<p>Don’t freak out! I haven’t gotten a letter, I’ve just logged in, enrolled, and gotten the “see you in the fall!” email. I PMed it to you. 
Be strong, you will know soon.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Congrats to all the girls that have been accepted!</p>
<p>I applied last year and then deferred so I could do a student exchange thing. I know it’s stressful (especially because Barnard doesn’t do emails, only the “big letter” vs. “small letter” thing), but it’ll work out!</p>
<p>I’ll see you guys next year!</p>
<p>DECISION: I’m assuming accepted, based on the website stuff - I will update year when I know for super-sure</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: 3.8, bad grades concentrated in language classes
Rank: 24/206 - but I haven’t attended my school all four years and my first two years were harder than those of my peers
SAT I: (took twice) 2340, 800/770/770
SAT II: 600 USH / 680 Math II / 740 Lit
ACT: (took twice) 33/34/35 superscored. Best were 36 E/36 M/35 R/33 S
Other Stats:
IB: 6 Econ/4 Chem (you usually take most IB tests senior year since certain classes are two year classes, it’s complicated)
AP: 3 AP Euro (and a 2 on AP USH - I didn’t take the class - that I didn’t submit)
Full IB Diploma Candidate (which means I’m taking as many IB classes as I can)
Skipped a year of Spanish, took initiative to switch high schools to get a better fit for me</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: Probably reasonably strong. Definitely about something important to me.
Barnard Essays: Some better than others, but generally pretty strong
EC’s: ~350 hours volunteering at local zoo, Went to Guatemala last summer on a social-justice-and-cultural-immersion trip, still involved in the organization (youth board and summer intern), Out-of-school choir (and in more competitive ensemble), soccer, lacrosse (neither terribly seriously), GSA treasurer, two years
Teacher Rec’s: One was awesome, one was probably okay - also accidentally submitted a third because I initially had my econ teacher until I realized Barnard doesn’t count that but you can’t delete recs, and that one was good
Counselor Rec’s: I have no clue. The counseling intern wrote it, she probably just listed my ECs
Major Awards: NMSF
Hook (if any): Spent 2.5 months in Norway during sophomore year, went to school there (at an IB schools)</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: WA, USA
School Type: medium-sized public (have been to two rigorous public schools for two years each)
Ethnicity: caucasian</p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections: I’m sooo happy. It’s my first choice school by far. A private college counselor thought I had a definite shot at more prestigious schools but I don’t want to be anywhere else.</p>
<p>Hi guys. I know you don’t know me but I’ve been lurking the boards the past two weeks or so. I actually just wrote an article in the school paper about how distracting college confidential was, and how people should try to avoid it. lol, clearly I’m wonderful at taking my own advice.</p>
<p>But anyway, I’d love to get to know all of you, since we’ll be going to school together, and I’m so glad to have found you because waiting alone would have been even more nerve wracking.</p>
<p>DECISION: Accepted!</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: I don’t know if off hand, but somewhere around a 95.4 or so
Rank: Top 10%
SAT I: 2200 - CR: 790, M: 630, W: 780
SAT II: Literature: 800, US History: 780, Bio: 760 - These might be slightly off since I don’t exactly remember
ACT:
Other Stats:</p>
<p>AP Lang and Comp: 5
AP Bio: 5
AP US History: 5</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: I thought my main essay was honestly very good. It’s one of the few pieces that I’ve written in the past few years that I’ve been truly proud of
Barnard Essays: Pretty good, I think. One of them was better than the others I think. I’m not really sure
EC’s: Decent? I tutor and I’m a co-president of my school’s Habitat for Humanity, and I dance and do things like Model UN and the school paper.
Teacher Rec’s: I don’t know, because I waived my rights, but I get along really well with both the teacher I asked
Counselor Rec’s: Again, I didn’t see, but I’ve known my counselor all four years of hs
Major Awards: Nothing, really, though I’m an NHS member, and I got certificate things in the National Spanish and National Latin Exams in past years.
