I’m a sophmore in high school and I have had to start thinking about college. I would love to go to Barnard. I have been to the campus, read about it, and heard about it from many women who have attended. I want to know if it is a reasonable goal. As a freshman my gpa was probably between a 3.6-3.8. I played varsity soccer and jv tennis, acted, and volunteered. This year my gpa is not as good, probably a 3.5 with mostly Bs and a few As. I take all honors classes and some juniors classes, I quit soccer because of medical reasons, I play tennis, I act, and volunteer. My mom went to Columbia and my parents donated a fair amount of money to the school (not sure if that will help), my parents have friends on the board of trustees, and I am very good at talking to people and holding conversation. English is a strong subject of mine, and I am passionate about it. I want to know if Barnard sounds like a stretch for me or sounds like a reasonable goal. Please be honest and give me advice on what else I could be doing.
There are dozens or hundreds or factors that affect your chances of college admission. Right now, you still have the majority of your high school career ahead of you.
That being said, your GPA is low for Barnard right now. It most certainly won’t automatically exclude you, but you would greatly improve your chances of admission by improving you sophomore year GPA, and by doing well in your during your junior year (most important.)
To answer your question: “Is Barnard reasonable?” Absolutely. Continue to focus on your academics, try to get a high (2100+) SAT, and try to find an extracurricular that you really enjoy if you havn’t already. Hope this helps!
This helps a lot, thank you. What do you think a decent GPA to maintain this year would be for Barnard?
I would generally aim for a 3.8+ GPA if possible. If you can show a positive grade trend, that’s even better. I.e. getting a 3.7 freshman year, a 3.8 this year, and 3.9 in your junior year.
I definitely think Barnard is reasonable. I’m sure you’re aware it’s selective compared to lots of colleges, but at least it’s not like a 5% acceptance rate. From what I’ve seen Barnard accepts people with pretty diverse GPAs, so I wouldn’t stress yourself out over freshman year, but I would try to raise it as much as possible. Since you got around a 3.7 last year maybe shoot for a 3.8? There’s still a semester left this year. I don’t know if you took the PSAT in 2014 but maybe try a few practice tests (I believe there are some free ones online and there are cheap prep books on amazon) before next school year.