Tell me about Bard College at Simon's Rock

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I'm interested in Bard College at Simon's Rock for next year, and despite reading up on it I have some unanswered questions, specifically:</p>

<p>How rigorous are the academics, specifically in the subjects of politics, philosophy, and literature?</p>

<p>How prevalent is the drug use? Is it simply experimentation...or are there a lot of people badly addicted to drugs?</p>

<p>What's it like living in Great Barrington?</p>

<p>The money involved in attending Simon's Rock would be a problem, to go I would have to get an AEP scholarship. I have an "unofficial" and hence unweighted GPA of around 3.85 on a 4.0 scale (my school doesn't give out GPAs but I figured out what mine would be around), and have also interned for my Congressman running high school outreach for his campaign and now for the local Democratic party in addition to being a general intern in addition to being very involved with a few other ECs. I'm wondering what my chances of getting an AEP scholarship would be with that in mind.</p>

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<p>trecked - Simon's Rock is typically considered an educational opportunity of last resort, in the sense that its students enroll there rather than suffer the final year or two of high school. The Simon's Rock students I've known certainly felt "What was my alternative?"</p>

<p>Your questions suggest you have good educational options besides Simon's Rock. If you don't mind saying, what are those?</p>

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<p>My other options would namely be switch schools (I actually interviewed at another one and didn't like it), apply to regular colleges a year early, or try to study abroad for a year in order to get through these last two years having tried to further my intellectual passions.</p>

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<p>"an educational opportunity of last resort"</p>

<p>????!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>I believe it was set up as an option quite the contrary to being a last resort. It was designed for very motivated high school students who were "done" with high school (no courses or challenges remaining).</p>

<p>You made it sound like a school for wayward youthful offenders, and it is quite the opposite.</p>

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<p>I didn't mean to denigrate the school or its students. Can we agree on this? It's unusual for a HS sophomore to aspire to attending college rather than continuing with HS. Most four-year colleges are unenthusiastic about accepting those exceptional students.</p>

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<p>^ I can't quibble with four-year colleges being unenthusiastic, but I can certainly say that as a HS sophomore I was already itching to attend college. I will not, of course, because my high school is challenging and I have good friends here; but in terms of maturity, I was--and still am--very much ready to go to college.</p>

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<p>"It's unusual for a HS sophomore to aspire to attending college rather than continuing with HS."</p>

<p>Bingo. That's precisely why Simon's Rock was developed. It's for those rare and unusual HS students who are "through" with HS (emotionally and educationally unchallenged).</p>

<p>"Most four-year colleges are unenthusiastic about accepting those exceptional students."</p>

<p>Bingo. That's precisely why Simon's Rock was developed. It's specifically because of this that the need for such a school was realized.</p>

<p>Keilexandra's post describes the crux of it....other than the fact that his/her HS is still challenging, s/he is emotionally ready to move on.</p>

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<p>^ I agree. Simon's Rock is singular. For bright 10th and 11th graders who are "through" with HS, Simon's Rock is the collegiate choice. For the OP to be debating whether Simon's Rock would be a "fit" suggests that the OP isn't committed to being "through" with HS.</p>

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<p>I am committed to being "through" with High School, however there is this problem of whether Simon's Rock is a "last resort" or whether it is really for bright, motivated students.</p>

<p>You'll notice that the deadline for the AEP scholarship is February, and the deadline for REGULAR ADMISSION is May 31. I know of no college or high school whose admissions deadlines are that late! This just makes you wonder whether or not it is a "last resort".</p>

<p>Additionally, someone from another school in my area got admitted to Simon's Rock, went there for a couple days, and came back complaining that the academics were no better than those at his own school. I don't know whether this is necessarily true or whether he really didn't give it a chance...but it definitely raises flags with both me and my parents.</p>

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<p>in the interest of full disclosure, i am the mother of an alumna (b.a., 2004) of src.</p>

<p>i have been involved with the college for several years and find there is not not one "simon's rock" type. </p>

<p>i agree with the characterization the the college is for bright, intellectually-motivated kids who are now in 10th or 11th grade,for whom high school is no longer satisfactory either academically or socially...or both. there are probably as many combinations of reasons for which students apply as there are applicants.</p>

<p>the rolling admissions policy of the college are cited as reflecting possible weakness on the part of the college. i know that it is the college's policy to accept only students who demonstrate an ability to succeed in college studies at an earlier than usual stage. also, the admissions staff considers whether the applicants have the maturity to leave home and live successfully in a college community. (note that the supervision of students reflects the young age of the student body, not being as laissez-faire as most residential colleges at which nearly all students are 18 years and older, but still the students are given more autonomy than most are likely to have had at home, reflecting their status as college students.) </p>

