<p>Does anyone else feel that Bard is very exciting but you are left more to your own devices, sink or swim, with overwhelming reading and writing workload with little support. Skidmore more supportive and perhaps plain vanilla?
HELP PLEASE!</p>
<p>At Bard, the summer L&T orientation provides a good “intro to college” support that enables first years to hit the ground running once the term begins. Add to that the freshman seminar program for building a learning community across the entire class and the generally very small class sizes (individual attention from the faculty), and you’ve got a good foundation. Bard also offers the same sorts of tutoring services and career counseling that you find at every school: [On</a> Campus | Student Services & Support](<a href=“http://www.bard.edu/campus/services/]On”>Campus Services and Resources). </p>
<p>I would say that a student who struggles with reading and writing will find the Bard curriculum very challenging. Not sure what kinds of support are offered at Skidmore, sorry.</p>
<p>L&T was very helpful to my daughter who entered Bard this year as someone who struggles with reading and writing. She admits that she still falls behind sometimes, but she’s managing. The professors are very supportive. I also don’t know much about Skidmore, but I think the Bard campus is prettier.</p>
<p>momabroad, we got that impression from the Admitted Student Day last week; it might not be true, but that was definitely what we heard over and over and over again. Don’t know about Skidmore.</p>
<p>@amtc - I’m sorry you and your daughter had a less than stellar experience at the Admitted Students Day. But making a decision is such a hard process - even if your experience might not mirror the actual experience of going to school at Bard - at this point it’s useful to have anything to help cast the die!</p>
<p>As for Skidmore vs Bard - yes, there is probably more reading and writing at Bard. And, yes, Skidmore, relative to Bard only, is probably a more traditional student body.</p>
<p>All of my son’s professors are immensely supportive and involved.</p>
<p>There is a lot of reading at Bard. You won’t end up doing a lot of it, but then, few people I know do all of it. It’s not hard to keep up.</p>
<p>Most classes you’ll have to write 2-3 papers a semester, usually coming in around 10 pages. That’s around 100 pages (double spaced) per semester, which is pretty average for any liberal arts college.</p>
<p>Skidmore is vanilla, with both the good things and the bad things that entails.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your helpful comments. I truly appreciate it. Every bit helps!</p>