Barnard College is a women’s liberal arts school located in NYC, as one of the colleges contained within Columbia University. So, it’s not Columbia, but it’s not not Columbia. But your degree does say Columbia on it. It’s a whole thing. It’s small, with less than 4,000 undergrads, but you share resources, sports teams, Greek life, libraries, and dining halls with all the Columbia undergrads too. You can also take classes at Julliard!
Transferring to Barnard is challenging – it’s essentially an Ivy League school, but the stats are promising. In 2023, the acceptance rate for first-year students was 6.5%, and for transfers it was 24.8%. But don’t get too excited, that’s not a 4x increase per se. Transfer spots only open up because students leave a school, so you’re competing for a smaller number of spots, so that 24% number only represents the 250 admitted students out of 1,005 who applied. If you want to transfer to Barnard, you need to have excellent grades and scores, robust extracurriculars, and great essays.
Barnard’s Requirements
Barnard has a pretty straightforward for their hopefuls, which is rare in the transfer world. The big thing to note is that they require a minimum of 24 credits and no more than 60, which, if you’re taking the minimum amount to be considered a full-time students (12 credits a semester, generally), you should be fine.
Other things they want from you include:
The Common App personal statement for transfers
Three essays (more on these later)
High school transcript
College transcript (must be ~official~)
College report (a Dean or advisor has to fill this out)
They’re test-optional, but do accept SAT or ACT scores sent directly from the test agencies
One academic letter of rec from someone who taught you in college within the last year
A Word document with all the official course descriptions of classes you’ve been enrolled in (for evaluating transfer credits)
Mid-term report for your in-progress grades
You can also send additional letters of rec (up to two) and arts portfolios.
You might look at this list and think “that’s a lot!” and look, you’re right, but that’s also just how the game works, y’all.
Choose the Right Classes
If you’re applying to Barnard as a potential Sociology major, it makes no sense to take all English or Bio classes. The courses you choose for college should back up the story you want to tell them, so pick classes that feed into your major. This will also help you with transfer credits into the program of your choice.
However, you do not want to buck the core classes at your current school. Transferring is always a risk, so make sure you’re set up for success at your current institution in case you have to stay. Most schools will require a science with a lab or a math class, so it’s okay to throw one of those in there.
But, as you develop your niche (which also, we will discuss later), you want your classes to fit into that. If you’re into Sociology because you’re passionate about International Development, don’t make all your sociology electives about American culture.
Get Really Good Grades
Like, duh. Good grades in college signal that you can handle college classes, who would have thought?? Since Barnard is an especially challenging school, you need to be acing your classes. If you bombed Chemistry in your junior year of high school, there is literally no need for you to take it again right now. One of the great perks of college is that you get to fill your schedule (mostly) with classes that genuinely interest you, which we’ve found translates to better grades.
Also: go to office hours. All of them. If you’re struggling in a class, office hours are a great way to get face time with your professors and those connections come in handy come rec letter time.
Develop Your Niche
If you’re telling Barnard you want to be a Sociology major, you need to get involved in things beyond classes. See what the Sociology department at your current school offers, maybe they have a speaker series or opportunities to be a research assistant to a professor. There may be clubs or organizations that fit into your Sociology niche, like an international development organization, or culture-based literary magazine. You can seek out internships, fellowships, whatever you can find. It helps your application to get plugged in, but it also helps in case you don’t get admitted – you’ll have a community at your current school no matter what.
Write Good Essays
While you won’t write these for a hot minute, it’s good to think about now. Barnard has three required essays, and one required. Which means you’ll be writing, you guessed it, four essays. They require the Common App personal statement, which is why you are transferring and the goals you hope to achieve, one you’ll answer a lot. That one is a very bog-standard “Why” essay. You need to start researching Barnard, picking out professors and upper-level classes that fit into your niche, and thinking about how those will help you accomplish your goals.
The other questions are:
Our backgrounds and experiences shape how we navigate the world and see ourselves. Tell us about when, where, or with whom you feel your most authentic, powerful self. How might Barnard College further cultivate this version of you?
If you could plan and lead a semester-long college seminar, what academic topic would you choose and why?
Barnard College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mission statement says “Our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity has the potential to disrupt and transform entrenched practices and thinking.” In what ways have you challenged ideas, practices, or spaces? What did you learn from these experiences?
They’re asking about community, intellectual pursuits, and diversity, a very standard fare. The biggest tip we can give you for these is TELL A STORY!! Schools love stories, and we also encourage you to get creative with these, especially the second one. Write the seminar class like a course description! Include references to texts! For the other two, center in on a small moment in time and bring us into that moment with you. You’ll connect the community essay to similar communities you hope to be a part of at Barnard.
Good luck with your transfer application to Barnard! Make sure to get all your ducks in a row, get plugged into your academic interests, and keep up those stellar grades.
If you need help with your transfer applications, reach out to us today.