<p>So, I’m debating if I should apply to Barnard Early Decision. I really really want to, but is there is any reason I shouldn’t? What are the pros, cons, etc?</p>
<p>Calmom has created several excellent posts about why NOT to apply ED. You should read them…</p>
<p>Really the only situation in which I could see someone applying ED is if you have fantastic grades and good scores and no critical need for financial aid, and you really just want to know early if you are admitted or not. And of course if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Barnard is your school.</p>
<p>Barnard is my dream school but it’s a reach for me mainly because of my gpa (I’m enrolled in full IB though). Do you think ED gives a significantly greater chance of getting in than RD (not taking the fin aid into account, i’d rather get into barnard with a crappy fin aid package than not get in at all RD)?</p>
<p>NO I do not think that ED gives you advantage with a weaker GPA. And Calmom would use even bigger, bolder letters for that NO if she could!</p>
<p>It’s easy to make the assumption that ED is somehow “easier” to get into, because the acceptance rate is higher. But if you reason it out, and as Calmom has pointed out so well in other posts, it really makes no sense for the Barnard adcom to accept someone ED with lower stats and then potentially pass someone over in RD who might be better qualified. It’s my own sense that ED might work for someone with a great GPA and maybe just good standardized test scores, but again, why would they do that??</p>
<p>ED is of benefit to Barnard because they can potentially “lock in” very well-qualified students who clearly want to go there. And those students benefit by having the decision out of the way. But if you think you might be on the borderline of who they would accept, wait until RD so you can have an additional semester of fantastic grades to show them!</p>
<p>If you are really serious about ED…why not visit Barnard and try to talk with someone in admissions about your situation and see what their advice might be?</p>
<p>I’m applying ED–and correct me if I’m wrong–but I’m the right kind of person to be applying ED:</p>
<p>-No finaid needed-big one!
-REALLY WANT TO GO (went to 2 summer programs there)
-legacy
-statistics a bit above barnard’s average-2300 sat, 95 gpa</p>
<p>and finally, I just want to get the process over with!</p>
<p>so if you’re like me, apply ED</p>
<p>There are a lot of arguments about whether or not applying ED affects your chances of getting in. Maybe I’m wrong, but those arguments are for the most part formed around speculation. I feel compelled to point out that I was accepted ED with below average GPA and SAT scores by Barnard’s standards. I’m not saying it helped or hurt me, but it is possible to get in ED with lower scores. </p>
<p>That being said, applying to Barnard ED was hands down the best choice I made senior year. Initially, Barnard wasn’t my dream school, but when I asked myself where I’d go if I got into every school on my list, the answer was clear. Barnard became my first choice. Don’t take the decision lightly, but eventually you have to choose where you want to go to school. Whether or not they wanted me, I wanted to know. I skipped almost 6 months of anticipation. Things worked out for me, and I knew before christmas where I was going to school. I had friends who got rejected from other schools ED. That happens, but at least they could stop clinging to their dream. If you have a clear first choice and don’t need financial aid, ED is definitely something to consider. </p>
<p>Also, at least for me, first semester of senior year was a painful period of my life. It really does get better. Try not to get bogged down, and remember what’s important to you. Feel free to PM me with more questions.</p>
<p>Thanks, figureskater, for your post. It’s always great to get a real life point of view! </p>
<p>Have fun at Barnard!!! You must be heading up pretty soon, right? We are making a long-weekend trip up to the City in mid September, and definitely want to go to campus since we have not been there since our daughter graduated in 09. Maybe I will see you there! :)</p>
<p>So… ah. I’m on the borderline. I am stuck in that “lower than average GPA” situation, but I know that if I got rejected ED at least I’d stop clinging to my dream. Money’s really tight right now and I live on the West Coast so there’s no way I could visit. Would it be a good idea to ask during my Barnard interview, or would it look bad?</p>
<p>Thanks for all your answers btw!!!</p>
<p>Are you doing an alumna interview near you? If so, I should think your best bet would be to call the admissions office and just see if they can talk to you about this. I think it demonstrates how very much you want to go to Barnard, and you just honestly want to know whether your best shot would be Early Admission or not.</p>
<p>Thing is, the financial part of it really concerns me. If money is indeed tight for your family, it may well be a tough go for you. Are you prepared to graduate with some debt? Possibly a lot if it? Also, you won’t really know how much financial aid you are getting until next summer. And it can and will change year to year. </p>
