Posts tagged College

Hi friend.  As you probably know, if you own Apple products, you’re gonna have to shell out the $$$ at some point.  I think that the best person to contact would most likely be a representative at your closest Apple store.  As far as I’m aware, Bennington is not affiliated with Apple (we do have Macs on campus but that’s about it) and we don’t have any deals with them or anything of the like.  I’m fairly certain that as a college student you get a few deals, but I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on that.  My best advice is to give Applecare a call and see what they have to say.

I pray for you that your laptop never breaks in college.  I highly recommend investing in an external hard drive in case the worst ever comes to pass.

Here’s the back of my laptop.  I did this when I was 15.  Let’s just say I was THAT kind of adolescent.  And by was…I mean….am.

— Parke ‘15

To add a little note:

I just called over to Charlotte in IT. She said no repairs happen on campus but the college does work with a mac repair place in Pittsfield Mass. If your computer is under warranty apple care will cover any needed repairs, otherwise it’s out of pocket. If something were to come up it would take a few days to ship your computer down there, get it repaired, and sent back up. Fortunately in the meantime you can check out a laptop from the library or use one of the desktops on campus. Here’s to computer health!

-Selina ‘15

Oof, that’s a doozy of a question. There are a LOT of different kinds of diversity — social, racial, sexual, physical, mental, philosophical, geographical…not to mention skittles color preference….with only around 720 attending Bennington, we would have to select from an ENORMOUS pool in order to make the campus “perfectly diverse” (which, ahem, I don’t think is actually possible).  I would say that instead of focusing on what makes us different, I can tell you about what brings us together: a sense of passion for what we do, working hard without anybody cracking the whip, ambition, relentless creativity, and focus (although sometimes we could work on the focus, amirite).  If you come to Bennington and look around at the students, you will see how diverse we “look,” which is one part of a bigger picture.  We’ve already answered some questions on this blog about being a person of color at Bennington — unfortunately I can’t answer those more fully because I’m white as a halloween ghost going through existential crisis (although now that I’m in LA maybe I’ll get my 1% tan on).  So I would say if you’re worried about diversity, the best thing to do is visit Bennington and talk to people.  There are some pretty diverse thinkers on this campus, I’ll tell you that much.

I used to wear a t-shirt like this all the time as a kid. Good educatin’ on my parents’ part.

— Parke ‘15

You’ll be signing up for courses over the summer at the same time as the rest of the incoming class (Freshmen & Transfers all together), which, if memory serves, happens sometime between mid-May and June. The actual date is a mystery and is somewhat predicated upon factoring in who’s all actually coming as part of the class, which classes have openings, etc. (work with us here)

As far as spots saved for transfers in 4000-levels, I think that has a little bit more to do with the individual professors. While I’m not 100% sure if they are required by the school to save a certain number of spots (if any), what I can tell you with certainty is that the entirety of 4000-level registration is based around conversation with the faculty whose classes you’re interested in. If there’s a particular class that looks enticing to you, it never hurts to shoot the professor an email explaining your interest/background in the topic at hand, and once you arrive on campus you can just march straight to their office in person and explain why you think you should be in their classes. They love hearing from students who are interested, can bring something new to the table, and can offer fresh perspectives within the class setting and on project work.

Hope that helps!

-Evan ‘13

Bennington doesn’t offer majors, much less double ones. Because of the ‘plan process’, each student develops their own unique program, as it were, specific to his or her own interests. A lot of times these are questions that can be explored through multiple disciplines; its like looking at the same thing through two different vantage points. Other students choose to do something that might be more similar to a ‘double major’ — they right their plan in two different disciplines and choose to keep them separate. If you are worried that you won’t be able to explore all your interests, don’t be. The freedom we have here, in my experience, prevents us from getting too boxed in. (The best way to understand the plan is through examples — check these out)

-Alan ‘15 

Christianity isn’t part of the collective consciousness in the way that it may be on other college campuses (awesome alliteration, Alan!), but we are an open-minded group of people. We have an interfaith group that I think epitomizes that. Religious and non-religious folks alike also seem to enjoy exploring faith related themes in their art here; I would say 40% of the final projects people are working on in my play-writing class are faith-related.

-Alan ‘15 

Glad we can help — regardless of where it leads you — though it does break my heart that we are losing someone who is clearly appreciative, perceptive, able to recognize our talents and skills, etc.

-Alan ‘15 

Howdy,

As an Alabamian, I feel compelled to assuage your fears of the Vermont snow.

A couple of things to know. 1.) Field Work Term means that you get to leave Vermont for the worst of the winter. 2.) The efficiency of the snow-plowing that occurs here is incredible. 3.) It does get pretty cold, but it also gets surprisingly hot here by May.

With added love from Jesse (from South Carolina).

