Early Decision

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
1

<p>Hey guys, So I am in love with Barnard and have been for the past like 2 years lol. I attended the Summer in NYC precollege program and I became even more fascinated by it, i got to meet some Barnard students and even chill at the lawn. But yeah, im writing this thread because i need advice.</p>

<p>I am super sure i want to attend Barnard, its got everything, best of both worlds, its diverse, and its classes are small! The womens college thing also draws me in because as a science student in H.S where I usually end up being one out of two or 3 girls in my class, and guys are usually trying to put you down (although i dont let them) But let me get to the point (sorry) =]</p>

<p>I want to apply to Barnard Early Decision but I dont know if I should- not because im not sure but because of financial reasons. Barnard is a Reach school for me and I feel that my chances will increase with ED but I am worried that if I do apply ED i wont get enough financial Aid, and then will be stuck with a LOT LOT of debt after college. MY parents dont make much(My mom is currently unemployed and my stepdad makes less than 40k) and I am a hispanic immigrant who has 6 years living in the U.S
I know Barnard is 100% need-based aid thats why I am asking
So my question is Should I go for it(ED)? Or should I just apply RD even though chances are very few?</p>

<p>A little bit about me
My GPA is 3.85ish
SATs- 1910 ( 590 CR, 640 Math, 680 Writing)
SAT IIs (not too good, but might take some more) French- 550 Physics-510 (unfortunately took it after sophomore year, i might retake it) Spanish- 790</p>

<p>APs Ive taken- AP Physics AB (10th grade), AP Physics BC E&M and MEch (11th) AP Calculus AB (11th)
Senior year I am taking :
AP Calculus BC
Ap English Literature
AP Computer Science
and AP Spanish Literature</p>

<p>My Summers I have attended CCNY Science and Technology Summer Program, Barnard’s Summer in New York ( =] ), and NYU’s Pre College Program</p>

<p>My community service is not as extensive: but I am part of a program called Heroes and Cool Kids, in which we talk to Middle schoolers around the year about bullying, drugs, and peer presure.
And have about 70 Hours volunteering at a Nature center where i garden and help maintain the backyard habitat.
My clubs are: spanish/intercultural club and physics club
and I play Varsity Volleyball
Also part of NHS
My reccomendations will be pretty good, one from my physics teacher will be really awesome (hopefully) and my English teachers will be nice too
I am more interesting but these are just stats, I know i am not over qualified</p>

<p>for Barnard but i know i can fit in and make a difference there.</p>

<p>I made this too long and maybe my stats werent important but i wanted you guys to tell me what you think, i will appreciate it =]</p>

2

<p>Do you live in NY? You might qualify for the HEOP program:
<a href="http://www.barnard.edu/admiss/programs/heop.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.barnard.edu/admiss/programs/heop.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>You should definitely check this out -- and do NOT retake the SAT until you do -- as this is the one time where a lower CR score is a blessing. </p>

<p>If you are not a US citizen, do double check with your parents to make sure that you are a legal, permanent resident. I've heard of many cases where the parents are undocumented but do not tell their kids -- so it is very important that you are absolutely sure of your immigration status when it comes to applying for financial aid.</p>

3

<p>Hey CalMom, No unfortunately I am from NJ</p>

<p>and No I didnt know that occured lol, But i am a permanent resident my mother is already a citizen and I am going to be applying for my citizenship soon ( debating if I want to keep dual citizenship with my country) but I dont know If i will have it by the time I apply to Barnard</p>

<p>Thanks, though
Goodnight</p>

4

<p>Double check this, but I do believe that the one reason you can "get out" of an ED admission is if your financial aid is absolutely not do-able for you. Barnard does meet 100 percent of need, though, and I think you should qualify for a pretty good grant. That being said, you will need to work to earn $$$ during school and summers as well (I know my daughter does!). Good luck to you in making this decision.</p>

5

<p>I don't think it is as easy as all that -- I think that it would be better for niagaraenbici to contact Barnard financial aid and go over her situation with them carefully. She mentioned a stepfather -- if her natural father is alive and his whereabouts are known, then the financial situation is too complex to be able to count on aid -- she would need his cooperation for the profile. If not -- if it is just a matter of the mom & stepdad, and if the family does not have significant aid and the stepdad is a wage earner (not self-employed or operating his own business) -- then the financial situation may be simple enough to go ahead and apply ED. </p>

<p>Barnard will meet 100% need as they define it -- so what I am saying is that it is safe to apply ED if - and only if - there are no income or assets that would be reported with the Profile that aren't already on the FAFSA. Barnard generally will require first year students to take a $3500 loan, and will award about $1800 in work study money -- so the self-help portion of a full need grant is at least $5300 for the first year.</p>

6

<p>Good points, as always, Calmom! I bow to your far superior grasp of the financial aid stuff. It makes my HEAD HURT!!!!</p>

<p>Good news: after the one I am fixin' to write (as we say here in GA), I only have THREE more ginormous payments left to Barnard!!!</p>

7

<p>Hey thanks </p>

<p>No my real father lives in my country and i havent seen him in some years. If i contact the financial aid office what do i ask for? Do i ask if they can calculate my EFC or what exactly.
Also My Stepfather is a wage earner but I just remembered that my parents do own a house so that might be bad.
I really want to do ED but I do not want to get out of college with an extreme extreme amount of debt.</p>

8

<p>Here's the problem: Barnard is going to want to see information about your real father's income. It is possible that they may waive that because he lives in another country, but you can't assume that they will -- the best you can do is to talk to the financial aid people now about the particular circumstances. However, I do know that I had difficulty getting my ex husband to fill out some of the forms and I was told this year that Barnard would not even write an award for my daughter until they got the required paperwork -- so even if your father is living in absolute poverty, the difficulties in providing required forms could cause problems for you. </p>

<p>I do think it is worthwhile discussing your situation with financial aid so you could get a sense of what an award from Barnard would possibly look like -- but in general its not a good idea to apply ED if you need financial aid if there are any complexities in your situation. </p>

<p>I know how you feel because my daughter was in the same situation -- but in hindsight I feel that things came out as they were meant to be. My daughter did get accepted RD -- and even though Barnard's aid was the best by far, I am glad that we had other awards to look at so we knew how the packages compared.</p>

9

<p>So it would be best if I email them or calll right?
Thanks, CalMom</p>

10

<p>You could do either -- I usually email them first to explain my reasons for wanting to talk, and give them a time they can phone me back.</p>