Barnard? Low GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
1

I believed I was “on track” for Barnard a year ago, but I really screwed up junior year and my cumulative GPA is now a 3.71 which is very low for a Barnard applicant. Their average GPA is at least a 3.85. Although college admissions are random at times or “guaranteed” for certain applicants with hooks/great grades/ECs, is there any chance for me, a 3.71 UW applicant with a 31 ACT, first generation of Asian decent to be granted admission to Barnard? I don’t want to send out my entire resume, so with just those four facts I’ve listed, what kind of situation am I in?

Thanks and I need a lot of convincing from you to not apply to Barnard with my weak credentials.

2

I don’t think anyone here is going to try to convince you NOT to apply (most would actually convince you otherwise just to to see what happens), although your chances are, as you probably know, very slim.

Your 31 ACT and 3.71 unweighted validate each other, so it’s highly unlikely that you can convince the admissions office that either one of them is a fluke unless you can significantly improve one of them. Being an Asian applicant will hurt your chances even further. Assuming you don’t have a significant award like an Intel STS semifinalist status, I would focus on improving your extracurriculars for this coming year and improving your ACT to a 34 or 35.

3

I think being first generation could help you. The latest Common Date Set figures for Barnard show ACT scores of 29 to be in the 25th percentile, and 32 to be in the 75th percentile. While 75% had a GPA of 3.75 or higher, your 3.71 is not that far below. Don’t give up quite yet.

4

I don’t think you need 34-35 ACT for Barnard. It helps, but not necessary.

5

I’m gonna be a first year this fall. I had a 3.75 and a 31 ACT. That it all.

6

I don’t think a 34-35 ACT helps. I think it could even hurt. D16 was waitlisted with a 34. Others with much lower scores were admitted. Barnard doesn’t like multiple repeats on ACTs or SATs either according to their admissions office.

7

@mayaic4 was your 3.75 weighted or unweighted? and did you get in ED?

8

@sk9999 unweighted, my school didnt weight GPAs. I applied ED, was deferred and admitted RD. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about anything.

9

@bouders Do you know if they actually superscore the ACT? I’ve contacted them but they said the want you to send all the testing in but I want to send in 2 of the 3 ACT scores.

10

@penngirlpending No idea, sorry.