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mcnut14 t1_itgjlls wrote

It lives in it's own little bubble in No. Bennington. Not integrated into the town at all.

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Calligraphee t1_itgjrxx wrote

I don't know a single person who went there. Not my age (slightly older than college), not older, not younger. I assume it's just all Mass people.

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ARealVermontar t1_itgk6aq wrote

Read The Secret History by Donna Tartt (she's a Bennington grad who based the college in the novel on her alma mater). It's apparently a good place to hold Dionysian celebrations in cornfields and get away with killing a farmer and then murdering your classmate, at least in the fictionalized version.

Brett Easton Ellis also went there, so if you want to become a writer of dark literary fiction it might be a good choice

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huessy t1_itgmq01 wrote

Lived with some kids after college who went to Bennington. Rather oblivious as to why it was hard for them to get into grad school without formal grades or transcripts. Didn't take having to work retail very well because they figured going to Bennington would allow them to slip into the academic track. They ended up stealing $300 from me as I was moving out because they could and it was their right or something.

Obvs not a cross section of every person who goes to Bennington, but that's who I will remember anytime someone talks about Bennington. I feel that if you're looking for info on the college before applying/your child applies, pick a different place unless you/they are going to be financially supported for the long term.

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TwoCanSee t1_ithhi82 wrote

Why? Plenty of great school that cost less. What’s the draw?

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comradebuddy t1_ithkzs1 wrote

What's the context of your question? Are you thinking about applying?

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tilario t1_itht27e wrote

i've always known it as a good, stupidly expensive, liberal arts college.

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My-Left-Plate t1_iti3h3m wrote

All I can tell you is that I’m the late 90s/early 00s if you wanted to score with a cute preppy chick ina sweater your Bennie girl was a sure-thing. they were all desperately bored.

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birdable t1_iti9cey wrote

I grew up just outside of campus (my family sold a big portion of our land to the college decades ago). It is its own little bubble. Rarely do you see college kids walking around town other than to get coffee at powers market. Students who were in the know would take the shortcut through our yard on their way into town. But I can’t really say anything bad about the college or the people that attend.

That being said the town of N. Benn has changed a bit since the college stopped housing facility and staff on campus. It would normally be ok but these profs and staff who ended up buying homes in town have started to show up to town meetings and started to make their opinions know about how the town should be ran. Long story short the town is on verge of becoming a Williamstown, MA like town where people who grew up there and may not have high paying jobs can’t afford to buy. My sister looked at a small house before Covid and was shocked to find out it went for more than 500k and needed to be completely gutted and redone.

The same thing is happening across vermont but it’s sad to see it happen to the town of less than 1,200 people that I grew up in….

Sad….

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Hiker33 t1_itiixo9 wrote

My view is of a preppy liberal arts college. Famous as the place where Shirley Jackson’s husband Stanley Edgar Hyman taught and boffed coeds. Also known as the place where Paula Weldon vanished while hiking in 1946.

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chachicka22 t1_itijwkc wrote

Locally there are lots of funny stories about bennington students trying to take the chili pepper off of the chilis restaurant, drunk students fighting the ceramic moose around town, and a rumor that you’re allowed to be naked on campus.

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patonbike t1_itil4t0 wrote

Spin doctors guy went there

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literary-chickens t1_itin5l8 wrote

Crunchy, vibey. Sometimes compared with Hampshire, although less of a train wreck. Like other commenters, I'm unclear why you'd go there over UVM or Midd. (Or, moving south a little, the 5 Colleges.)

Edited to add--just realized OP currently goes there, and this is a mean comment. There's nothing wrong with Bennington, I think it has a fine reputation! Just, yeah, a little pricey and scattered.

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Confused_Fangirl t1_itivqui wrote

My dad is from Bennington, so I grew up visiting Bennington over the holidays. My mom has always referred to it as “the liberal arts college that wealthy celebrities send their kids to”.

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Complex_Flatworm7399 OP t1_itiyh84 wrote

Replying to literary-chickens (#194,446)

Not mean at all, definitely an unusual school with many pros and cons which I’m still figuring out. would definitely not be here if I had to pay full tuition. I’m very fortunate to have received financial support from the school

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21stCenturyJanes t1_itjlata wrote

Hippy, crunchy good school that def has its own unique artsy vibe. Not for everyone but probably great for some.

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Diligent_Tea_3378 t1_itkgreu wrote

My best childhood friend went there and we grew up in Bennington. Kids from all over the US and world attend there. Bennington college kids do tend to stick out when they’re out and about but that’s not a bad thing. My friend has done quite well in life since attending the school. Good luck to you in your schooling and post education endeavors.

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seanner_vt2 t1_itkx61z wrote

My Dad was a security guard there for years and loved it. Always loved meeting new freshmen. Hated finding the kids strung out on something or the 3 times he found the body of a kid who did a bit too much heroin.