Hook (if any): I’m only a second generation American, but I doubt that counts</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: New York
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: South Asian </p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections: </p>
<p>I’m really happy to be getting to go to school with you all next year, and please PM me about Facebook friending each other? I’d love to get to know you all before the fall.</p>
<p>I’ve had about 5 people message me, very politely asking how I got in over them (if you’re one of those people, please don’t be offended). When they tell me their stats, I can’t help but wonder myself. What were the ad comms thinking?</p>
<p>DECISION: Accepted</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: 3.84 W (school doesn’t calculate unweighted, but I generally have B’s and A’s)
Rank: n/a
SAT I: Writing: 750, Verbal: 590, Math: 650
SAT II: [lolz] USHistory: 610, Litt: 550
ACT: [lolz] 24
Other Stats: AP US: 4, AP Lang: 3
Senior Classes: AP French, AP Lit, AB Calc, AP Art, American Foreign Policy, Film Studies</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: Made my college counselor cry. PM if you’d like to read it.
Barnard Essays: Had typos, but were very honest. Do some reserch, talk about a professor you’d like to study with.
EC’s: Figure Skating, Yearbook (editor in chief), Art (art club president, photography commissions, school paper photographer), Youth in Government (outstanding statesman, Presider), Community Service Leader, Speech and Debate (speech captain, NFL degree of excellence), School Chorus, NHS, NFHS, Girl Scouts (silver award), French Club.
Teacher Rec’s: One should be good, the other I wrote myself.
Counselor Rec’s: My college counselor loves me.
Major Awards: none really. Art Award, Outstanding Statesman, NFL degree of excellence
Hook (if any): I’ve gone through hell and turned out just fine.
Interview: I talked about how awesome it was that Barnard had access to the resources of an Ivy League school. It’s safe to say I put both feet in my mouth. I kept digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole.</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: SC
School Type: 96 in graduating class, episcopal private school
Ethnicity: did not list, but white</p>
<p>I’m a true believer that no one is a “shoe-in” any more. There’s a reason Barnard stats are so low (well, let’s be fair, they’re NOT low by many, many standards! In fact, the only standards by which they are low are Ivies and very competitive LACs). Barnard’s range is 1910-2170 on the SAT front and a 3.8-4.0 on the unweighted GPA range. Columbia and Barnard share that they want to see people perform in the classroom. But when I visited Barnard’s admission meeting, I remember that the woman in charge of international admissions said that the ad coms look at the essays first (I remember this distinctly because it was striking! I didn’t believe them) and the people who have the great essays happen to have huge SAT scores. figureskater and the others sold themselves and stood out. Barnard is not a fallback school. Barnard is not just some other school. Barnard does not flaunt its reputation extravagantly; Barnard is humble. But I don’t need to tell you guys that since you all are probably EDers and know how awesome Barnard is! Barnard, however, is NOT a stat school. There are four supp essays plus two common app essays. I really didn’t shop around at many others schools, but from what I’ve heard from my friends, that is a LOT of essays. But just think about that range of SAT scores: that’s the middle 50%; 25% of students received LOWER than a 1910. I’m sure that Barnard receives many applicants that over-qualify in terms of SATs and GPA (Just look on the RD results thread from last year; you’ll be blown away!). However, Barnard is about fit and not numbers.</p>
<p>To those of you turned away or denied, I really do think you’ll be successful! Hold your head tall be CONFIDENT that you’re smart and beautiful. There are plenty of colleges out there that will be begging for you and will be a great, fun place to attend!</p>
<p>DECISION: ACCEPTED!!</p>
<p>STATS
GPA:92
Rank:N/A
SAT I: 2080 (690 math, 710 reading, 730 writing)
SAT II: Biology(E) 750, US History 710
ACT:31
Other Stats: AP Music theory, AP Biology, AP US, and AP Art history (5’s on everything except music, I got a 4) and taking AP Environmental, AP Lit and AP Euro this year</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: It was a little weird, but I was pleased with it
Barnard Essays: I kept rewriting them…the final draft was written 20 minutes before I sent it…but I was generally pleased with them
EC’s: I worked in a jellyfish behavior lab this past summer, I’ve played piano for 11 years, I started a club for Save the Children at school, I’m part of a community service theater thing, I paint sets for the school plays, I have a receptionist job
Teacher Rec’s: They were amazing…I love my teachers <3
Counselor Rec’s: I don’t know him that well. It was probably good.
