Barnard is an iconic all-women’s college in New York City and part of its next-door neighbor, Columbia University. Students at Barnard benefit from the perspective of a women-first learning environment while also having access to, and often full integration with, the Columbia undergraduate experience. Clubs, classes, and athletics are nearly entirely integrated, but Barnard offers a unique learning environment — and a notably higher acceptance rate between 8 and 9%. This doesn’t mean Barnard is easy to get into, though. Nine out of a hundred applicants is not optimistic, so a Barnard application strategy is necessary if you want to get in.
A key piece of any Barnard application strategy is considering the benefits and challenges of applying Early Decision (ED). Barnard offers an Early Decision application option in addition to their Regular Decision cycle. As part of Early Decision, students commit to Barnard completely in advance of any other school. This gives students who apply to Barnard Early Decision a big advantage, which makes the early application cycle a powerful tool. In recent years, Barnard has admitted about 8% of applicants overall when accounting for ED and RD. However, that number is actually probably much lower when accounting only for RD, as it has been reported that Barnard accepts more than half of first-year students in the Early Decision round. More than half, 56% to be precise, of the Class of 2028 was admitted in the ED round for a total of 1,694 students.
What is Early Decision at Barnard?
For the class of 2029, applicants were admitted Early Decision from 393 high schools, 40 states and territories, and 32 countries. The Early Decision option at Barnard benefits students from around the world, and of all backgrounds, and it matters a lot to Barnard when students decide to apply ED. As a single-sex school, they know that students who apply ED aren’t simply looking to get into the most prestigious school they can. Barnard offers a rare experience for a select group of students, and they want to be absolutely certain that the students who are extended an offer of admission to the college are genuinely interested in the unique offerings of a single-sex school — even one so thoroughly integrated into the Columbia community academically and socially.
Early Decision offers a unique way for the admissions office to know, from the moment they pick up the application, that Barnard is your goal — not a back-up plan and not a prestige play. This also informs what makes for a strong application to Barnard more broadly. In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about applying to Barnard Early Decision and how to strengthen your application in the lead up to pressing submit whether you have 2 years, 2 months, or 2 weeks to work with.
We help students craft acceptance-earning Early Decision strategies that amplify their strengths. Learn more.
If you are considering applying to Barnard Early Decision, there are a few key steps you need to be taking now, and as many things to avoid. Below, we break it all down.
Why should I apply Early Decision?
First, why even apply ED. As we said already, Barnard regularly accepts more than half of their first-year class early decision. This offers a massive advantage to Early Decision applicants and a huge challenge for students to choose to apply Regular Decision — so many spots have already been given away that there aren’t many left. So, if Barnard is your dream school, applying ED isn’t really a choice. It’s required.
What can you do to increase your chances of admission Early Decision to Barnard?
There are four key categories that you need to address as an Early Decision applicant to increase your chances of admission.
Grades
First, you cannot get into Barnard if you are not a strong applicant, and that means years of hard work before even creating an application account. If your school ranks students academically, they expect to see you in the top 10% of your class.
If you have weak points on your transcript, the best time to have started on this is yesterday, so start now. It’s not just about having strong grades though, but truly about the best grades you can (so mostly if not all A’s) in the hardest classes you have access to — especially those related to what you want to study. If you take easier courses to achieve exceptional grades, the application readers at Barnard can tell. This is why having a perfect transcript doesn’t necessarily result in an acceptance. It has to be more than that. Strong grades in hard courses are a must.
Scores
Barnard is test-optional through the 2027 application cycle. This means that, until at least 2027, applicants are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores. However, this should not be seen as an ‘escape strategy’ for students scared of standardized tests or unmotivated to do test prep. In recent years, about half of students who are accepted have submitted SAT or ACT scores, and we expect to see that number continue to rise. High standardized test scores underline impressive grades, and are a powerful tool in a convincing application.
Barnard expects to see strong standardized test scores — but what does this mean? A 1500 on the SAT puts you in the top 1% of student in the United States, but only in the 50th percentile of accepted Barnard applicants for the Class of 2027. Similarly, a 33 on the ACT is considered very impressive nationally, but is middle of the pack among accepted Barnard first-years. This means that you need to not only take standardized tests, but also knock them out of the park.
Test prep is annoying, but it’s something you can control today, in a way that you can’t make that B+ in science freshman year slip off your transcript. Performing well on standardized tests tells Barnard that you are ready for college and committed to your own excellence. Start taking the SAT or ACT far enough ahead to have the possibility of sitting the test three times before submitting ED.
