Reflection: My Experience Attending Barnard Bound

I initially learned about “fly-in” programs through my high school college counselor, who mentioned them to me as I was looking into college visits. Visiting college campuses is something I still consider essential to my college application process. Being able to more clearly envision myself as a student truly affected my opinions of schools, and even crossed some off my list. Through things like info sessions, tours, and various programming, visits gave me a lot of invaluable knowledge about the schools themselves and even the college application process as a whole. 

Although helpful, visiting colleges can be incredibly expensive, and this is even further complicated when you’re looking at multiple schools far away from home. Fly-ins, though they may function differently at each college, generally help first-gen and/or low-income (FGLI) students bridge this opportunity gap and provide accessible opportunities to become more familiar with colleges through either in-person visits or exclusive online programming. Barnard Bound, Barnard’s fly-in access program, does just this, allowing students to get a broad sense of the Barnard experience as well as the application process through an FGLI-centered lens. 

In 2022, during my senior year of high school, I applied to participate in Barnard Bound. At the time, due to various health restrictions, it functioned as a weekend-intensive program packed with virtual tours, panels, Q&As, info sessions, and more. I was given time to speak with current students, admissions officers, professors, and various departments. We’d discuss the basics, like supplemental prompts and student life, but we also took the time to dive into things like imposter syndrome and what it’s like to be a FGLI student on campus. Overall highlights included time spent with Access Barnard, an incredible office on campus dedicated to FGLI experience that since then has become integral to my time as a Barnard student, as well as moments connecting with peers, who made me feel the strongest sense of support and community. 

I value my Barnard Bound experience to this day. It helped me in more ways than I could have imagined. I was given so many resources that deepened my understanding of Barnard, which in turn helped me complete my application a month later. I also realized how strong the FGLI community was at Barnard, which made me feel a lot more comfortable about my own identity and how it fits within higher education. Ultimately through my Barnard Bound experience, I formed not only a connection with Barnard, but the community behind it, making me feel like a Barnard student before I even received my acceptance letter. 

I work in the admissions office for a lot of reasons, but mainly, my desire to be a BSAR started during Barnard Bound when I saw first-hand Barnard’s commitment to making sure Barnard was accessible to all students. I knew that if I was lucky enough to attend Barnard, I’d want to give back through access programs as well. Last year, in addition to other access programming, I became a Barnard Bound TA, and it quickly became my favorite part of my work in the admissions office. It was so fulfilling to be a part of a program that was so integral to my own application experience, and to be able to see the direct impact the program has on prospective students. I was assigned my own cohort of students, where we constantly chatted not just about college but about our interests and daily lives. Many of whom kept in contact with me throughout their application process with various updates and questions, while some even messaged me later in the year to share their excitement as they received acceptance letters. I felt so lucky to be a part of their experience, and genuinely saw the changes in students’ confidence as Barnard Bound progressed. 

Applying to college is scary, especially as a FGLI student, however the resources are there for you. They do help, even if that help isn’t just making your application better. If you end up applying to and attending Barnard Bound or any other fly-in program, my advice would be to show up as your authentic self and know that in these spaces, you’ll find many others who truly value that. 

If you have any questions about Barnard Bound, please contact Admissions at barnardbound@barnard.edu.