Sorry, I don’t have any insight to add—I can only confirm we saw the same ambiguity and didn’t know what to make of it. Even in-person conversations were vague.
You probably know this, but Bard has something called “Immediate Decision,” which our twins both availed themselves of in Fall 2023. You find out in early/mid November whether you’re in or not, and get a financial aid offer too.
If your kid gets in, it’s very nice to have that acceptance in their back pocket before the craziness has really even begun.
Our kids enjoyed the experience. We all went to the Bard campus, and the kids attended a seminar session—they discussed The Social Contract by Rousseau with other prospective students and a professor—while we parents were regaled with a “what’s the point of college” session with Leon Botstein, a big personality in fine form. Then all the kids interviewed with admissions officers. Another session with Admissions was when the confusion about merit vs. need-met crept in.
Anyway our kids liked Bard, really appreciating its intellectual, artistic atmosphere, and would have been happy there, though they didn’t end up accepting the admissions offer.