<p>I really underestimated how hard it would be to chose a college.
I figured once I got my letters of acceptance and rejection it would be easy.
Man was I wrong.</p>
<p>So I've narrowed it down to Bard and UChicago.
UChicago is probably my favorite because of its location and a few more sentimental reasons, but i like Bard too, and for some reason they've decided to give me ~$32,000 a year. Money is an issue to the point where I don't want to be paying student loans until I die, and since Chicago is only giving me 13,000/yr in grants, going there is going to put me in debt for a while.</p>
<p>I'm wondering which academic system and student body I will mesh with better and I was hoping some of you guys would have advice.
I'm geeky and do like to be studious and whatnot, but I'm not sure if I'm as studious as those at Chicago.
I'm creative and free-thinking like most people at Bard, but I don't smoke or drink (which seems to be the favorite pastime).
I've always been able to handle stress well, but maybe the quick pace of the quarter system and the general vigor of Chicago's classes will make me crack.
Bard's classes are uber small, full of discussion, and their curriculum is loose and very customizable which I like.</p>
<p>I really think that Chicago is awesome and besides the money question, that would be a great bet. In my opinion, Chicago might be worth the debt. It really sounds like an amazing school and Bard might not be a great fit.</p>
<p>I am absolutely stunned that anyone would even apply to both UChicago and Bard. You could not have picked two more polar opposites. Is it possible that you have not visited these schools and have formed your impressions from brochures and second hand information?</p>
<p>"...and for some reason they've decided to give me ~$32,000 a year" I can guess without asking. For years Bard has offered very generous financial aid to anyone interested in the sciences. I would bet that you have a strong high school background in math and science. Bard has been desperate to build a science program because the facilities and academics have been substandard. It has been a couple of years since I saw Bard so maybe the planned science building is nearing completion. Even so it will take many years to develop the science academics. In the meantime, Bard sciences have survived due to an affiliation with Rockefeller University, small classes, and some research with Zebra fish. Maybe that would satisfy some students but UChicago is a couple of orders of magnitude more advanced. The American Chemical Society accredits chemistry programs. Pretty much every existing program - over 600 - is accredited. Not Bard. Perhaps I have guessed wrong and you are not interested in the sciences. Bard might be the right choice if you are interested in the humanities, multidisciplinary studies and want an ultra liberal LAC. You might want to also reconsider your reluctance to smoke and drink - and use drugs.</p>
<p>One thing to think about is geographical location. Bard is rural and quite isolated. There is not much in the way of area attractions that most college students want. My child is there without a car and often feels trapped. Chicago, obviously, has more of a nightlife and access to amenities than Annandale-on-Hudson. But, NYC is available by train service. </p>
<p>The science building is opening in the fall of 2007. The atmosphere at Bard is extremely laid back, the registration for class is chaotic. Freshman year, my child had to go wait outside each professor's office door to get permission to register for classes, and this must be accomplished for all classes in one morning.</p>
<p>well, edad i must say that you were eerily correct on many things:
i am studying science; it's about the only thing i'm interested in, and my parents don't have the time or money to let me visit college campuses.
i think i applied to both schools because each of them appealed to different parts of my personality. i'm laid-back, creative, open-minded, non-religious, but i am also geeky, studious, and have never drank, smoked, used drugs, whatever.
would you say the lack of strength of bard's science program is a big enough reason to not go to the school? would going to bard for mainly financial reasons and then going to chicago for grad school be a legitimate idea? or is the debt chicago will put me in as an undergrad worth it?</p>
<p>thank you for your first-hand advice as well rgwardrn.</p>
<p>I think there is a definite chance that Chicago grad schools will not be so interested after an undergrad degree from Bard. If you're interested in the sciences, I would Definitely go with Chicago.</p>
<p>"I'd choose Chicago because you'd be loads more successful."
