Bard College
Reviews

Nice Variety

Many options that are different and all great in their own way. There are no triples and housing is offered to all students that ask for it. A lot of the dorms are fairly new and eco-friendly, which is great.

Always Available

There are always computers available in many locations on campus. There are multiple computer labs open to students with very high quality machines. The main computer lab is open 24 hours during week days.

Great Place

Bard College offer a great educational experience for all students. All the classes are small in size and professors pay attention to every student and are always available for one on one help. I have enjoyed every class I have taken so far and all the professors are fantastic.

Super Safe

Bard is very safe. There has been no crime, nor any dangers. The only people walking around Bard all times are students, and professors. "Strangers" are not often on campus- only when visiting a friend, or if there is a performance. We have campus security who drive around campus, but are not needed for serious issues. The only thing they are in charge is of preventing the students from abusing alcohol, or being too loud.

Bard Hippies

No one cares about what you wear, what you believe in, or how you wants to represent yourself. You can walk around campus naked. You can sit and have either lunch or dinner with your professors. It is not something you can find at other colleges.

Bard College Weather

Extremely cold in the winter. You are likely freeze to death if you are underestimate winter in Upstate New York. Classes often cancel because of snow storms. My favorite weather is in the summer.

Printing is easy

Computers in the libraries, computer labs, etc are readily accessible. printing is almost always verry easy.

The night-life is decent for a college

I have spent time at many of the small liberal arts schools in the North Eastern United states (I have friends who I visit). Bard's nightlife is about as good as it gets at any liberal arts school. Its almost always fun

So easy

Its a breeze. I've never had a problem. Parking lots are logically located around campus.

The Middle of Nowhere, for Better or Worse

The truth about Bard is that we are in the middle of pretty much nowhere in Upstate New York. Advantages? It is gorgeous. Breathtaking scenery is the surrounding. Disadvantages? We are in the middle of pretty much nowhere. There are two or three small towns (Tivoli, Red Hook, Rhinebeck) which the shuttle goes to, and Kingston (the shopping destination) isn't that far (although you'll need a car, or have to take the weekly shuttle).

The townies range from friendly and eccentric to gruff and disdainful. Most Bard students have gotten the occasional yell from a car packed with men in hunting jackets questioning their sexuality or telling them to "go back to California". But this is by far the worst that could happen - these towns are incredibly safe. It's much more likely that you'll strike up a strange conversation with a bored and kind old person.

So, while there might not be much to DO in these towns, there's all the things you need - gas stations, pharmacy, some surprisingly great food, movie theaters, and all the other modern conveniences. The fact of the matter is that there's plenty to do at Bard anyways, you won't really feel like you're missing out on a whole lot entertainment wise.

Okay

You can always find parking, but sometimes its only in unpaved lots

Eclectic

Bard is an eclectic campus. Eclectic meaning I have no idea how some of these dimwits get accepted. If I had do to it over again, I would have never, ever, ever gone to Bard. What a waste of 4 years. Teachers are..mediocre at best. On campus events really suck, and being in the middle of nowhere is romanticized, there is nothing cool about it. Winters cut power and heat. We go without heat and its awful. The people that clean our dorms are on strike because Bard hires some other company, Aramark, to pay them. Basically their entire salaries go towards their healthcare, and Bard talks a lot about fair trade, equality, and other 'nice' things, but when it comes to saving a penny, they do it at the expense of their employees. I think our tuition goes straight to Leon Botstein's pocket and his fancy dinner parties instead of where it needs to go, bringing FUN to campus. Also security became more strict over the years, confiscating my friend's hookah and fining him calling it 'drug paraphernalia'. Are you kidding me? He has to do community service because they confiscate anything that pot can technically be smoked out of? To be clear, there was tobacco in it and they only smoked it outside. So..community service and hundreds of dollars in fines, fines that will go towards lining the pockets of the administration and nowhere else. I'd like to see what Bard spends all of their money on, because it certainly isn't going towards housing or activities for us. Students live in trailers, which is funny when you think about spending 50k+ to be here, and live in a trailer.

