<p>i know that since it is kind of isolated, there isn’t much to do…</p>
<p>What is the social life like? Is there a lot to do? Or are students generally bored?</p>
<p>I heard they have a heavy work load...</p>
<p>Not bored enough to be on this site, apparently! </p>
<p>FWIW, my rising sophomore can't wait to get back.</p>
<p>I was at Bard for one semester. I miss it now but just couldn't handle being in the middle of no where and honestly am glad i left. I get bored easily and i like to be in a city where you can go out and do things all the time so i would get really stir crazy and bored at bard. An average night on the weekend at Bard I would say people generally get together with a group of friends and hang out. People have parties in their rooms. Also there are dance parties for the whole school in the dining hall. alot of people go but i personally found these parties very high schoolish. Then alot of people take the shuttle into Tivoli and Red hook and go clubbing and sometimes there are parties off campus. There is a place called SMOG by the soccer fields on campus where bands (mostly students) play music most nights and its pretty fun. just alot of people getting drunk and smoking and chilling out. i thought this was really cool because it was such a surreal environment, partying outside by the soccer fields at night with all these people crammed into a field surrounded by woods. students put on very good plays at bard too. In my experience at Bard I personally felt that there were two kinds of people at Bard. 1 is the hipsters who drink, smoke, party and are always very fashionable, and the other are the quirky kind of socially awkward people who dont really party that much and study alot. obviously i am generalizing, alot of people dont fit into either category but this may help you get an idea of what the feel on campus is like. I would say bard is a good place if youre very passionate about what you are studying in college and dont mind being around people who are probably very different from yourself and dont think the isolation would get to you than bard is good. or if you wanna go somewhere for four years where you can escape from the real world, meet some cool people and experience a very interesting but isolated and sometimes boring environment than bard is good for you. for me when it came down to it the isolation was the breaking point and i found the people very homogonous and found it hard to make a group of friends, but i was also a transfer student so that should be taken to account. I would say if you consider yourself a city person, don't go to bard. just don't.</p>
<p>Though i see that the initial question was posted a while ago(and though the prospective student probably has already chosen where they will go for the next 4 years--or until they transfer), i hope this helps. I'm a first-year student that grew up near LA. I thought that the whole being isolated aspect of the school would be tough, but i'm actually loving it. We are close enough to the city that day trips are possible, the local towns are redhook, rhinebeck and tivoli. Redhook is a quaint "town" basically a bookstore, pharmacy, bad chinese food, good coffee, natural foods store, diner, indian food that is decent but pricey, scary-as-hell-IGA and an okay taco-shack...its very adorable. I like it and its a good place to get off campus, but it (as in the whole town) closes pretty early @5, coffee and restaurants close @9. Rhinebeck is yuppie paradise and i admit i like it...a lot. Great food that you can persuade your parents to take you to during parents weekend. Tis an aging hippy town with the infusion of new yorkers wishing to escape the city for the weekend. tivoli is tivoli. its a street with <em>the</em> bar. There are great places around the greater bard area for example there are places like old kingston(15), the kingston strip of big stores(15 min), My love New Paltz(45min), and Poughkeepsie area-Vassarassing, eating at everready, and going to a good mall-(45min). i mean its only as isolated as you make it, transportation is hard but if you find some good people with cars you can find civilization and have fun outside of campus.</p>
<p>That's the best way to describe it, the school is only as "boring" as you make it. its no big party school, i went to a party in Isla Vista at UCSB and was absolutely abhorred that animal house was actually for reals, but if you want to get sweaty and grindy with people manor has great club run parties-some with kegs (though you've got to pay) and you can easily get less-than-sober any night of the week. I do a LOT of hanging out with buddies. The student body is comprised of the most talented and amazing human beings on the planet, good job admissions! Like, i can't imagine any other place where there can be a lively discussion of publicized health care between an objectivist and a Finn all while a photography major shoots them with a 1920's camera. The campus is strange in its sense of community...i mean i feel like i know a lot of people but there are clicks i guess. People are super open though and even the most intimidating close knit click will talk with you if you approach them. Things happen on campus that are really great (communist-manifesto-drinking-parties, complete darkness parties and toaster basement raves) you just need to find them, if all searching fails you can always go have a couple of drinks with some friends or you know, other things.</p>
<p>Jestthebest55,
that seems to be the same problem I'm having deciding if I want to go to Bard. I'm really attached to my prozimity to NYC. So my question is where did you go after you left Bard?</p>
<p>I spoke with my daughter at Bard yesterday. She was overwhelmed by everything she has going on right now. She just got back from a class trip to a play in NYC, had just finished up a main-stage production at school, and was preparing for a student-produced play. I asked her if now, after two years, she still liked her boring school in the boonies. She said she can't even begin to do everything she wants to that is available to her. She just missed a Norah Jones concert at a small bar in neighboring Tivoli, and the only problem with how remote Bard is is that everyone from The City wants to come up there to enjoy it!</p>
<p>How's that for a different take? ;)</p>
<p>Our son is a freshman, just went back from spring break. He was born and bred on the island of Manhattan, and his take is “Bard is the most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen.” (He hasn’t mentioned boredom as a problem) The physical setting is gorgeous, even before you view the river from the formal gardens. He pops down to the city for the weekend (2-3 hour trip) and sometimes his dorm mates come as a group. He’s in one of the “tree houses” (small dorms with tree names). The physical space is serviceable, not glamorous, but the tree houses include a big kitchen, which has helped to forge some strong friendships over the year. I’m very impressed with the quality of the classes (and professors!!), and the personal attention that the faculty and administration offer the students. Bard is geared toward students with genuine intellectual curiosity.</p>
<p>Are the towns around Bard, like Rhineback, easily accessible if you don’t have a car? When I went to visit we spent the afternoon in town and I also have a friends there. Is there like a shuttle or something that will take you to town?</p>
<p>DD has no problem getting in to Red Hook for anything from Rx to ice-cream on the shuttle. No car for her, though having friends with cars does increase your field of view when it comes to local concerts, etc. Shuttles from (and to some extent, to) the Poughkeepsie train station seem to be problematic especially returning from NYC at night.</p>