<p>Applying RD will at least give you a chance to compare the aid packages offered between schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, since I live on the West Coast, I’m going to request a alumna interview. I’m nervous about calling the admissions office but thank you for your advice, I’m going to try to work up the courage to call them. :)</p>
<p>Money is just tight right now. Normally, it’s alright. My parents are aware of how pricey Barnard is and they keep assuring me that they’ll be able to pay it. And I’m willing to take out as many loans if needed just to go to Barnard. My parents and I both agree I’d rather go to Barnard on a lower financial aid offer than another school with a higher one.</p>
<p>Your interviewer almost certainly will not be able truly advise you about this. Don’t be afraid to call admissions, though. They have always been very nice as far as i know!</p>
<p>Jennifer, if you are applying for financial aid, you should not apply ED. It sounds like your family’s income fluctuates somewhat, which is exactly the worst situation for predicting financial aid. It is ignorant and short-sighted statement to say, “I’m willing to take out as many loans as needed.” In the first place, as a student you are only going to qualify for a limited amount of funding, which is probably less than the amount required to cover tuition at Barnard for a single semester. If the financial aid package requires you to take more than the amount you are eligible for, then it is your parents – not you – who will be taking those loans.</p>
<p>Secondly, loans have to be paid back. The more loans you take, the more you limit your post graduate opportunities. So anyone who enters college with the idea that they have no limits on what they are willing to borrow is not really thinking clearly. </p>
<p>Finally, if your parents don’t have the money to pay for a single trip to the east coast to interview, then they clearly have significant financial limitations, no matter what they say. My finances are such that my daughter qualified for Pell grants for half the time she was at Barnard, but flying her out for an interview was no big deal. I’d note that my daughter flew out alone, made all travel arrangements on her own an also arranged for places to stay; she also visited DC in the same trip. But round trip air fare was a drop in the bucket compared to all of the other costs related to college. </p>
<p>I am sure that your parents mean well, but if money is too “tight” for you to visit NY now, I hardly see how you can have a cavalier attitude about financial aid at Barnard. </p>
<p>I want to be clear that I am not saying that you should visit Barnard. They won’t hold it against you if you can’t visit. I’m just responding to the fact that your family apparently sees the cost of cross-country travel to be a barrier. That’s fine, that’s a lot of money to many people, but it tells me that you really, truly need to compare financial aid offers when considering where you go to college. </p>
<p>Quite simply, your attitude isn’t fair to your parents. I did borrow money to send my daughter to Barnard, and I am glad I did – but there was no way that I was going to borrow anything without being able to compare awards. You don’t know what their true financial picture is going to be next spring, and you don’t know what your range of options may be. If you are the first kid in your family going off to college, your parents may also have naive and uninformed ideas about what they can expect from financial aid. Do they even know what their FAFSA EFC is? Do they understand that that amount is simply a number that determines eligibility for federal aid, and that in most cases students have to pay much more than their FAFSA EFC to attend college?</p>
<p>Yeah, they do. I understand what you mean though. I’m not exactly sure how to explain my family’s situation, but there was just an incident, and we’re slowly building ourselves back up to our regular state. I think I have decided to apply RD, but I am still willing to pay loans back for the rest of my life for a good education. I’d rather go to Barnard on a low financial aid package rather than a safety school with a full scholarship. There’s just way too much of a difference on the education factor for me to pass up, and my parents agree with me. But your explanation has got me looking into other colleges, because before I was pretty much set on Barnard. I still am but… yeah. Thank you!</p>
<p>Jenniferdances, I am proud of you for being willing to open your mind to other possibilities. Of course, I really hope that you are admitted to Barnard RD with a great Fin Aid package and are able to attend. But i am sure that, wherever you go, you will do well with such a great “teachable” attitude!!</p>
<p>Best to you!</p>
<p>I think TreeHugga has the correct response to the should I apply ED question:
“and finally, I just want to get the process over with!”</p>
<p>In all other situations follow Calmom’s advice. Everybody, regardless of ED/RD status, starts on Tuesday after Labor Day.</p>
<p>
Life is like that. There might be another “incident” next March, and/or the building back up may go a lot more “slowly” than expected. I wouldn’t count on anything in the current economy.</p>
