Give it up for Barnard, Columbia’s extremely smart, cool, insightful, wise sister. Barnard is not the same as Columbia University, but it is an affiliated college that was created after some very outspoken women said, “please give us our own college if we want to study, live, and learn in female-dominated spaces, but let’s stay close by, let us learn at Columbia in a co-ed environment (*only if we want!*), and share a bunch of resources, OK?” True queens. And so, Barnard was born 133 years ago.
Barnard is a small all-womens (if you hadn’t gathered from the very historical account above) college of about 3,000 undergraduate students. It’s very competitive to get into, particularly recently. Last year, Barnard’s acceptance rate fell below 10% for the first time ever. They have a couple of supplemental essay questions, two of which are required, one of which is optional. But, if you know anything about us, you know that anything that says “Optional,” is required.
PROMPT 1
What factors encouraged your decision to apply to Barnard College, and why do you think the college would be a good match for you? 300 words.
A classic short, “Why This College?” question. You have 300 words to:
Introduce your academic interests through a short, 50 word story,
Discuss your specific academic interests at Barnard (do your research!),
including the names of 1-2 specific classes that align with your interests - take a look at the catalog and say why you want to take them!
Maybe highlight a professor whose research interests intrigue you.
Include 1-2 extracurriculars that pop to you, or tie in a unique reason why Barnard is specifically suited for you.
A great response shows that you have seriously done your research and engaged with the question, “What would my day-to-day look like as a Barnard student?”
PROMPT 2
At Barnard, academic inquiry starts with bold questions. What are some of the bold questions you have pondered that get you excited and why do they interest you? Tell us how you would explore these questions at Barnard. 300 words.
Because you only have 300 words here, we’d really suggest honing in on one question and getting specific. The use of the word “bold” here is worth paying attention to - they don’t want something generic or boring. And they don’t want a general topic. Your question should logically relate to your academic interest(s), but shouldn’t be a reiteration of the academics section of your “Why Barnard?” response above. It should explore a different subsection or niche of your academic interests and shed light on something that you haven’t been able to thus far in your application.
So, you can’t really say “bioethics questions really interest me and here’s why,” because that’s just too much to fit into this small space. It doesn’t get at the WHY and the HOW of what specifically intrigues you. But, along these lines if bioethics is your thing, you would need to introduce a subset that interests you. For example, the intersection of environmental justice and bioethics - if a species is wreaking havoc on the environment surrounding them, is it ethical to extinguish it?
But make sure it not get too caught up in your argument, because Barnard wants to know how you’re doing to explore this at Barnard, not as much how you’re thinking about it now. So, do some research and highlight how you would activate these interests through research, community involvement, etc. This is a great opportunity to highlight an interest that may constitute a minor (as opposed to a major, which should play a more prominent role in prompt 1).
PROMPT 3
(Optional) Pick one woman — a historical figure, fictitious character, or modern individual — to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. Why does this person intrigue you? What would you talk about? What questions would you ask them? 300 words.
This question is *not* two things: EASY OR OPTIONAL! Take the bait and write a fun little story about a female-identifying person who fascinates you, and WHY. There are no real rules here, other than probably don’t choose a very common or expected woman (not that they’re not AMAZING, but let’s just not be the 101st applicant to talk about how great Michelle Obama is or how great your mom is. We are sure your mom is the best! It’s just hard to create a story that feels new and accessible for a stranger).
The part to pay attention to is, “to converse with for an hour.” We think you should set the scene to provide a bit more spice and pizzazz to your answer. The where is just as important as the who and the why. Where would you choose to converse with this person (the setting should probably be specifically tailored to the person…)? What are you eating? Snacking on? What’s your view?
We once had a student write an incredible tale about how she wanted to invite Lauryn Hill over for dinner to chat. This person was a real LH die-hard fan, but also created a whole scene and menu around their hourlong conversation that really intrigued the reader and painted a vivid picture. It made you feel like you knew the applicant in a deeper way, but it wasn’t so serious that it felt heavy. A great outcome! Also, bonus points, Lauryn Hill went to Columbia briefly.
PROMPT 4 (ACTUALLY OPTIONAL)
Use this space to share anything with the Admissions Committee that you feel provides additional context related to your background, experiences or identity. 300 words.
OK I know we said that optional is never optional, but this one actually is. If something immediately comes to mind for this, go for it. Don’t just write something about your “identity” if you feel like you’re forcing it, because it’ll be obvious. But, if you feel that you want to tell a story about an aspect of your identity that you think will play a *critical* role in rounding out your application, and that it would be incomplete without this story then go for it!
Let us know if you need help, that’s why we’re here! Contact us here.