Bennington College Top Questions

Bennington is a very close knit community of free thinkers. A lot of people I tell about Bennington think that I go to a joke of a college, but in fact, I have so many freedoms. With those freedoms come responsibility. In one year of college I have grown independant, and responsible.

The best thing about Bennington in my opinion is the other students. I've come to the realization that Bennington is as much of a college as it is a collection of some of my generations most out-of-the-box thinkers. Being there affords me the possibility to truly learn whatever I want (and not through the faculty, necessarily) because anything I want to learn someone else has probably already mastered somewhere on campus. The question of Bennington's size is completely relative, sometimes on a day to day basis. There are times where more people would bring me down and there would be far too much to deal with and there are other times that the fact that the school is so small and news can sometimes travel too fast becomes a problem for me. One experience of Bennington that I will always remember was part of my tour before I was a student. The tour had actually finished and I still hadn't seen the music building so I asked where it was and my guide gave me directions. I drove up to see it and as soon as it came into view about a quarter mile up the hill all I could say was "no way". The building is literally a mansion, given to the school when the owners died, that sits on a hill overlooking the school. Trust me, it's an incredible sight still after two years. But the thing I remember most was the first time I walked into the building. The lobby has been left almost completely intact except for a few fire alarm panels on one wall. The fireplace is enormous and has two iron lion's head ornaments like you would see in the movies.

Bennington is concerned with providing the environment for students to truly make the change in the world they want to see or be. The president and administration are working very hard to make sure that the students are fluent in current events, and can be apart of the "bigger picture" outside of the college world during Field Work Term and in the classroom.

A gorgeous campus with a dedicated faculty, and an active social scene. Some call it a bubble, and it really is. If tight community and intensive, self-driven work is what you're into, Bennington is the place to be.

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.

I love the size of Bennington. Small enough to recognize almost everyone's face and large enough not to know them all by name. The curriculum is amazing and diverse and the Plan process is one of a kind. It is you taking charge and deciding what the heck you want to study and learning to articulate what it is that makes you tick.

Bennington College is like Hogwarts. The house you live in has a definite personality and relationship to the community and you generally become more familiar with them and when drama insues (it always does) you'll find your house grows to be like a family. You either love here or you hate it here. Even when you love it, it's like an old married couple kind of love, where you're constantly making snide, bitter remarks about the Dining Hall food. Speaking of Dining Hall, this becomes a huge part of your life. You are required to pay for the Dining Hall for all your meals. Breakfast, Lunch Dinner. Its a favorite point of common grievance between students. The food is often exotic, bad, and bland. Our Dining Hall often makes meat-eaters into vegetarians. And yes. There are many meat-eaters at Bennington College. The Adminstration is not well-liked. They have made many decisions recently that have filtered out some of the Bennington stand-bys. The book store guy that used to be a porn-star who was always there for advice had his position terminated. Our own beloved security guards who give how-to-fix-your-car classes on the side and who will take care of you and who are more concerned about you not dying that about busting you are having their positions placed in jeopardy. And while they are firing the people that we love, they are putting in a swimming pool. We don't understand. Nobody understands. Everybody blames and hates the admistration. I say Hogwarts because you are not just signing up for a school here, you are signing up for a world. You learn from everybody, from the sculpture tech, from your fellow students, from your faculty advisors. There's not a lot of university brand school pride. But there is a lot of passion. This is not a place for the weak because the bubble will drive you insane. You have to have passion to survive here.

The best thing about Bennington is the support. Everyone is so support of each other. We all work really hard and it's exciting to see what your friends have been working on while you were holed up in your room or studio. That sense of support and community extends beyond the student body and into the faculty and staff. It is common to see professors from every department at plays, concerts, art openings, and readings; supporting their students.

Nice small size, very close knit community. Everyone knows everyone else. People either don't know about Bennington, think it's a good school, or say "Hey, isn't that the school where everyone is naked all the time?" I spent most of my time in my house Booth, VAPA, or Dickenson. Not really much of a college-town relationship but everyone I met in the town was really nice, I had a few townie friends. The administration was ok, didn't really bother me much, kind of suck-ups. The new student center was a big controversy. Too modern, not like Bennington at all. No school pride of any sports sort of sense, no teams. But I believe we are proud of our community, as much as we bitch about it. EVERYTHING is unusual about Benn. I'll always remember nights spend in Dickenson. People most often complain about the food (which isn't all that bad just gets old after four years), the student center, and having too much work (but we'd all be bored and sad if we didn't have our work).

Social action. I want it to exist. I want people to stop rolling their eyes at it.