And it is not appropriate for you to post false claims like that. The University of Texas is a public university, so it is subject to Texas law. If there is a lawsuit in Texas pending, it means that there is an unresolved dispute over how Texas law is interpreted, or over what UT admission practices are.
Barnard is a private college and it is located in New York, not Texas. So Texas laws don’t apply and Barnard is not obligated to accept students who can’t pay its fees.
Barnard explicitly says that need is considered for transfer admission. So not only can they base a decision on whether or not to admit based on need, they can also consider amount of need.
Any college that says it is need-sensitive or need-aware can and will use considerations of need to influence admissions decisions.
@calmom Do you work for Barnard? I can’t understand why you are so vehemently against me calling Barnard and asking them. I have every right to, as anyone does. Also, a lawsuit can be conducted for economic discrimination if one wants to pursue that. That’s not what I am pursuing. I am asking for everyone who has had the door shut on them. There is nothing wrong with asking questions. There is nothing wrong with pointing out a flaw in a very awful system. Now, I’m going to say goodbye because I am tired of going back and forth with someone’s mother. What I do has no affect on you, and you should leave it at that.
White female from NJ applying for junior transfer
Applied for Film Studies and Environmental Studies
My stats:
High School GPA: 3.4
Old SAT: 1750
Extracurriculars: Editor-in-chief of a nationally ranked high school newspaper, editor of school literary magazine, various other community service activities and internships, a few national and state awards for the high school newspaper
College GPA: 3.97 at a small liberal arts college in NY
Extracurriculars: Editor of school humor magazine, organizer of school film festival
I wrote my Why Barnard essay about why I want to go to a women’s college and about how I spoke to the film department head who told me that the department would fit my needs. My second supplement was about how I want to work for a film nonprofit to help minorities and the underprivileged have access to film education. My third supplement was about creating a course synthesizing film studies and environmental science.
I wrote my Common App Essay on how my current college does not have a strong film studies department. I also wrote about how I hope to make film more accessible to the underprivileged and minorities. I think my essays were the strongest part of my application (other than my college GPA) because they were extremely polished, but still showed off my personality.
I didn’t see my recommendations, so I’m not sure how they were. I had one from a professor I had last year (who is also my adviser) and another from a film professor that I have had for four semesters in a row. I had good relationships with both professors, so I am assuming they were good. One of them is a Columbia graduate, but I assume that did not affect anything.
I hope to see some of you in the fall. I already submitted my deposit. I could never have been accepted to Barnard right out of high school with my low SAT and high school GPA (I even got three C’s in high school, one in English and two in gym class!). I also took very few APs in high school (only two) and only got an A in one of them. Barnard admissions is truly holistic, and their process allowed my essays and college GPA to really shine through. I think being two years out of high school really helped my application too. I also took a tour, emailed admissions with various questions and sat in on a class, but I am not sure if that helped my application at all. I hope those that were not accepted will find a college at which they will be happy. Good luck to you all!! Now to figure out the housing situation for next fall…
I called admissions about the wait-list process. I was told that they look into the wait-listed applicants towards the end of May or late June. She also mentioned that for some years they didn’t have the need to pull people off the wait-list, but for some they did. So I guess we just need to keep our fingers crossed. I really hope that they didn’t throw in a big number of applicants on the list.
It is almost impossible to know why some students are accepted and some aren’t, and I’d caution anyone against assuming that because their test scores are higher they were “more qualified” than someone accepted with lower stats. Schools like Barnard are very careful with fit. An applicant can be a great student and still not be accepted if they aren’t perceived as a good match for the community, and as a private school, they are free to choose students on whatever criteria they like. Essays and LORs aren’t something any of us can see, and they are critically important. And yes, for transfer students, many schools must look at the financials before offering admissions. Barnard offered my 1st year applicant an incredibly generous financial package, and I know did the same for others, but now they have to see how much money is left over in the budget. Schools that have much bigger endowments don’t meet 100% of need, so I think Barnard is doing the best it can. It doesn’t feel very nice to be accepted, but given inadequate aid either.
This is a very difficult process, and I understand the disappointment and anger and desire to blame, but the sooner one can shake it off and move forward to other opportunities, the better. College admissions aren’t going to be the only disappointment in life unfortunately!
