Hey guys, I submitted my Barnard app a few weeks ago and have been getting pretty anxious about it… Please chance me!
Objective:
ACT: 30/36
Unweighted GPA: 3.8/4
APs: World History (3), Calc AB (5), Physics 1 (4), Lang and Comp
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, English 12, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science, AP Calc BC, Government
Academic Awards: AP Scholar
Intended Major: First Choice – Computer Science; Second Choice – Physics
Extracurriculars:
4 years varsity tennis (second at state sophomore year, fourth at state junior year, other awards in sub-district and district level)
-Vice President of Architecture Club (two years)
-Vice President of Space Club (two years)
-100+ hours of community service: tutor at local library (two years), volunteer at food bank and arts museum(both four years
-Engineering camp at Northwestern University during the summer before my senior year
-Model UN (two years) and Programming Club (one year) participant
Background:
Ethnicity: Southeast Asian
School Type: large, public
Gender (obviously): female
Also, for my essays:
Common App: wrote about music and it’s impact on my life/how I use it as a stress reliever
Why Barnard? Supplement: wrote mostly about feminism and then research I want to do
Who I want to have a conversation with supplement: I talked about Chien-Shiung Wu (a Chinese woman physicist) and wanted to discuss about how much confident she had built (because she worked in a traditionally white male dominated field) and how she’s an inspiration to me.
I think the only fair answer is that you have a lot of checkmarks where they matter, but ultimately, there are so many factors and other applicants, that there really is no way to predict how an individual case will be decided in any given year.
Denied, so I’m not doing very well. Slept in my school uniform on the floor last night. I wonder if they even read my essays. Thinking about calling and asking why I was specifically rejected. Feels too surreal to be true.
Objective:
ACT: 30
Unweighted GPA: 3.8/4
APs: World History, Euro, Lit, Lang, APUSH, Spanish, art history, studio art (my school caps aps at 8)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Art history, AP studio art, AP Lang, calculus, physics, classes necessary to graduate like pe or computing
Academic Awards: AP Scholar, deans list, honor roll, national honor society, national Spanish honor society
Intended Major: First Choice – Creative writing; Second Choice – Italian
Extracurriculars: (only including extracurriculars I like— I did a number of experimental things in high school, like track for three years, that I did not particularly enjoy)
ballet from when I was 2 to now
piano, grades 8-12
-singing, grades 4-12
volunteering (2x a week) 9-12
internship at the ACLU of GA
leader of three diversity clubs— I plan events and am nominated for conferences pertaining to diversity, where I represent my school
writer for school newspaper and for a teen-led newspaper outside of school
read and recite poems at local poetry slams in coffee shops across my city
Background:
Ethnicity: Latinx and MENA
School Type: small, private
Gender (obviously): female
Hooks:
first generation American
lived outside of the country
fluent in three languages
dual citizenship
english as my second language— Definitely not my native language. Still speak my native language at home.
Pretty devastated. Does anyone know if I can call admissions to ask why they specifically turned me down? I was really excited about Barnard, and I felt like it was an incredible fit for me (I had two interviews and came to their open house…). I’m just conflicted. I can’t accept a rejection this easily! I worked so hard in high school and with the goal of getting in— I poured my heart and soul into my essays. I don’t expect them to change their decision obviously, but a specific explanation about my application particularly would suffice. I at least deserve that.
@lolwhatismylife It’s understandable that you’re upset. This rejection does not reflect on your character, work ethic, or anything on you as a person. I don’t think that calling Barnard is an amazing idea. They probably won’t go over your application with you and will just give you a generic answer about the high level of competition and that many competent people had to be denied. That answer could just make you more upset, but they don’t really owe you an explanation and probably won’t give you one.
@lolwhatismylife I’m sorry you were rejected but Barnard will not give you an explanation nor do they owe one to you. It is OK to feel sad for a day or two but I suggest you quickly move on from Barnard, focus on the schools that have accepted you, and move forward.
@lolwhatismylife Please realize that at this level it truly NOT a reflection on you or your application, which is why there is no answer to the question you are understandably seeking.
You are the amazing person, excellent student, and hard worker that you are. But, chances are almost everyone applying at schools like Barnard is at that same level - yet there is no room for 90% of equally deserving applicants.
There will be people that felt that a near 1600 SAT, or mostly 36 ACTs, would certainly be a “guaranteed in” - yet they were not admitted. There will be those who had shown enormous passion with causes they supported outside of school, yet somehow they were rejected.
At the end, it was not your individual application they rejected, together with 6,000 others - it were whatever small little facets in 1,000 other applications that just happened to persuade the majority of the review committee. If everyone applicant is deserving, there are no universally fair criteria. But, at some point they had filled every spot, forcing them to serve rejection letters to so many excellent candidates - not for lack of anything, other than space.