Food Is Awful, Chartwells Staff Is Rude

The dining options are Bard are really bad. Often I enter the main dining hall, Kline, and walk around all of the food stations, seeing absolutely nothing appealing and grabbing a bagel. Talk about Freshman 15- there is way too much fried food, and they use corn syrup in their cooking. There are jugs of corn syrup in the kitchen. Cooked veggies are drenched in oil, and chicken is tasteless. I've gotten hair in my food on numerous occasions, and a massive fly once or twice in the pasta. Management almost never listens to our complains or suggestions, and the staff that works for Chartwells is ridiculous. We put comments and suggestions on a board and the woman that writes the responses is cynical and almost always says no to all of our requests. I don't understand why the CHEFS don't read our suggestions, after all, management isn't doing the cooking- just the ordering of ingredients (and they get whatever is cheapest and least healthy for us). We are forced to be on a meal plan if we live on campus, and get strawberries once a year if we are lucky. We use meal/id cards to enter the dining hall, and there are some staff members that are so rude. I forgot my card once and was given an incredibly hard time for forgetting it, even though I am PAYING for the full meal plan. I had other id, they looked me up and let me in to eat, but they were absolutely obnoxious in helping me. There is no sense of courteousness, they just assume every student is lying and trying to 'sneak' into their god awful dining hall. They need some friendlier people working in their office. They started the semester with some better quality ingredients (even had baked salmon a few times and ribs) but then it quickly deteriorated again. If I had known how awful the food was going to be at Bard, and more importantly how mean staff is, I would have never gone to this college.

Mixer.

There are a number of scences at Bard, from academic to social. You won't find as many tree loving son-of-a-guns anywhere else, who are mostly ok people. They, generally love to have fun, party, and debate.

Oh, Bard!

Bard has given me ups and downs, twisted me sideways, and smacked me around. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. From the old falling apart dorms to the rigorous classroom discussion. Bard is where I rest my head.

You're Lucky If You're a Guy

There's a huge disparity between the men and women. Most people are hipsters or altogether apathetic but all in all the people are not bad.

Buy Food

Of the two dining halls on campus the main one serves the worst food. Don't expect the food at Bard to be one of its highlights.

Bard Is Still Hipster Central but It's Changing

While there is some diversity in the student population, it's not nearly enough. However, I have to give Bard credit for trying to change this. They have a number of programs and scholarships that try to give low income or disadvantaged students an opportunity to learn. Not all the kids at Bard are stuck up hipsters.

Unhealthy Quality of Food

The quality of food at the campus dining hall is deplorable. While the dining services posits that they provide well rounded meals, the options are often unhealthy and ill prepared. The vegetarian protein options are often fried, and occasionally the protein option will consist of pasta. Although recently there has been an effort to improve dining on campus, Bard still has a long way to go before the quality of food is acceptable.

Amazing Classes and Professors.

You can learn a lot here at Bard. They offer an amazing range of classes, and the professors will blow your mind. If you're picking a school based on strong academics, Bard is the way to go.

Academic Freedom

Teachers are willing to bend over backwards to help you out, especially if you are going to major in their program of study. Also, Bard is flexible with how you set up your own personal program of study, with things such as two credit tutorials and the final senior project.

Getting Stricter

When I arrived at Bard four years ago the school was not very strict. Over the years the campus has gotten stricter about parties and drinking around campus.

Sometimes Hot, Sometime Not

I nightlife at Bard is sometimes great and sometime terrible. Some weekends are full of parties and interesting events/activities and others are just plain boring with nothing remotely interesting going on.

Nourishment? Whats That?

The food at bard is an abomination. I believe that an academic institution such as this should up hold better standards when it some to nourishment. We live in a place full of farms and ranches. Why not use that? Why institutionalize dinning? I have found moldy food at the dinning hall. I am sure that they use preservatives and I can not eat there without getting a stomach ache. The Cafe at school can be ok, though the only thing I eat there are the soups and fruit. But over all, it is not good.

No Greeks!

There is no Greek life at Bard. We do, however, have a surprisingly large number of actual Greek students.