Bard College Simon's Rock

Date: Sep 07 2015
Major: PreMed and Medical (This Major's Salary over time)
I was not challenged back in high school. My high school only offered 4 AP courses, all of which I just finished with ease - during my Junior year. The last year of high school was merely emptied for college application and endless workshops introducing how we transition ourselves into American college life. I was bored and unhappy, so I tried to look for a more challenging program that accepts people like me. I got turned away from several universities because I didn't get a high school diploma, but luckily I found Simon's Rock later. My family and I had no idea what Simon's Rock was at first, but the introduction from fellow international students already attending the school assured us that I would truly thrive on campus. Simon's Rock is expensive, but the elite education and the broader vision provided are way beyond my initial depiction of American colleges. It's always hard for international students to get the hang of things when they first got to US, but the people at the Rock were so open to different cultural backgrounds, gender, race and academic interests. All the staff members on campus are very supportive of the international students. They truly made us feel included and loved! The classes are all in relatively small size. Professors are more like peers to us instead of inaccessible superior (we always call them by their first names). Students here are all mentally mature individuals willing to share their own opinions. Sometimes, the clash of ideas is just wonderful. We are never bounded to only one discipline - we are always welcomed to explore different academic realms via all sorts of clubs, internships, and career-oriented workshops (which are way more interesting than those back in high school). Everyone here is self-motivated to get ahead and to fulfill their vision of themselves, of the world they set out to change. I was worried at first that I might regret coming here, but now after actually living on campus, I'm so glad that I made the decision to come to the Rock, to challenge myself, to improve myself.