<p>I figured that it would be nice if there was a thread for those of us who are applying as transfers…</p>
<p>great idea! I am applying as a transfer for fall 2008 as a sophmore.</p>
<p>Me too! Is this your first time applying to Barnard?</p>
<p>I'm applying for Junior standing for the fall semester. I applied last year and didn't get in, but I'm a sucker for punishment. Hopefully having another year of college under my belt with a constant upward trend will help me out. :D</p>
<p>yup, ive never applied before.</p>
<p>I will be applying as a sophomore for Fall 08 as well. I've essentially finished essays but am putting off asking a prof for a rec. I can't decide who to ask! (and I'm scared.)</p>
<p>I had the same problem, May. But I finally just forced myself to e-mail my professor and it turns out she was more than happy to help me out. I'm sure one of your professor's would be willing to help you out gladly!</p>
<p>I hope so. I'd like to ask my winter term teacher, but I only had him for three weeks and it might strike him as odd that I ask him. Plus, so much is at stake! Ah! </p>
<p>At any rate, good luck ladies! I hope we find out at least slightly before May 15.</p>
<p>May- I completely understand how you feel. I was pretty nervous about asking my professors for recommendations too. However, I just bit the bullet and it turns out they were 100% supportive. Just get it over with as soon as possible! Soon is better than later because they may get grumpy if you ask them too close to the deadline! Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi all, I was a transfer student last fall so I was in your place a year ago. I rarely get on this website anymore but I randomly decided to the other night and saw this thread and thought I'd post and let you know that if you have any questions I am more than willing to try to answer them, being a student who has gone through the process :)</p>
<p>As far as asking for rec letters from your professors, I was a little bit scared to ask my professors last year as well, but I found that all of them were very happy to write letters for me and they were actually very supportive of my hopes to transfer to Barnard. So don't worry too much and like someone said on here already, try to get it done as early as you can so that they have a sufficient amount of time to write a great rec for you!</p>
<p>Best of luck to you all!</p>
<p>Hey Dancer2436! Okay, so I have a few questions that I can think of at this moment:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How easy/difficult has it been to integrate with people in your class who came as first years? What kind of support is available for transfers?</p></li>
<li><p>If you know anything about financial aid: is Barnard generous with its aid? I mean, I don't expect the whole Harvard "anyone whose family makes under 60 grand gets full tuition" aid, but do they meet 100% need? Is this need met with tons of loans and work study or are there a good amount of grants mixed in? I would be crushed if I got accepted this time but couldn't afford it one bit.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My D is less than thrilled with Univ of Mich--too big a school and too small a town. I would love to hear more about the experience of being a transfer student. Also, how is the housing at Barnard? Where are those of you who are consdering transferring coming from?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have a sense for what it takes to transfer? Is it easier or harder than applying from HS?</p>
<p>I'm hoping to transfer from a state school in PA. It's basically a slacker school so I really want to get out. </p>
<p>I'm not sure if it's easier to transfer in or not though. :/ I'd think it's just as competitive, though, because they get a few hundred transfer apps and only accept about 150 or so if I remember the statistics correctly.</p>
<p>Abric1, I am applying from Ohio State. Go Buckeyes ;-)!</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's advice regarding letters! </p>
<p>I still, however, have yet to ask anyone. Which is very out of character. I usually request things obnoxiously early. Perhaps some of you can help me with my very silly dilemma. </p>
<p>I am thinking of asking my winter term teacher for my rec. I took a class called "Jihad in a Historical and Global Prospective" and LOVED it. The teacher actually did undergrad and grad at Columbia and when I mentioned I was interested in Barnard he seemed supportive. He actually asked me why I wanted to transfer, because he thought I was a junior. When I expressed I was a freshman he said that was "very impressive." So I know he thinks I have some semblance of intelligence. I did well in the class and was really the only freshman, or even female to actually speak up in class. He told me that I should email him links to the programs I was looking into (poli sci and human rights) and that he would look up who was in charge of them and if he knew anyone who had any experience with them. He never got back to me. Surely it just slipped his mind. But I'm neurotic about the situation and take it personally. I am worried if I email him AGAIN asking him to do something that will take even more time, he won't exactly be willing.</p>
