Hello! I’m a first-year student at Wellesley, and though I acknowledge it’s a bit early, I believe I would like to transfer to Barnard in the upcoming year. Throughout the summer, I began to realize my strong desire to be located directly in an urban city. I’m definitely planning on sticking it out this upcoming year here, but I believe Barnard’s just a bit more akin to where my happiness lies (I didn’t apply senior year for context though I wish I did).
Would I potentially come from an advantageous position as a student transferring from Wellesley? This is of course assuming I maintain a solid GPA and get involved in ECs. I’m also planning on applying to a few other institutions with urban campuses, but Barnard is one of my tops.
Your application will need to make it clear why you need to be at Barnard. Wanting to be in the city won’t be enough. If your grades are good and you can write a convincing statement, you probably have a decent shot.
While a compelling reason beyond location will help an applicant’s chances for admission as a transfer student, I wonder if this is true with respect to Barnard College. Seems like a desire to be in NYC combined with an interest in a liberal arts education along with strong qualifications might be enough. A strong academic record from Wellesley College removes any doubt about the applicant’s ability to handle the work at Barnard College.
The obvious question might be why would one want to transfer to a lower ranked LAC to which location seems to be a reasonable & convincing response.
I don’t think coming from Wellesley will give you a better chance.
The question you need to answer is why and how will a woman’s college located in NYC provide you with a materially different situation than a woman’s college located outside of Boston? Barnard knows it’s in an urban location/NYC and that it’s a part of Columbia so that’s not going to carry any weight. They’re both LACs, focus on empowering women and so forth.
What if the transfer applicant stressed / emphasized the benefits of living in NYC ?
I do not recommend focusing on just location, but I do think that it is a very valid reason for wanting to transfer.
Coming from Wellesley College should give a significant boost if the applicant’s grades earned at Wellesley are strong.
What if the transfer applicant was attempting to transfer from a small, rural LAC ? I think location would be a very convincing reason to transfer.
OP: Consider tying location of NYC to setting as Wellesley is a stand-alone all female school whereas Barnard College offers the best of both worlds–the advantages of a single sex education in a comfortably mixed sex setting with easy access to internships & to cultural opportunities.
P.S. I understand that Wellesley is in a suburban, not rural, location. My example of a rural location is just to emphasize my point that location is a valid reason for transferring–especially to or from NYC as NYC is truly unique in some respects that are relevant to career & to cultural development.
Possibly, the reality is that NYC and Boston are going to offer very similar opportunities, experiences, internships, cultural diversity etc…. If she can make a persuasive argument it could work.
It can but there are numerous schools located in urban environments, so it distills down to why Barnard. And Wellesley isn’t in a rural location.
My D just went through the transfer process and it’s definitely unpredictable. For example, an applicant on CC who applied to many of the same schools as my D was accepted to Yale but rejected by NYU, Barnard and Columbia. My D was accepted to reach schools but WLed at schools she felt she had a good chance at being accepted to.
I agree coming from a top LAC takes care of any concerns about academic rigor. However, I often wonder how much schools worry about that with transfers because many accepted students come from community colleges and it’s unlikely the classes there are as rigorous as classes from top schools in the country.