Applying

Bard Academy accepts applications from Gateway to Prep and Standard Application Online (SAO).

Every year, a new Parent Financial Statement (PFS) needs to be filed:

• Academy Parent Financial Statement (PFS)

International Academy students need to upload the International Student Financial Aid Profile with their PFS:

• Academy International Student Financial Aid Profile (PDF)

Testing is optional. We accept the SSAT or the ISEE, but will consider other scores (e.g., PSAT, SAT, ACT, PLAN, etc.). Bard Academy’s SSAT code is 1483 and our code for the ISEE is 571296.

Bard Academy courses require a strong facility with the English language. All international applicants who speak a language other than English as their primary language must submit a completed Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Duolingo English Test (DET), or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam.

We will carefully consider your test scores, interview, and writing. Scores should be sent directly to Simon’s Rock. Choose one of the agencies listed below for your testing.
 

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)	Add Simon’s Rock to your score recipients list by entering our ID code 3795.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System)	Requests for score delivery to Simon’s Rock must be submitted directly to the test center where you take the IELTS test.
DET (Duolingo English Test)	Can be taken online at any time. Once you receive certified test results, you can log into your account, click on the “Send Results” button next to your test results, and select “Bard College at Simon’s Rock.”

The application includes an optional section to be completed by your parent(s) and/or guardian(s). Details on the parent/guardian statement can be found on your application host, either Gateway to Prep Schools or the Standard Application Online (SAO).

Students will be required to submit the recommendations below. Your application host (Gateway to Prep Schools or SAO) will send forms to the following individuals based on information provided in the online application:

1. Your Current English or Language Arts Teacher
2. Your Current Math Teacher

The required essays will help us understand why you want to attend Bard Academy and will demonstrate your critical thinking and writing skills. Details on how to submit your essays can be found on Gateway to Prep Schools and the SAO.

Gateway to Prep Schools Essays
“Why Bard Academy?” Essay
Why Bard Academy? What goals, ambitions, and motivations have led you to apply for admission to Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock? Are there particular experiences, either academic or personal, that have contributed to your desire to begin college early? How does the particular kind of education and community that Bard Academy offers fit your own desires for intellectual and personal growth? How will your presence affect the academic and social environments at Bard Academy? Respond to these questions in an essay of about two pages.

For the second essay requirement, you have one of two options:
a) Upload an essay that you’ve already written and which has received a grade from a current teacher.
b) Submit another original essay based on the critical analysis prompt below. Critical Analysis: For this essay, you will choose one of the following quotations.

Respond to the prompt associated with your chosen quotation with an essay of about two pages. Your essay should also explain what you think the quotation means and why you agree or disagree.
a) Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “Each age … must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this.” Discuss a concept, assumption, or tradition that you either think is outdated and should be reconsidered or remains valuable despite being old.
b) William James offered this as a definition of education: "Education, enlarging as it does our horizon and perspective, is a means of multiplying our ideals, of bringing new ones into view." Describe an educational experience that caused you to champion or pursue a new ideal.
c) Marie Curie thought, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Share an example of a time when you wanted or needed to learn about something that you found frightening or uncomfortable. How did you approach that task?

Standard Application Online (SAO) Essay
“Why Bard Academy?” Essay
Why Bard Academy? What goals, ambitions, and motivations have led you to apply for admission to Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock? Are there particular experiences, either academic or personal, that have contributed to your desire to begin college early? How does the particular kind of education and community that Bard Academy offers fit your own desires for intellectual and personal growth? How will your presence affect the academic and social environments at Bard Academy? Respond to these questions in an essay of about two pages.

An interview is required of each applicant. The interview is not as formal or intimidating as you might think. We’ll just be getting to know you as a talking, thinking person. And we’ll be glad to answer any questions you or your parents have about us.

We offer in-person, virtual, and phone interviews. If you are unable to come to campus for an in-person interview, you will be invited to interview after submitting your application.

Current Grade	Transcripts Required
8th grade	7th and 8th grade transcripts
9th grade	7th, 8th, and 9th grade transcripts
All other students	Contact your admission counselor

Transcripts can be sent from the applicant’s school or by the applicant. Transcripts can be mailed (Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock Office of Admission, 84 Alford Road Great Barrington, MA 01230), faxed (413-541-0081) or emailed ([email protected]) to the Office of Admission.

Non-Academic Recommendation
You may submit an extra recommendation from a teacher or choose to include a personal recommendation from a club supervisor, coach, neighbor, or religious leader. Should you choose a teacher, pick one who knows you well and who has taught you in or after 7th grade. If you wish to submit this additional recommendation, submit the recommender’s first and last name and email address to [email protected]. We’ll send an invitation and instructions directly to the recommender.

School Counselor Recommendation
Your school counselor, principal or academic adviser may complete this recommendation. Your application host (Gateway to Prep Schools or SAO) will send the form to the recommender based on information provided in the online application.

Portfolio
We invite you to submit a piece of your own work (or description of a project, in any form you deem appropriate) that has particularly intrigued and excited you. Examples include but are not limited to a writing sample, a position paper, a problem solution, a poem or short story, a graded test, a research paper, a science project, a copy of a drawing, painting, or photograph, or a recording of music, a film, or a performance. Once your application is in progress, you will see an option to “Upload Material.” If you have difficulty with the upload or have materials in another format, email [email protected].

Equity and inclusion are central to the Simon’s Rock mission and values, and we welcome all students, regardless of citizenship status or national origin, to apply to the Academy.

