Bennington College Top Questions

The student body is primarily Caucasian, but ranges vastly in backgrounds and lifestyles. It is truly one of the most accepting places on the planet. There is a large LGBT population, and finding people with piercings, tattoos, radically dyed hair, and dreadlocks are not uncommon. All in all, Bennington students are very friendly and open. There are however some small, elitist cliques, but because they are usually in the minority, they are never taken too seriously. Popularity is not a strong virtue at Bennington by any means. Students are very politically aware and active, but it is often hard to find a staunch Republican on the campus. While this helps everyone get along a little better, it can be frustrating in classes when an entire class is in political agreement, and can make for less heated debate.

I think that the only person who would feel out of place at Bennington would be the kind of person who desperately needs to fit in with a crowd or wants to go to frat parties. At Bennington, there really is no majority crowd and there aren't any frats so that might be a problem for them. Most Bennington students are from cities, we have Boston, New York, LA, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Baltimore, both Portlands and Philadelphia plus a few others I just can't remember but almost everyone is from a city.

Out of the mold, completely. Collectively, we bend, torn, cement, burn, reshape, unassemble, drop, kick, rebuild and improve the mold everyday. No matter who you are at Bennington, no matter if you party or look like this, or talk like that...everyone is completely into their work, others' work, and making a difference.

Bennington is probably one of the most accepting schools in the country. The numbers don't say much for racial diversity, but there has also never been any problems with any race. Very accepting of LGBT individuals. basically, no matter who you are, as long as your a good person on the inside you will be accepted with no questions asked. The residence of the houses usually become very close and the community of every house is very tight. If your placed in the right house for you, as I was, it will become your second home, and you will have another family at school. Most students are from NYC, VT, MA, or CA - but I couldn't tell you why.

A diverse and interesting crowd.

Bennington is mostly white kids. Some are rich, some have middle class parents, some (like me) cannot afford it and are living with hefty lones. There is definitely a focus on being weird and atraditonal. If a girl wears heels all the time and looks like every other "pretty" girl looks across America she will be frowned upon. I feel like there are a lot of stereotypes that run rampagnt. Bennington is supposed to be this badass place to people that do CRAZY things, smoking, drinking CRAZY stuff. But really, I think it's a school same as any school is.

In classes students can be seen wearing a variety of fashions from vintage tees and skinny jeans to Birkenstocks and flowing skirts. As a whole Bennington students are a motley crew. But people without intense passion and work ethic won't make it past first term. Students who come to Bennington based solely on the lack of tests and grades will definitely feel out of place.

The only student that would feel out of place at Benn is the one who wants to just follow a curriculum blindly and get a degree. Students wear whatever they want, or don't want for that matter. All types of students at Benn exist and they all interact. Most students are from parts of the US but we have an ok out of country pop. Most students are at least middle class but, anyone who want to pay off student loans for the rest of their life can go to Benn. Some people are politically active most just let the "Bennington bubble" consume then and have no idea what is going on in the outside world. Basically everyone is left.

We aren't that diverse color-wise or international-wise. Most people start dressing very similar. Most people smoke. Most people don't say "Hallo" or smile and nod when you pass them walking. Most people are wonderful when you get to know them. I think most students are upper-middle class or so, some of us cling onto financial aid with our lives/educations. The majority don't pay attention to politics, or vote, I think, and I've heard so many people say "It doesn't affect me" when talking about politics. Or racism. Or sexism. Or...the list goes on. I think with their education they comes an ignorance. I'm sure I'm ignorant too. There is a lot of gossip.

Bennies are a varried lot, though we all pretty much know one when we see one. No, that doesn't mean we all like each other, or necessarily understand each others' reasons for coming here, but for one reason or another, we all spot the Benny qualities in eachother (and in others we know and meet). We tend to be liberal-minded, though not always. We tend to have a strong sense of civic responsibility. But not always. We seek connections between our various disciplines and in our social lives; connections that are deeply forged on common interests and rigorous self-driven learning. Bennington students are active, interested, astute, opinionated, and tend toward the verbose. We tend to be unsatisfied with doing one thing well, and strive, instead, for excellence, creativity, invention, and achievement in many fields of interest. We are explorers, risk-takers, thrill-seekers. Though we all get our kicks via our own idiom, we ceaselessly seek fulfillment and growth through new experiences. Of course, for some, this means casual sex, drugs, and alcohol, while others get their thrills in the rock wall. The common denomonator seems to be the understanding of what we are at Bennington, and perhaps in our lives, here to do. OK, that, and gossip.

I have meet very cool and interesting people at Bennington. Everyone is very much their own person. There are lots of people who don't shave or wear deodorant... its a very natural place. There are people from all over the US and some from abroad. Geographically Bennington is very diverse, in other most other respects, it is not diverse at all.

Shapely. Ba-dah-dah. The campus has a very strong LGBT population. Some of my female friends freshman year graduated as males. They're accepted, which is no surprise for how liberal the place is. My freshmen year there were demonstrations to support campus nudity. Basically, very very liberal types. Unfortunately the racial diversity is low, which surprised me. That and we're all on financial aid. Bennington is notoriously expensive, but almost nobody pays the whole thing. We all have loans to comiserate over.

I think Bennington students are pretty friendly for the most part. We are a mostly white school, (an issue the Admissions Office has really been thinking about lately), but have a huge range of socioeconomic diversity. While everyone is very open about sexuality, students have seemed hostile towards religion, as well as towards more conservative attitudes. People seem too wrapped up in their work to follow sports, politics, etc. (Not only do we not have sports at Bennington... we only have one or two television sets. For the entire campus. I view this as a good thing.) Bennington students are from all over the place. While a lot come from New York and the New England area, I know tons of students from Oregon, as well as California, the mid-West, and the South. We also have a small international population, which isn't surprising for such a tiny liberal arts school. I think a student who wasn't self-motivated and needed a tremendous of guidance, or on the other hand was looking for a conservatory education would not like Bennington. Students with strong religious beliefs or very conservative views might not feel comfortable, either.

This is not a diverse campus. That's simply a fact about Bennington. But at the same time, there is a wide diversity of personalities on this campus that I feel make up for it. Everyone here is really passionate about something, and everyone has different things that they're into. So there is a diversity of ideas, I'd say. Bennington isn't racially diverse, or even very socio-economically diverse. But there is a lot to be said for the fact that everyone here is completely and utterly unique; mind-bogglingly so, actually. People here are weird. The good kind of weird, the fascinating kind of weird. And everyone you meet will be intriguing to you in some way. I have not disliked any student on this campus. The only way a Bennington student can feel left out, it seems, is if they feel too normal. I myself haven't experienced this. Everyone dresses however they want to, and its really very diverse and funky. And almost everyone on the campus is creatively inclined one way. I've known students who study computer science who are into composing, and math students who apply their knowledge to art. Bennington embodies the ideal of liberal arts: application of knowledge in all fields of study to the arts.

Most Bennington students are either from the Northeast or the SouthWest. There aren't really any cliques.