Hm, that's an interesting question. I have a feel that one of the things tht helped me get into Barnard was my track-record of women's rights activism. They probably look to make sure you can handle the workload (SAT, ACT, GPA) and then look for something you -love-. Living in NYC, I've known some Barnard students and the common characteristic between them is their insane passion for whatever it might be. I think they spend more time than the average college looking at the subjective parts of your application.