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DasWheever t1_itla9b4 wrote

I'm an alum, '91. And I have a lot of thoughts on the college as it used to be, and a few about what its mission (seems) to still be about.

The external views are irrelevant. It's your experience that matters.

Bennington is the PERFECT school for a certain kind of student--people like me--who have always found normal school structures to be oppressive. You know, "memorize these things and regurgitate them and take an exam then forget about it afterwards." It's for people who want to learn, and then implement what they've learned in some fashion, to live what they're learning.

Primarily, it's about the arts, yes, but huge swaths of people I went to school with ended up with successful careers in law, medicine, technology, business, architecture, the sciences--all the fields that are considered "conventional" or "legit" to the Norms. So all these people making jokes about working fast food have literally no idea what the fuck they're talking about. (I'm the biggest financial failure amongst my friends, frankly, and before the pandemic, I was doing pretty well.)

Meanwhile, in the arts, there are people who are HUGELY successful and well-known, if not outright stars. (Yes, Peter Dinkledge, sure,) but Tom Fox (internationally known artist,) Kiran Desai (Mann-booker prize winner,) Tracy Katsky (television producer,) Deb Eisenstadt (Writer and movie producer,) Jill Eisenstadt (best-selling author,) Mary Early (Sculptor and artist, with grants and sales out the wazoo,) Brooks Ashmankis, (award-winning character actor,) et al. Et al. And of course all the really famous writers that have been discussed already. And these are mostly just people from MY era!

So here's the thing: Bennington is really what you make of it. Yeah, you can bullshit your way and coast through and pass your classes and learn fuck nothing, or you can take it seriously and REALLY learn something, and not just learn, but practice your art or discipline, live it, if that's what you want. No one is going to tell you you're working too hard, or spending too many hours in VAPA, or your senior plan is too ambitious or your side project doesn't fit the curriculum.

And in the more conventional disciplines, so many friends of mine went on to grad school at all the top universities--Harvard, Yale, UNH, et al. (I myself was supposed to basically mosey into Berkeley, it was all set, but all this shit happened in my life, and I ended up not going. Which I deeply regret.)

So, campus life can be intense, yeah, it being such a small school and so insular--but you will also make friends for life; friendships that carry on through decades.

Even the people that I considered to be my "enemies" at school, later in life, turned out to be people with whom I have an amazing connection and friendship. Why? because the Bennington experience is so totally singular, that only people who have shared can really understand. (And that's not as culty as it sounds; a certain kind of person goes to Bennington, and we all connect in similar ways, and the shared experience of being at this tiny school, thrown together 24/7, is just not something that can be understood from the outside.) My partner is always amazed at the number of friends I have, and the connection and love for each other we share. She's always "I don't get it! No one I know has friends like this from college!" And I don't really know how to respond.

I've done a lot of things in my life that I regret, and would love to go back and change, but going to BenCo was the best decision I ever made in my life, and I have never regretted it for a second.

And one last thing: There used to be a men's room in commons, under the stairs, where you go through the left-hand doors; in that restroom was, natch, graffiti. Someone had written "How did you end up at Bennington?" And people had answered, blah blah. But at the bottom, basically as a thread closer, someone had written "I got thrown off the island of Misfit Toys."

OP, if you can relate to that sentiment, Bennington is the place for you.

As for me: It was the first time in my life I found myself in place where I felt like I belonged. Greatest experience of my life.

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Romanovs_Penguin t1_itlc758 wrote

Prestigious.

Lots of interesting writers and artists have gone there.

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Biobot42 t1_itmjyjl wrote

Live in Bennington, briefly worked for the college.

The students are inoffensive but hidden away from the town. There are bus routes for getting into town but I can't blame the kids for not having any interest in main st, there's nothing there worth coming down for more than once a season. The town doesn't feel like a college town at all, and North Bennington is a kinda shit area to try to hang out unless you like pretty houses and Home Depot.

The school itself is a shitshow. Witnessed the collapse of the entire campus safety department firsthand and the administration reaction was to restart the 3-5 year process of finding a director to fix it. No COLA or raises for workers was a constant source of complaints from staff from grounds to dining hall. I left when they insisted I could only be hired through a temp agency (conveniently exempt from benefits or PTO) and also kept the listing for my own position open for months after I started.

There's been plenty of pricey liberal arts colleges with lots of history going under in New England. I expect to see Bennington College there in the next 1-3 years. I hope it doesn't fuck the kids over but I would be /stunned/ if the college communicated any closure to them before the final semester began. I have no idea how bad the financials are behind closed doors but they've already kicked every can and cut every corner they could.

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SirAidandRinglocks t1_itpds4t wrote

What's it like growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth?

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