<p>I'm on the fence about Bard and SL and I was wondering if anyone could tell me about how out there Bard is, both socially and geographically. I would also love to hear about how different SL's program of dons and teacher interviewing is from normal school. Thanks!</p>
<p>I can give you some information on Bard. Bard is small with about 2000 students. It is very isolated. The local "town" is very small with no attractions and it is quite a drive to any place a student would want to visit. Bard is a very liberal, liberal arts college and is indeed "out there". Academics are pretty loose with many courses similar to the proverbial basket weaving. Most students major in social sciences, arts, or some mix of "multidisciplinary" studies. This is not a school for anything but introductory courses in math or sciences. Graduation does require completion of some sort of project, but not much that would fit usual academic expectations.</p>
<p>The campus culture is what you might expect. The main entertainments involve orgies, sexual experimentation and drugs - - all well tolerated or possibly also enjoyed by some members of the administration and faculty. Admission does not require SAT's and does not seem to be academically oriented. Bard looks for students who fit this free spirited culture and they have been successful in attracting students with offers to only about 1/3 of applicants.</p>
<p>If you want to get the full flavor of Bard, you need only visit the old Gym. This is the center of student activities. If you visit Thursday, Friday or Saturday night be prepared to get wasted and take off your clothing or wear clothing from someone of the opposite sex. If you don't want the full experience, a daylight visit will be enough and you can imagine the rest. The campus newspaper had an article about the mass emergency room visit of about 3 dozen students caused by some bad drugs.</p>
<p>One bright spot at Bard is the new conversatory of music. I understand the conservatory is attracting some good students and faculty. I can't comment because the conservatory was not in operation last year when we visited. The campus is not very attractive with the exception of the new performing arts center. It was not clear if this center was owned by Bard. At the time of our visit, it appeared that this was not available for student use.</p>
<p>Is it just me, or does edad not like Bard all that much?</p>
<p>Actually Bard is located in a really beautiful area in the Hudson Valley. There are a string of really charming small towns (Red Hook, Tivoli, etc.) and Rhinebeck is really nearby and has excellent restaurants and a cool indie movie theater. We used to drive there from Poughkeepsie quite a bit. I know quite a few people who really loved their time at Bard. I think a campus visit is really necessary to get a sense of the school, though. With most people, it seems to be love or hate almost immediately.</p>
<p>The countryside is indeed beautiful, especially in the Fall. I did not see the attractions of Rhinebeck, but a day trip to NYC is feasible. With a combination of buses and Amtrak, the round trip is about $75 and could take as little as 6 hours.</p>
<p>edad's comments sound a bit like every campus USA. Most places have a little bit of something for everyone. The conservatory has accepted some wonderful students, international population is decent, campus is beautiful. You have to visit and correspond with departments you may be interested in. I think it would be a very interesting school.</p>
<p>overseas, have you visited the Bard campus?</p>
<p>Yes, I visited with my son summer before last. We stayed in the area for 2 days and just walked around, he visited with music folks, ate in the cafeteria, saw a music rehearsal there of Opheo, ate dinner in the tiny villages in the area. Not being from the region or probably never being there again, it was such a treat. I would recommend Bard for certain types of students. It's not for everyone. My son liked it better than Williams where we also visited, but he is a musician. Bard is for musicians.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! Does anyone know more about Sarah Lawrence?</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence,if you are different,So they are</p>
<p>The main entertainments involve orgies, sexual experimentation and drugs</p>
<p>edad - what kind of grudge do you have against Bard? just because it doesn't turn out pre-med and pre-law students at Ivy League rates doesn't mean that the "less practical", liberal arts education is not a high-calibur one. as an aspiring bardian with moral values (gaasp), intellectual ambition, and a love for art and culture, i take offense to your negative and insulting critique of the institution.</p>
<p>I agree with you Greenmoon33. edad sounds extremely bigoted and unfair in his judgments. I truly believe no one should take his comments on Bard seriously. The way he phrases his disdain is really offensive to anyone intelligent enough to understand extremely biased and insulting potshots. And I don't even attend Bard or plan to go there. </p>
<p>Slandering a school like that is disgusting, and only puts you in a negative light.</p>
<p>SL is an interesting school. I really feel the only way to understand SL is to visit- it's just too different. I don't mean this in a negative way, but SL is home to lots of gothic, lesbian, techie, far-out types of kids. Maybe that's you, but if it's not, you might have some difficulties fitting in. It's also very much dominated by the females. I don't know the exact percentage off the top of my head, but I know it's a pretty big difference.</p>
<p>Sorry if I included some observations and opinions about Bard. Here are some plain facts:
The NCES webpage lists zero graduates in any science or math areas for the past three years. All the graduates have been in social sciences, art or multidisciplinary.
