Bard College Simon's Rock

Date: Aug 01 2008
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
Hi. First, you should know why I went to SR. I was doing well in school and I wanted to get out of my house. I was challenged at the amount that I wanted (none) and I wondered what a little more work would do for me. I already knew that I wanted to major in geology, and I thought that I could do the 3-2 engineering program with Columbia University and major in Earth and Environmental Engineering. So I thought that I could beat the system and go to Columbia, because all I would need is a 3.0 gpa. If only I knew that some people expect work for an A… Like many new kids coming into SR, I had no study patterns, because paying attention in class was usually enough to do well. I found out how much of a relief it was to withdraw from classes. So at the end of the year I decided to withdraw from school. and BACK to high school.

I strongly agree with everything that everyone said. (there are a SHITLOAD of drugs, etc.) There are still many unmentioned reasons NOT to go to Simon's Rock. (I still don't know why I did.) I will type as many I can think of.

The area code (413) also happens to be the size of the student population. In the 07-08 year it was roughly distributed like this: Freshman- 170, Sophomore- 100, Junior- abroad, and Senior- 30. My numbers aren't as bad as they seem to be.

You should know how this affected all of us. Maybe it's because I haven't done anything stupid lately, but I don't think that the problem with a small student population is that rumors spread quickly. What annoyed me more is that since there are fewer people, there were fewer who I could relate to. (Unlike in high school, I did though.) Also, I was in many of the music performance classes, and they all sounded terrible because as long as you sign up for the class you are allowed in, even if you don't know how to play an instrument or sing or read music. It's unfortunate that one of the main reasons I went to Simon's Rock was to play in these groups. While I gritted my teeth and stayed in the groups, many of the pre-professional musicians just played alone.

And class registration couldn't be worse (except at Bard in Annondale on Hudson. I went there then, and the students were going all over campus to their professors offices—a huge nightmare).

Another problem with a tiny school is that a specific department may consist of one full professor (linguistics). Math has the most (3). So if you don't like a specific prof in a major (at SR they call it a concentration) that you like, you will find that you are spending time avoiding him/her.

One of the worst problems of a liberal arts education is all of the requirements. The Simon's Rock curriculum expects you to take a full year of requirements (8-9 classes) and I admit that it was my fault for not considering that before coming.

I think that the word motivation really isn't stressed at www.simons-rock.edu and that is really unfortunate. If I knew how much work would be piled on top of me, I would just do my senior year of high school instead of going to SR and then going back to high school, as if in the same year I could have been in prison or something.

Also, your roommate will smell, the two next door will smell, and the two farther down will make the whole hallway smell.

Simon's Rock is not the worst place in the world. I just want you, Mr./Ms. Prospective Student, to see if you can imagine these problems rising up in your lovely view of SR.