Hi everyone! I am a freshman at a large public university currently, and I am hoping to transfer for Barnard for Fall 2019. My current school is not challenging at all, and it does not offer a path for me to go to law school and pursue a career in public interest advocacy. My boyfriend is a sophomore at Columbia right now (applying there too), so he has been a little helpful with what they are looking for in applicants! I really love the campus, and have spent a considerable amount of time there in the past semester– really hoping to be there in the fall! I am posting my stats below… I’m not sure how great my chances are!
*** Did not apply to Barnard in high school*** White female from Oklahoma, parent’s EFC is $56,000 (Barnard is need-aware for transfer applicants)
STATS
HIGH SCHOOL: large public high school (#1 in the state), class of over 600, top 15%
GPA: unweighted 3.967; weighted 4.02
ACT: 32 (36 English, 35 Reading, 27 Math (ouch), 31 Science) superscore is 33
AP’s: APUSH and APworld (A’s in both, passed Ap tests)
completed 12 credit hours of dual-credit enrollment at local university during senior year (4.0)
EC’s
2 years of varsity sport
founder of nonprofit that donated prom dresses to underprivileged girls at my high school
organizer (3 years) of my high school’s large philanthropy event ($2mil raised over 3 years)
60 + volunteer hours with 2 organizations for women with special needs
worked as a sales associate at Kendra Scott
worked as an assistant teacher at a local Montessori daycare
volunteered with CMNH
National Honor Society
Yoga club officer/treasurer
practiced/performed Italian opera
AWARDS
Academic Bar Award
Academic Letter of Excellence
Varsity Athletic Letter of Excellence
Salutatorian of Class of 2018
COLLEGE: Oklahoma State University FRESHMAN, Political Science major; Philosophy minor (honors college)
GPA: 4.0 (President’s Honor Roll)
HOURS: completed 27, enrolled in 12 currently (one upper-division)– total of 39 by fall 2019
EC’s
Internship with national nonprofit for women with special needs– based in NYC (Director of Content Writing)- honors hours
Research Assistant for Poli Sci department chair- honors hours
President of the Freshman Student Council of the College of Arts & Sciences
Active Member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority
volunteer for CASA (15 hours/semester)
Freshman Follies (biiiiiig musical/philanthropy event, 30 hours/week for 8 weeks)
AWARDS
Regent’s Distinguished Scholar (2nd best merit scholarship)
Freshman Research Scholar (OSU’s freshman research is HARD to get into)
My best letter of ref is coming from a professor last semester that basically encouraged me to transfer, and I know it will be a strong letter. The second is from another professor, but won’t be as strong. My essays are very well-written, and capitalize on Barnard’s foundations curriculum, joint-degree programs with Columbia, and the benefits of being a women’s college!
Here are the other schools I am applying to (in no order):
Columbia
NYU
Brown
Yale
Georgetown
George Washington University
American University
Penn
Hey! I’m coming from another seven sister college, but leaving because the location is too remote for my taste, and doesn’t provide the academic and extra curricular fields I’m interested in. I’m pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, which is why Barnard’s NYC location is great.
Brief overview of my stuff from:
High school
GPA: 3.30 (nervous about this)
SAT: 1440
Intern at city council
Tour guide at state house
Social media intern for a company
Captain of debate team for 2 years, numerous awards in state tournaments
Writing tutor
Math TA
Head camp counselor for 2 years/organized $3000 budget
College
GPA: 3.93
Intern at magazine company
Research Assistant in Psychology department
Executive board on a political/cultural org
Student senator
Student worker in dining hall (work 3 times/week)
Rec letters are hopefully strong and convey me very accurately. They’re coming from Neuroscience professor (hopefully a solid rec as I did very well in the course, and frequently went to office hours) and Chinese professor (we’re close and she understands me very well).
Barnard’s truly an amazing institution and we’re so lucky to have the opportunity to transfer. Good luck to everyone
Hey everyone! I’m really glad that OP created this thread because there hasn’t been one yet! I really identify with Barnard’s message, and I’m hoping to give transferring a shot!