- jason ‘13

I remember the feeling. The official Facebook group hasn’t been set up yet, but it is on its way! Accepted students should expect invitations in the near future. :)

~ Holly ‘13

If you like your house, you and a roommate (it could be your first roommate, or maybe they aren’t so into the house and you found a friend who’s dying to move in) may reserve your room.  In order to reserve a double, you must have a roommate signing up to move in with you. Juniors and seniors have singles. Juniors and seniors who live in-house are permitted to reserve open singles (order of selection is based on seniority and how long they’ve lived in-house).  

If you’re looking to mix up your living situation, you may enter the housing lottery.  Preference for selection of open rooms out-of-house is based on seniority.  For example, second-term seniors have first choice of open rooms, and freshmen have last pick.  Within these class divisions, the lottery determines who has first pick (pull a number and hope for the lowest one).  At the beginning of term, there is a brief period when a list of open rooms is available, and you may talk with student life about switching houses/rooms. I hope this helps!

~ Holly ‘13

Parke Pre-College: “Screw you, Los Angeles!  I’m moving ACROSS THE COUNTRY NYERRR NYEERRR NYERRR I’m gonna spend time with TREES no more BILLBOARDS HAHAAAAA higher education takin EVERYTHING I OWN NEVA COMIN BACK.”

Parke After 2 Years of Bennington: “The next time I have to ship a box I’m going to smoosh myself into it and send it to a dark, dark place.”

My biggest recommendation when going to college is to bring AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE, particularly if you are coming from far away.  You can always buy a bunch of the stuff you need on the east coast, and I promise you: you WILL accumulate a bunch of crap while you’re here.  I recommend bringing a parent/friend with you to the airport so you can fit more of your things in their suitcase.  It’s generally good to try and take as much on your person as possible, and to ship the rest…but beware…shipping costs REALLY start to add up after some time here.  It’s much better to get to school and order things you need online rather than get things on the west coast and lug them over.

Don’t worry if in the first few weeks of term, your room is a total disaster and looks like poop.  It takes some time to settle into Bennington, and what is most important is that YOU are settled in…emotionally….spiritually….lalala etc….then you can worry about everything else.

— Parke ‘15

P.S. I may be sick of boxes, but this little dude isn’t!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbiedguhyvM

Hi! I study Italian and Spanish, and have had an excellent experience with language here.  While we don’t always offer Latin, we do have Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Professors are generally quite open to tutorials, though, if you have a particular interest and they have the time/ability to organize a private/very small course for interested/advanced students.  Stephen Shapiro, a French professor, has been teaching a Latin tutorial.

In regular language courses, professors guide students in developing fully their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills by working with various mediums.  We don’t just memorize grammar/vocabulary and spew it out. Instead, each language class has a cultural context. Studying a language within the context of its cultural backdrop enhances its significance, and in my experience this really does facilitate learning the language more naturally. This term, for example, I’m in a Spanish class called “Haunted Spain,” in which we are reading and discussing literature dealing with trauma in Spain’s history. I’m also taking an Italian class called “Love and Other Italian Disasters,” which focuses on romance and gender relations in Italy. You can read a little more about language at Bennington here, and check out some classes on our curriculum. I hope this helps!

~ Holly ‘13

The dates haven’t been finalized for this coming fall, but it’s typically in late August. In the past, there has been a specific event scheduled for parents’ departures (I think it was called “Goodbye to Parents” on the program). It usually happens on the first day after you check in and pick up your key.

- jason ‘13

I don’t know about archaeology, but we definitely have a ton of classes in both history and anthropology! Anthropology courses being offered this term include “Violence,” “Other People’s Worlds,” and “Power and Culture in the Middle East.” Some history courses are “Medieval Virginity” and “Conspiracy Theories: Past, Present, Always.” And all our courses offer opportunities for students to explore their own interests, so you could write a midterm or final essay, in an anthropology class, on some intersection of anthropology and archaeology, for example. You can definitely pursue your range of interests here!

-Eric ‘13

Yes and no. All students are technically required to live on-campus—when you sign the Student Handbook at the beginning of your time here you agree to live on-campus unless the Office of Student Life grants you an exemption. That being said, small numbers of students do live off-campus every year, and the way that works is you apply through Student Life to be granted an exemption from the housing requirement. Student Life retains the authority to grant or deny these requests. Senior and Juniors are given priority in the off-campus housing application process. There are a number of acceptable reasons for moving off-campus, and there are also a number of reasons that will automatically grant a student an exemption. For example, if you are over 24, married, or if you have residency in Vermont within 25 miles of campus, you will not be stringently held to the on-campus housing requirement.

Applying to move off-campus is a conversation that students have with the office of Student Life. If you are really concerned about living on-campus I would give them a call and talk about it with them!

-Eric ‘13

The Office of Student Life’s phone # is (802) 442-5401, ext. 4330.

I just checked and seventeen of my friends follow him on twitter. What’s not to love!?

-Alan ‘15