Rejection is never easy, and getting turned down by your ED school can really sting. While it may not help much at the moment, keep in mind that Barnard has an 8% acceptance rate. Single digits!! That’s crazy competitive, so you shouldn’t take this rejection personally. Not getting into Barnard ED doesn’t mean you won’t get into other great schools. In fact, we can confidently say that you will end up at a college, even if you don’t know where just yet.
However, you need to form an action plan. In this post, we’ll detail everything you need to do to bounce back from that Barnard rejection and onto the next big thing.
Step One: Take a Little Break
“What?? There’s so much to do!!” We know, but hear us out. If you’re someone who’s applying ED to a school like Barnard, there’s no way you’re not an insanely hardworking student who’s been laser-focused on the college process for months – if not years. You’ve just been dealt a blow that feels like an attack on your hard work, even though we promise it’s not. So, it won’t hurt, and might actually help if you take a day or two to recharge your batteries, have whatever feelings you need to have, and then come back ready to tackle your action items. Deal?
Step Two: Strategize
The first and most important step after regrouping is to take a close look at your college list. If you have a college list with a healthy mix of 8-12 reaches, targets, and safeties, we recommend you double-check and pick a solid ED2 option (more on that later.) Don’t panic and throw the whole list away! But, if you decided to go all in on Barnard, we need to chat.
Like we said, we usually recommend having a college list of 8 to 12 schools, with a balanced mix of reaches, targets, and safeties. As you think about adding more schools, consider finding some that have a similar vibe to Barnard. That might mean you’re looking for an all-women's college, a school with close ties to other universities and institutions, or strong liberal arts programs. As you build the list, you need to focus on academics first. You go to college to learn, not to vibe!!! After that, think about factors like size, culture, location, and even weather—but keep in mind no school will check off every box on your list.
Back to ED2 for a second. For most of you, one of the other schools in your top 3-5 likely offers ED2, and we highly, highly recommend applying ED2. Most colleges fill a large portion of their class from early applicants (Colorado College fills 97% of their class with ED, EA, and ED2 applications, for example) because they care about their yield rate! Now, we always say miracles can happen in RD, but we’re also pragmatists. So, be smart and apply ED2. Please. For us.
Step Three: Essays
Now that you have a college list, it’s supplement time, baby. We have guides on how to write almost every single supplement you could imagine on our blog, and you should def check those out, but right now, we need to talk about the Common App essay.
If we had to guess, you probably wrote a pretty common Common App essay (get it?). By that we mean a cliched topic that admissions officers have seen over and over again – think greatest accomplishments, biggest hardships, grandparents, etc. We bet it’s very well written! But the topic is most likely lacking. The Common App essay is basically your only place to show off who you really are as a person! Are you funny? Resourceful? An avid home chef? The Common App is where you need to let your personality shine through, so we’re sorry, but you might have to rewrite your Common App essay.
“But TKG,” you say, “I only have two weeks to write it!” Yes, and we know its possible. We help tons of students every year in the two weeks between ED rejections and RD deadlines write incredible, unique Common App essays. You can do it too!
The Common App essay is really an exercise in brainstorming (it’s the hardest part!), and we encourage you to focus on using it to tell a story. It doesn’t need to be an epic tale – it could be as simple as an essay about planting tomatoes one afternoon. You want to think about what makes you unique, or even just what traits you have that people really notice (pro tip: you can ask friends and family for help with this). So many things about you cannot be measured with a number like your GPA or SAT score. So, do you have a quirky habit? A funny or unusual hobby? A crazy story? This is where you’ll find your topic. After that, you want to make sure you write a story, focusing on a small moment in time, with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
Step Four: Ask for Help
This might be a lot to take in, especially after the feelings that getting rejected may have sparked in you. We get it – you might feel scared, sad, or some other, secret 3rd emotion. Good news though, we can help. We help students through this really panicked and frenzied time every year, and we even have a package just for this. Our “It’s Going to Be Okay” package is meant to help you create and act on a strategic plan to revamp your Common App and finish out those remaining supplements.
Getting rejected sucks, and please know it is not a reflection on your value. You will get into a great school, you might just need some help to get there.
Rejected and don’t know what to do? Reach out to us ASAP.