Here’s my visit summary (originally posted on FB):
We added Bennington to our late summer visit list since we were going to be nearby in Williamstown and it ticked some boxes for D20: (Formerly) women’s college, strong arts program, progressive curriculum, small college with personalized academics and residential life. She then watched a bunch of their “Home in a Minute” housing tour videos and was further intrigued.
I realized my own impressions of the school were 30-50 years outdated so I did some background research also. Learned about:
- The Plan: You basically build your own inquiry-driven curriculum around a set of questions or problems, and repeatedly pitch and defend your Plan to a 3-person faculty committee.
- Field Work Term: Every Bennington student spends 7 weeks every January/February doing an internship or other experience.
- Mariko Silver: Awesome new president who arrived 4 years ago at age 34 and is, by all accounts, killing it.
We had a great afternoon on campus. My phone of course died as we arrived so I have no photos of the campus (just shots from the handouts) but it’s a wonderful, eclectic campus of old farm buildings and 70s dorms and some recent buildings all jumbled together on a beautiful hilltop between Bennington and North Bennington. We had an individual information session with a recent graduate and then an amazing 90+ minute tour with Kat, the only current Bennington student from Indiana. Kat showed us her favorite places to study (lighting catwalk in the theater), and was frank about the strengths of the school and some of its frustrations and challenges.
Also: Bennington is no longer the most expensive college in the US. In fact, it’s only #39! #1 spot now belongs to….Harvey Mudd College.
Also: World-class dance, theater, visual arts and creative writing programs.
We left thinking that having to do something like The Plan would actually be extraordinarily helpful, and that Bennington would be a pretty great—and unique—place to spend 4 years.