Bard College Top Questions

The best thing about Bard is the style of education. I'd change the food. Its just the right size. Many peopl don't know about Bard, because it doesn't have DI sports. I spend most of my time in the lab or hanging out in the dorms. Inbetwen college town and "what college town". Bard is extremely intellectual. I'll always remember the LnT workshop for freshman.

Bard is a great place for artists – pretty much everyone has aspirations to be in a band, and in terms of connecting people with similar ideas it's great. That being said, sometimes I just want to shoot some hoops. Why won't anyone shoot hoops with me? I scream that question quite often. But it's got a great campus and good alumni connections especially for people who move to New York after graduation.

1) The best thing about Bard is the small class sizes. I have had classes with as few as three students in them. Professors are highly accessible. 2) The one thing I'd change would be the weather. The winters are dreadful. The administration cleverly arranges our semesters such that we are on break for the majority of January, but it still snows through March. 3) Academically speaking, Bard's size is ideal. By senior year, though, it can begin to feel a bit claustrophobic socially. There is no one to date because, inevitably, one of your closest friends has dated everyone else. I probably know the penis size of 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the males, just by word of mouth. 4) When I tell people I go to Bard, they usually think I mean Barnard and ask how I like going to a single-sex school. In the rare event that they have actually heard of Bard, they make some comment about our left-leaning reputation. Within my field of photography, though, Bard is highly respected. We arguably have the best undergraduate fine art photography program in the nation. 5) I am in my final semester, live off-campus, and am only attending Bard part-time. I therefore do not spend very much time on campus. 6) This is a little tricky to explain. The entirety of Annandale-on-Hudson IS Bard College. However, Annadale-on-Hudson is technically a village subsumed within Red Hook. Other "villages" of Red Hook, some of which function as separate towns, are Barrytown, Village of Red Hook, Village of Tivoli, Upper Red Hook, and Kerleys Corners. This is all explained clearly on Wikipedia. The two closest villages are Tivoli and Red Hook. Bard offers a free shuttle to and from these areas on the hour, and the distance is bike-able (perhaps even walkable; I've certainly done it once or twice). Tivoli is certainly a college town. Its residents are almost exclusively students and professors. There are a few bars and restaurants, a book store, a park, and a killer bakery. Red Hook caters to students, in that it has bookstores, coffee shops, etc, though it is mostly a rural/suburban town for farmers. Generally students party in Tivoli, but buy their groceries in Red Hook. 7) I generally feel supported by the school's administration. The big cheeses genuinely care about and stand by the students. The security, dining, and janitorial staffs are much loved. The offices that focus on paperwork, though, could be more student-friendly and organized (post office, student accounts, financial aid, etc). 8) Four years ago, the administration closed The Old Gym, our chief entertainment venue. They claimed that the building had been condemned, though its closure did too coincidentally fall after a scandalous, alcohol-fueled party held there. After much dialog, the administration has reopened the Old Gym as an alcohol-free performance space, and is currently in the process of opening up another facility (some random storage barn). 9) Of course there is a lot of school pride. At a school this small, there has to be. 10) Everything is unusual about Bard. 11) The photography department brought in Judith Joy Ross one year as a speaker. She was phenomenal. It was absolutely unforgettable. The one-hour lecture for which she was scheduled stretch through two and a half. 12) The most frequent student complaint is about the dining facilities. However, I would much rather be at a school with stellar professors and crappy food than one with crappy professors and stellar food.

The best thing about Bard, it's beautiful. If you come to a school like this, bring rainboots, snow boots, and a smile. Summer to Fall will blow your mind with how pretty the campus is, but come winter, you'll curse those unpaved roads (save a Bard student, add drainage!!!). It's a small community where you do eventually know everyone. Be prepared for some cabin-fever, but it's nothing a dash to the nearest apple orchard/vineyard can't heal. For an isolated school, there are plenty of places within reach if you or a lucky friend have a car. Housing is pretty decent, the rooms are usually pretty spacious and there is space to spread out in common areas and kitchens. Bard works hard to have something going on all the time from trivia nights to movies in the student center theater. And if there isn't a band playing at smog (the student run concert 'hall'), then you must be the last kid on campus before a break! Bard's administration will probably leave you a little flustered if you are a rigid time monger, the popular phrase is 'bard time' and everyone seems to follow it. I've waited over an hour for a scheduled meeting with a dean of students more than once. They just get so involved with the student their with, all else leaves their mind. You could say they are really invested in making sure you're complaints/needs are heard, though it can sometimes be a drag if you aren't the one behind the closed door! Students have the most complaints across the board about food services and maintenance. Broken washers and dryers dot the sad land and eat quarters for breakfast. Heaters and air-conditioners are always on the fritz and the vending machines vend when they feel like it. But you live and you learn, Bard sure takes the high-maintenance out of a person.

Bard is in a nice location, very quiet and peaceful but only 10 minutes from a pretty big city. The school’s size could be a bit larger, since it gets kind of boring not meeting new people, but the college is planning to get bigger in the future.

At Bard, the food isn't great..but its ok. With the exception of classes, nothing starts on time, and many deadlines are flexible. There is almost always some type of construction going on. Some of the dorms are not as nice as the ones they show you on a tour, but none are too bad. Freshman go to school 3 weeks early for a program called Learning and Thinking, nobody likes it before they go, but everyone thinks it was a great introduction to the school afterwards Students and Townies for the most part, DO NOT interact. Bard is in sharp contrast to the nearest town