<p>SAT I: Not submitting
ACT: Composite: 31 English: 31 Math: 25 Reading: 34 Science: 33
SAT II: 750 USH, 800 Chinese, 700 Biology E
GPA: 4.24 (weighted)
AP: USH: 5 Chinese: 5
IB Diploma Student
Senior Year Course Load: IB Mathematics/AP Calculus, IB Literature, IB History, IB Biology II, IB Chemistry II, IB TOK</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: US Senate Page, Model UN, Chinese Club, DECA, Varsity Softball, Leadership Club, NHS, Spanish Honor Society, and Trivia Club
Job/Work Experience: US Senate Page, started my own export business with over 13k in sales.
Volunteer/Community service: Over 300 hours, teaches Sunday School my local church.
Summer Activities: US Senate Page</p>
<p>Hook: First generation, grew up working in my family’s take out restaurant (IDK if thats a hook).</p>
<p>I absolutely LOVE Barnard. My intended major is history or economics. I am applying ED. </p>
<p>I think your chances of being accepted are excellent – but can you pay? I’d worry that the family-owned restaurant might cause some issues with calculation of need-- that is, your parents might be seen being financially stronger than they actually are. Also, does family income fluctuate from year-to-year? If you are accepted at a school ED you will be given a tentative financial aid award for the 2015 school year based on 2013 income and projections submitted with the CSS Profile, whereas the FAFSA will be based on the 2014 tax return. If income goes up, then you could be in the position of accepting an ED spot in December that turns out to be unaffordable in May. If income goes down, you could be in the position of turning down an ED offer because the aid was too low, based on outdated information.</p>
<p>Your income from your export business also adds another very tricky financial aid wrinkle – I’d assume that the income from that also fluctuates from one year to the next. </p>
<p>It’s very risky to apply ED for financial reasons. I’d encourage you to apply RD instead-- I think your chances are excellent, you have all sorts of great stuff going for you - but keep your options open and be sure to apply to some schools that represent a financial safety for you (generally an in-state, public option – but you might also be a good candidate for merit aid at many colleges). </p>
<p>@calmom Thanks for the reply, I know you are very active on the Barnard sub forum so I appreciate your feedback.
For financial aid, my family income is around 35k. My family income has been pretty stable, pretty much always around 34k to 40k. My little business made 13k over the last 4 years so thats about 3k a year. </p>
<p>But if the income is from the family owned restaurant, then that income is being reflected on a schedule C, or K-1, or some other type of business tax return. Barnard is going to want to see all the tax returns – $35K is what your parents make after deducting expenses-- for a restaurant I would assume that gross income from sales is much higher. So let’s say hypothetically that the gross receipts are $300K, but $35K is what your parents are able to keep after paying for the lease, equipment, food purchases, payroll, etc. Your parents are being honest, but Barnard is going to want to see all the numbers and they may add some business deductions back into the mix. </p>
<p>Same with your export business – you only profit by $3000 a year – but you probably take in more money – it’s just that you have to pay for the merchandise you sell, and also pay shipping and costs associated with promotion of your business. Barnard’s going to want to see your Schedule C as well. </p>
<p>As for all of the other stuff, would I be a good candidate to be accepted regardless of ED or RD? Does my ACT score seem low? I got a 25 in Math. I took them twice, and the first time I got a 26. </p>
<p>Your test scores are fine. I think my daughter had a 23 ACT in math. Colleges look at the scores in the context of the student – they don’t expect all students to be good at everything. You aren’t planning major in math or science – the math that you need for econ is more toward statistics, which isn’t tested on the ACT. </p>
<p>You have a great app – I just really worry about the financial end of things for you. Barnard is fairly generous with aid, but not so much that you can assume that they will give you more money than other schools. </p>
<p>Your list is reach-heavy – so keep the schools that have very strong need-based aid policies, and then add more safety/match schools that also offer merit aid to high-stat students. </p>
<p>Getting into college is not going to be your challenge— the big problem will be paying for college. So as a future econ major, this is lesson #1. </p>
<p>That’s why ED is a bad deal - in your export business you probably have figured out by now that you can get better prices on the stuff you sell if you are careful to comparison shop, and perhaps keep an eye on merchandise until it goes on sale. For colleges, ED is a marketing gimmick, meant to attract more customers willing and able to pay full cost. They create a lot of hype around ED (primarily around the idea of improved “chances”) – and they take away their customers’ ability and incentive to comparison shop – so I’m sure that if a study were done of the costs paid for colleges, it would turn out that students coming in on ED on average pay a lot more for college and receive significantly less financial aid than RD admits. I’m not talking about Barnard in particular – just the whole ED system. </p>
<p>(* That would be a good thesis topic for an econ student. I’m not sure where you could find the data, because colleges aren’t required to report those numbers separately – but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a very clear, monetary cost tied to ED that could be quantified.)</p>
<p>Barnard’s standards are not any lower ED than RD. My daughter was accepted RD. She had an AC composite of 27, ACT math was 23. 85% of all students that Barnard accepts are accepted in the RD round. </p>
<p>You’ve got great stats and ECs. Why do you think that you couldn’t get accepted RD? </p>
<p>Admissions is NOT a random process. It is a selective process – which means that the difference between ED and RD is a different pool to select from. </p>
<p>We looked into Georgetown SFS but after reading about the program, d. decided it would not be a good fit. </p>
<p>Do you expect you will qualify for a lot of need based aid? If so, did you read the announcement from U. of Chicago about their expanded aid program? Chicago also has EA – a lot tougher to get into these days than it was when my daughter applied … but again, I think your stats are strong. </p>
<p>@calmom yes, I did, It is called the No Barriers program. I believe they are promising no loans for students. UChicago is one of my tops, but like you said, it is very hard to get into. </p>
<p>As for need based aid, I believe I’ll probably qualify for at least 1/3 of tuition, counting all FASFA (which probably won’t be much) and whatever the school gives. Last year, I believe my parents made 35k after all expense and everything. We have a household of 5. However, my parents do have around 60k set aside for the first 2 years of college. </p>
<p>@calmom I interviewed with Barnard last month for ED but I no longer want to apply ED, should I email them and let them know? I am not what protocol is what that.</p>
<p>@TheMaskedPanda - I’m not sure you have to notify them, if you simply don’t submit an ED app and submit RD instead – I didn’t even know there was a distinction between an "ED"or “RD” interview, except that there is an earlier deadline for ED applicants to complete their interview. It probably is fairly common for students who think they will apply ED at the time of the interview to change their mind and apply RD instead. </p>
<p>@calmom no, I currently live in Eastern New England. I lived in NYC for 12 years. My parents own a home in NYC. They are part time residents but will be full resident next year when they move back. </p>