To her despair, it was the third time I asked her to repeat the question. The bomb inside her kept ticking, until finally, it went off. "Are you deaf or what?" my teacher spit the question out and looked at me with her bloodshot eyes. Soon enough, all twenty three of the teenage girls in the room burst out laughing, staring at me, expectantly. So I said, "Yes I am deaf, can you please repeat the question?...

What factors influenced your decision to apply to Barnard College and why do you think the College would be a good match for you? (250 words) So the first time I walked into Barnard's campus, my mother and I were carrying a military bag. It had only a hand strap to carry it by, and was tentatively larger than myself. When we arrived, both of us were perspiring and wheezing from carrying the bag all over the city. Walking into the...

Pick one woman in history or fiction to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. What would you talk about? (250 words) The Spanish Monarchy emitted a decree for their colonies: Mestizo women could neither wear indigenous nor Spanish apparel. Allegedly, the first would lessen their honor, and the later was endorsed only for ladies of upper dignity. In 1752, in the Real Audiencia de Quito, a revolutionary, mestiza woman, Ana de Peralta, didn't stand with her arms crossed. She...

Alumna and writer Anna Quindlen says that she “majored in unafraid” at Barnard. Tell us about a time when you majored in unafraid.(250 words) I was petrified. I felt like Carolina's desperate husband, and the rest of her family, was relying on me. At fourteen, I was very religious, but not a miracle worker! The pressure was on me. I had been leading the Rosary in the ICU every day, for two weeks, and it still wasn't easier. Carolina was...

So I already gave suggestions for the first supplement. For the second supplement, pick a woman that is not well known. If you pick Frida Kahlo or Sojourner Truth, it´s going to be too cliché. Pick a woman that is important, yet unknown, and that you find particularly amusing. This is also your chance to show creativity. For the third supplement, pick a situation where you had to defy a belief, you had to stand up for yourself, or...

Try to do a variety of activities. I would say the ideal would be that you have activities related to athletics (if you aren´t the most sporty type, the fact that you sign up for soccer club, yoga club, zumba club, among others, shows you´re well rounded), to creativity ...

So, when I visited Barnard the summer before I applied, the admissions counselor told us that the most important part of the application are the writing portions of the application. Writing is extremely important at Barnard...they even have a building where you can go and improve your writing skills. Therefore, I would say that to increase your chances: 1. Take time writing your essays and proofread them thoroughly. Ask several people to read them. 2. Start...

At Barnard, the admissions counselor told us it is a good idea to get at least one recommender from the social sciences and one from the natural sciences. So, if you excell in both areas, then it shouldn´t be a problem. None the less, look for teachers who you´re especially close to and/or classes where you excell. You also want to make sure your recommender knows how to write. In my case, since I study abroad, my teachers didn´t even know how to write in English and my Chemistry teacher isn´t really good at writing....

So, one of Barnard´s Writing Supplements is clearly a "Why Us?" question and ti says: What factors influenced your decision to apply to Barnard College and why do you think the College would be a good match for you? (250 word limit) So first of all, in all "Why Us?" questions, I don´t think schools are looking for you to tell them how great they are. They already know that. If you say that you think Barnard is a good match for you because they have an excellent liberal arts program or because they have a great science department,...