<p>I visited Skidmore but I haven’t had the chance to visit Bard. How do they compare? If Skidmore seemed like a good balance would Bard feel like people are trying too hard to be different? That is the impression I got at Lewis and Clark I hated it.</p>
<p>I’ve visited both several times. My daughter selected Bard, but she probably would have applied to Skidmore if she hadn’t been accepted at Bard IDP. My impression of Skidmore is that it is more business-like, if that makes any sense. Its buildings are all modern and laid out sort of like an office park. Bard has a beautiful rolling campus with many lovely buildings. That’s just the physical look. I feel like Bard’s curriculum is looser, too. As far as people trying hard to be different, I didn’t notice that at either college. Of course, my older daughter goes to Bennington, so “different” is very relative. My daughter did say that she’s trying very hard not to buy combat boots so she won’t look like everybody else. But we’re having a hard time finding the Timberlands to replace the ones she has, so she may have to succumb in the end.</p>
<p>I was shocked by the shoddy library, dining hall & dorms at Bard. The campus, stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no nearby town to offer relief, struck me as a place in which a kid could easily slide into a winter depression. Especially since a large part of the student population prides itself on self-imposed “otherness.” Not an overtly happy lot to begin with.</p>
<p>Momala, I respect your opinion - but it’s just that - a quick reaction to what you see on the surface.</p>
<p>I don’t think one could call the library shoddy - although it certainly doesn’t match some of the great university libraries out there, no question at all. As for the dorms - they vary widely - my son has been in a portable, a remodeled addition, and now in Stone Row which is one of the oldest dorms. I’d say the best of all was the portable - otherwise known as a trailer - it had a great kitchen, wonderful common area, nice view, and individual controls for heat and air conditioning. But, from the outside, it looks as dreary as it comes.</p>
<p>Bard is not the sort of place one chooses if what matters most are the trappings. Some of the state universities have the best climbing walls and jacuzzis in their gyms and even great food plans. Although Bard is working to upgrade some of the externals - it is the internal life of the mind that is foremost in a Bard education,and the students who choose Bard choose it for that reason. To a Bard student the most important environment is the one made up of their peers and their professors - everything else is just there to facilitate that.</p>
<p>As for the happiness of the students - that is going to depend on what the student is looking for in a college. For a passionate intellectually engaged student who enjoys being surrounded by like-minded individuals and does not need the outside stimulation of a city, Bard is a wonderful place. It’s not like there’s nothing going on - the problem is often having to choose between all the different events each day/night. It is a supportive place, with a sense of comraderie and shared enthusiasms, which the isolation itself helps to engender.</p>
<p>Based on my freshman daughter’s reports, I could not agree more with SpiritManager. And in fact, she has the best dorm room anyone from our family has ever had in terms of space, location, etc. Also, she’s been to NYC, an easy two-hour drive or train ride, twice in the term, once for her art history class and once to photograph OWS. Most of all, I am sure, she’d say it is the intellectual passion in and out of class that sets Bard apart for her. (And as a visiting parent, far from no nice towns around, there are Rhinebeck and Woodstock, among others.)</p>
<p>It seems Momala’s daughter’s at Skidmore, so she’s bound to be partial; as we are about Bard, of course. Saratoga Springs is a lovely town, but as Momwonders says, so are Woodstock and Rhinebeck, as well as Saugerties and Red Hook. And New York City at 2 hours away sure beats Albany. I wonder if Momola has visited since they renovated the dining hall this summer? Oh, and my daughter’s dorm (Kruger Village) is very attractive.</p>
<p>+1 for SpiritManager’s points.</p>
<p>In fairness, Bard isnt for everybody…and it doesn’t try to be. But for an intellectually engaged, internally motivated student who is able to look beyond the superficial, it can be an amazing experience.</p>