When I was ten years old, my father passed away suddenly. As a child, I realized he had been sick before and I thought a surgery would fix him like it had in the past, but one day I came home to teary eyed faces of family and friends who told me he had gone to heaven. When he passed, stabs of pain punctured my hollow thoughts. I missed his thick French accent telling me to wake up in the...

Not only is NYC an incredibly diverse place, but Barnard is as well. The unique backgrounds of its community members create a compelling dynamic in and out of the classroom. I grew up in a half French and half Chinese household, which gave me a very different perspective than a lot of my peers. My father grew up in France, then immigrated to San Francisco after living in the Congo. My mother grew up in China, then immigrated to Wisconsin...

If I could speak to any woman in history, I would speak with my maternal grandmother who was killed during the Cultural Revolution. My grandmother grew up in a society that greatly oppressed women. In China 50 years ago, women were expected to conform to their gender roles and if they strayed from their given paths, they could easily be seen as “unwanted” when trying to find a husband. Despite the fact that she would have been looked down upon, my...

While applying to college, I opted to only use the college counselor that worked at my school. I was lucky enough to attend a private high school at the time, meaning my college counselor would only be counseling approximately 50 students, although there some of my classmates also decided to use a college counselor outside of school. During the application process, I made...

During the spring semester of my junior year I attended CITYterm, an experiential learning program in New York City. Because this program was so...

When I was choosing what colleges to apply to, I knew for sure that they had to be located in New York City. After experiencing CITYterm, I learned the importance of experiential learning,...

When writing a "why us" supplement, it is important to keep in mind the qualities that drew you to that particular school in the first place. If you are choosing a school because of its location, make sure...

Remember, you want to make sure that the college fits you well. The worst thing you could do is apply to a school just because of its...

Besides your personal statement, interviews are one of the only times a college representative really gets the chance to know you, which is a great opportunity for you to talk about yourself and your personal achievements. As many admissions officers have told me in the past during college tours and information sessions, the interview is a time for you to kind of...