New Transfer Students

All transfer students are required to complete Bard's orientation programs. These are designed to connect you with other Bard students and faculty, help you become familiar with Bard's Annandale campus, and enable you to work on your writing and critical thinking skills, building upon the college experiences you bring from other institutions of higher education.

Fall Transfer Students

Arrival: Friday, August 5, 2022
Language and Thinking Program: Monday, August 8, 2022 – Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Orientation Programs

All transfer students are required to take the Language and Thinking Program (L&T) when they arrive on campus. Students beginning in the fall semester take L&T in August and spring arrivals participate in January. Transfer students must also complete the Citizen Science Program in January. Spring transfer students take L&T in their first January on campus and Citizen Science the following January.

Fall 2022 Required Reading

Language and Thinking Program
Transfer and Return to College students completing L&T (does not include Bard Baccalaureate students):

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The 1818 Edition (Penguin) (ISBN-13‏: ‎978-0143131847). Students should purchase and read Frankenstein before arriving in Annandale.

Welcome, Transfer Students

The contents of these webpages are intended to help you familiarize yourself with Bard prior to your arrival on campus. If you have any remaining questions, don’t hesitate to call Timand Bates at 845-758-7454, or email [email protected].

Transfer students have ample time to complete their Moderation. (Watch this video for more on the Moderation process.) You will work closely with your faculty adviser to create a program of study that makes sense for you.

Meet the Dean of Transfer Students

Timand Bates ’02, Associate Dean of Students

Timand, an alumnus of 2002, works with sophomores, juniors, and seniors (last names Q–Z), offering social and academic support for students who may be struggling, are unsure about their program of study, want help with course selection, or have questions about how to improve their academic skills and time-management strategies. He coordinates programming and support for incoming transfer students and students who live off campus. Timand is also a field supervisor for the Bard MAT program, where he works with graduate students who are in pre–service training to become public school English teachers. When Timand is not supporting Bardians, his preferred use of time is exploring deep in the Catskills with his two fierce daughters, Alice and Hazel, and wife, Monica, who is also an educator. Despite Timand’s lifelong commitment to literature and literacy, he is quite proud that his family’s first initials spell MATH—an homage to the logic of love!

Questions? Contact Timand by email at [email protected] or by phone at 845-758-7454. Or come by Sottery Hall and visit the Center for Student Life and Advising.

Your House Librarian

Stevenson Library has partnered with the Bard Houses Faculty in Residence Program to provide a liaison librarian for each of the four houses. House librarians will be available to first-year and transfer students who have questions about research, citing sources, and using library resources and services. They will hold office hours for drop-in questions—often with cookies—and partner with House faculty on other programs throughout the year.