The
Benefits of a Women’s College
Academics
and Advising
The
Application Process
Requirements
for Home-schooled Students
Standardized
Tests
Policy on Deferring (taking a gap year)
The
Barnard-Columbia Connection
Residential
Life
Getting Involved
on Campus
Study
Abroad
Life
After Barnard
Class
of 2013 Profile
Questions
Pertaining to Transfer Applicants
Questions
Pertaining to International Applicants
The
Benefits of a Women’s College
Q:
What are the benefits of attending a women's college?
A: Barnard is unequivocally dedicated to
the success of women. Our faculty and administrators believe
that the potential contributions of women should be encouraged,
recognized, and realized. Furthermore, 64 percent of Barnard's
faculty is women, almost double the national average. Click
here for more facts on the benefits of women’s
college education.
(Forbes Magazine, August 2009, gives their take on why women's colleges are still relevant.)
Read (or join!) the discussion of women's colleges on the New York Times The Choice blog.
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Academics
and Advising
Q:
What is the size of your student body?
A: Approximately 2,300 undergraduate students.
Barnard does not offer graduate programs.
Q:
What is your faculty to student ratio?
A: 1-to-7.
Q: What are your most popular majors? What is Barnard
"known for"?
A: Majors with the highest concentration
of students are English, psychology, biology, economics,
and political science, though students can major in anything
from Anthropology to Dance, Religion to Behavioral Neuroscience.
Click
here for a complete list of majors.
Q: Are there courses specifically for
first year students?
A: First-year students have two foundation courses
that they must complete: First-year English and First-year
seminar. These courses are limited to 16 students per class
and are geared towards introducing students to college-level
work. First-year students are encouraged to explore their
academic interests and are able to take just about any class
offered at the College.
Students are also required to complete a set of general
education requirements organized around the "Nine Ways
of Knowing". For more information, click here click here.
Q: What is your advising program like?
A: We consider advising to be an integral part of
the Barnard experience. Entering first-year students are
hand-matched with an adviser who shares their academic interests.
Advisers meet one-on-one with students to help them choose
appropriate courses during orientation in the fall, and
throughout the year hold weekly office hours for any concerns
that may arise. When a student chooses a major, she will
select a major adviser to help her throughout the rest of
her course of study at Barnard.
Q: How can I study Pre-med/Pre-law/Pre-business?
A: Pre-professional programs are not majors at Barnard.
A student can major in any academic area and be a competitive
candidate when applying to professional graduate programs.
We encourage any student who is interested in pursuing professional
programs to speak with her adviser about appropriate courses
that graduate programs require. In addition, a dedicated
adviser for each pre-professional track is available in
the Office of
the Dean of Studies to assist with specific program
requirements.
Q: Can I receive credit for Advanced
Placement credits?
A: Yes, Barnard does grant credit for strong AP and IB exam scores. As much as a year of
degree credit (normally 30 points) may be awarded. Departmental
policies for Advanced Placement are outlined here.
Barnard's International Baccalaureate policy may be
found here.
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The Application
Process
Q: What are you looking for in an applicant?
A: The Committee on Admissions selects young women
of proven academic strength who exhibit the potential for
further intellectual growth. In addition to their high school
records, recommendations, and standardized test scores,
the candidates' special abilities and interests are also
given careful consideration. While admission is highly selective,
no one criterion determines acceptance.
A recommended
high school program would comprise four years of work in
English, three or more years in mathematics, three or four
years in a foreign language (ancient or modern), three or
more years in science with laboratory, and three years in
history. The remainder of the program would include additional
work in the aforementioned subjects with the possible addition
of music and art.
Barnard
seeks students from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds
and from all geographic regions. However, no preconceived
profile of an ideal student population limits the number
of applicants accepted from any one group. The College admits
students and administers its financial aid and loan programs,
educational policies and programs, recreational programs,
and other College programs and activities without regard
to race, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation,
or disability.
Q:
What standardized tests does Barnard require for
first-year applicants?
A: We require the SAT Reasoning Test and
two SAT Subject Tests of your choice OR the ACT with writing
option. When evaluating applications, we always look at
the highest combination of scores ONLY. International students
for whom English is not their primary language of instruction
or who have studied in English for less than five years
must submit results from the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) exam in addition to required SAT or ACT
testing.
Q: Where
should I have score results sent?
A:
Registration forms and booklets describing the exams may
be obtained by going directly to the appropriate websites:
SAT:
http://www.collegeboard.com
ACT:
http://www.act.org
You
must register with the appropriate testing agency well in
advance of the date on which you wish to be tested. Make
sure you request that your scores be reported directly to
Barnard College every time you take a standardized test.
Indicate on the score forms the following codes or call/request
online that the scores be sent to us via these codes.
Barnard
College College Board SAT code: 2038
Barnard
College ACT code: 2718
Q:
What do you require for international students?
A:
Students for whom English is not their primary language
of instruction or who have been in United States for less
than 4 years must submit results from the TOEFL exam (Test
of English as a Foreign Language) in addition to the SAT Reasoning Test/SAT
Subject Tests or ACT with writing. All exams must be taken
by the January 1 application deadline. Barnard's code number
for the TOEFL is 2038. For more information, visit the
TOEFL Web site at: http://www.toefl.org
Q:
If I take the required tests more than once or
I submit both the ACT and the SAT Reasoning and Subject
exams, which results will Barnard consider?
A:
We always consider a student's best scores.
Q:
Do you have minimum test score requirements?
A: We do not have minimum score requirements.