Submit the form linked below to request additional information about the Bard Academy:
Bard Academy Request Form

The information you provide in your application initiates the conversation with your admission counselor. You can start this first step in the application process early, up to a year before enrollment. Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall 2026 term.
Apply Now with the Simon’s Rock Application
In addition to the Simon’s Rock Application, we also accept the Common Application.

We require two recommendations. Two recommendations must be from high school teachers of two different core academic subjects (English, foreign language, math, science, arts, or social studies); one must be from a current teacher. An optional third is completed by your school guidance counselor. A fourth, optional nonacademic recommendation is completed by someone who knows you outside of the academic setting, other than a family member.

Our experience has been that the decision to attend Simon’s Rock is best made after a serious discussion between the applicant and his/her/their family. Invite your parent or guardian to fill out their recommendation (optional).
Invite Parent or Guardian

Submit two essays and show us your point of view.

The first is an original essay based on the prompt, “Why here, why now?” This essay should be 500–1,000 words (about two to four pages). Show us how you think, what matters to you, and your personality.

For the second essay requirement, you have one of two options:

1. Submit another original essay based on the second prompt, “Critical Analysis: W.E.B. DuBois.” This essay should be 500–1,000 words (about two to four pages); or
2. Upload an essay that you’ve already written and which has received a grade from a current or prior teacher.

Please find details on both original essay prompts below.

Essays
1) WHY HERE, WHY NOW?
Leaving high school to begin college early is an unusual choice. What goals, ambitions, and motivations have led you to apply for admission to Bard College at Simon’s Rock? Are there particular experiences, either academic or personal, that have contributed to your desire to begin college early? How does the particular kind of education and community that Simon’s Rock offers fit your own desires for intellectual and personal growth? How will your presence affect the academic and social environments at Simon’s Rock?
2) CRITICAL ANALYSIS
W.E.B. Du Bois [1868-1963] was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, and author. Born in Great Barrington, where Simon’s Rock is located, Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, and edited its monthly magazine, The Crisis.
Write a 500 - 1000 word essay on one of the following topics:
A. Interpret the following excerpt and discuss its implications for education, inclusion, and democratic society.
 
“The hushing of the criticism of honest opponents is a dangerous thing. It leads some of the best of the critics to unfortunate silence and paralysis of effort, and others to burst into speech so passionately and intemperately as to lose listeners. Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched,— criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led,—this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.” 
B. In this excerpt, Du Bois describes the experience of African Americans pursuing an education in post-Emancipation America. Interpret the excerpt and discuss how it might speak to the present day pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, and authenticity.
 
“It was weary work…If, however, the vistas disclosed as yet no goal, no resting-place, little but flattery and criticism, the journey at least gave leisure for reflection and self-examination; it changed the child of Emancipation to the youth with dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, self-respect. In those sombre forests of his striving his own soul rose before him, and he saw himself, – darkly as through a veil; and yet he saw in himself some faint revelation of his power, of his mission. He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and not another.”

An interview with an admission counselor may be requested by the Admission Office after initial review of your application. We prefer that the interview be in-person as part of a visit to campus but we also schedule virtual and phone interviews.

Your school counselor will submit this report with your transcript. Your application will not be considered complete until we receive current year grades, i.e. first semester/trimester or the midyear grade report. In most cases, these are available after early November (semester system) or early December (trimester system). If your school does not include this with your school report and transcript, please request to have these emailed to [email protected].

International students may need to submit English proficiency scores.

College entrance exam scores are optional.

College entrance exam scores are optional. International students may need to submit English proficiency scores.

If you would like your scores to be considered as part of the application process, have your scores sent directly to us or included on your official transcript. Tests could include AP, IB, ACT, PLAN, PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, or others.

Our codes are as follows:

• SAT/PSAT/AP: 3795
• ACT/PLAN: 1893

If you are using the Common Application, you can optionally self-report scores through the Common App testing tab. However, scores will only be considered in the admission process if scores are sent directly or via transcript.

International Students
All international applicants who speak a language other than English as their primary language must submit a completed Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Duolingo English Test (DET), or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam.  We will carefully consider your test scores, interview, and writing. Applicants who need further instruction to advance their English language skills will participate in our Pathways to Academic Choice and Excellence (PACE) Program, which includes an English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum concurrent to the college curriculum.

Testing Information
Scores should be sent directly to Simon's Rock. Choose one of the agencies listed below for your testing.

• TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): Add Simon's Rock to your score recipients list by entering our ID code 3795.
• IELTS (International English Language Testing System): Requests for score delivery to Simon's Rock must be submitted directly to the test center where you take the IELTS test.
• DET (Duolingo English Test): Can be taken online at any time. Once you receive your certified  test results, you can log into your account, click on the “Send Results” button next to your test results, and select “Bard College at Simon's Rock.”

We invite you to submit a piece of your own work (or description of a project, in any form you deem appropriate) that has particularly intrigued and excited you. Examples include but are not limited to a writing sample, a position paper, a problem solution, a poem or short story, a graded test, a research paper, a science project, a copy of a drawing, painting, or photograph, or a recording of music, a film, or a performance. Upload optional work on your Application Status page.

The financial aid application can be submitted before or after you have submitted your application.

Every year US students must submit new FAFSA and Collegeboard (CSS) Profile need to be filed:

• https://studentaid.gov/sa/fafsa
• https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org

Every year, international students need to file a new International Student Financial Aid Application and International Student Certification of Finances:

• International Student Financial Aid Application 2026–2027 (PDF)