<p>Assuming that my deferral to Bard does not end up in an acceptance (which appears to be fairly likely at the moment), how difficult would it be to transfer to Bard from another college or university?</p>
<p>Given Bard’s unique academic system (by system I’m referring to moderation, the senior project), just how hectic would the entire process be? Or is the process just the same as it would be at another college?</p>
<p>I plan to apply to Bard as a transfer student after a year at my local community college. I plan to double major in psychology and music. However, I’m rather troubled by how I would adjust given the limited number of credits I would be able to bring from my local CC to Bard. I’ve been assured that all of the music courses that I take at my local CC are guaranteed to transfer over, but what about my psychology and core classes? </p>
<p>I wonder if anyone who has transferred to Bard can give me a little insight into how the process works? Perhaps it’s because I’m extremely unaware of how the transfer process (for any college) works that I’m getting myself so worked up.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>I was a transfer student at Bard. I came from a public university. I didn’t find Moderation to be difficult given that I had the relevant courses (or the equivalent) in my major. What was probably the most tricky was filling the requirement of having something like 1/3 of your credits outside your division (in my case Social Studies). But I’m really glad I had that opportunity.</p>
<p>I am NOT a transfer to Bard, but my brother is.</p>
<p>It is definitely not the same as other colleges, if only for the fact that you have to prepare for moderation. You’re given 4 semesters essentially (both sophomore and junior year, assuming you’re finishing in 4 years) to moderate, though the difficulty level of getting in depends on the department. Since you’re double majoring, you would have to do two moderations, which will make the process a bit more difficult for you, but definitely doable.</p>
<p>However, my brother transferred to Bard from a SUNY school, thought he was going to major in econ and did a 180 and decided to major in studio arts. The moderation process became a bit difficult for him then, only because he had to get completely different requirements in a short period of time, as well as get a decently sized body of art work to showcase.</p>
<p>Also, <em>most</em> psych courses post-intro say that you can take an equivalent of intro to psych, etc. Only in the upper-level are they specific, and they usually only have one or two prerequisites that you can get out of the way in one semester.</p>
<p>Admissions officers I have spoken to have told me it is difficult to get into Bard through transfer, but I don’t know what the numbers are.</p>
<p>After touring the campus, I got the impression that the school is not as susceptible to transfer students as some other schools I visited, like Sarah Lawrence. That’s somewhat disconcerting because I really want to be at Bard! I hope that my strong recommendations, essays, and EC’s will be enough. If not, I don’t know what to amend!</p>
<p>make sure you tell bard that you want to come here. it really is a case-by-case basis, but schools want to be wanted. if this is your first choice, tell them in a letter and explain why (with reasons that go beyond superficiality like: i hear your lit department is great. you can certainly mention how great a department is, but delve beyond that and go into why it’s important that you come here).</p>
<p>if you want to be here, we want you here.</p>
<p>Well, I’d certainly hope they would want me.</p>
<p>I’d like to think I have this covered. Through my essays, I have thoroughly expressed why Bard is my number one choice. Bard is the place to be because the academic atmosphere promotes the forming of an intellectual gravitas, that is, garnering conviction towards a discipline and progressing it by means of articulating it with discussion, individual projects, etc. One could have ideas about things but be unable to articulate them, like me. This is radically different from my current institution where ‘learning for learning’s sake’ is ignored in order to use higher education as a means to just get a degree. Now that’s important, but there’s a discernible lacuna behind that and is by no means preparation for grad school, right? How can you articulate your ideas, play with ideas, if you can’t bring your interests into the classroom? </p>
<p>Why Bard then? The aforesaid Sarah Lawrence would be a great place to go as you could synthesize myriad disciplines readily. I like Bard a lot because I think it attempts to form a passion for something, then take them out of their element and procure an intellectual, make them well rounded, so to say. Yet the school wants to harness the students’ gravitas through moderation and the senior project. I can respect that. That’s pretty much my main reason and I’m sure I’m bringing the school to an apotheosis, but ah well. I’d like to discover that for myself. </p>
<p>My academics are fantastic (dean’s list, honor societies, blah), I saw one of my recommendations and the professor gave me the highest marks possible. The only thing I’m somewhat worried about is my mediocre high school transcript, but that’s forgettable. But thanks for responding though, lilygraces, maybe I’ll see you at Bard next fall. And if I get rejected, goddamit!</p>
<p>Getting into Bard through transfer isn’t hard. You just need deep pockets to pay off for your time there…</p>
<p>SapereAude-</p>
<p>You certainly sound like a Bardian, that’s for sure. As long as you’re confident you got that across, even with your high school transcript (because REALLY, Bard tends to dismiss numbers unless they make you shine in a different/better light), I think you have a good chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>