Overview
Highly Motivated Students Start College Early in the Beautiful Berkshire Mountains at Simon's Rock
Bard College at Simon's Rock is a small, innovative liberal arts college with a unique admissions policy. The school was founded in 1966 and became a part of Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1979. Simon's Rock is situated in western Massachusetts, in the middle of the Berkshire Mountains. This location offers the beauty and remoteness of mountain living within a two and one half hour driving radius of Boston and New York City.
The student body consists of about 450 individuals who came to Simon's Rock after completing their tenth or eleventh year in high school. The average age of incoming freshmen is 16, most of whom have foregone a high school diploma for the early college experience. While a personal interview, preferably on campus, is required of all applicants, college entrance test scores are optional. The school's "early college" approach enables bright, highly motivated teenagers to enter a rigorous and exciting educational experience with their peers from across the country and around the world.
The Simon's Rock campus encompasses 275 acres in the village of Great Barrington, which has a population of 7,500. The Berkshire Mountains, which surround the village and the school, are renowned for their lush forests, great skiing and hiking, plus world-class cultural attractions like the Tanglewood Music Festival. Great Barrington itself combines small town intimacy and independence with a rich collection of off-campus dining and entertainment offerings.
With a Faculty to Student Ratio of One to Nine, You Won't be Just a Number at Simon's Rock
The academic program at Simon's Rock is divided into four divisions: Arts; Languages and Literature; Science, Mathematics and Computing; and Social Studies. There are over forty concentrations available in which students can receive an Associate of Arts or Bachelor of Arts degree. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their education by working with faculty and advisers to choose or even design courses that will challenge them intellectually. Independent projects, off-campus pursuits, and even study-abroad are all part of the program at Simon's Rock.
The faculty-student ratio is 9:1, allowing for a level of interaction unmatched by larger institutions. First-year students meet with their advisers on a weekly basis to ensure that the program they chose is fulfilling their needs and growing with them. Simon's Rock students are expected to think for themselves, to express their thoughts through writing, and to share their knowledge with their peers. In their senior year, students complete a major research project in their chosen field of study.
One of the many dual-degree offerings is the Simon's Rock/Columbia University Engineering Program. This program entails three years at Simon's Rock plus two years in the engineering school at Columbia University in New York. The graduate receives a B.A. from Simon's Rock and a B.S. from Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Science. Simon's Rock also offers similar arrangements with the engineering school at Dartmouth College.
A Small Town Campus, a Diverse Student Body, and a Llama as Your Mascot
Campus life at Simon's Rock is a balance between similarity and diversity. Students are uniformly younger than on most college campuses and yet each is from a very different background. All students bring their love of learning and quest for knowledge, and yet every path is unique. Each one teaches, each one learns, and all benefit from the sharing.
That sharing includes athletics as well as academics. There is a Recreational Athletic Program (RAP) that is required in the first two years. RAP can include both competitive and non-competitive athletic activities that range from kickboxing and weight training to Ultimate Frisbee and yoga. Interscholastic sports include soccer, basketball, and swimming. Incidentally, the school mascot is the llama.
Another important aspect of student life at Simon's Rock is diversity. There is both a diverse collection of student organizations and an institutional commitment to the study and practice of diversity. Student groups such as QueerSA (the queer-straight alliance), the Multicultural Students Organization, and Interfaith offer opportunities for students to share experiences, provide support for one another, and contribute to campus-wide programming. The Win Student Resource Commons is home to a campus-wide initiative to explore, explain, and examine diversity.
