How good is Bard College?
Define âgood.â I know a bunch of kids thriving there but it depends entirely on what youâre looking for.
@porcupine98 well environment,activities,quality of the studies?
I live not far from Bard. To those in the area, the school is a joke. Earthy, crunchy, rich kids who can hide in academia. IMO, its kind of a throw back to the 1970s. Its cute campus though and Iâve gone to a few interesting cultural things there.
It depends on what youâre looking for. For some, especially those looking for immersion in the arts and humanities, it can be a great experience. If youâre looking for an engineering school, not so much. Again, you need to define your terms. Fortunately, thereâs a wide variety of schools to choose from if you know what youâre looking for. Youâll get better responses regarding this particular school if you do a little research on your own and come back with specific questions.
1 Like
I am not sure if these questions will match those of the OP Derpthuluâs, but I will try! At any rate, these are some of my questions, which I am inferring are somewhat similar to his/hers, from his/her word list!
What is the balance at Bard between students who work hard at their schoolwork and enjoy intellectual discussions in and out of class, versus students who are regularly involved in drugs and therefore somewhat indifferent to their work?
And how prevalent is drug use?
What is the community like for freshmen? Are there organized opportunities to meet and bond with other freshmen (within a dormitory, a class, or other small group setting)?
The OP asked about activities. What about extracurricular activities? Bard is famous for being wonderful for the arts and film. Will a student who has diverse intellectual interests but who enjoys sporty activities, like tennis and frisbee, easily find like-minded peers?
I read that many upperclassmen live off campus. How far away is the off campus housing? Can you walk; is there a shuttle; do you need a car or bike?
Thanks to anyone who can address some or all of these questions. I hope the answers help the OP as well!
Probably true of many small LACs. âRich kidsâ could describe the full-paying ~half of all students at nearly any of them.
In identifying schools that are âgoodâ academically, what do we look at? Available metrics cover admission and post-graduate outcomes. Bard is fairly selective, with admit rates < 40% and an average new SAT composite around 1300. So itâs able to attract pretty good students. Forbes (which emphasizes outcomes) ranks it #122, which is close to Gettysburg, Muhlenberg, College of Wooster, and Lawrence University (and better than some larger, possibly more familiar schools such as Rutgers, TAMU, Ohio State, and Penn State).
Not sure I agree with that. For example, Vassar offers need-based aid to 62% of its students This article was just published in the school paper, emphasizing the commitment to providing need-based aid http://miscellanynews.org/2017/02/08/features/vc-still-prioritizes-aid-after-decline-in-funds/
Half vs 40% is meaningful in terms of access, but not necessarily visible to locals who see these kids as outsiders who travel in packs. Typical town vs. gown friction.
In any case, a good school with some interesting practices that emphasize learning and scholarship. The proximity to NYC has helped it attract top faculty in the arts and literature in particular. I thought it was impressive.
If youâre looking for engineering or the ability to intern during the school year, there are better choices. As noted, it depends on what you want.
Union College is also in the area, small LAC, expensive and more than half pay full tuition. Nobody in the Capital District thinks Union is a joke. BardâŠum hum. Just sharing what the locals think. We have many, many colleges and universities to compare with (and yes, judge).
[[[[What is the balance at Bard between students who work hard at their schoolwork and enjoy intellectual discussions in and out of class, versus students who are regularly involved in drugs and therefore somewhat indifferent to their work?]]]]
Nearly all students are heavily focused on their work (I would even say too much for many students), and will engage in discussions on any number of economic, political, or societal issues - and not necessarily on the side that you might expect. The only students who are widely indifferent academically would be athletes.
[[[[And how prevalent is drug use?]]]]
Way less than purported. A bit of weed and cigarettes, but a non existent psychedelic and stimulant scene, for which the same can not be said for many nearby schools.
[[[[What is the community like for freshmen? Are there organized opportunities to meet and bond with other freshmen (within a dormitory, a class, or other small group setting)?]]]]
Like any question on making friends, the prerogative is on the individual foremost. Yes, they are countless opportunities.
[[[[The OP asked about activities. What about extracurricular activities? Bard is famous for being wonderful for the arts and film. Will a student who has diverse intellectual interests but who enjoys sporty activities, like tennis and frisbee, easily find like-minded peers?]]]]
All of the above. Nearly 200 clubs. One for anything you could imagine. There are constant artistic and orchestral performances at the Fisher Center free for students, the Hannah Arendt center has weekly events, world class guest lectures weekly, blah blah blah
[[[[I read that many upperclassmen live off campus. How far away is the off campus housing? Can you walk; is there a shuttle; do you need a car or bike?]]]]
Many upperclassmen live in nearby Tivoli, which is connected by an hourly 5 minute shuttle road. You can not walk (there have been numerous tragic accidents from students walking along the infamous NY-5G), and you do not need a car or bike. In saying that, a bike would be beneficial, and if you want to ever get out of the immediate Bard sphere (ie Bard/Tivoli/Red Hook), you will need to know someone with a car.
Thanks!
@Empireapple It appears the locals donât really understand the amazing school in their midst at all. @Barksdale gave good answers to the questions above. Bard has a phenomenal teaching staff - some of the best professors in the world in my opinion. My S was a National Merit Finalist and found his peers at Bard, so the relatively high admission rate does not reflect the overall high intellectual level and capabilities of the student body. Yes, the college is known for its strength in the arts and humanities, but theyâve been building up the sciences for years now, and have some great professors, resources and opportunities. It is a great place for engaged students who are willing to be challenged, both intellectually, and in their previous assumptions. There is plenty of financial aid - for both domestic and international students - so by no means is it exclusively a school for rich kids!