<p>Now, I'm fairly certain the reason I'm scared to ask him for a recommendation is because he's easy on the eyes and I probably have a mild crush. However, I am telling myself it's because he will not really be too into writing it since I only had him for a three-week course (which was fairly rigorous, three hour class everyday and 50-60 pages of reading a night and I got an A). </p>
<p>Would it be wiser to ask a teacher I had for an entire semester? As I said before, there is just so much at stake so I am having an impossible time just deciding who to ask. </p>
<p>(I had an article as the front page feature story in the student paper this week, and I was only excited because perhaps he would see it and remember "Oh! Right! I need to inquire about the course of that girl's entire future." No luck yet. )</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>Personally, I'd go for it. He was the one who volunteered to help out in the first place, so I think he'd be willing to do it if you e-mailed him again. Professors tend to be busy people, so I'm sure there's a good reason why he didn't e-mail you back. However, a good professor will usually always try to help their students if they can. You're prof sounds genuinely interested in what you're trying to do, and judging from your success in his class, I don't see any reason why he would refuse.</p>
<p>I know it's still scary, but I hope this helps. I was super shy about my rec too. I actually went down to my history professor's office the first time and chickened out and just walked back out of the building! But when I forced myself to go see her, she was so excited that I was looking at Barnard and was very encouraging.</p>
<p>That's so helpful. I'm very grateful for your encouragement and I'm going to shoot him a carefully composed email sometime this weekend. So if I do end up at Barnard, it will be in part thanks to you! </p>
<p>Thanks again and GOOD LUCK TO YOU :) Good luck to all of you!
Also, I'm currently at Elon University in NC.</p>
<p>Hey re-nuh & anyone else who posted a question... sorry for taking a little bit to answer, I've been extremely busy lately, with midterms and all! But here goes...</p>
<p>In terms of integrating, it has been an absolute breeze. Barnard seems to really love transfers and the school does an amazing job of welcoming transfers into the community and really making us feel like we are a part of the school and our respective class (in my case, class of 2010). As a Fall transfer, I had lots of different orientation events that I was able to attend and the administration, faculty, students, etc. were very encouraging and welcoming to transfers. Within the first week we went through different events, we met our advisors and set up appointments with them to discuss our programs, etc. My RA was also really awesome in helping me feel at home at Barnard and confident in my decision to transfer. </p>
<p>All in all, I really do think that when I first moved in, (though I was nervous at first) Barnard helped me become excited rather than nervous about my decision to transfer here, and it really helped me kick off a great year as I had a very smooth and pretty successful transfer. I definitely would attribute this to Barnard's efforts to integrate transfers and give us a place in the school. I have many friends who are transfers, since I live in the dorm that has two floors completely filled with transfers (which was another upside, I live with people who understand what I am going through), but I also have lots of friends who came to Barnard as first years. I have friends who I met in class and a lot of my friends I have met through involvement in various organizations across Barnard and Columbia's campuses.</p>
<p>In short, I am VERY happy that I transferred!</p>
<p>I am not completely sure about financial aid, but from what I hear, Barnard is great with providing for families who need it. You might want to call the financial aid office and talk to them. I know that they have a need analysis formula that takes into account all sources of income and other assets. I do know that Barnard gives need based financial aid only, and no merit scholarships. Definitely call the financial aid office... they are VERY helpful and nice! Maybe someone else with a little bit more knowledge will post on here. Sorry I can't help as much in that area!</p>
<p>Let me know if there are any more questions!</p>
<p>Wow, Dancer. That takes a bit of the load off of my mind. I'm a pretty shy person, so I was kind of worried about how I'd be able to integrate myself at Barnard (willing that I get in, of course). </p>
<p>I don't really know if I have any pressing questions at the moment. </p>
<p>How's everyone doing on their applications? I'm pretty much done. I just have to submit my supplement, and I plan on getting my secondary school report when I go home for spring break next week. I'm kind of obsessing over the supplement essays though, because I get the feeling that they're kind of a big deal. lol</p>