves in the level of customer service, we will be seriously looking to take our money elsewhere.

If your child is considering Barnard College, beware and pay extra special attention to their housing policy - what they do not disclose is very dangerous and unacceptable.

4

As the parent of a second year student and she shared this with me. I am frankly astonished by Truth12’s post. The housing policy is crystal clear. It is on the website. I have three children: not housing students during the winter break is common to all (I’m referring to Harvard and UC Berkeley). Like most universities, Barnard students are provided with university accommodation during term time. It isn’t the same as having your own apartment. Those students who do stay over breaks usually share flats.

As my daughter started at the same time, all I can say is that we WERE informed of the housing policy. It was on the Barnard website. It was covered at orientation. It was in all the literature we were sent. And unlike many universities, Barnard does guarantee housing for all four years.

I’d also like to touch on the responsiveness of the Deans. I have had a few occasions to contact the Deans directly, and always received a response within 24 hours. That doesn’t mean that the Deans always agreed with me, or always agreed to change a policy. I suspect this was what the poster was after. There is a difference between a Dean responding to a parents, and a Dean agreeing with them. I’d also say that by the time a student is in university, they are capable of looking after themselves.

I cannot comment on the “large” turnover of administrators. We haven’t experienced it. I suspect your child, and you, will be happier elsewhere. Just don’t publish nonsense like the housing policy is “dangerous and unacceptable”. It is neither. It is, in fact, common sense. No university has any responsibility in housing your child when the university is not in session. Try finding an apartment.

5

Chiming in just to agree with Sadovaya. I have a daughter at Smith College, and the policy is similar if not identical to what is described above. Dorms are closed during winter and summer breaks. Tuition is high, I know, but that doesn’t create an entitlement to year-round housing.

6

Objective:

  • []SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (800 CR, 650 M, 790 W)
    [    ]ACT: None
    []SAT II: Lit (790) US History (680)
    [    ]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school doesn’t report GPA
    []Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn’t report percentile or rank
    [    ]AP (place score in parenthesis): Comp Sci (4), APUSH (5), Enviro Sci (4), US Gov (3)-- all were self-studied except for CS
    []IB (place score in parenthesis): None
    [    ]Senior Year Course Load: Advanced Fourth-Level Russian, Second-Level Chinese, Art History, Asian American Lit, Psychology, Bioethics, an IP in linguistics, some other electives that I can’t be sure of yet (getting into electives at my school is very competitive)
    []Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic Gold Key, if that counts; NSLI-Y scholarship

Subjective:

  • []Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis): Linguistics Club (president), NaNoWriMo Club (board), Proctor (boarding school equivalent of an RA), Orientation Leader
    []Job/Work Experience: I work at a pet store and I’ve worked with a landscaping company
    [    ]Volunteer/Community service: I volunteer with the MSPCA and I’ve volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club
    []Summer Activities: Working every summer but the last one, during which I went to a state department full immersion program in Turkey
    [    ]Essays: I wrote my essay on the “question you’d like to answer” prompt, and I wrote about primary language acquisition; I think it’s one of the stronger parts of my application, given that creative writing is one of my strong suits
    []Supplements: I wrote about Nefertari Merytmut for the historical woman and going against my school’s normal sequence for the second; once again, I think they’re strong
    [    ]Teacher Recommendations: From my Chinese and English teachers, I think pretty great
    []Counselor Rec: I would assume pretty good
    [    ]Additional Rec: None
    []Interview: I did one, I think it went pretty well

Other:

  • []Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
    []Intended Major: Creating my own major (linguistics) or English with a focus in Creative Writing
    [    ]State (if domestic applicant): Missouri, but my school’s in Massachusetts
    []Country (if international applicant):
    [    ]School Type: Boarding/Preparatory
    []Ethnicity: White
    [    ]Gender: Lol, pretty obvious for Barnard
    []Income Bracket: For my Custodial Parent? Bottom 10% of Americans (Less than 15k per year)
    [    ]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I think the fact that I speak 4 languages, have lived abroad twice, and am President of one of the only high school Linguistics Clubs in the country counts
7