Honestly the school is not a joke. My daughter is a first year student and it is definitely not an easy school where rich kids go to hide. If you take the time to learn about it, the first year students at Bard have to go to college an entire month early to complete what is called Language and ThinkingâŠevery student in the first year class (about 500) must go to classes, read books, write papers, etc. before the rest of the students arrive (attendance is taken, participation required). The classes during L&T are small (about 13 students) and the professors are excellent. Every class reads the same material and follows the same lesson plan. This will inspire conversation among peers (I would guess). Then again in January students return a month early for the Citizen Science program which is another month geared toward science (same situation, attendance required). So, their first year they go an extra 2 months.
Here are some other reasons Bard is a great school:
**At Bard, students must âmoderateâ into their major their sophomore year (declare a major, explain why they are choosing it, gain recommendations, etc.).
**The professors take attendance, and the classes are very small. There are 13 students in my daughterâs English Lit class. She has not been in any classes over 20 students. Based on her first semester, the professors gave my daughter excellent and constructive feedback on her papers and class performance. In addition, Iâve looked up the credentials of all of my daughterâs professors, and they have impressive degrees, but more importantly, they love teaching.
**Students get to review their professors.
**Professors also serve as advisors to the students. Each student is assigned a professor to be their advisor. Love this.
So far my daughterâs favorite part of the school are the professors and small class sizes. For Thanksgiving she was invited to the Deanâs house. She was also invited to her professor/advisorâs house for friendsgiving the day before.
The school is extremely liberal. And I donât mean, we accept everyone for who they are kind of liberal, so if you child is a republican or conservative they will be in the minority (mine is not a republican nor conservative).
My daughter chose the school because they offered her a great financial deal. She took every high school AP class she could, had a 4.0 and was ranked 1st in her high school. Bardâs price came in $5K a year lower than Smith (who also offered her a merit scholarship as well as an early write). They came in $10K below Colgate. She likes it because it is liberal, there is not a huge focus on sports, there IS a large focus on music/arts, and there is NO greek life. She said there are a lot of students who smoke, and do drugs, however, there is not pressure on those who do not. My daughter has made very intellectual friends at this school and is having a great time.
I like the school because it is in the middle of nowhere. There is access to NYC but not really for day trips unless you take a cab to the train station (maybe a $30 ride). She has taken one field trip to NYC with her art history class. There are very regular shuttles to the small towns of Red Hook, and Tivoli which are not within walking distance. The shuttle takes students to Kingston twice a week for about 3 hours or so.
The housing is not pristine, but if the housing were pristine, they would not have been able to give us a huge scholarship, so Iâm not going to complain!
I just want to add that a lot of kids at Bard are not rich. And, if they are they donât flaunt it. The stats say that about 60% of bard kids are on some kind of financial aid.
1 Like
^^This conforms to what Iâve heard about the school from parents of other attendees. Iâd take the opinions of a current student or parent, over the opinions of someone who just happens to live in the area and has formed some impressions.
1 Like
I know a peer of my son who goes to Bard, and sheâs flourishing. Doing very well academically and will be well set up in her chosen field upon graduation. Getting good support from her professors.
The list of famous and interesting writers and thinkers who teach at Bard is long.
That said, a lot of the kids who go to Bard seem to be ones who couldnât get in to Vassar, etc, and reports are that indeed there are a lot of crunchy freaks there.
Bard begat Steely Dan, so it has that going for it.
I live about an hour north of Bard. Two of my daughterâs high school classmates have fathers who are professors at Bard, and my daughter goes to a medical specialist nearby, so I am in the area a lot.
I understand what another poster said about locals thinking the students are flaky. They do have that reputation, as well as being notoriously picky about what they eat. (I know a girl who worked in a nearby deli.) So I wasnât expecting much when we decided to tour Bard when also visiting another nearby college. Instead, I was blown away by the intellectual depth of the curriculum. Despite Bardâs reputation of being loosey-goosey, it has more requirements than any other school we visited. It is a true liberal arts school that is interested in learning and teaching. Most of the classrooms are small and set up in seminar style, so I think students are expected to participate here. You just canât sit back and listen. There are also tons of activities on campus.
My kid ended up being very interested in the school after the tour. She talked to people who work there and went there. All had good things to say. The professors really enjoy the students and said there was more of a feeling of collaboration among faculty and staff than in other places they had worked.
Ultimately my daughter chose another school. Bard did not give her very much financial aid (donât let this deter you from applying. From my experience, financial aid is somewhat of a crapshoot, and each schoolâs definition of your need is different). She also did not like the isolated location. Although she didnât need to be in a city, the fact that you need to take a bus even to get to a small town center turned her off. Although not super far from a couple of towns, the road is narrow and not that safe for walking or biking, as someone else pointed out. The campus is beautiful, though, and on the Hudson, so if you are looking for a more bucolic campus and donât mind getting out to the city only on occasional weekends, then this might be the place for you.
From my impressions from kids we know who are there @UNYMom said is spot on. It is a terrific place for the right kid.
Prospective students should be wary of the fact that Bardâs bond rating (in 2016 by Moodyâs) is four steps down into âjunk bondâ status â rated âB1â and with a negative outlook. This is due to Bardâs ever-increasing debt load and constricted liquidity. The âB1â rating places the college 14 steps down from the top of Moodyâs 21-step credit rating scale, or a grade of 45% if looked at on a grading scale of 0% to 100%.
Financial constraints are bound to negatively impact the experiences of the collegeâs students.
If your student receives grades of 45%, most parents would agree itâs a failing grade. Bard could use some of the income-stream from Steely Danâs music royalties!