Sarah

The best thing about Bennington? The list would go on for days. I guess it's important to highlight just the people that surround you everyday. You will be inspired not only by your professors but by your peers. Everyone is always excited about some new project they are working on and someone is always available to help. PROFESSORS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! and they want you to be just as excited as they are all the time. I think it's good that prospective students (AND THEIR PARENTS) know that they are getting all that they are paying for education wise. Campus is beautiful- there is nothing else I can say, you just have to see it. Every house really does have it's own personality, and if you are not placed in the right house upon arrival, you WILL eventually find the place that you belong, there is a place for everyone. Bennington is a crazy collection of the most driven and inspired people in the country. If you have chosen to attend or are contemplating, just know that you will be surrounded by people who WANT to work, and if you are not driven... you WILL stick out like a soar thumb.

Professors who I have never had know my name. I had a class this past semester called "Varied Vessels; Diverse Dishes", a ceramics course taught by Aysha Peltz, an amazing potter herself. My least favorite course: "Extreme Weather", I only say this because it was at 8 am and was one of the more lecture orientated courses I have taken, however, you could tell that Joe, my professor loved the topic and was excited to educate us every morning. Students are very competitive (more so the visual and performing arts) but I think everyone should be, you will learn more from someone who wants to be the best than from someone who is just settling.

Bennington is probably one of the most accepting schools in the country. The numbers don't say much for racial diversity, but there has also never been any problems with any race. Very accepting of LGBT individuals. basically, no matter who you are, as long as your a good person on the inside you will be accepted with no questions asked. The residence of the houses usually become very close and the community of every house is very tight. If your placed in the right house for you, as I was, it will become your second home, and you will have another family at school. Most students are from NYC, VT, MA, or CA - but I couldn't tell you why.

Really all I will tell you is bring your dress-up clothes because we do a lot of theme parties (I.E. sombreros, togas, cowboy boots, a red jump-suit- and if you don't already own these articles of clothing you can usually find them pretty cheap at the good-will in town).

Hippies, Nudist, Snobs, Burn Outs

50% of the stereotypes you will here will be true. No, we are not all "Hippies", in fact you will find very few "Hippies" (depending on how you define "Hippie"). You will very rarely see someone topless, and it is an extremely rare occasion when someone is fully nude. The college used to allow students to be nude on campus if it was not disrupting anyone else, however they have recently changed the rule, and nudity is no longer allowed on campus (after a conflict with an orientation leader who wanted to be nude while introducing freshman to the school in the Fall). Bennington is a very expensive school and so most of the people who attend are "well-off" and you will run into some snobs however once you get to know the right people you find out that they know, just like you, that there is and will always be more to life than money, and everyone will agree that its 50 grand being well spent. At Bennington, you can choose to be labeled a "Burn out" or pot smoker or you can not, people are not going to judge you if you aren't and you will not be ostracized either way.

We know how to have a good time.