Why I Chose Barnard in Regular Decision: Adiba's Story

By my senior year of high school, I was pretty set on leaving New York City for my undergraduate experience. I was born and raised in the Bronx and went to high school in Manhattan. I wanted to live a life outside of the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps. However, that quickly changed when I found out about Barnard College. An advisor from a college-ready program I was in suggested that I look into Barnard. I took this with a grain of salt as I did not think that New York City would be able to provide the small, liberal arts college experience that I was looking for.

I decided to tour the College in late September and it was the first visit of many in the span of three months. What can I say? It was love at first sight. I have lived in the city my entire life and I had no clue that there existed a college town in the middle of NYC. I found the relationship between Barnard and Columbia the best of both worlds. Barnard would give me the small school environment I had been looking for, but as a historically women’s college, it would also be giving me a sense of empowerment that I did not know I needed. Walking into Barnard, I immediately recognized the palpable sense of strength and empowerment. 

Two weeks later, I was back at Barnard for a visit for a First-Year Writing class. I felt like Rory Gilmore at Yale being able to participate in a real college class. At Barnard, young women were not afraid to say what they want, contrary to the belief that women do not have strong opinions. A combination of all of my experiences in the classroom furthered my passion for writing and my desire to go into the journalism field. I want to be able to write about women and breakdown stereotypes, and I saw that a Barnard education could prepare me in a way that no other institution can. Leaving the classroom that day, I felt that I had glimpsed my bold, beautiful future, and it was at Barnard College. 

For the rest of  October, I worked on my early decision application for Barnard. On December 12, 2018, I received the infamous college admissions status update email and opened the link to a page of a confetti Barnard B’s. 

-Adiba Hussain