The phone rang late on June 21, 2010. Half asleep, I barely acknowledged the news when my mom came running in to tell me her best friend had given birth to a healthy baby boy. On my way to the hospital the following morning, I tried to muster up the energy to be as excited as everyone thought I should be. However, as trivial as I expected the day to be, when I walked in to the delivery room I saw the...

I am pretty sure I learned about Barnard around the time I learned to walk. Having an alumna for a mom doesn't give you much opportunity to miss the Barnard brigade. The common reaction to my applying early to Barnard is "Aren't you sick of all girls?" I laugh. I am the product of a girls' school. I yearn to push limits and question opinions. I dream big and firmly believe in myself. Archer has taught me that with ambition,...

Pick one woman in history or fiction to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. What would you talk about? Neurosurgery is a topic I took interest in before I fully even understood what it was. I am not sure where I picked it up, but by third grade I was proclaiming my future career as a pediatric neurosurgeon. By fifth grade I was well read on the topics of behavior and the basic biology of the brain,...

Alumna and writer Anna Quindlen says that she “majored in unafraid” at Barnard. Tell us about a time when you majored in unafraid. Innately tenacious, I began majoring in unafraid about 17 years ago. Anyone who knows me will account for my incredible sense of justice and unwavering willingness to fight to my death when I believe in something. I recently received a letter in the mail that I had written to myself in third grade. Answering prompted questions I stated, �...

Community - educational, geographic, religious, political, ethnic, or other - can define an individual’s experience and influence her journey. How has your community, as you identify it, shaped your perspective. After spending six years in the hallowed halls of the Spanish mansion I call school, the community who inhabits the stunning building has influenced me drastically. When I came to Archer I was 10 years old. At the enormous height of 4’1, I thought I was ready to tackle world hunger,...

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Philosophy and Feminism changed my life. I took it only because a friend was in it and I needed another course. It sounded somewhat...

I would have let myself enjoy it more. I was so wrapped up in the stress and anxiety of it that I lost sight of the opportunity I was being given. Writing essays doesn't have...

Involve yourself in what you love. My summers defined who I am. My experiences altered the path I am on and I only had summers that transformative...

I met with a professor in my presepctive major's department before I applied to Barnard. She was awesome and gave me lots of really interesting and useful information. I don't know that meeting with her...

Determined Thoughtful...

I only interviewed at Barnard because I applied Early. I think my interview was a huge help for me, primarily because my application does not read in a simple way. What I mean by that is that my...

For me, figuring out who would write my recommendation was a horrible process. Luckily it was because I felt that too many of my teacher's knew me so well and would be able to write a letter that represented who I am as a person as well as a student. Creating relationships with teachers in high school was always very important to me. I babysat many of their children, I got coffee with some during free periods, and I had melted down into sobs in some of their classrooms (on multiple occasions, probably). I ended up deciding on two teachers...