Bard College Simon's Rock

Date: Apr 03 2004
Major: Geography and Geosciences (This Major's Salary over time)
I did, in fact, transfer out of SRC after my first year. I found the academics a mixed bag—I had two of the best professors I've had in two years of college, but I also had two of the worst teachers I have had ever. SRC had a grand total of two courses in my major (geology), which pretty much forced me to transfer, but I probably would have anyway. It is not a choice between "SRC" and "large impersonal university"—I transferred to a small, even more academically radical college about four times the size of SRC, and am much happier there.

Despite this, SRC was an important step in my life, and far better for me than another mind-numbing year of high school would have been.

Socially, SRC is pretty weird—I found a small group of awesome, geeky, intelligent people to hang out with, but I hated most of the rest of the student body (as I don't enjoy pot, getting drunk, or being a raging asshole in a very public manner, three of the common pasttimes). I also intensely dislike the

SRC is the best place in the universe, socially and academically

attitude of a lot of the upperclassmen and alums: being a Rocker doesn't make you that special, and there are plenty of brilliant people who don't go to or teach at SRC.

The campus is lovely, although isolated. If you need clubs and a nightlife to be happy, don't go to SRC. The most exciting thing in Great Barrington is a mediocre, overpriced sushi restaurant.

Academically, SRC can be very, very good (personal attention, some research opportunities, flexibility, some amazing profs) or very, very bad (lack of choice, lack of funding, lack of equipment, some astoundingly bad profs). Socially, it can be anything from amazing intellectual conversations to getting stoned in the woods; the question is which you prefer and whether you can stand the other types of people being around. The knee-jerk liberalism can get a bit much, too, and I say this as someone on the more liberal end of liberal.

Talk to students

* before deciding, and not just the students who adore the place.