<p>Now that the acceptance letters are out and sent, I have a question to all the admitted ones: What do you think that made you a favorite in being accepted? What astonishing life experience, extracurricular activity… anything. I am really curious, especially after reading this <a href=“http://www.barnard.edu/newnews/news040204e.html[/url]”>http://www.barnard.edu/newnews/news040204e.html</a> . :)</p>
<p>umm how do you know the letters are out? the news is from 2004...</p>
<p>Letters aren't being sent out until Wednesday</p>
<p>er.... daughter chose Barnard because we like the way that Barnard keeps old news stories archived on its web site forever ????</p>
<p>Don't worry, I keep looking at old pages as if they were new. My daughter chose Barnard for several reasons. Her GC likes women's colleges. Barnard is in New York where her HS choir sang when she was a 9th grader. She felt very at home when she visited as a senior in HS.</p>
<p>still the article mentions some girls which had some exceptional achievements. And the question wasn't the classic "Why did you choose Barnard", but "Why did Barnard choose you?". ;)</p>
<p>Sorry about the misread of the question... but I want to add a precaution: </p>
<p>Every year, when admission decisions are made, every college puts out a little blurb highlighting some unusual accomplishments of admitted students -- I think last year for Barnard we had Chinese twin circus acrobats or something like that. Every college does it -- it's just a way to make these articles interesting. But these are admitted students... not enrolling students -- and the ones with the most impressive accomplishments are likely to be admitted elsewhere as well -- so the ones admitted in the spring are not necessarily the ones who show up in the fall. </p>
<p>Also, those little articles tend to exaggerate. I think last year the article also reported one applicant who had danced with a famous ballet company ... sounded quite impressive ... and then it turned out later that the reference may have been to a girl who participated in a summer intensive, which as all dancers know is a great opportunity but not especially remarkable or unusual. </p>
<p>I say that not to diminish the value of the student accomplishments in any way, but just to keep in mind that you don't really have to be a trapeze artist from Zanzibar to get noticed by the admission committee. So you don't need an "astonishing" life experience. </p>
<p>I did notice with my daughter's entering class that it seemed like a very high number of girls had international living experience -- either currently living abroad or having lived abroad for an extended period at some time in their lives. Many expressed an interest in studying foreign languages. And Barnard does admit a lot of girls who have a musical or dance background. (I drew this from information that admitted students posted about themselves on this board or the myspace group they formed). So I think it's fair to say that Barnard values performing arts and aims for diversity. </p>
<p>But we don't know who they turned away -- it is quite possible that for every dancer they admit, they turn away 3 others -- and that the arts/language focus is simply a reflection of the applicant pool. </p>
<p>My daughter chose to highlight her experiences living in Russia and her training and experience with dance and choreography in her applications -- so Barnard and the other colleges that admitted her would have done so on that basis.</p>
<p>Sorry, I misread it as well. I would use the lateness of the hour when I was posting as an excuse, but some people post at even more rediculous hours (see above). My D was accepted to Barnard simply on high GPA and high SATs. She had no leadership positions in HS and no strong sports or ECs. She is a good writer, but I don't know that Barnard knew that from her application essays.</p>
<p>My d had a high GPA and class standing, good scores, is an experienced dancer, a decent writer and is from a region (the Southeast) that is not well-represented at Barnard. She also visited several times and, I think, made it very clear that Barnard was her top choice.</p>