That's not necessarily the case. Chicago is more academically reputable, but it doesn't seem like a very fun place to go to school to me. I think Bard is a solid school with a solid reputation, and $32,000 is HUGE. If you can see yourself at Bard just as well as you see yourself at Chicago, then go to Bard.</p>
<p>Have you visited Bard? If not, I urge you to do so. They have fabulous brochures, they have some impressive people listed as faculty (though many appear to be adjuncts). But it is definitely a place that you might love...or hate, when you see it and see the students there. It has a countercultural feel, and the campus is fairly random in its layout; I was underwhelmed during a lengthy tour, including by their curriculum -- Chicago is certainly the better school in terms of reputation and just plain solidity in all respects. Visit visit visit, if you can.</p>
<p>If you had been a humanities or social science, I would say you should choose the school that gave you the most money. But since you're a science major, go to Chicago. It's worth the debt.</p>
<p>Epidemic, I don't know if you have other choices. If going to UChicago means that you will incur many tens of thousands in debt, I would reconsider. I would also recommend that you do not accept Bard without a visit. Perhaps the new science building will make a sudden improvement, but in the past Bard would have been a very poor choice for a science major. Mamenyu was IMO generous in describing Bard was underwhelming. I don't want to bad mouth Bard, but there are some factors worth consideration. Bard is in an isolated location. You will be trapped in a strong culture that you will either love or hate. The culture is not easy to describe and I won't try because my D and our family was clearly on the side of not liking Bard.</p>
<p>i can't thank you guys enough for all your advice; the only way i can see myself figuring this problem out is talking it out with others, and the more people i can talk to the merrier, so thanks for all your help.</p>
<p>this decision never seems to get anywhere for me. when i weigh all the pros and cons they're basically equal.
chicago would put me around $100,000 in debt when it's said and done (versus <$10,000 for Bard), but obviously their science program is much better than bard, and i've wanted to go to chicago for the past two years.
i've lived in the country for my whole life though and i've been looking forward to a change of scenery; changing from tobacco fields and golf courses to the hudson river and the catskill mountains isn't appealing, but NYC and other cities are somewhat close by.
I really wish I could visit bard, i know it would help a lot, but it's just not possible. My mom works a crazy night schedule and we don't have the extra money lying around, especially with college coming.
i understand you would have a bias edad, but i would really appreciate your opinion (or anyone else who has visited bard [or chicago really]) on bard whether it be good or bad. What you consider a negative i may see a different way and vice versa.
i'm really running out of criteria to base my decision on..
thanks again everyone.</p>
<p>$100,000 is way too big a debt, if you will be responsible for paying it off. Are you sure there are no other options?
You might like Bard, especially with the new science building. The old one is pretty unimpressive -- looked like a high school lab.
The location is rural -- in the fall, with the changing leaves, and especially at the economics building at the far end of campus overlooking the Hudson, it is stunning. It is a long way to NYC, though -- hours, and not fun ones, by car.<br>
The library looked pretty skimpy, the dorms were a big mix, some of them looked quite unappealing (some were in what looked like a quanset hut). My sense was that Leon Botstein has lots of interesting ideas for starting up new projects, like the Conservatory, but that in practice they are less than what at first appears. The students looked rather gothy -- lots of girls with black fishnet stockings and shorts. Very different from the mix of kids observed at other liberal arts colleges.
Again, visit before deciding.</p>
<p>well, four years at UChicago is around $210,000 not counting personal expenses. Take out the grants i've been given and you have $158,000. My parents and I have about $57,000 saved for college and that leaves me at $100,000. I would probably work and in order to pay off a few thousand more, though i'm not sure how much my parents can help me pay, but i do know it's much, much less than their EFC of $24,000.</p>
<p>i hate this idea that i honestly can't go somewhere because of money. it doesn't seem fair, though i know there are much, much, much worse things that are happening to people, and this in retrospect is very insignifcant, it still makes me angry; actually i'm more sad.
is it really worth it to try to call the financial aid office? i don't know what i would argue besides my parents and my own EFCs are too high, but everyone says that. will the fact that i really want to go to their school mean anything? i would have to raise my grants from 13k to at least 20k to get my debt to around 60k.. no financial aid office in their right mind would do this would they?</p>