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<p>Good choice, I am glad you have come around to that decision.</p>
<p>
“rest of my life” reflects a short-sighted view – you might have a very different perspective when your “life” involves a partner, children, the desire to buy a home. The federal student loan system is built around a 10-year pay off. Of course some people take longer than that to pay off their loans, but I don’t think anyone should sign on for the loan unless they have a reasonable expectation of paying it off within that period. Because, as noted, life happens. Your needs and expenses at age 32 are going to be very different – you shouldn’t be saddled with student loan debt for an undergraduate degree when you are in your mid-30’s. </p>
<p>You can get an excellent education at many colleges. </p>
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<p>There is a cost differential involved, and you can’t know what that is until you have seen all your options. I was willing to pay roughly +$10-$15K a year for my daughter to attend Barnard over and above the cost of our state university; I would not have been willing to pay $25K-$30K a year. I couldn’t know what the cost differential was until we had all options in front of us. </p>
<p>I’d note that my life has taken a few unexpected turns after my daughter graduated. I paid off all my loans within a year after she graduated, and I am glad that I did, because I’m currently facing new expenses that I had not thought about or anticipated. </p>
<p>Meanwhile my daughter is looking at funding sources for grad school, because I am in no position to finance that next step, and my daughter can’t get anywhere with her current career aspirations without a graduate degree. She’s got a great job right now, but it just a stepping stone. </p>
<p>Your statement reflects blanket, black & white thinking and overvaluing an abstract concept (“good education”). Barnard is going to expect you to be capable of analytical and nuanced thinking, so you might as well start now. It is not “good education” vs. “bad education” – nor is it an all or nothing proposition on the finances. </p>
<p>The other fallacy is the idea that ED is some sort of magic ticket to acceptance. I’ve run the math before, I’m not going to do it again, but roughly 80-85% of all students accepted to Barnard receive their notices during the RD round. Roughly 2/3 of those students end up turning Barnard down, which is why the much smaller segment of ED admits make up a larger proportion of the entering class. </p>
<p>It certainly makes sense for you to apply to Barnard – as well as to an array of other schools that can offer a strong education. Apply to a couple of safeties and then, in addition to Barnard, look for other schools that have a reputation for offering a rigorous education, if that is what you want. Don’t limit yourself to schools that are ranked highly on US News or have a lot of prestige – look for the hidden gems as well. The BEST way to guarantee that you will be able to attend a college that offers an excellent education is to set yourself up with a good array of choices, especially among match or likely schools. </p>
<p>Whether you apply RD or ED, the odds are that you will be turned down from Barnard, as they are with just about any other student. That is, Barnard turns away many more qualified students than it accepts, as is true with most other highly selective colleges. So you can’t really talk about costs and the value of a good education when you don’t know what your options are. The best way to increase your odds of getting into a college that offers the type of education you are looking for is to expand your options and apply to a broader range of excellent colleges where you have a reasonable chance of acceptance. </p>
<p>I will say that my daughter had safeties and reach schools, and I don’t think there was a “bad” school among her choices. Your “safeties” may be different than hers, but my point is that when my daughter accepted her spot at Barnard, she turned down 8 other spots at other colleges that also had the potential of offering a good education. Some would have cost more to attend, some would have cost less. But the point is, she had a good array of choices. If it had not been Barnard, it would have been another college she would have been proud to attend.</p>
<p>Calmom makes all good points. I will add this: if you go into the biological/biomedical sciences and expect to go on for a PhD, Barnard is an excellent undergrad institution. We consider that our daughter’s PhD (which is her first-choice and a fully funded program) is pretty much being paid for by her undergrad tuition at Barnard. We are sure she had such great options open to her at graduation BECAUSE she attended Barnard. And in her case, I am not even sure she would ever have even considered neuroscience as a major if she was not attending Barnard.</p>
<p>This is not to say that you cannot get a great education elsewhere. It’s just that in our 20/20 hindsight, we are blessed to know she was where she was meant to be.</p>
<p>I am sure you will be as well!</p>
<p>Thanks so much!
:)</p>