Major Awards: AP scholar with Honor, Columbia Alumni Association Book Award thing
Hook (if any): My dad works at Columbia =)
Interview: My foot was in my mouth. I basically said I wanted to go to Columbia and took it back…</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: NY
School Type: Public high school in a wealthy suburb
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese) </p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections: Whoohoo!!! I didn’t think I could get in…other people were so much more qualified than me. For all those girls who waiting on a decision and are reading this and freaking out that they have no chance: THERE IS HOPE! IT’LL ALL BE OK!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Figureskater, it’s about the whole app, not the “stats”. You probably have a strong essay, great recs, and a good story to tell. If you have skated at a fairly high competitive level (such as participating at nationals, even if you didn’t win) - that might also have been something of a hook. Your SAT’s are very close to what my daughter’s were – actually your SAT is slightly higher, ACT somewhat lower. My daughter submitted ACT’s only because she didn’t want to have to disclose the SAT II’s. </p>
<p>I posted my d’s stats after she was admitted to encourage others – and at the time also encountered CC’ers who were disbelieving or assumed that there must be some special undisclosed hook. A few were quite rude. </p>
<p>I think people get way too obsessed with stats, especially test scores. It is true that on average, your stats will put you on the lower end of the spectrum of entering students – but there will always be someone on the lower end of the spectrum. (I don’t think you have to be a math genius to figure out that there will always be a lower half of students on any metric as well as an upper half). </p>
<p>My d. did comment after she started at Barnard that she had never met so many people who were so obsessed with their own SAT scores – too many people started conversations by asking her scores (ha, ha). She learned to deflect and change the subject. That kind of talk was gone pretty quickly, probably as soon as students took their first midterms and faced reality. When she was graduating, it was a running joke with her and her closest friends, who had much higher test scores than her but significantly lower college GPA’s. By the time second semester rolls around, some of those people with amazing SAT scores have rather embarrassing GPA’s… and people stop talking about stats. </p>
<p>Anyway, congratulations! I’m sure you will have a wonderful academic career at Barnard. Don’t fret about the others who were turned away – the Barnard admissions committee is looking at applicants individually, making a decision about each one – not weighing one set of stats against the other. They saw something they really liked in your app, and decided to admit you despite weaker-than-typical test scores. It’s possible that whatever was in your essay was the moving factor, if you have overcome some hardship or significant challenges in your life. </p>
<p>One thing the Barnard admissions committee wants is a really interesting class. They look for diversity, not just in terms of ethnicity or geography, but also a diversity of interests and back stories. You stood out to them, whereas some applicants with better stats didn’t. But those applicants with the better stats will have a lot of opportunities in the RD round that you wouldn’t have – they will get into schools with a more stat-focused approach that would have rejected you straight off the bat. My d was surprised when she got into reach colleges but was wait listed at schools that she thought were matches – but I think those match schools were more focused on the numbers, so the results make sense to me in hindsight – though of course at the time we were thinking that chances at a “match” would be better than at a “reach”.</p>
<p>Has anyone out there who lives west of the Mississippi actually received a letter in the mail?</p>
<p>DECISION: ACCEPTED! :D</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: 3.9 (unweighted) 4.2 (weighted)
Rank: top 3%
SAT I: 2000
ACT: 30
Other Stats: AP Lang & Comp (4) AP Psych (5), now taking AP Bio. Tons of Honors Classes (School has block scheduling, so limited options for classes)</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: Awesome I believe. My dad cried lol
Barnard Essays: Good, had them read and checked over, told them exactly how I felt
EC’s:
Varsity Soccer (all 4 years, Captain, MVP)
Varsity Track (Ran in Penn Relays, fastest 400 time on team)
English Honor Society
Latin Honor Society (President)
Science Honor Society (Secretary)
Travel Club
Women’s Issues Group
The Flock (School Spirit Club)
Tutor at Enopi Learning Center in Brooklyn
SAT Tutor
Have a job
Teacher Rec’s: Awesome, one put all “one of the best I’ve ever seen” and was my bio and anatomy teacher since freshman year and other had to make font smaller just to fit it on one page (she was my psych and ap psych teacher)
Counselor Rec’s: Great. One of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me. Took a lot of time for it, went around and quoted what others teachers said
Major Awards: Voted one of the top soccer players in Mercer County 2 years in a row, Played in Hall of Fame soccer game for Mercer County.
Hook (if any): Im Puerto Rican?</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: New Jersey
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic</p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS: First generation, and I guess I’m a pretty rounded person. Very good interview as well.
