Spring is in full bloom at SCLSID! Our campus is filled with the air of change and growth—whether we observe the plants on our pathways or our students in their classes, everything can be seen sprouting under the bright, warm sunshine. With the end of the pandemic and our school once again open for external visitors, the SCLSID College Counseling office has worked all semester to strengthen ties with overseas universities and launch a series of college visits by inviting admission officers from prestigious universities across the world.
These sessions aim to create opportunities for school representatives to communicate with our students and parents face-to-face, helping everyone gain a more accurate understanding of the requirements of overseas universities, along with providing guidance for planning future academic and professional paths. On March 16, SCLSID was honored to host Mr. Shawn Moore, admission officer at Bard College!
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a notable historical and innovative undergraduate institution. Bard’s campus is nestled within 1000 well-landscaped acres in New York’s Annandale-on-Hudson, a short 1.5-hour train ride from New York City. There are approximately 1,800 undergraduates at the Annandale campus, and a full 20% of the student body comes from abroad. The class size at Bard is small, with a remarkable student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. The school offers more than 50 academic programs across 4 divisions. Its buildings are marked by a distinctively beautiful traditional architecture style amidst the otherwise highly forested campus that features its own kayak club, racetrack, and farm.
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Characteristics of LACs
Mr. Shawn Moore
Bard College’s East Asia Representative,
Admission Officer, graduated from Bard College and Yale University.
Mr. Moore immediately launched into a presentation that was full of surprises by capably introducing Bard College in both English and expert Mandarin. He highlighted the differences between liberal arts colleges (“LACs”) and research universities, presented an overview of Bard, and fielded detailed questions from parents and students.
Mr. Moore pointed to three main differences between liberal arts colleges and big universities:
First, in terms of class size, LACs are known for “small but selective” classes, utilizing seminars instead of large lectures to facilitate interaction and communication between professors and students.
Secondly, with regards to their educational emphasis, LACs focus on undergraduate teaching and dedicate themselves to their undergraduates’ learning and growth.
Lastly, in terms of providing a liberal arts education, Mr. Moore contended that while large universities also feature broad curricula, they cannot break down the barriers between their own internal colleges, as students still must study in entirely different colleges after their enrollment in the universities. In contrast, at an LAC like Bard, all freshmen are neither assigned to a specific major nor belong to any internal college, giving them the freedom to choose courses across any field to fulfill their liberal arts education.
Academics at Bard College
Turning to the academic programs at Bard, Mr. Moore informed us that Bard features five major disciplines, including the Arts, Social Studies, Language and Literature, Science, Mathematics and Computing, and Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations. The college offers more than 50 distinct majors. In addition to traditionally defined majors, Bard College has also developed a variety of special programs for their students, some of which carry them to other campuses:
3+2 Programs: Bard partners with Columbia, Duke, and Dartmouth to foster a unique Engineering program. Upon completing a 2-year program in one of these partner universities, students can earn both a BA from Bard and a BS from a partner university.
BELL: Bard provides students with a one-year internship program in New York City, during which students can explore professions that may be strong fit for their unique skillset.
Conservatory & US-China Institute: Through the US-China Music Institute in partnership with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Bard Conservatory offers a Bachelor of Music degree in performance or composition.
Dual Degree Programs: Bard offers a 5-year double degree in Finance and Economics within its Conservatory.
Mr. Moore continued his talk by disputing some popular myths about LACs. Many people mistakenly believe that graduates from liberal arts colleges are unlikely to reap bright prospects in the job market, when data reveals that their graduates can look forward to very promising futures. According to Bard’s own statistics, 96% of their graduates are either employed, pursuing another degree, or engaging in fellowships from some top prestigious graduate schools.
Our guest also concluded with the advantages of liberal arts colleges. By cultivating students’ skills in critical thinking, communication, analysis, and interdisciplinary learning, LACs nurture well-rounded students who graduate well-prepared for their future careers and graduate-level study.
Q&A Session
One of the important missions of Bard College is to spread a liberal arts education around the world. After learning that Bard offers integrated programs at universities in other countries, some of our students asked whether they could study in other campuses around the world while completing their degree. Mr. Moore introduced the “Begin in Berlin” program, in which students may choose to study at Bard’s Berlin campus and then return to Annandale-on-Hudson to continue their studies.
Throughout their four-year undergraduate program, students are permitted to attend classes in foreign countries for up to three semesters. Besides the Berlin campus, Bard has established satellite campuses in Vienna, Bishkek, and East Jerusalem. Bard also offers summer programs around the world, including the Community, Ecology and Nature Conservation Summer Program in Northwest Yunnan, Shangri-la, during which Bard College professors introduce students to explore traditional Tibetan cultural ecology and mountain ecosystem conservation.
Source: Bard College Website
Mr. Moore’s presentation provided our parents and students with a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the educational goals and outcomes at liberal arts colleges. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Moore for his visit! Looking forward, we are thrilled to host additional exciting college visits throughout this semester!
Written by: 王艺蓉 Sophia Wang
Photos taken by: 赵逸湄 Amy Zhao
Edited by: Mr. Joshua Shane Yager
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