Chance for next year

[cep361]

<p>I have a complicated situation, and I hope the admissions officers will understand this. I have been living through child abuse for a decade, having a fatally ill father, and a mother suffering from a mental illness who has been through a pyschiatric ward twice, and maybe going on her third, plus having restrictions on the amount of time given for school work on the computer, so there have been many limitations for me throughout my life. I also want to stress in my essay that in my father’s family, there have only been four college graduates in the entire family ever, including 3rd cousins ect, therefore going to college and becomming a college graduate is a very important thing for me. As these are very difficult circumstances to have to have put up with throughout my life, I hope that Barnard will understand this. </p>

<p>Below are my stats:</p>

<p>Gender: F</p>

<p>State: MA</p>

<p>Ethnicity: African American</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted)-3.4</p>

<p>GPA (Weighted)- 4.17</p>

<p>SAT: Reading, 800
Math: 760
Writing: 800</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activites: </p>

<p>9th, 10th, 11th, (and 12th for next year) member and violinst of the school orchestra
Copy editor of the school newspaper 10th grade
President and creator of my of high school STAND chapter (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) 11th grade, and will continue till I graduate
Member of Tri-M Music Honor society- 11th grade, (and continue next year)</p>

<p>Interests in Volunteering: </p>

<p>One of the things that I am most passionate about is increasing the literacy rate for lower-income children across the nation. I am really passionate about volunteering, and am considering entering the Ameri-corps after college graduation for a year. I had tried to volunteer at non-profit organizations that were geared towards my interest in education and literacy, especially catering towards helping lower-income children in inner-cities. It is important for me to help these children, especially since I have a parent that grew up in a very low-income inner-city Boston neighborhood, and came out of the Boston public school system. I also still have family that live in poorer areas in inner-city boston, so it is close to my heart to help many of these disadvantaged children throughout the country.</p>

<p>Volunteer Work: (450 hours and counting)</p>

<p>Registration Coordinator for First Book, a non-profit organization based in D.C, which helps distribute free or reduced-priced books to lower income children across the nation. As a registration coordinator I had reached out to many different Title 1 schools, and after school programs that serve over 80% of low income children. To date, I have helped over 25 schools and after school programs including Washington D.C, New York City, and around the inner-city Boston area in Massachusetts, recieve free or reduced priced books. </p>

<p>Volunteer at an elementary school after-school program in my hometown, (11th grade and continue on in 12th grade)</p>

<p>Volunteer for Student Solutions, a non-profit organization based in North Carolina, which helps increase the literacy rate in children across America by providing literary and eduacational resources to schools in need. As a volunteer, I helped create databases of schools across the country that Student Solutions would reach out to to provide educational resources and materials to.</p>

<p>Volunteer for Nanubai, a non-profit organization based in India, which helps keep women and children in schools and India, and also helps increase the literacy rate among them. </p>

<p>Awards/Achievements:</p>

<p>Winner of First Book Registration Coordinator Challange</p>

<p>Presidents Volunteer Service Award- Gold</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Bronze Certificate</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Silver Certificate</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Gold Certificate </p>

<p>*The only problem is that I go to a really competitve high school where most people do well,( I have a class of about 360) I’m probably not going to be in the top ten percent of my class, bt maybe the top quarter, I’m not sure yet. Do you think I still might have a chance? </p>

<p>*I am also about to start my own non-profit organization called “Change for Changing Lives” that helps benefit low-income children in inner city schools and will raise money to help provide educational resources.</p>

<p>*Does it also help that my school is not diverse at all, and I’m one of the only African Americans at my school? Do colleges pay attention to that?</p>

[churchmusicmom]

<p>cep361, bless you for doing so much with what was given to you in your life! I am impressed. I should think that with careful crafting of your responses on your essays, you should be en excellent candidate for admission. Also, I hope you have good relationships with your counselor and your teaches who you will ask to write recommendations for you, and that they are aware of your background. It would be great if they could speak to that in their letters about you.</p>

<p>Best to you in your college search! You sound like an amazingly motivated young woman. I am sure you will do very, very well and, in turn, continue giving of yourself to many others.</p>

[cep361]

<p>thank you so much</p>

[nyc2013]

<p>In light of your testing scores alone, I don’t think your class rank would effect much of anything in the decision. Barnard is an amazing school and I think you have an exceptional chance not only of going but of receiving scholarships!</p>

[churchmusicmom]

<p>nyc2013, you need to know that Barnard does not offer any merit-based scholarships. They offer excellent financial aid need-based packages, but no merit-based money. There most likely are scholarships (NOT administered by Barnard) that the OP can find and apply for, and these would be added to any grant money offered her by Barnard. In other words, at least as long as my daughter attended, the policy of the financial aid office was to apply any outside scholarship money first to the family’s contribution (what they were expected to pay). NOT subtracted from aid Barnard is offering the student.</p>

<p>Sorry, I know that was not said very clearly, but I hope you get the idea!</p>

[calmom]

<p>I don’t know if the above sentence is just worded ambiguously or if you are mistaken in your understanding, but Barnard’s policy as to outside scholarships is to apply the money first to the self-help portion of the financial aid portion award, to reduce loans and work-study; beyond that they are subtracted from the Barnard grant. It cannot be applied to EFC. See: [Barnard</a> College Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.barnard.edu/finaid/scholarships.html#TREATMENT]Barnard”>http://www.barnard.edu/finaid/scholarships.html#TREATMENT)</p>

<p>

For students on financial aid, Barnard’s policy is to reduce or eliminate the loan and in-college work portion of the financial aid package before reducing any part of the Barnard College Grant. If the outside scholarship exceeds the amount of loan and work funds awarded, the grant then gets reduced by the remaining balance. For example, if a first-year student receives an outside scholarship of $5,500, this scholarship would replace the self-help portion (loan and work) of her package which equals $5,300. Her Barnard grant would then be reduced by the remaining balance of $200.00.

</p>

[churchmusicmom]

<p>Thanks for the clarification, Calmom!</p>