<p>I’m applying to Barnard College as a transfer student and in they’re application I have to answer four short questions and write an essay. One of the questions, though, I’m a bit confused about… or perhaps I want to get into Barnard so badly that my nerves aren’t allowing me to answer a simple question. =</p>
<p>It asks something like, “If you could lead a semester long course, which topic would you choose and why?”
Should I write about a simple course like English or design my own course? Should it be related to my major, or would they appreciate if I branched out and wrote about something else?</p>
<p>Also, if I write “world peace” in an essay, would that sound too clich</p>
<p>Write about something important or meaningful to you.</p>
<p>What Barnard wants to know is this: “What will Devotchka bring to our campus? What benefit will we (Barnard faculty and students) get if we admit her?”</p>
<p>They aren’t asking you to actually teach such a class – so you don’t need to worry about whether or not you are actually qualified to teach this hypothetical class… but I think they want something along the lines of what you would WANT to offer.</p>
<p>If your gut tells you something is too cliche, it probably is. Can you narrow it down? That is, rather than the term “world peace” – can you focus on some particular issue that concerns you? The middle east conflict, Korea, the middle east, the START treaty, etc. </p>
<p>Would this be in relation to the semester long course question? </p>
<p>And as to that question… if you can’t figure out what you would want to offer, think about what course you would want to TAKE. Maybe you are having a hard time because you are stuck on the idea that you have to give the course – but if you think about what you want Barnard to offer, its a small step from there to then imagine yourself giving the course.</p>
<p>And that kind of comes back to … why do you want to transfer to Barnard? What do you expect to find academically when you get to Barnard?</p>
<p>The goal should not be to impress them… but to inform them. They are trying to get more insight into who you are as a person. Be yourself. Be honest. </p>
<p>My daughter submitted self-deprecating and humorous essays to Barnard and other colleges, which were big reaches for her. Her strongest academic achievement as a high schooler was her foreign language study, along with a semester living abroad with a host family. She wrote about how difficult it was for her to master the language & communicate-- poking fun at her own mistakes because of her limited vocabulary and poor grammar. Her favorite character from a book (a Barnard short answer at the time) came from a well-known children’s picture book.</p>
<p>I think she helped herself tremendously because she did NOT try to “impress” but instead wrote from the heart – not just at Barnard but at other schools. She came off as someone who was truthful and comfortable in her own skin – the problem with “trying to impress” is that you end up conveying nothing. The ad com doesn’t want students who are pretending to be something they are not – and probably there’s not much mileage to be gained in submitting that sort of essay.</p>