SAT I (breakdown): Not sent
ACT: 35 (35R, 33M, 36S, 35W)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/500ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish Language (5), Calc BC (5), Biology, US Gov
IB (place score in parenthesis): ESS SL (7), French SL (7), Math HL, Theatre HL, English HL, History HL
Senior Year Course Load: TOK, AP Bio, AP Gov, Math HL, Theatre HL, English HL, History HL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National Hispanic Scholar, International Thespian Society Awards for Lighting Design and Stage Management

Subjective:
Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis): Theatre (stage manager, designer, technician; 11 school shows, 4 community theatre shows); Music (violinist; private lessons 14 years, local high school and college string quartets, aide at chamber music camp, school orchestra);
Job/Work Experience: Stage manager at well-known summer stock theatre in PA; 3 local professional shows; teaching violin lessons to younger children
Volunteer/Community service: Environment and conservation (Student Conservation Association member for two years, service work in national parks; volunteer and educator for local Environmental Learning Center; member of my local conservation corps); Misc. (volunteering at local rescue mission; tutoring ESL/Spanish language students at my high school)
Essays: My Common App answered the ‘transition to adulthood’ prompt; it was about washing dishes with the SCA.
Supplements: Why Barnard? was about my interest in female writers, who were left out of my HS English curriculum. Conversation was about Mary Oliver, my favorite poet. Unafraid was about driving.
Teacher Recommendations: One great (from a teacher I’ve had all four years), the other good (from my Junior history teacher).
Counselor Rec: Good, but generic.
Interview: I think it went well? Over the phone with a recent alum.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Environmental Science / Environmental Bio
State (if domestic applicant): CO
School Type: Large public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM in STEM discipline

Psyched to hear back this month! Good luck, everyone.

8

Just to clarify, I board at my hight school. Any reference to a “house parent” or such is talking about an adult that lives somewhere within the same house as me.

[ ] SAT I: Taken but not reported.
[ ] ACT: 31
[ ] SAT II: Taken but not reported.
[ ] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.37
[ ] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[ ] AP (place score in parenthesis): Not available at my school.
[ ] IB (place score in parenthesis): Not available at my school.
[ ]Senior Year Course Load: Precalculus, Trigonometry, Physics, Cinema and Conversations (advanced spanish level 4 course), Visions and Revisions (advanced english course), Literature of Paris (advanced english course), History of the Balkans (advanced history course)
[ ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NA

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ ] Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis): dancer (15+ plus, have worked w/a professional ballet company, various reputable summer programs), trombonist (8 years, Advanced Jazz Ensemble), 3D printing (in tandem with my school’s inventing/science club), circus (lyra, singles/triples/fly trapeze, spanish web, cloud swing), student head of theater tech, musical theater performer/dance captain, recently completed 365 Day Handstand challenge
[ ] Job/Work Experience: package room job, weekly babysitting for various families
[ ] Volunteer/Community service: NA
[ ] Summer Activities: performing arts camp as a CIT while living in a bunk with younger campers, circus instructor
[ ] Essays: I wrote about how science has played such a huge role in my life. :slight_smile:
[ ] Supplements: For “Why Barnard”, I wrote about the concept of home, why it is important to me, and why I believe that Barnard could truly be a potential home. For the woman in history, I wrote about Marie Curie. For “majored in unafraid”, I talked about my love (but initial fear) of flying trapeze.
[ ] Teacher Recommendations: One from my engineering teacher of 1 semester/house parent (probably pretty strong, possibly a bit vague?), and another from my english teacher of 2 semesters/house parent/mentor/friend (most definitely strong, we know each other on very personal levels).
[ ] Counselor Rec: Probably good, I’m on a very colloquial level with him (he’s a fan of puns and all things mildly inappropriate). He is also one of my house parents.
[ ] Additional Rec: From a Barnard alum who is my mentor, also a successful theater performer.
[ ] Interview: So fun! I grinned from ear to ear throughout the entire thing, I was so excited.