I toured the science building and saw approximately 2/3 of the labs and facility. One small room contained some electronics equipment. No other rooms which I saw contained any lab equipment.
I observed a biology class. There were blackboards but no laboratory equipment and the class consisted of 3 students discussing textbook material.
At the interview with a biology faculty member I learned that Bard had a great deal of difficulty attracting anyone interested in the sciences and scholarships were available. I was also told that there were possibilities for research and there had been some publishable work involving zebra fish. I did not see any fish tanks.<br>
During the interview with admissions, I was told Bard had difficulty attracting anyone interested in science and good scholarships were available. The admissions officer explained admissions policies. He explained, with pride, that SAT scores were not required or encouraged. He explained that Bard was not just interested in academics but how the student would relate to Bard. He also encouraged participation in a pre-admissions discussion group and stated that the applicants participation could be a major factor in selection for admissions.
The tour guide explained the campus culture. I was told that the administration had official policies about alcohol and drug use, but did not enforce them. I was told that there was a substance free dorm, but that was not enforced. He stated that substance free living was something some parents wanted but the students were allowed to make their own choices.
The tour guide showed us the old gym which he stated was the night time activity center. He also explained that pretty much anything but violence was accepted and clothing was optional. I won't try to describe the gym because I could not do that without offering opinions. I was told that the administration did not try to control the activities in the gym and some faculty members were known to participate.
The campus newspaper contained an article describing the emergency room visit for about 30 students due to drug toxicity.
I toured the art studios both as part of the regular tour and on my own. This was a nice facility and the students working at the time appeared to have very adequate space and equipment. Without offering any opinions, I would suggest that anyone interested in studio arts should also visit the studios of an art school and note any differences they see in the quality of the student work.
My D had an lesson/informal audition with one of the adjunct faculty members. This faculty member also teaches at Vassar and suggested that Vassar might be a better fit. We toured Vassar the next day.</p>
<p>Here's a thread from last year that includes my impression of tours we took at Sarah Lawrence and Bard as well as information from some other people.</p>
<p>My son did not apply to Sarah Lawrence since its major advantage seemed to be its closeness to NYC which he wasn't particularly interested in. He did apply regular decision to Bard and was accepted. Regular decision notification from Bard was the last of the acceptance letters to come in. By that time he already knew about a half a dozen students from his high school that been accepted by some sort of early action program and so I think Bard had become low on his list because he didn't necessarily want to go to college with the same people he knew from high school. With the acceptance letter also came the financial aid news and even though he did get a Bard Scholarship for $19500.00 per year and additional federal need based aid bringing the total aid package to $28000.00 it didn't come close enough for us to meeting the yearly price tag of $44,280.00.</p>
<p>In the end I know at least one of the accepted students did decide to attend but I haven't heard anything yet on how she is doing there.</p>
<p>I started a thread on reading Charlotte Simmons and being appalled. This orgy stuff, is it for real? Are colleges really bastions of debauchery these days? I went to school in the 70's and all they did in our student union was openly smoke pot and dance (not grind) and we were considered a pretty "wild" school. But how did you like Vassar?</p>
<p>Another thing. I went to Graduate School about 10 years ago (ok maybe 12) and we were constantly getting notices about sexual harrassment. Any kind of fraternization between students and profs was strictly verboten. I mean it went on - a professor even married a student but participating in public orgies? Aren't they afraid of losing their jobs?</p>
<p>Actually, I think Bard is a hold over from the 60's, not the 70's. But enough.</p>
<p>Vassar was much more refined and polished. We had the best student tour guide of any college we visited. She was full of energy and information and clearly loved her experiences at Vassar. I try not to put much emphasis on the skill of the tour guide, but she did seem to reflect the conversations we had with other students. </p>
<p>I am sure there are plenty of wild things going on at Vassar but it is not as open and there is a more serious academic feeling with more diversity in the campus culture. All of the facilities were impressive. The choices in the study of humanities may be the major attraction but the sciences also appear strong. If you tour, you must visit the music castle. This is off to one side of the campus and is not included on the usual tour. We had a complete tour by one of the music faculty members. The inside is just as impressive as the outside with several organs and a hugh music library.</p>
<p>did not see any fish, therefore there must not be any....must have seen quite a few orgies, then. haha</p>
<p>yes, white, this slandering of Bard is disgusting.</p>
<p>it does traditionally attract "humanities" students, but on my tour I personally sat in a math classroom, and one of the kids working at the desk was a bio major. it's clearly the minority, but so are humanities majors at larger research-oriented universities. and that stuff about orgies, drinking, drugs - only as true as the next LAC.</p>