Im applying as a spring transfer for Barnard College in Spring 2024. Although I know that they don’t give FA to sophomore spring transfer admitted students for the spring they are admitted, I was informed that they can apply for both institutional and federal aid in their future years at Barnard.
This was comforting to know at least, but then I began corresponding with a spring transfer and she said all of her spring transfer friends did not get any aid when applying for the future years (junior and senior). One of my other colleagues (a fall Barnard transfer) told me, on the other hand, that all of her fall transfer friends did get aid in their junior and senior years after being admitted with no aid their sophomore year. So now I don’t know what to believe.
If any of you have transferred to Barnard in the spring and applied for institutional aid for your junior and senior years, did you guys receive a good package?
Yes - those two opposite ends are hard to reconcile.
My suggestion is to assume the worst: Once admitted “need aware” without aid, I would not count on future institutional aid, unless maybe there was a significant change in family circumstance. The college admitted you based on the fact that you’d be able to afford attending without aid.
The website seems pretty clear. You do still have time to withdraw your app and apply as a junior transfer for Fall 2024.
Fall transfer applicants are reviewed with an awareness that financial need may be a factor in a student’s ability to attend. These students are eligible for both Barnard College grant aid and for federal and state aid. For those transfer students who are admitted with financial need, Barnard remains committed to meeting full demonstrated need in our financial aid packaging.
Barnard does not offer institutional financial aid to Spring transfer students. Federal student loans and state aid are still available to students who qualify for them, but students who require additional aid to attend Barnard are encouraged to apply for admission for the Fall term instead.
I wouldn’t believe any hearsay. People aren’t always truthful about fin aid, nor do they consider certain things, such as loans, financial aid. So lots of room for miscommunication.
You can ALWAYS apply for federal financial aid, regardless Barnard’s FA policy for institutional aid.
Call the FA office and ask to speak to a transfer staffer so you know the deal for sure. And can change your app if need be. Good luck.
Thanks for the info. I did contact the FA office and they said that spring transfers are eligible to apply for institutional and merit aid for their junior and senior years. The only semester where they’d be ineligible for need-based aid is the spring semester in which they are admitted for. So I’ll take this to mean that spring admitted transfers can receive need-based aid, but just in their junior and senior years, NOT the spring semester in which they were admitted.
But the thing is, I’m sure they aren’t need-aware per day for spring transfer applicants because there would not even be an option to apply for aid as a spring transfer. They don’t give aid to spring transfers. So I’m assuming every spring transfer applies without a FA application by default. Thus, if admitted, I would be admitted with no aid not because I applied for aid at the time of application and they admitted me with no aid, but because they just don’t give aid to ANY spring transfers. I submitted my app for this round and indicated that I won’t apply for aid. Mainly because they don’t give any to spring transfers. I also contacted them and they said that in future years, transfer status does not affect a spring admitted student’s eligibility or qualification for aid should they wish to apply for FA as a junior and senior.
It also means that your family finances enabled you to pay (for that semester).
I have no particular insight in their financial aid decisions!
But…, if it is true what you heard from some, that they knew of no one who had received aid, then one possible explanation could be that, while aid can and will be granted in Junior and Senior year, they would look for a significant change in the family financial situation to justify that aid is indeed needed now, when it was not in prior years.
Maybe. Some fall transfers that originally did not apply for aid and were admitted just applied for aid in the following years and were given aid. So by your logic, wouldn’t that have applied to them too?
Well, she was just saying that 3 other spring transfers she knew were complaining about FA in their future years. She told me that based on the complaints, she assumed their FA request was denied and that she is the only spring transfer she knows with aid for their junior and senior years. She then added a disclaimer that these are purely anecdotal, so she can’t say for sure if Barnard is less likely to give sorting transfers aid in their junior and senior years. I checked with the office and they said that transfer status does not affect FA consideration should an admitted spring transfer apply for aid in their future years and that they will be reviewed with the same consideration as other FA receiving Barnard students.
The spring transfer also did not say what was the income of the spring transfer students she knew that supposedly got “denied” aid in their future years. So honestly I can’t say for sure anything because I don’t know all of the details. I suppose if I’m admitted, this is just a risk I will have to take to see if I get aid in the future.
Also keep in mind that Barnard does not guarantee housing for transfers at any point. I am not sure if financial aid is as robust if you have to live off campus and worth checking their policy. Some schools (no clue about Barnard) subtract from your FA if you live off campus even if forced.
Just based on this part…I’d say that this info is unreliable.
So…the person at Barnard said you are “eligible” to apply for next academic year. That person did NOT say you were guaranteed to receive aid.
From Barnard:
We are need-blind for first-year U.S. citizens and permanent residents and need-aware for international students and transfer applicants . Barnard meets 100% of demonstrated need and does not offer any merit-only scholarships.
I guess the big question is…would you be eligible for need based aid? Maybe do a net price calculator…it would be a very rough rough estimate because it’s not for the 2025-2026 academic year…but it will give you maybe sort of an idea. If you can pay in full for the spring term…it’s very possible your family won’t qualify for need based aid based on their financial picture.
So can you afford to attend Barnard if you have to pay for off campus housing and it is not covered by financial aid? Not sure you have mentioned if Barnard is affordable for you for all the terms or if financial aid is mandatory to make it affordable for you after the 1st term. From what I remember from a past post (last year?), housing for transfers is never guaranteed even if you get housing 1 year, you are back at the bottom of the lottery the following year. I tried to search and find the post - to no avail. Seems like this needs to be clarified with Barnard too, so you really understand your financial commitment - imo.
Based on NPC, I would be eligible for aid. My father can only pay 20k of the 45k semester that I would be attending without aid as a spring admitted student, so I’d be taking 25k in loans for that semester alone. I can’t afford the next two years without aid because he can only pay 30k a year.
I do not want to discourage you and I am unsure how familiar you are with NYC - if you are - then ignore this post. NYC is super expensive for everyone including students. My kid’s friends at the different NYC schools complain about this the most, as so much of the social opportunities are off campus. Their friends have told them that they see how hard it is for kids on a strict/small budget to get to fully take advantage of the location. It is important that you can afford to live in the city and are not getting further in debt for your out of pocket expenses too. Again - I think the non guaranteed housing is a big red flag especially since you confirmed that Barnard will deduct that from you financial aid, if you live off campus.