General Comments & reflections: I AM SO HAPPY ITS UNBELIEVABLE. This is my #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 top choice school, and it was so great to know i was admitted. Congrats to all the others! And for those deferred and rejected… KEEP TRYING, don’t even give up and keep on truckin’ 
See you all in the FALL!</p>
<p>Hey Everyone! Just in case you haven’t seen, Barnard has created a page on facebook for the class of 15 since groups are kinda weird with new facebook. Everyone should join!</p>
<p>Here is the link:
[Barnard</a> Class of 2015 | Facebook](<a href=“Redirecting...”>Redirecting...)</p>
<p>For those that look at this next year… I could access the admitted students website on Tuesday night (December 14th) with my tracking ID number. My envelope came on the 3rd day after mailing (December 16th) - not in regular mail but via delivery. It arrived about 6 hours after the regular mail and was sitting on my front door step.</p>
<p>DECISION: ACCEPTED</p>
<p>STATS:
GPA: 3.85/4.0
Rank: HS does not rank
SAT I: 2030 (720/700/610)
SAT II: Bio E 730, US Hist. 730
ACT: 31
Other Stats: APs: Eng Lang, Lit, Bio & US History. (AP scholar) Honors Mandarin - No…I’m not of Asian decent and no one speaks it at home. Also, some German and I really want to learn Arabic. My school limits APs & Honors so you can’t take very many.</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: Didn’t really love this essay and it had a major grammatical flaw. I made a grammar choice for the purpose of emphasis that looked like a good idea at the time, however, 2 weeks after I sent in my app I felt stupid.
Barnard Essays: These were from the heart. I wrote about my school banning a book, Benazir Bhutto, and how my Barnard interview was what made me decide that Barnard was my top choice. I spent more time on these than my common app essay.
EC’s: NHS, Band/Color Guard (Lt.), Theater (several leads, student director), Soccer - HS & Select Travel Team, Volunteer at local hospital 3 hours per week, hosted an exchange student, lots of science programs and volunteer work.
Teacher Rec’s: I waived my rights, as is required by my school, but I think they were pretty good. Because I was so heavy on science I asked my AP English teacher to do one of the rec’s so that they would see a balance.
Counselor Rec’s: Knew me well and took the trouble to come see me do a presentation at a science seminar for middle school students. I it was pretty good.
Major Awards: Intel ISEF - Grand Awards in Category x 2 years in a row, multiple special awards, 2 international trips; Siemens Semi-Finalist; ISWEEEP Silver Medalist; State House of Representatives Resolution of Commendation; plus a bunch of State and Regional level science awards;<br>
Hook (if any): none</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: Texas
School Type: Parochial
Ethnicity: White</p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections: My stats are just okay but I think the EC’s, Volunteer Work, and Awards helped. I found the school essays - including the “Why Barnard” essay to be the easiest to write. My Dad made me physically put “boots to ground” to Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, MIT, Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Boston College, Boston University, Emerson, Drexel, Dartmouth, USNA, Wellesley, Barnard, Columbia, Cornell, Colgate, Gettysburg, NYU, Fordham, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Penn, Lehigh, SMU, A & M, Texas, Rice, Vassar, Swarthmore, Bucknell, & Ithaca College. I had also done summer programs at UTSA, Charles University & American University. I narrowed my list to 5 and he made me visit them all a second time before he would let me apply ED. Barnard was not a pragmatic choice (I have scholarships to several other colleges) but was my true first choice. I feel very lucky!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Am I reading this right… that you wrote your own rec? Or I’m assuming you mean “read”? o_O
By the way, congrats everyone! :]</p>
<p>Either that or the teacher said “write one and I will sign it”.</p>
<p>My teacher had an extensive “recommendation application.” I didn’t realize what I was getting in to when I asked her for a rec, but I ended up writing like 3 pages for her. She basically just changes everything I wrote from first person to third person. I was annoyed.</p>
<p>That is one lazy teacher! Sad!</p>
<p>DECISION: ACCEPTED!!! (finally…my letter refused to show up)</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: 4.59 weighted, 3.88 unweighted
Rank: 29 of 279
SAT I: 670 math, 730 writing, 760 reading
SAT II: 660 chem, 680 us history
ACT: n/a
Other Stats: </p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: definitely solid
Barnard Essays: really good
EC’s: cross country all-state, track all-state, theater, music
Teacher Rec’s: great
Counselor Rec’s: good i think
Major Awards: not that i can think of
Hook (if any): nope</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: north carolina
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white</p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections: I’M SO EXCITED!!!</p>
<p>My code worked tuesday (dec. 14), but my letter didn’t arrive until saturday (dec. 18).</p>
<p>DECISION: Accepted!!!</p>
<p>STATS
GPA: 94.98 (“bad” grades (lower “b”'s) focused in language (latin) and math classes.)