[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ ] Applied for Financial Aid?: No.
[ ] Intended Major: Very undecided, but possibly something education-related or dance.
[ ] State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
[ ]Country (if international applicant): USA
[ ] School Type: private (very liberal)
[ ] Ethnicity: caucasian
[ ] Gender: F
[ ] Income Bracket: Unknown?
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I LOVE the school. Also just generally a very enthusiastic person. I’m not sure…

9

Good luck everyone! I’ve been obsessing for months so we’ll see how everything turns out.

10

Did anyone else receive the email saying that we hear decisions next Thursday evening? 12/10

11

SAT I (breakdown): 2000 - CR 700 W 650 M 650
ACT: 30
SAT II: 690 USH 690 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.3? Somewhere around that. I did very poorly freshman year, and that has weighed me down considerably.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Env Sci (4), Micro Econ (4) English Language (4).
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lang, History of WW2, Honors Art 1 (equivalent to AP), Honors Art 2, Humanities, Calculus, and Russian 220 at Smith College (full year course).
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I got a state art award but I’m not sure that qualifies as major. :wink:

Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis): I’ve worked in many theatre productions at my high school career in set design, poster design, props, costume design, tech work, backstage crew. I am the props and costume manager as of Junior year. In addition to that, I am a part of the Smith College Russian club, have been part of other clubs, and even did a season of Varsity fencing, but theater is my biggest accomplishment and what I am most proud of.
Job/Work Experience: Local retail store, working since Sophomore year.
Volunteer/Community service: Work with local mental health and humanitarian organization, fundraising, etc.
Summer Activities: CIT for the Girl Scouts (member since age 8), TA at arts camp.
Essays: I wrote my common app about why I’m interested in Russia and how that connects to my ethnic history.
Supplements: Why Barnard - women’s college and Barnard/Columbia theatre and Slavic depts. One Woman - Edith Newell, founder of the GS Camp I am actively involved in. Unafraid - admitting to fault/perfectionism and greatly learning from it in my art. I also submitted photos of my studio art, costume design - Godspell, and my set, props, and costumes for a student production of This Is Our Youth.
Teacher Recommendations: I actually ended up with 4… One from my Russian prof at Smith, theater teacher who I have worked extensively with, math teacher who I had an excellent personal relationship with but poor grades, and junior year English teacher. The only rec I am dubious about is from my math teacher, but only because she is not the best writer.
Counselor Rec: Unsure about this one - got a new guidance counselor this year. I’ve had a lot of issues with the course offerings at my school, but I think we discussed that enough for her to mention it fully.
Additional Rec: N/A, as I think they accepted my theater teacher and prof as academic, regular recs.
Interview: I thought it went okay. Didn’t click with my interviewer at all, but I definitely showed my passion and interest for all things Barnard. I don’t think I promoted myself as much as I could have though.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Slavic
State (if domestic applicant): MA
School Type: Public. Good school, but we have cut many AP classes/limited which were offered certain years, much to my detriment.

12

I typically hate these stats markups, but in reflection of Barnard’s holistic admissions process, I decided to post mine, especially in encouragement to other people like me with a less than optimal academic record. Best of luck to everyone <3 Just remember, that college does not define who you are and who you will be. Everyone here seems incredibly interesting, intelligent, and deserving, and if you are rejected, be certain that wherever you go will be lucky to have you.

13

@xfiles4life Hey, thanks for your helpful words. I’m in the same position as you having low stats. That part sucks,
but I’m incredibly thankful for Barnard’s holistic admissions process. In less than a week, we’ll find out whether we get to be a part of the Barnard community! I’m scared/nervous/worried/excited out of my mind–no kidding, it takes me a good hour for me to fall asleep because of all this nerve-wrecking stress and wait! I am praying for mine and your acceptance–we can do this!!