<p>that said, simon's rock admission cycle is open since prospective students learn about the college in other than the conventional way connected with "the college process" and often in different times of year. the small size of the college provides flexibility, so when a suitable applicant is identified, there is often more ability to find a place, later in the year, than there would be at a more conventional school.</p>

<p>the doubts raised from the anecdote of a student from the area who did not have a positive experience and left after a few days, citing a lack of academic rigor, do not conform with what i know of the college. i would encourage any student to visit the college, ideally accompanied by parents, ideally on one of the discovery days scheduled throughout the year. you can decide for yourself what you think about the atmosphere at the college, the facilities and the level of academic pursuits. if a visit to the college is not possible, contacting the admissions office may yield an opportunity to speak to a alum of the college in your home area.</p>

<p>the aep is a wonderful program of merit-based financial awards. i believe that gpa is only one factor in the criteria for these awards. the winning applications generally have not only excellent scholastic records but a wide range of other accomplishments that demonstrate motivation, intellectual curiosity, leadership, citizenship in its broadest sense. no two aep winners are alike. </p>

<p>while simon's rock does not have enormous financial resources, the college is committed to providing as much needs-based aid as possible, so aep may not be the only option available.</p>

<p>my parting advice to any one thinking about simon's rock is that whatever your reasons for interest in attending this unique school which was invented out of the necessity for some students to have early access to college, if you think you will miss aspects of the end of high school, such as the senior prom, this probably is not the place for you. i say this without disparagement - i believe that there is room in this world for all personalities and interests. </p>

<p>good luck</p>

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<p>Transfer rates extremely high! We have lots of Yale and a huge Stanford transfer rate! :"</p>

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<p>My friend’s kid had a very good experience there but was not able to transfer into any one of his top choices to complete his college education. I’d look closely at where kids go to finish their degrees.</p>

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<p>My child is attending Simon’s Rock this fall. I am excited but apprehensive about what happens after two years there. Could someone tell me about what are the transferring records to Stanford and some other top rate schools?</p>

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<p>@randliz - you replied to an ancient thread from 2008 instead of starting your own! fooled me, now I answered the OP and you too. arrrg. Next time start new thread. I suppose you are using ‘search’ to find other threads of Simon’s Rock, there are not too many I’ve seen.</p>

<p>I think the academics are good, they certainly have good outcomes:
• Simon’s Rock ranks 13th among all US colleges/universities in percentage of alumni who complete their PhD
• In a survey of recent Simon’s Rock graduates, 78% continue on to graduate study</p>

<p>They show up #1 on where English PhD’s get their start.
<a href=“The Colleges Where PhD's Get Their Start”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-colleges-where-phds-get-their-start/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You are really going to have to apply to find out what award you might get. USC also has an early entry program where you attend as a freshman instead of your Sr year of HS so likely there are a few others.</p>

<p>@randliz Stanford takes very few transfers from anywhere so I’m sure the rate is low, like anywhere–I don’t know you will ever find actual numbers. It is likely easier to get in directly as a hs student and we know that isn’t easy. Transferring into selective schools that take very few transfers is hard. Transferring to selective schools that take more transfers, like Cornell, is easier. But Stanford does show up, along with a lot of other great colleges on their top 20 list of where AA transfers go, see page 2
<a href=“https://simons-rock.edu/admission/factsheet.pdf”>https://simons-rock.edu/admission/factsheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thank you for the information. I apologize for posting on the old post, but it is where I found the related posts and the people who are interested in the topic as you mentioned.</p>

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<p>@BrownParent:</p>

<p>My understanding is that Stanford is much more likely to take transfers from 2-year schools and those set up for transfers (and I’d say Simon’s Rock qualifies) rather than from other 4 year institutions (where it is virtually impossible). Basically, they use the transfer process to get kids who couldn’t apply to Stanford straight out of HS (and again, Simon’s Rock qualifies) rather than kids who they’d already rejected.</p>

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<p>My child only took the practice PSAT during her sophomore year in high school, and is starting at Simon’s Rock this fall without taking any official SAT. Would she need to have SAT scores to be able to transfer to schools such as Stanford? </p>

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<p>@PurpleTitan yes, makes perfect sense, that crossed my mind</p>

<p>@randliz please check the transfer pages of the individual target college. Some will not. But looks like Stanford does
<a href=“Standardized Testing : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University;

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<p>@randliz in my experience, most top colleges want SAT or ACT scores from transfer students.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the info. I find this to be the case as I am looking at the websites of some of the schools.</p>