<p>Thank you Ranch42 :)</p>
<p>For those who got deferred- You definitely still have a chance. Barnard doesn’t like to “leave you hanging” so they reject most. They only defer the strongest of those applicants they don’t think they can accept. Don’t lose hope.
For those who didn’t get in: I know this won’t help, but everything happens for a reason. As one door shuts, another opens.</p>
<p>mjl714, Princeton is really different than Barnard. Princeton has an endowment of $1.9m per student, the highest in the country. Barnard’s is close to $72,000. Yeah. <a href=“Source”>url=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1018228-endowment-per-student.html</a></p>
<p>Barnard meets 100% of need as designated by the FAFSA, but most Ivies and other schools with super-high endowments are able to go way beyond that (since, well, need as designated by the FAFSA is generally pretty low.) People talk about not being able to go to private colleges because of money for a reason - they’re shockingly expensive. Without giving too much away, I suspect my financial situation is not that different from yours. Paying is definitely a stretch - and the middle class is generally the class that struggles the most in that regard. If you end up not being able to pay, I have no doubt that you will be released from your ED agreement without any trouble.</p>
<p>Barnard uses a combination of FAFSA plus the CSS profile plus their own Financial Aid application to determine your FA package. And these are filled out each year you attend, and your package most likely will be different every year as factors change.</p>
<p>Heartbroken, please apply to other schools RD – don’t hold out your hopes for a school that rejected you one. If you don’t like your choices in the spring, then you can consider reapplying next fall – but I think that you will be happier if you move on and explore other opportunities. Think about what you most liked about Barnard and look for other schools for similar characteristics. For example, if you really want a women’s college, then consider Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr. If you really want to be in NYC, consider NYU & Fordham. If there was something else… then think about where else you might be able to get that something else. I’m sure you will probably have an array of amazing choices in the spring.</p>
<p>mjl714 – I hate to say it, but I think it is unreasonable for a family with an income of $170K to expect much in the way of need-based aid anywhere. I had to pay more than a third of my total income (~50K) to put my daughter through school – some years were closer to half. The financial aid system is set up to make it possible for lower income families to send their kids to college, not to make it easy. </p>
<p>I’m sorry you are disappointed, but I probably sound like a broken record on CC telling students that if they think they need financial aid, they should NOT apply ED – and your disappointment just illustrates why that would be the case. So I hope that if I post here, then maybe next year someone will see the post and realize that ED is a bad idea when financial aid is important to the decision of where to attend college. </p>
<p>I don’t want to give you a bad time – I’m just making a point of posting because every time I tell prospective ED’ers that they should not be applying if they need financial aid – someone else comes along and posts that it’s all o.k., because of course you can get out of your agreement if you don’t get enough aid. Except it isn’t that easy – it sounds like Barnard has “met need” as most people would define it in your case – they are giving you some financial aid, even though your family’s household income puts you in the top 6% of all families in the US – see [Household</a> income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States]Household”>Household income in the United States - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>That means that its unlikely that you are going to get a better need package from most other private colleges, although you might do a lot better at a college which awards merit money to its students. So you went in with unrealistic expectations and now your parents need to make a decision without the ability to compare the Barnard award to other options.
I don’t know what other expenses your parents have now or in the future, so I can’t really say whether they ought to be willing to pay for Barnard at 85% of full cost or not. It’s a lot easier to make that sort of qualitative judgment when you can compare the relative costs and merits of multiple colleges.</p>
<p>Thank you for your support, Calmom 
You are right I should move on, but I just was curious if it was still possible for me to go to Barnard. I already started my new college list and NYU and Smith definitely in it</p>
<p>check out the thread of places barnard applicants also applied.</p>
<p>what is the link for that thread?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/barnard-college/1046222-what-other-schools-did-you-apply.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/barnard-college/1046222-what-other-schools-did-you-apply.html</a></p>
<p>Two things!</p>
<p>First, has anyone from CA received notification? Obviously, it takes longer, but I don’t know if it’s just me or if they were sent too recently to have reached the west coast yet…</p>
<p>Second, and more importantly, I’ve naturally been frantic all day. I used my ID to track my application and I read that my “Early Decision Signature (if applicable)” section was not dated in the received section. I was sure I completed it, but I double-checked my Common App. It said “completed”, as opposed to downloaded. I checked the school forms section; it said the ED Agreement - counselor component was “downloaded”. Then I checked my ED Agreement - Parent/Legal Guardian component - it only said “submitted”. Does this mean that my complete ED Signature was not received? I’m worried sick!</p>
<p>Did they email you saying that they still needed the signature? They did for me, like a week and a half after the app was due but if they didn’t for you yhen you’re probably fine. </p>
<p>Not california, but I’m in washington and still waiting on my letter I got into the site though and I’m not too worried, I will be if I don’t have it by the weekend though.</p>
<p>I live in TX, and am still awaiting my envelope!!!</p>
<p>Ah, thanks girls! Hope you receive your letters soon!</p>
<p>I’M IN! I feel relieved, excited, beyond happy, etc., and I want to thank all of you beautiful, talented young women for helping this process go so much smoother:) I really appreciate all of your posts, words of advice, and shared nerves!! </p>
<p>To anyone searching for a new path, or choosing a new one, I just want to say I know all of you will do AMAZING THINGS!!! There’s no doubt. &New York will always be there, welcoming you back. </p>
<p>Congratulations to all! <333</p>
<p>Naomiiii - I’m in Texas as well and got nothing in the mail today from Barnard, but I do have the confirmation e-mail - so I’m still optimistic.</p>
<p>Have the letter sitting in front of me :)</p>
<p>So after submitting the FAFSA, does the estimated financial aid package increase?</p>
<p>No letter. I called them and they won’t say admission decisions over the phone until Monday, but I asked about the website and in a nudge nudge wink wink kinda way she said yes, getting into the website confirms admissions.</p>
<p>I’m going to be a little concerned if I don’t have it tomorrow, but right now I’m still not worried.</p>
<p>
It could increase, decrease, or remain the same, depending on how the numbers on the FAFSA compare with previous estimates.</p>