My D was accepted at AU, Clark and Bard…any advice please.
As far as I am aware, those are all soooo different. In fairness, my D and I only visited Clark, and she was accepted there. However, she considered both of the other schools and they never made the list. Bard was just tooooo hippy dippy from everything we could tell on paper. I believe it is exceptionally good for creative kids, esp. writers.
American never made the list becasue frankly, we ended up reading a lot of negative stuff. Students didn’t seem happy. And I almost can’t believe your child would apply to American with the other two choices. Chalk and cheese. But I believe it is good for kids who want to study poli sci, int’l relations, gov, history, etc…
We liked the genuine, laid back kids at Clark. It is one of the Collges that Change Lives, has good programs for science, psych, english, and others. We liked the location, only an hour from Boston. They have the LEEP a program too, quite innovative. The students are liberal, diverse, and smart. Good luck to your D in choosing.
My kid applied to both Clark and American. The kids I know at American are very happy. But the two schools are very different. There is a definite type at Clark and I believe Bard is similar. American is more diverse, just because some kids choose it for the Washington DC location. Need a little more info OP to give you any meaningful advice.
Visited American. Even though it has a campus feel vs an urban feel, it didn’t seem to be a close knit type of community. Lots of kids living off campus and doing things in the city vs on campus. That can be a positive or negative depending on what you are looking for. In terms of academics, it seemed a little generic and nothing jumped out as special. But that is just my opinion, others may disagree
My kid loved American and his best friend went there. He despised Bard. We didn’t look at Clark for him, but did see it when we were at RPI for his older brother. Our feeling about American was that it was great for some majors, but less wonderful for others. We met a number of really topnotch kids in the honors program who had turned down Georgetown and U of Chicago for the merit aid. If you are interested in poly sci or IR, American would be my top choice among those colleges. They make it very easy to have term time internships. I agree that American has a much wider range of political types - you’ll see both students on their way to ROTC, or dressed up for internships as well as the usual more relaxed types. Bard was definitely more veggie granola. The students I’ve known who went there either loved it, or hated it. It’s a very isolated campus. We were also turned off by how dangerously unshoveled it was on a winter visit. The sidewalks all had a layer of ice on them, a vast contrast to Vassar which we visited the same day and which was impeccable.
My daughter is a sophomore studying psychology at American. Loves the school and loves the city. Everyone pretty much lives on campus the first two years and If they live off as upperclassmen its in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. It’s in a great part of town with an actual campus and tons to do on campus as well as myriad things to do in DC. Live in Massachusetts and know Clark is a well regarded school tho don’t know anyone there but Worcester is a small city far from Boston with little to do. So if being close to a vibrant city is important then AU would have the edge there but if that isn’t important Clark and AU both good. Sorry but unfamiliar with Bard
What is your D like and what does she want to study? My S graduated from Bard so I’m happy to talk about that. I do hate the way opinions formed in a few minutes on a tour for a prospective student end up as fact on these forums. Sort of the blind men and the elephant. @mathmom - how many times are you going to write about those unshoveled sidewalks? My son is not a vegetarian and doesn’t eat granola, nor does he hug trees. Yes, he is West Coast casual and doesn’t like ties or suits. Yes, he is politically liberal. But is he dogmatically liberal, or mindlessly liberal? No. Bard is, as their motto goes, “a place to think.” And, yes, he was one of those students who loved it. @mathmom is right - Bard does evince strong feelings, one way or the other.
LOL, sorry about the sidewalks. We saw someone almost get seriously injured. It made an impression. Do they shovel them now? There’s a lot to like about Bard. I liked it much more than my kid did. I liked the senior thesis requirement. I liked the fact that they had a Frank Gehry building. I liked the Science Building. I didn’t think the kids we saw looked that veggie granola or artsy. (Vassar had a bigger quotient of artsy looking kids with piercings.)
Bard offers a great education for kids who love to think, learn, create…The reputation is “alternative” but Bard struck us as rigorous, in a good way.
.We loved Clark on every visit. We especially were impressed with the freshman seminars and some of the very interesting majors offered (I am sure you have looked at the website). Clark has a great relationship with the community so if your student is service or education-oriented it is a great choice. Clark runs an award winning school in the community. WPI and Holy Cross are also in Worcester.
I don’t know anything about American and have only been to DC between trains, but at cherry blossom time 
I’m laughing because the one thing I remember most from a visit to Bard back when my D was looking a colleges (apart from the truly dreadful lunch in the cafeteria) was the snow and ice on the walks! Bard is a unique school, 100% the product of its president, Leon Botstein, but it doesn’t hide its special characteristics. An info session and tour makes it all very clear. Bard wasn’t at all the right fit for my D (and she thought the remote location was terrible), but one of my S’s friends attended and adored it. I’d say determining fit is the key to assessing Bard.
My D attended American and, as a city mouse, was happy with the environment. D originally chose it for one major, then switched, and I personally don’t think the school had much to offer in her major at the end of the day. The majors related to poli sci and international studies are by far AU’s strongest. A friend’s D is graduating from Clark and will be staying for the free masters degree, which is a very appealing element. She has loved her time there. Like American, Clark has some majors that are particularly strong, such as Psychology. OP didn’t specify her D’s interests, but I think potential majors are a very important factor in choosing between AU and Clark.
We visited Bard a few years ago on the way back from St. Lawrence, so we were fresh on seeing a first rate campus.
When we visited Bard, the freshman were living in FEMA trailers. The dorms we saw were worse than Ursinus, and that is hard to do.
We were warned by the tour guide that the food is inedible.
None of the students looked happy and there were packs of them smoking outside.
My son lived in one of those trailers freshman year (they’ve since been replaced) and it was his favorite dorm experience of all. The outside was dreary - but inside they had a common room and kitchen, individual temperature controls for the rooms, and glorious views of the meadows, Hudson River and Catskills. He made his best friends in that dorm, as well. As for the food, I hear it has improved - it wasn’t dreadful, just dull - and there were a few options such as Down the Road Grill which was on the food plan. And in recent years there is a student run farm which supplies the dining hall. As I said in my earlier post - really I don’t think folks should be commenting on brief impressions from fleeting visits with their high school kids.
And, yes, there is cigarette smoking at Bard, although I’ve heard it has decreased. As for whether or not depressive sorts are more attracted to Bard than other schools - possibly? I can’t judge that one. The weather certainly isn’t as nice as Southern California, for instance. And it does attract very intellectual students - who are often not known for their bubbly easy going personalities. And then there is the whole Northeast coolness factor. I think there are probably more laid-back happy-go-lucky kids at other schools who are put off by the intensity of the Bard experience.
first, congrats to your d op, some wonderful choices. We live about 45 mins from bard so it’s been an easy school for us to visit with our three kids, we’ve been there 6 times. Also, our kids have friends that have attended. Here are the things my three kids say about bard, they all had basically the same reaction (I’m sure part of this comes from talking to each other):
bard - intellectual, rigorous, well spoken, dark, unhappy, everyone smokes cigarettes, full of hipsters
My middle S is smart, writes well, did well on the SATs, took a bunch of AP classes but didn’t have a great gpa so he was thinking about taking the bard writing test. but after the visit, he shut it down.
My middle child also visited clark and loved it, here are the things he said:
chill, practical, friendly, fun, love the free masters, is it safe?
In the end, clark was tied with knox at number two on his list but he was admitted to his number one school.