What should I include in a Bard Arts and Humanities application?

For Bard, the strongest Arts and Humanities application shows intellectual curiosity, a real engagement with creative or critical work, and a clear sense of how you think, not just a list of classes. Bard is known for valuing students who are reflective, independent, and genuinely invested in ideas, so your application should highlight both your artistic or writing experience and your ability to analyze, question, and connect themes across subjects. If you have a mix of writing, art, and humanities coursework, that can actually fit Bard very well, because the college tends to appreciate interdisciplinary interest.

The most important pieces to emphasize are your academic preparation in literature, history, philosophy, languages, visual arts, music, theater, or writing, along with the way you have engaged those subjects beyond just earning grades. Strong examples include a research paper you were proud of, sustained involvement in a school publication, art-making outside class, theater work, museum or archive involvement, debate, or an independent project where you explored a question in depth. Bard tends to respond well to students who can show they care about ideas and culture in a serious, personal way.

In your essays, focus less on saying you "love the humanities" and more on showing it through a specific moment, project, or question that mattered to you. For example, instead of broadly describing several interests, you would usually be better off explaining one meaningful experience, such as curating a small exhibit, writing a long paper on a historical topic, or creating art influenced by a text or period you studied, and then connecting that to how you want to keep working across disciplines.

If Bard allows or invites supplementary material, only submit an arts supplement if the work is strong and genuinely represents you. For a student interested in both creative and humanities work, a polished portfolio, writing sample, or performance material can help, but it should add something new rather than repeat what already appears in the rest of the application. Teacher recommendations from humanities or arts teachers who can speak to your originality, discussion skills, and seriousness of thought are especially useful.

Present yourself as someone who makes things, studies ideas closely, and participates actively in intellectual and creative communities.