<p>I would really appreciate some clarifications on a few things about Bard. I love the ideas of LACs generally, and have been offered a full-tuition scholarship, so please convince me to go:)</p>
<p>Here we go:</p>
<p>How “artsy” and “socially alternative” is Bard?
I’ve done three varsity sports, but am not exceptionally talented in any of them. I like sports just for fun and exercise. Will I find like-minded people at Bard? I’ve heard that most people at Bard reject athletics…</p>
<p>As a science student, how much would I fit in, and how much of a minority would I be? From the few videos I have seen of Bard, people seem very artsy and “non-conformist”… (not caring about how they look and doing very odd activites…) Do people wear regular modern clothing and have large “college-style” parties on weekends? Also, are sciences prioritized nearly as much as arts?</p>
<p>Lastly (this is exaggerated to make my point):
If I go to Bard wearing modern laid-back preppy clothing (moderately preppy, not popped-collar, oxford shirts etc.), playing soccer and/or tennis, studying Economics, Politics, Literature and Physics, hoping to end up with a graduate degree in business or engineering, with a liberal attitude but “conformist” interests, would I fit in at all and make friends??</p>
<p>Hope you guys can give me some ideas! Thanks!</p>
<p>Well I am an athlete too (I play soccer) and planning to major in Studio Arts, Math and Computer Sciences maybe. I am totally athletic-minded and after watching a few videos of Bard, I am also wondering how Bard students are like.</p>
<p>My daughter’s been accepted and is going to go to Bard, so I can tell my impressions just from visiting. Yes, Bard’s artsy, but not an art school, so there are all types there. They seem to be really pushing the sciences. Freshman have to go back a couple of weeks early after Christmas for the Citizen Science program, which apparently is total immersion in the sciences. I don’t think you’d feel out of place. </p>
<p>As far as clothes go, I just remember seeing jeans and T shirts like every place else. My daughter goes to a private high school where the dress code is blazers, button down shirts, polos, and slacks/knee length skirts, etc. so I know she never wants to see those clothes again. But if you were to dress that way, I don’t think anybody would give you a hard time. Probably, you would grunge up after a while any way, but maybe not. As far as athletics go, I know they have some sports teams, but I don’t they they win much. Look at it this way, if you are any good at all, you’ll probably get lots of playing time. My daughter’s a dancer, so she’ll get most of her exercise that way, but she also swims, and plays basketball and volleyball. She hopes to get a job as a lifeguard; they have a nice big indoor pool.</p>
<p>As for parties, my older daughter goes to a school similar to Bard, and she tells me parties generally take place in the rooms, so they’re not huge. They get bands at her school fairly often, so I guess that’s something like a party. I imagine Bard’s similar. They told us on the tour that something’s always going on.</p>
<p>My other daughter goes to Bennington. Now there, how you dress is very important. You don’t have to look good or wear any specific style. But you have to think carefully about how you want to present yourself, or else you have to totally not care about how you present yourself. One or the other.</p>
<p>Another question for everyone:
How are distributions between majors at Bard?
Between Humanities (art/music/lit) vs Social Sciences (Econ/Pol.sc./psych) vs Natural sciences</p>
<p>Bard is a welcoming place. I’m a sweatshirt and jeans kind of girl, most of my friends are the “classic” hipsters, but my best friend here is a stereotypical jock who played varsity basketball and tennis (but now just plays tennis). Lots of kids do sports. Despite Princeton Review’s claim that we’re “dodgeball targets” and once you get passed the general awkwardness that many kids here have, most of <em>relatively</em> athletic. Lots of kids work out, every year there are more and more varsity athletes, the intramural games have a lot of kids who sign up (some sports more than others, but still, lots of participation), etc.</p>
<p>Science kids blend in with the humanities kids, but that’s attributed to (in my opinion) mostly two things: how strong the LAC mentality is here because everyone has to take every subject, and because kids who come here are interested in learning. If you’re learning something different than I am, I want to know what you’re learning. Students tend to be interested in acquiring knowledge, even if it’s not in their home field or something they wouldn’t necessarily pursue academically.</p>
<p>As for parties, there are, surprisingly, pretty big parties here, mostly off campus but they’re pretty easy to get to with the shuttle that takes you to the two surrounding towns (Tivoli and Red Hook). On campus parties tend to be smaller because they’re usually in dorm rooms, but some of them can get pretty big.</p>