HS: Private, Top-50
GPA: 3.7 (unweighted), 4.1 (weighted)
ACT: 29-- I reaaaalllly didn’t take standardized tests well
APs: APUSH, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Euro, AP Stats
ECs:
Junior and Senior Class President
Head of Orchestra
Varsity Lacrosse Captain
Head of Humanities Tutors
Mock Trial
All-State for my Instrument
Did a prestigious music camp for two years
Refugee and Displaced Persons Service (I babysat a group of kids while parents were at work every week. It wasn’t an ~official~ service, but I enjoyed doing it)
Round Square Service Organization my junior year
Awards:
Lacrosse Academic All-American Honorable Mention, League MVP 2x, Coaches Award
Senior History and Writing Awards
NYS Musicianship Award and Scholarship
College: Top-50 University Worldwide (according to THE)-- I am a U.S. Resident, but I go to school internationally
Major: Political Science, Economics/ Management
GPA: 3.2-- I am extremely worried about this. This school is notorious for grade deflation (if you can imagine, a 3.2 is actually well above the average). I am aware that this will seriously hurt my app if admissions doesn’t take this into account, however I haven’t really figured out how to write about it in my application yet without seeming like I’m pandering for special treatment.
ECs:
Paid internship at the admin office
Internship with an environmental conservation policy agency
Varsity Lacrosse
Staff Writer for the newspaper
UN Women
Democrats Abroad
This summer I’m interning with a 2020 US Presidential Candidate’s Exploratory Committee and teaching "Women Heroes in History at an academic girls’ camp.
Recs: Probably the strongest part of my app… my rhetoric professor was exceedingly kind, and I’m asking for a personal character rec from my HS lacrosse coach who knew me very well.
My EFC is fairly low because my parents are both consultants, however we are able to pay around $35-40k.
I am seriously worried about my application. The other posters in this thread already seem very impressive/ qualified, and I fear that my GPA will be the deciding factor because my ACT score is also on the low-end of their threshold. I honestly feel like this app will be a complete shot in the dark for me, but I’m cautiously optimistic, nonetheless.
@luciaj2022 thanks for sharing! your credentials seem awesome and I wouldn’t get too caught up in the GPA; grading works differently internationally and i’m sure admin will understand. just curious, are you applying anywhere else for transfer?
Question for everyone… Maybe I’ve selected something incorrectly, but when I leave the “For Visiting Students Only” (which courses would you take at Barnard) supplement question on the CommonApp empty, it doesn’t allow me to select that the questions portion of the application is finished. It is a required question and says that it has a 250-word minimum. Has anyone else had any problems with this?
Does anybody know how long Barnard does rolling admissions for? I know that they start sending out rolling admissions decisions on May 1st, but how long do they take to send them all out?
@transferstu1818 from lurking on past transfer threads my understanding is that they start letting people know about Waitlist in mid to late June, so the rolling decisions would probbbablyyyy extend until mid-late May. I see that the vast majority are sent in the first two weeks in May. I’m not an admin counselor, haha… but I hope this helps!
Last year (the year I was accepted as a transfer), decisions were all released on the same day (but it seemed like a few rejections went out a few days earlier).
Hi ladies! So glad someone started a thread for 2019 fall transfers. @luciaj2022 were you ever ale to submit the app while leaving the question blank for visiting students only? i dont imagine you need to answer unless you are a visiting student.
@luciaj2022 I just typed “I am applying as a full-time, degree seeking transfer student for the fall of 2019.” in that section because it would not let me submit it blank!
You all have such great stats oh my!
I was homeschooled for high school and dual enrolled so Im applying after graduating with my AA from my two year college. Any one else here with their associates?
I just submitted my application! Feeling super nervous but a bit relieved knowing it’s out of my hands now.
Also, feels so ironic applying during all this news about the huge $25 million college scheme with all the celebrities…
Transferring to Barnard was the best decision I ever made! Good luck to you all! One thing I would warn you about is that as a transfer there is a chance you will not get housing, which makes for a somewhat complicated situation. I still do not have housing two years later, but that’s the only major issue I have with Barnard.
I did end up writing “I am applying as a transfer student, not a visiting student.” Glad that seems like the right thing!! Thank you! @mtonns I KNOW It’s actually really ironic because I wrote about how I want my career to be in increasing equitable access to higher education in my personal statement, and I submitted it a day before the cheating scandal!! I read the news and I was like …ok
I submitted my application on March 11th (which included my writing supplement) but my application status portal still states that it is awaiting it. What should I do? Is anyone else facing this problem?
Hey guys, I’m uploading my supplements into common app and the text boxes are cutting all my essays short. The prompts say 250 word limit but the text boxes cut you off at 1500 letters. Is anyone else facing this problem?
@stresseddddd I also had this problem, so I called the admissions office and they said that they do have my supplement, and that they’re still sorting materials. I submitted my app on the 8th, and it just changed to ‘received’ today.
I’m coming from another seven sister college, but leaving because the location is too remote for my taste, and doesn’t provide the academic and extra curricular fields I’m interested in. I’m pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, which is why Barnard’s NYC location is great.