Barnard College Accepts Only 7% of Students to the Class of 2028

Barnard marked a 7% acceptance rate for the Class of 2028, a mere half percentage point higher than last year’s record-low acceptance rate. Barnard received 11,832 applications, highlighting the strong interest women have in attending Barnard in an era of highly competitive admissions at top schools.

---

Barnard College’s Class of 2028 Acceptance Rate

Barnard College announced statistics for its Class of 2028 on March 27th with news about the school's remarkably low acceptance rate. Barnard reported receiving 11,832 applications for the Class of 2028, but offers went out to only 828 students. The number of hopefuls was slightly higher this year than last year, and the overall acceptance rate edged up slightly, to 7% compared to 6.5% in the prior year.

Of this year's 11,832 applicants, 1,694 applied in the Early Decision round (up just slightly from last year), with 10,138 applying Regular Decision.

Barnard's Regular Decision Acceptance Rate

Barnard has not yet released more data on its ED or RD acceptance rates, but we can make some reasonable estimates based on reported data from recent years.

For the Class of 2026 the ED acceptance rate was 29%, and typically Barnard reports that about 60% of all enrolled students are admitted in the ED round. Using these figures, we estimate that about 440 students were admitted ED, for an estimated 26% ED acceptance rate, for the Class of 2028. With this estimate, we project about 390 remaining students were admitted in the RD round, yielding an estimated RD acceptance rate of ~4% for the Class of 2028.

RD applicants have increased about 10% over the past three years, while ED round application figures have increased more than 25% during the same time period. With more students applying ED it would not be surprising to find RD rounds are simply growing more competitive as well.

While these numbers are just estimates, if you're thinking about applying to Barnard, you can see that the school today is as selective as ever, but that applying ED could boost your odds for success.

Barnard's Class of 2028 Early Decision Acceptance Rate

Barnard received 1,694 Early Decision (ED) applications, up only slightly compared to last year, but yielding a more than 25% increase in students applying ED over the past three years.

Barnard has not released ED acceptance rate statistics for the Class of 2027 or 2028. For the Class of 2026, the ED yield was 29%, up from ~26% for the Class of 2025.

Barnard's Overall Admissions Trends

Overall, Barnard has seen interest in the university increasing.

• ED round applications have seen the biggest jump, going from 1,234 ED applicants for the Class of 2025 to 1,694 ED applicants this year.
• The overall number of applicants for the Class of 2028 (11,832) stayed about the same compared to last year but is up about 10% compared to three years ago.
• Over the past three years, the overall acceptance rate at Barnard College has dropped from 10.43% (Class of 2025) to 7% for the Class of 2028.

Who Gets Into Barnard?

According to Barnard officials, those admitted to the Class of 2028 represented an "extraordinary cohort" academically and were the first group to be evaluated post affirmative action.

• Class Rank: 94% of the admitted students who reported a high school ranking were in the top 10% of their class.
• SAT/ACT Scores: Barnard officials reported that 49% of admitted students applied under the school's temporary test-optional policy.
• Diversity: Admitted students hail from 42 countries and 51 states, with international students making up 12% of all admits. Approximately 22% of admits are first-generation college students. This year's admits also included 46 QuestBridge students.

How Crimson Can Help You Stand Out

The challenging acceptance rates at Barnard College are more and more common at many selective universities and colleges.

In this highly competitive landscape, seeking guidance from experienced college admissions advisors can be a practical way to reduce stress and get expert coaching for making and sticking to a personalized admissions strategy.

Advisors offer personalized support throughout the complex application process, helping you:

• Craft a Compelling Narrative: They work with you to identify your unique strengths, passions, and experiences. This helps shape a cohesive application that showcases your potential to contribute to the Barnard community.
• Navigate Strategic Choices: Advisors can provide insights on application timing (early vs. regular), test score submission, and highlight areas where you can further boost your profile.
• Excel in Every Aspect: From essay coaching to interview preparation, advisors ensure each application component is polished and demonstrates your preparedness for Barnard's rigorous academic environment.

Proven Success in a Competitive Landscape

Crimson Education has a track record of helping students achieve their admissions goals. Our personalized approach and expertise in selective admissions have led to impressive results. This year alone, over 200 Crimson students were accepted to top US universities in the early round. Here's a breakdown of our early-round numbers:

• 87 offers to the Ivy League.
• 163 offers to the US Top 20, including offers to Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Rice, Vanderbilt, and University of Notre Dame.
• 15% of Ivy League and 27% of top 20 early round applicants received offers to their dream schools.
• 670+ offers to the US Top 50, including offers to NYU, University of Michigan, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Emory, University of Virginia, and Washington University in St. Louis.
• 1000+ offers to each student’s first choice school.

Key Resources & Further Reading

• Join our free webinars on US university applications
• Free eBooks and guides to help with the college application process