Catalogue

Professional Education

The following programs provide preprofessional advising and curricula for students preparing for postgraduate study or employment. Additionally, Bard offers several early admission plans, combined study plans, and dual-degree options to qualified students who wish to pursue particular professional careers.
 

Professional Preparation

Health Professions Preparation: Admission to medical and other health profession schools is governed by several factors, including the academic record, experience in the field, results of standardized tests, letters of evaluation, and an interview. Nationwide, students admitted to medical schools in recent years had an average GPA of 3.5. Early preparation and planning are important in order to fulfill health profession school requirements and to do well on entrance exams. For medical school, typical minimum requirements include general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and laboratory courses in biology, physics, mathematics, and statistics. Competencies are also required in language, psychology, and sociology. Early in their academic careers, interested students should discuss their plans with the health professions adviser, Professor Frank M. Scalzo ([email protected]). For more information, visit bard.edu/hpa.

Law, Justice, and Society at Bard: Bard is an excellent place to begin thinking about law, whether in preparation for a legal career or a lifetime of civic engagement. No specific curriculum of undergraduate study is required for law school, but law schools do value the wide-ranging, interdisciplinary preparation afforded by a liberal arts education. The most important factors in law school admission are the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score, grade point average, and letters of recommendation. Bard professors whose teaching and scholarship focus on law include Roger Berkowitz, Simon Gilhooley, Allison McKim, Miles Rodriguez, and Peter Rosenblum. To learn more, contact the Career Development Office.

Professional Options: Joint-Degree Programs

The professional option allows exceptionally qualified students to combine undergraduate study at Bard with graduate or professional work in an approved participating program and, through the option, to qualify for a Bard BA degree and a degree from the participating program. Students wishing to apply to any of the dual-degree programs listed below must first receive permission from their academic adviser and from the dean of studies. Those accepted into a participating program complete three or four years of study at Bard (according to the terms of the program) and then do further work at the other institution. To qualify for the BA, students must successfully complete their distribution requirements at Bard, the degree requirements of their major program at Bard, and the degree requirements of the other institution; students who are not at Bard for their senior year may be exempt from the Senior Project as a BA requirement.

Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture: Bard Graduate Center’s BA/MA 3+2 program offers Bard undergraduates a streamlined path to a master of arts in decorative arts, design history, material culture. Open to undergraduates majoring in history, art history and visual culture, anthropology, and American and Indigenous studies, this program provides an integrated course of study and graduate training that allows students to obtain their Bard BA and the Bard Graduate Center MA in five years. Interested undergraduates must first meet all of their distribution requirements; successfully moderate into one of the above areas; and get approval from their undergraduate adviser to pursue the 3+2 program. In their third year, they apply to BGC during the normal admissions cycle. Students enroll full-time in the Bard Graduate Center’s two-year MA program in Manhattan starting in their fourth year. For more information about the 3+2 program, contact [email protected].

Economic Theory and Policy: In 2014, the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College launched a master of science degree program in economic theory and policy. Through a 3+2 option, qualified Bard students may proceed directly from three years of undergraduate study to the two-year graduate program, which draws on the expertise of Levy Institute scholars and select Bard College faculty. Students earn a Bard liberal arts degree (BA) and a professional degree (MS) after completion of the dual-degree program. Interested Bard students should apply in their junior year. Successful moderation into economics as a program of study is required to qualify. Qualified non-Bard undergraduates may also apply to the 3+2 program with permission from their undergraduate institution.

A 4+1 path offers Bard undergraduates majoring in fields related to economics (historical studies, philosophy, politics, sociology, American and Indigenous studies, Asian studies, etc.) an opportunity to make a smooth transition to graduate study in a distinctive MA program in economic theory and policy offered by the Levy Economics Institute. For more information, visit bard.edu/levygrad or contact [email protected].

Engineering: In affiliation with the schools of engineering at Columbia University and Dartmouth College, Bard offers several programs of study leading to a degree in engineering. Under Columbia’s 3+2 program, a Bard student may transfer to Columbia at the end of their junior year at Bard and, upon completing a two-year program at Columbia, qualify for both a BA from Bard and a BS from Columbia. Columbia also offers two 4+2 programs in which Bard students can complete a BA at Bard and, after two years of study at Columbia, qualify for a BS or MS degree from Columbia. Admission to Columbia’s BA/BS program is competitive, but Columbia provides recommended guidelines for applicants, including taking a list of pre-engineering courses at Bard, maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.3 overall, and having no grade below a B in their pre-engineering courses. Columbia offers financial aid to US citizens and residents admitted to the BA/BS programs; students who complete their BA prior to entering Columbia are ineligible for federal financial aid, but they may receive aid directly from Columbia.

Dartmouth offers a 2+1+1+1 BA/BE program, in which the student spends two years at Bard; takes engineering courses at Dartmouth in the third year; returns to Bard for their senior year; and completes their engineering courses at Dartmouth in the fifth year. Admission to the Dartmouth program is competitive and contingent upon fulfillment of Bard’s major and distribution requirements and foundational courses in science and mathematics. Dartmouth does not offer financial aid in the first year. 

Approval from the dean of studies is required for participation in the 3+2 and 2+1+1+1 programs. Interested students should consult with Professor Simeen Sattar, the pre-engineering adviser, early in their Bard careers.
Forestry and Environmental Studies: Bard offers a 3+2 program allowing students to obtain a master’s degree in forestry or one of seven areas of environmental management (e.g., business and environment, coastal environmental management) at Duke University. To plan appropriate coursework for these programs, interested students should consult with the program adviser, Bruce Robertson, early in their Bard careers.

Teaching: The Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program in Annandale offers undergraduates a five-year combined program leading to a BA degree, a master of arts in teaching degree, and New York State teaching certification for grades 7–12. The program includes graduate study in a subject area and extensive student teaching during the fifth year. To learn more about the MAT 4+1, contact Cecilia Maple ’01, director of admission and student affairs, at [email protected], or visit the program website at  bard.edu/mat/ny/programs/ba-mat.