Evaluating Applications for Fall 2022 in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Learn more about what you can expect from our application evaluation process and the changes we've made in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We wish we could welcome you to our beautiful campus, but the health of our students, faculty, staff, and the public is of the utmost importance. Until we are able to safely welcome everyone back to campus, we have created numerous ways for you to get to know Barnard virtually this summer. This includes interviews led by current students and recent graduates, virtual information sessions with admissions counselors, virtual student chats with current students, and a virtual campus tour series. You can also follow us on Instagram (@barnardadmissions) and read about student experiences on our admissions student blog, BoldBeautifulBarnard. In addition, you can learn more about Barnard campus culture through our YouTube Channel, the College Instagram (@barnardcollege) and our campus periodicals, The Columbia Spectator and BWOG - our student campus blog.
Barnard has implemented a test-optional policy for students applying for Fall 2022 admission. See our Temporary Test-Optional FAQ page to learn more about this temporary policy change. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to our office at admissions@barnard.edu.
We know that our current global situation has drastically changed your high school experience. We will be extremely flexible with the grading policies that schools have adopted in response to this global pandemic and will not penalize students in any way.
We will be as accommodating as possible in understanding changes that have affected your high school schedule. We know that select courses may not be available to you due to scheduling changes. We will honor the decisions made by your high school in accordance with their changing official policies. We still recommend students aim to take the five core subject areas. However, any context you provide on why this is not possible will be taken into account.
We know your extracurricular activities are very meaningful to you and it may have been difficult to not continue them over the last year. We also recognize that you have more limited opportunities this summer. Our admissions committee will take all this into consideration when reviewing applications for Fall 2021.
The 2021-2022 Common Application and Coalition Application will be adding a question to allow students space to discuss any impact the pandemic has had on your academic and/or personal life. With this in mind, you can feel free to discuss anything you like in the personal essay and there are a number of different prompts from which to choose. We know you had wonderful interests and full lives before this global pause and new interests you may have discovered since the spring. We hope you have found some creative and meaningful ways to spend your time and we encourage you to share this in your application.
Every year between 35-50 students choose to defer their enrollment to Barnard to engage in an internship, meaningful work, or a gap year experience. The number of students from the Class of 2025 who have been approved for a gap year is no higher than in previous years.