Bard College Top Questions

If I were able to go back in time, I would tell myself to simply relax. Making friends takes time. It's not something that happens immediately for anyone, and the more pressure you put on yourself, the more stressed you will get over something insignificant. Throw yourself into your activities, and over time you will get to know people that way. Worrying too much about social aspects will actually hinder you in the long run. Be friendly, polite, and have something interesting to say. Don't worry about being introverted, because it's who you are. Embrace who you are. College is a time to change, yes, but not a time to throw away your entire persona in an attempt to create a new one. You are at a place with people who have similar thoughts, ideas, passions, and interests as you. Use that to your advantage. They will like you for who you are, and not who you pretend to be. So, in short, don't get too caught up in the social scene too early, and love yourself. That will make what is a rough transition for everyone slightly easier.

I would tell myself to be more confident and to give the students around me the benefit of the doubt. I think that I initially under estimated how nice and interesting everyone was and instead was intimidated by the transition. Bard offers one the opportunity to become extremely close with students and faculty and I would have told myself to take advantage of that as much as possible. The time I have spent meeting with my professors and the advice they have given me has been absolutely invaluable and I wish I had utilized them as a resource from the beginning. Taking mulitple classes with the same professor is also incredibly helpful, with such small classes the professor really gets to know the students and their work, seeing them evolve over four years and offering suggestions along the way has been one of the most helpful aspects of my entire experience. I would tell myself not to worry, that every resource I would need to flourish would be presented to me at Bard as long as I had the confidence to employ them--that the faculty and staff and students would change my life for the better...for the best.

I would tell myself to take life a little less seriously! I spent much too much of my high school experience worrying about getting into a high-ranked, prestigious college. I still go to an awesome school, even though it is not an Ivy-League or world-renowned institution, and I believe I would have been much less happy if I had chosen my undergraduate institution based solely on prestige and renown. It's also important to put yourself out there - despite homesickness or loneliness or your own perceived social awkwardness or inability to make friends, its important to get out and meet others. Having friends and people to talk to makes the transition much easier and less stressful.

Visit the school, try and find out what the school's values are, what the school's philosophy is, don't base your decision off of who gives you the most aid. Find out what the classes are like, what books teachers ask you to read and what the professors are like. Also, make sure you like the look of your campus, you dont want to feel it's dirty or too noisy. Your campus is your home for the next four years you should love it.

Truthfully, anyone could probably adjust to any college relatively well. The question is more about seeing which college can extract and reflect the most of your being so that everything you do is a product of yourself, more than just an academic achievement; that it can be a personal achievement. Thus, the search for an appropriate college begins with a certain level of introspection. Once you realize your goals and desires for those four years, the type of college you will apply to becomes rather apparent. To decide exactly which college suits you best, campus visits are a must and sitting in on classes is highly helpful. However, it is impossible to know a place fully until you are actually a part of it, and that means more than just being in it. You have to plunge into activity, get to know the people that make your school. Lastly, remember that a wrong decision is only a failure if it is not corrected: if it's just not working for you and you've given it all you have and ample time, don't be afraid to transfer. These are the best four years of your life: make them so!

Probably the most important thing is to visit the colleges and see how they receive you. Spend the night if you can and do your best to imagine what'd be like living there. Don't get too married to any particular place before you consider the others. It's especially useful to see the way they treat their accepted students. Sometimes the school that's less prestigious would be more glad to have you on board, but don't let an overly gracious letter mislead you either; it's important to feel that the college wants you around, not just for your money but for what you have to offer them as a personality and as a student. Of course, you also want a college that has something to offer you, which is a good case for the more academically prestigious colleges, but these two notions aren't exclusive. You can really find academic rigor and welcoming friends just about anywhere if you know how. The trick is to take your time, look far and look hard because it's important, but don't stress either. Remember that you're doing this for yourself.

Don't go to college if you don't want to. There are lots of options for different people.

Do your research -- the internet allows you to find out everything you could possibly want to know about any college. It only makes sense to use the web as a resource that is both ultra-informative and environmentally sound. You deserve to spend four years at a place that you love. So when actually setting foot on campus, trust your instincts, but also keep and open mind.

Picking the right college is a lot of work. At every school, the admissions office wants you to apply, and the administration wants you to get good grades and graduate on time. But that doesn't mean that they have the tools to assess whether they'll be good for you, or even that they care. Do the official tours and so forth, if you have time. But you'll get a much more rounded pciture of the school if you talk to ordinary students (not tour guides) and sit in on regular classes (few instructors will have a problem with this). Try to do overnight visits, if you can--look on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LiveJournal for student communities at the schools that interest you. You'll find out which of the things about a school, that sound cool and distinctive, are actually positive to spend four years living with. As for succeeding in school? Keep an open mind about what you want. Don't let the person you were when you applied make your decisions for you now.

Don't forget about paying for it. Student loans are quite a weight to drag around. While private schools are nice, there is nothing wrong with starting out at a state school or community college while you are trying to figure out what you want to do, ie, what major you want to pursue.