How serious is Bard?

SpiritManager
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 20:18:11 +0000

This is a tricky question. I have S’s who graduated from both CMC and Bard - so I am familiar with both. Yes, I think CMC definitely attracts a more pre-professional and career driven student body, and the school does support them in their efforts - possibly to a greater extent than Bard. And, yes, probably if you apply to the elite Foreign Service grad programs, they’ll be more familiar with Smith & CMC grads. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a Bard grad would have less of a chance of admission - particularly as they’ll be coming with a different perspective and academic background. On the other hand - my older S who graduated from CMC got a masters in Europe in International Humanitarian Action through a program founded by the EU called NOHA and a fellow student was from Bard.

All these schools will offer many study abroad opportunities, and they all offer solid foreign language departments. I think if you’re solely thinking about grad school admission, you may be a more conventional applicant from Smith and CMC, but I don’t necessarily think you’ll be disadvantaged - particularly if you take advantages of all the various programs, both domestic and abroad, that Bard has to offer.