New application process for Bard College

<p>A new option this fall - no need to submit grades or test scores. Instead - just write four 2500 word research papers. If they’re good enough - you’re admitted.
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/nyregion/didnt-ace-sat-just-design-microbe-transplant-research.html?smid=pl-share[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/nyregion/didnt-ace-sat-just-design-microbe-transplant-research.html?smid=pl-share</a></p>

<p>"You just need to be smart, curious and motivated, and prove it with words — 10,000 words, in the form of four, 2,500-word research papers.</p>

<p>The research topics are formidable and include the cardinal virtue of ren in Confucius’s “The Analects,” “the origin of chirality (or handedness) in a prebiotic life,” Ezra Pound’s view of “The Canterbury Tales,” and how to design a research trial using microbes transplanted from the human biome. If professors deem the papers to be worthy of a B+ or better by the college’s standards, you are in."</p>

<p>Well! This certainly gives me some food for thought and drive to write. A sole admissions requirement that is so substantive and original is an audacious and forward-looking move for Bard, and further raises my already high opinion of their institution. This news has found me at an important juncture in my academic life and strikes me almost as a fateful challenge that I have been called upon to meet. It could potentially shift the course of my life, not only for the next few months, but perhaps even for the next four to six years. Thanks for keeping us informed, SpiritManager.</p>

<p>Rachnroll - It seems to me that the student who gets excited by this new admissions option is exactly the kind of student they’re hoping to attract.</p>

<p>If you have any questions about the music program at Bard, I’ll be happy to try to find answers for you if I don’t already know them. I do know that pianists have great options both in the college, and, of course, in the conservatory.</p>

<p>It sounds like a really interesting idea. I wonder, though, how Bard will award merit scholarships to people who choose this route to admissions. Wouldn’t Bard usually be looking at test scores and GPA?</p>

<p>Since Bard has not required standardized test scores in quite awhile, they couldn’t have been using those as a metric for awarding merit grants. I think most of their awards are based on how much they want the student, while considering the family’s financial need. So if the student writes incredible essays - seems to me that would be the determining factor in any awards. They’ve always awarded the Levy Economics Full Tuition Scholarship based partially on a special submitted essay. And the full tuition Distinguished Scientist Scholarship has a special supplemental submission form.</p>

<p>They do have an award based on class standing - so I wonder how that could be determined under the new method. It seems there will be some wrinkles to work out.</p>

<p>Thanks! You’ve given me a lot to think about.</p>