Extracurricular Activities
Getting great grades and strong scores still doesn’t make getting into Barnard easy, though. Most students applying have both those things, and yet the college rejects most applicants. A key difference maker isn’t taking one more AP unrelated to your interests — it’s what you do outside of the classroom.
Often when students think about ‘activities’, they play it safe and think close to home. They join clubs their school already hosts, which isn’t bad. You should join clubs. But simply being in a STEM club or on a Model UN team doesn’t an impressive application make unless you are winning massive awards. These awards don’t ride on one person (aka you), so you’re really betting on the team being awesome for your role on it to stand out. We don’t let our students simply struggle for the spotlight on a winning or worse, lackluster, team. If you can become a club head or captain that is awesome. However, you should be working to bolster your activity resume far beyond campus.
We help our students pursue internships, shadowing opportunities, and even jobs that are related to their passions. These experiences build depth in their application and ensure that they stand out from their peers who may also be applying to Barnard ED and may, otherwise, have nearly identical applications full of tough classes and impressive clubs.
Barnard looks for student who are strong and driven and have a great track record of impressive academic performances, but passion is just as important. This means doing things that aren’t strictly academic alongside the more clearly academically-driven endeavors. If you love to do community service, commit a significant amount of time to a single non-profit or initiative, and find a leadership opportunity. If educating younger students is fun for you, develop mentor/mentee relationships that could form the foundation of an essay on your application — which we’ll cover next.
Essays
We start working with our rising seniors on their application essays soon after school lets out for the summer. First comes the main college essay, most often for the Common App. Starting well in advance is absolutely critical, and we’re often shocked to hear from students that their school is expecting them not to begin writing until the fall. Crafting a strong college application is like developing a sauce on the stove. It takes time to build layers and develop flavor, and we highly recommend that students work with an expert to identify the key ingredients for their ideal application so that they can ensure that each of these components is amplified across the main college essay and supplements.
By the time the Barnard supplement comes out in late summer, the main essay should be fully drafted. And pairing a strong essay with supplements that are perfect for Barnard is critical. “Perfect for Barnard,” by the way, is more than just a strong supplement with a few Barnard specifics.
The Barnard supplements are a crucial tool for applicants working to emphasize their interest in an all-women’s education. Most students who apply to Barnard are not coming from a single-sex learning environment. If that describes you, simply applying to Barnard ED doesn’t make obvious that you know what you are getting into. And if you have ever attended a single-sex school, the same actually applies. You need to speak to the unique aspects of Barnard that call to you academically and socially — ideally through stories that highlight relationships, leadership, and community.
Whether or not you have attended a single-sex school, Barnard wants to read supplements that highlight a care for community, a passion for leadership that doesn’t require being in charge all the time (especially mentor/mentee relationships), and specific interests that could be enthusiastically pursued at Barnard. We work with our students to develop each of these points in advance of applying, building up a cache of stories and experiences to write about. As a result, the supplements aren’t packed full of hypotheticals and hopes for the future. Instead, they are grounded in the now as a jumping off point for the next at Barnard.
One of the reasons we have such a successful track record with Barnard admissions is that we have spent the time getting to know the school, the admissions process, and what works. Barnard isn’t impressed by top grades and scores paired with a ‘me me me’ application. In fact, being all about yourself is a great way to get rejected by Barnard.
Last, Apply Early
This should be obvious, but the last step is to submit. The possible outcomes are accepted, deferred, or denied. If you are denied, it’s a bummer and we highly recommend working with an expert to audit your application and guide you towards your ideal path forward from a Barnard rejection.
If you are deferred to regular decision, working with an expert is just as critical. It’s very important that you gain an understanding of where your application may have mis-stepped so that you can make bold next steps. There are also steps you can take to strengthen a deferred application, as Barnard has regularly invited deferred ED applicants to submit additional information, including a new essay and updated grades. These submissions play an important role in moving from deferral to acceptance.
And if you are accepted by Barnard Early Decision, you did it!
Work with Us
We start working with our students as early as the first year or two of secondary school, and spend every moment we have with our kids supporting them in pursuing their passions and emphasizing their strengths to guide them towards exceptional outcomes. Getting into an outstanding school requires equally outstanding strategy. The Barnard acceptance rate is rough. The fact of the matter is that it is hard to get in, but it is possible if you plan right.
Get in touch to access your ideal ED strategy.