The committee on admissions weighs academic performance as
demonstrated by the strength of one's secondary school program
and transcriptand considers test scores as only one factor of a student's academic profile.
Q:
What are the application requirements for a home-schooled
student?
A:
Home-schooled applicants should follow the same guidelines
as all other applicants with a few exceptions:
-
Transcripts: In lieu of an official high
school transcript, the student must submit a complete
listing, by year, of all courses that were taught at home.
The student should also list the books that she read and
she must indicate how her performance was assessed and
include that assessment (teacher comments, actual grade,
etc.). If the student has attended a high school for any
period of time, she must submit official high school transcripts
of any/all high school work. Additionally, like all applicants,
if the student has enrolled in any college courses, she
must submit official college transcripts. Home-schooled
applicants do not need to obtain a GED.
-
Recommendations:
In lieu of our traditional teacher recommendations, the
applicants is required to submit two letters of recommendation
from individuals who taught the student in a formal setting.
The instructor must answer all of the questions posed
on the teacher recommendation form. Although parents are
usually the primary teachers for students who are home-schooled,
we do not accept parent letters of recommendation as the
only recommendation. We must get a letter assessing the
student's academic performance from a non-parent. If parents
were the only individuals involved in teaching the student,
then the student should get letters from employers (paid
or volunteer work) or individuals with whom she may have
been involved in volunteer activities.
Q:
If I am admitted to Barnard, can I defer my enrollment (take a gap year)?
A: Admitted students who wish to defer
enrollment in Barnard for up to one
year must obtain permission by writing to the Dean of Admissions,
explaining
the reasons for the deferral request. Such a request is
normally granted for
purposes of work, travel, or pursuit of a special interest.
Students are not
allowed to matriculate at another institution during that
year. Written
deferral requests must be received by February 1 for students
admitted Early
Decision and May 1 for students admitted Regular Decision. Students admitting from a waiting list cannot defer their admission.
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The
Barnard-Columbia Connection
Q: What is the relationship between Barnard
College and Columbia University? Can I take classes at Columbia?
A: Barnard College is an independent college of
Columbia University. Barnard students are integral members
of the Columbia University community, and students on both
campuses may cross-register for classes and participate
in joint activities, including varsity
athletics, outside the classroom. At the same time, Barnard maintains its own campus, faculty, administration, trustees, operating budget, and endowment. Click here for more
information on the Barnard-Columbia relationship.
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Residential
Life
Q: Is there housing at Barnard? Where
would I live?
A: Yes, Barnard guarantees housing for all incoming
first-year students for all four years.
Though students, including first-years, are not required
to live on campus, over 90 percent of Barnard students live
in campus housing. All first-year students live in the residential area of campus known
as the "Quad" at 116th Street and Broadway—most
in double- or triple-occupancy rooms. Upper-class students
are eligible to live in apartment or suite-style rooms in
our 11 residence halls around the Morningside Heights area.
Q: Are rooms wired for email and the
Internet?
A: Yes. All residence hall rooms are wired with Ethernet
connections.
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Getting Involved on Campus
Q: What are active clubs and organizations?
A: There is a tremendous range of clubs and organizations
available on both the Barnard and Columbia campuses. For
a listing of current Barnard clubs, visit the College Activities
web site College Activities
web site.
Q: How can I get involved with Athletics?
A: Women at Barnard College have many opportunities
to pursue athletic interests both at Barnard and within
Columbia University. In order to accommodate students with
varying levels of ability and commitment, the University
offers three tiers of competition. Students may participate
in NCAA Division I Varsity Sports, in a number of club sports,
and a wide variety of intramural sports. Barnard College
is the only women's college that competes at the NCAA Division
I level, under our athletics consortium with Columbia University.
Athletes looking to compete at this highest level
of competition should contact the coaches of the individual
teams. For more information, visit the Barnard Athletics Page or
the Columbia University Varsity
Sports Page.
Q: How can I get involved in community
service projects?
A: Our location in the Morningside Heights area of
Manhattan provides an ideal setting for students interested
in doing community service. Many opportunities are available
to help a variety of communities through Community Impact,
a student-run organization with over 800 members, which
coordinates short- and long-term opportunities to tutor,
provide food or companionship, assist in health care facilities,
and more. There are other student-run volunteer organizations
as well. Furthermore, the Office of Career Development has
resources to assist students in finding the particular service
project that meets their interest. For more information,
explore the Community Service section of the Office of Career Development web site.
Q: Are internships available?
A: The Barnard College Internship Program assists
students in gaining exposure to the world of work through
its many opportunities in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Many of the internships found through the Barnard College
Internship Program take advantage of the vast breadth of
industries in New York City, from the arts, to communications,
to finance and fashion. For more information about opportunities, explore
the Internship Program section of the Office of Career Development web site.
[Read about Interns
in Action.]
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Study Abroad
Q: Can I study abroad?
A: Yes, Barnard has a rich history and tradition
of study abroad dating back to the 1930s. Today, students
study abroad in approximately 200 programs 50 countries,
including Argentina, Australia, France, Ireland, and Tibet,
among others. [Read more information about our study abroad programs.]
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Life After Barnard
Q: What do alumnae do after graduation?
A: We are very proud of all the accomplishments of
our many alumnae all around the world. They are doctors,
teachers, web designers, business administrators, mothers,
lawyers—the list goes on and on. About 75 percent of our
graduates go on to pursue a higher degree. In fact, the
Barnard connection remains strong long after graduation,
from having full access to our library and career services
to networking with other alumnae throughout the world.
[Read about Alumnae
in Action.]
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