Hi! Long time lurker in this thread but I got accepted to Barnard yesterday! Here’s my stats:
Washington state comm college transfer, international student
College GPA: 3.95
HS GPA: 3.67
ACT: 33
TOEFL iBT: 117
Also sent in SAT II Subject tests, Physics: 710, Math II: 760, Literature: 640
Major: Computer science
Work experience: International student peer mentor, writing tutor
College ECs: Indonesian Student Organization, Sisterhood (women’s rights club), Phi Theta Kappa active member, international student orientation volunteer, volunteered for a local museum as their library admin, Sustained Dialogue club
Essays: In my CommonApp essay I mentioned about my interest in researching natural language processing using how my perception of the world/computers changed from being super binary to a field flourishing with complicated ways of thinking. For Why Barnard I wrote about the experience of a women’s liberal arts college in a big city; I also wrote about the opportunities in NYC and their resources for women (also mentioned my activism work in women’s rights and how it could fit my interests). For the second one I wrote about working for Twitter to ensure a great internet experience for everyone free of hate, and for the third supplement I wrote about my experiences in Sustained Dialogue and how I want to construct a class about cultural understanding with a moderated discussion like SD.
Recommendations: I got one from my English 101 instructor who recommended me from my job and one from my Physics instructor (we bonded over women in STEM and my passion for research). I’m pretty close to them, I guess!
I’m still SHOOK about my decision and even though I’m waiting for other colleges but I can definitely see myself in Barnard.
I’d add that Barnard has shown a commitment to making sure that once admitted, students can afford to attend – and has taken extra steps to discourage families from taking on excess private loans thorugh outreach and counseling.
So this is very different than colleges who don’t factor need into admissions but then don’t meet full need.
Barnard does have a very small endowment and very limited financial aid budget – which is why they do have to consider need when going to the waitlist and in transfer admissions. The school simply has limited resources and needs to factor that in after filling the needs of its already-admitted students.
@rkeens918 – I didn’t tell you not to phone Barnard admissions. If you want to waste your time and theirs that’s your business.
I responded because you have posted a false statement, claiming that it is “illegal” for Barnard to deny admissions to a student based on their need for financial aid. And that is not true.
You also now have claimed that “a lawsuit can be conducted for economic discrimination” … also utterly false. Well, it’s true in the US that anyone can file a frivolous or groundlesss lawsuit… but the case would be thrown out of court because there are no laws prohibiting discrimination based on perceived ability to pay. It is simply not a legal cause of action.
So yes, go ahead and call Barnard. I never said you couldn’t. I just said that your purported reason for calling made no sense. I would anticipate that Barnard will tell you that their admissions decision is final and they might reaffirm what is already posted on their website:
I’ve never worked in an admissions office, but I assume that the week after admissions decisions are issued they get all sorts of crazy calls from parents and students. Maybe they find those calls annoying, maybe they just pull up application files and look for some arbitrary reason to give the person for rejecting them, or maybe they have a good laugh over the more ridiculous calls, I don’t know. But I do know that Barnard last year had an admissions rate for transfers of less than 24% – so 3/4 of all transfer applicants are going to get turned away.
@vinylraincoat i got accepted for film studies as well. ive been trying to find online reviews abt the program. But couldnt find any. Do you know if its good ? Also if I wna work in media/communications, would they prefer NYU MCC over Barnard?
@nichy99 It is my understanding (and after talking to a current student in the Film Studies department) that Barnard/Columbia’s film department is rooted in English studies (the undergrad department is taught by mainly English professors rather than film professors). There are very few production courses, and I am pretty sure they emphasize film criticism rather than filmmaking. I was also accepted into NYU (Tisch for Cinema Studies). I have chosen to attend Barnard, though, because I like a small school and women’s college more. I also like that Barnard has more of a campus than NYU. I have called NYU multiple times throughout the past week asking basic questions about the transfer experience, and nobody could answer my questions. However, when I called Barnard asking the same questions, they were incredibly pleasant and happy to assist me. I don’t think Barnard has any Communications courses, so maybe you would be better off at NYU. Let me know if you choose to attend Barnard. I would be happy to connect with other incoming transfers! Are you transferring as a sophomore or junior? I will be a junior (if all my credits transfer). If you decide to transfer to Barnard as a sophomore, you will also have some time to explore other areas of study before you declare your major. Good luck making your decision!!
@vinylraincoat Thanks for your response! I’m transferring as a sophomore. Yea I thought NYU would be the way to go. But the MCC program is making me start my first semester in Paris. So I still can’t choose. I’ve been trying to look for NYU students’ experiences online but couldn’t really find any.
@rkeens918 I don’t know where you got the idea that it is “illegal” to reject students for financial reasons, but that is absolutely untrue. Universities, especially private ones, and not legally compelled to pay your way. They are free to decide how much aid to award you, or whether to award you any aid at all. You also seem to not understand the very concept of “need aware”. That means that take need into consideration in making admissions decisions.
As for calling Barnard and asking why so many students who applied for financial aid were rejected, I assume they will tell you that this is none of your business, and would have every right to do so. And, for that matter, you have no idea how many financial aid candidates were accepted or rejected.
Like others, I am sorry you didn’t get accepted but it is utterly unacceptable to post absolute untruths.
@rkeens918 Please show me where in federal law it says a university cannot discriminate based on financial need. You have no “right” to demand that a private university fund your education.