Rank: 32
SAT I: R: 650 W: 750 M: 610
SAT II: LIT: 650 USH: 570 (horrid, I know)
Other Stats:
-AP SCORES: APUSH: 4 ENG LANG&COMP: 4
-CURRENT AP CLASSES: art history, english, gov, eco, calculus ab</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:
Common Application Essays: amazing, if I do say so myself. I wrote about being German and Jewish, and being able to fully identify with both sides of history. I would consider myself a strong writer, and this definitely showed in this essay.</p>
<p>Barnard Essays: I also thought these were very good, and I made sure that my “voice” was in them. For my woman, I picked Jean Louise “Scout” Finch (as her now 80 yr. old self); I’ve traveled a lot every summer of my life, and I wrote about how everywhere I’ve been and everyone I’ve met has had some sort of role in making me who I am; I feel my A. Quindlen was my weakest, but others have told me it was good, so I dont know what to think; and my “how I found out about Barnard” was very “me”, as you could definitely hear my voice in it. </p>
<p>EC’s: [besides my writing and awards, a very strong part of my application.]
-Editor-in-Chief of my school’s paper
-Vice President of Student Council
-School Representative (I give tours and presentations to incoming freshmen)
-NHS
-Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society)
-Latin Club category specialist (sight recitation) I’ve won many area, state, and national awards for this.
-President and Founder of a book club
-Interact Club
-GT (gifted and talented)
-Band (clarinet)
-BBYO vice president, historian, and secretary
-Teen Art Guide at a local art museum
-lots of volunteer work
-Administrative assistant at a local real estate company during my breaks </p>
<p>Teacher Rec’s: both teachers really loved me, so I’m sure they were great.</p>
<p>Counselor Rec’s: I dont know my councilor as well as my teachers, but I’m sure it was good.</p>
<p>Interview: There were no alumnae near me, so I had a phone interview. My interviewer mainly just asked me if I had any questions about the school or the application process, and we talked about Barnard. And in the end, she agree that Barnard is the perfect place for me <3 so, I think that was a good sign. </p>
<p>Major Awards:
-National Junior Classical League 1st place impromptu art
-National Junior Classical League 1st place computer manipulated photography
-Texas State Junior Classical League 1st place sight recitation level II
-Area JCL 1st place sight recitation levels I and II
-National History Day state qualifier for documentary (1st place in area)
-recognized by my school district’s board of trustees (for my achievement at latin nationals)
-National Council of Teacher of English Achievement Award in Writing nominee
-Purple Peacock Award for excellence at the art museum I work at
[these are basically just the main ones]</p>
<p>Hook (if any):
-I bring an interesting perspective with my German/Jewish background (as per my common app essay)
-from TX (if this counts as one?)</p>
<p>LOCATION
State or Country: Texas
School Type: Public, Magnet school focusing on careers in the healthcare field
Ethnicity: white
Citizenship: USA/German
FA: good</p>
<p>OTHER FACTORS:
General Comments & reflections:
I know my scores on paper aren’t as high as some of those who were accepted or denied, but I think my applied knowledge–the awards and achievements I’ve had–make up for that. </p>
<p>Though I was pretty sure I knew I was in tuesday (with my code working and all), I was still a bit skeptical for the past few days. But I think that’s mainly because I’ve been in shock for the past week. I’ve always said “I want” or “I will” to go to NY for school, but now “I AM”. It’s been an odd concept to wrap my head around. (Odd, but amazing, exciting, euphoric, and about a million other adjectives) But I’m ultra excited for the next four years! It makes all the sleepless nights worth it!</p>
<p>figureskater: do you think i could read your essay as well? or if you could read mine?</p>
<p>bump bump bump bump</p>