Bard Academy Application Process

Most students enter in the fall semester, but applications are also accepted for mid year entry, with students starting at the beginning of the spring semester.

For Spring entry:

• Submit application for admission and application for financial aid: November 1
• Admission decision notification: December 3
• Applicant reply to admission: December 18

For Fall entry:

• Submit application for admission: January 15
• Financial aid application: February 1
• Admission decision notification: early March
• Applicant reply to admission: April 15

*We will continue to accept applications after the deadlines as space and time permit.

Do I need to take a test?

Find out if you need to take an English proficiency test by answering the questions below:

• Is English your first language?
• Have you attended a school in which English is the primary language of instruction for at least two years?
• Have you studied in the United States or in an English-speaking country for at least two years?

Testing Information

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

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

• School Counselor
  Your guidance counselor or other school official will complete a recommendation. In the request for this recommendation we will also ask that they send your current transcript; you may also want to visit your school’s office to complete a release form. (Home-schooled students should submit the home school report.)
• Academic Recommendations
  One recommendation must be from your current English or language arts teacher, and the other from your current math teacher.

There are two required essays that will help us understand why you want to attend Bard Academy and demonstrate your critical thinking skills.

Details on how to submit your essays can be found on Gateway to Prep Schools.

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 live, talking, thinking person. And we’ll be glad to answer any questions you or your parents have about us. We prefer that the interview be in-person as part of a visit to campus. To schedule your visit send us an email at bardacademy@simons-rock.edu.

• 8th grade applicants: submit transcripts for 7th and 8th grade
• 9th grade applicants: submit transcripts for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade
• All other applicants: contact your admission counselor.

• 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 an additional recommendation, submit their first and last name and email address to bardacademy@simons-rock.edu, and we’ll send them an invitation.
• 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.
• Graded Paper
  Applicants can upload a copy of a graded paper, with teacher comments, from the current school year on Gateway to Prep Schools.

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.