Hi everyone. After a long year of searching I’ve decided that Barnard is my number one college. I have some concerns about applying early decision but I’m also curious about applying regular decision. (For the sake of this post let’s not take into account financial aid, just because I’ve done my research and I know the risk I’m taking if I apply early decision.)
The main reason I’m worried about applying early decision is because my GPA will raise significantly in the next semester, and if I apply early decision Barnard won’t see those grades until after I get in. For reference I am white, I have a 32 ACT, but I just took one yesterday that I think has a higher score. from California, lower middle-class. My current unweighted GPA is a 3.79, and my weighted GPA is a 4.11. After this semester however, I should have at least a weighted 4.2 or above. My question then is if I apply early decision is that a better choice because I’m showing bar nard that they are my number one school, or is it too risky because my GPA is low right now? Is it better to apply regular decision so my GPA is higher, but then will that not look like I’m as dedicated to the college?
Please let me know your thoughts! I really want to make the best choice and increase my chances of getting in Barnard! Lastly, does anyone know if you get rejected early decision if you can apply again regular decision during the same year? Thank you!
An ED rejection is a rejection – you can’t reapply RD. If the admissions people are unsure about accepting you ED, they will defer to RD-- but if you get rejected outright they aren’t going to look at the application again.
I hate to give you the opposite advice, but I’m giving you the opposite advice. If Barnard is your #1, apply ED. The slight uptick in your grades isn’t going to help you as much as applying ED will. The benefits of applying ED are pretty substantial.
The OP said she didn’t want comments about financial aid, but given the situation she posted in another thread, I think it would be a huge mistake for her to apply to Barnard ED. (divorced parents… Barnard insists on full documentation from NCP’s.)
All colleges, including Barnard, are looking for somewhat different demographic qualities during the ED round as compared to RD. Barnard is need-blind in theory, but in practice ED is a way to lock in full-payers and other students who have the qualities they want to lock in— whereas RD is a way to round out the class. So you can’t really assess “chances” by looking simply at admission stats. They know what their priorities are at each stage of the admission process, and they will select based on those priorities.
A student like the OP will do a lot better to keep her options open and cast a wide net. And Barnard admissions focus more on grades and holistic factors than test scores, so while I don’t consider the GPA “low” it is rather iffy for admissions to Barnard.
Calming-thank you for the thoughtful replies! I’ve used last year’s financial aid calculator for both of my parente (finally) and the number looks reasonable. Definetly not a small sum, but after talking with my parents we think we can make it work. And from most people I’ve heard that their package is very similar to what the estimate was- did you have a similar experience/ have you heard one way or the other? I’m also curious about your daughter- does she like Barnard? I’d love to hear more about her thoughts
Ariela, my daughter graduated from Barnard in 2010. I am divorced, and the process of reapplying for aid each year was very frustrating, but that was due largely to lack of cooperation from my ex – so it might not apply to you. That being said, I would never have allowed my daughter to apply RD because financially we really did need to compare offers. As it happened Barnard gave her a better offer than other schools which admitted her, with the exception of our in-state publics — but the awards from one school to the next were widely divergent and I would have had no way to evaluate the strength of Barnard’s award without something else to compare it to.
Calmom- my parents situation sounds very similar to yours, so the reapplying for financial aid would not be fun. You said you wouldn’t allow your daughter to apply RD because you needed to compare packages- do you mean you wouldn’t have allowed her to apply ED? I’m feeling conflicted because i domt Think I’lll get in if i dont Apply ED and then i won’t have my #1 school as a choice
Oops, sorry. Yes, I meant to say that I didn’t allow my kids to apply ED anywhere. They had plenty of options in the spring.
And yes you do need to reapply for aid each year, and they want to see the full tax returns from the NCP, or at least they insisted on that when my daughter was there. She almost had to drop out because of that. They simply were not going to write an award until his docs were in. And this wasn’t a problem cropping up in March or April – this was an issue in July & August, when the fall tuition payments were imminent.
Have you visited Barnard? You wrote, “After a long year of searching I’ve decided that Barnard is my number one college”… why? What is about Barnard that is more attractive than all the others? Why do you need to restrict yourself a “number one”?
Applying ED doesn’t mean you will be admitted. If you get rejected in the ED round, you won’t have your top choice either.
Thanks again for the reply Calmom. That will definetly be difficult to keep up with my dad, but I assume it’s similar at most colleges, at least the ones that i know require NPC.
The reason that I’d be interested inEDing Barnard is because it seems to me to have the best of everything that i want. The strong and inspirational personality of a women’s campus, next to and with the resources of an Ivy, in Manhattan. I’m from a big city, and so that’s where I’m most comfortable. Barnard also has a semi open curriculum, which is something that I’m definetly looking for. It also helps that my best friend goes to school across the street; that would give me two years with her as a comfort helping me adjust.
Well, go ahead and do what you want. You’ve listed some rather broad generic reasons for including Barnard among your choices, but nothing that strikes me as a compelling reason why you should forego other colleges for it. But good luck in any case.
If you’re heavily relying on financial aid, I would definitely wait for RD (that is also what Barnard advises if you read through their website). Barnard does offer financial aid, but it is by no means inexpensive. Being able to compare offers from schools–especially in your situation and with your grades–may prove to be helpful for making an informed decision.