2025-26 Bard Early College New Orleans Application

Thank you for your interest in applying to Bard Early College New Orleans. Please review and complete this application in its entirety and submit no later than Friday, March 14th. If you have any questions, please call our office at 504-439-0122. We look forward to reviewing your application! 

Parent/Guardian Signature

If more than one parent/guardian is listed above, please have the first parent/guardian listed sign.

By signing below, I acknowledge that all of the above information is accurate. Furthermore, I give my student's high school permission to share relevant academic data such as grades and attendance during the Bard Early College New Orleans admissions process:

Personal Statement Directions

Please respond to the Personal Statement Prompt below by typing a short essay of 300-500 words (one and a half to two pages double spaced) as a separate document.

Please include your name and the phrase “Personal Statement” in the document name (for example “JaneDoePersonalStatement”) and submit it as an attachment where it says "Upload your Personal Statement Here."  

Personal Statment Prompt

There are many high school opportunities available to you. Please tell us why you believe Bard Early College New Orleans is the right fit for your path and you are the right fit for Bard Early College. During the course of your essay, please address all of the following questions and include an introduction and conclusion.

The questions below are connected to BECNO’s three values: Growth, Excellence and Teamwork.

1. How do you hope the opportunity of taking college classes at Bard Early College will contribute to your own excellence as a student? How do you envision contributing to the excellence of our campus? (Excellence)
   
   
2. If admitted, how do you expect your experience at Bard to differ from your high school? What sacrifices or challenges do you anticipate and how will you address them? How do you plan to self-advocate and manage your time? (Growth)
   
   
3. How do you envision teamwork being part of your educational journey at Bard Early College? What do you expect from our team and from yourself as part of it? (Teamwork)
   
   
4. Please describe one of your strengths as a student and one area you would like to grow in. How can Bard help build upon your strengths and help you grow as a student?

 

Here is how Personal Statements will be assessed by our admissions team:

• Does this personal statement meet all the requirements listed above, including the minimum length requirement, and provide an introduction and conclusion as well as answers to the four questions listed above?
  
  
• Is this personal statement clear, organized and structured in paragraphs?
  
  
• Does this personal statement show evidence of editing and proofreading with few errors and typos?
  
  
• Does the author keep the audience in mind and assert their own voice?
  
  
• Does this personal statement give a clear understanding of who the author is and why they want to join Bard?

 

Reading Response Directions:

Please click the link below to read Trevor Noah's Born A Crime and respond to the prompt by typing a short essay of 250-500 words (one to two pages double space) as a separate document.

Please include your name and the phrase “ReadingResponse” in the document name (for example “JaneDoeReadingResponse”) and submit it as an attachment where it says "Upload your Reading Response Here."

Reading Response Text:

Born A Crime- Trevor Noah

Reading Response Prompt:

In Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, he explains that during apartheid in South Africa,  race-mixing was illegal. As a mixed-raced person, he was born a crime. What efforts did Trevor's family have to take to stay safe under this law? In your own opinion, should any part of a person's identity be considered illegal? Why or why not? 

Your essay should be 250-500 words and include at least one direct quote. 
Please ensure the words and ideas you submit are your own. We recommend that students do not use any outside sources for this reading response. Any ideas or words included from other students or online resources without attribution will lead to automatic disqualification from admission into the Early College for the upcoming year.

Here is how Reading Responses will be assessed by our admissions committee:

• Does this reading response meet all the requirements listed above, including the minimum  length requirement, evidence from the text, and no fewer than two direct quotations?
  
  
• Is this reading response clear, organized and structured in paragraphs?
  
  
• Does this reading response show evidence of editing and proofreading with few errors and typos?
• Does the author keep the audience in mind and assert their own voice?

 

Time management in college is very different than anything you have experienced in your education thus far; and it is one of the most important keys to being successful at Bard. 

In order to manage your time well you must understand your schedule (during and out of school hours), understand the requirements of coursework, and accurately predict and set aside the time needed to complete tasks. 

Prompt:

Imagine your schedule matches the scenario below, in 10 sentences, describe how you would manage your time to complete your assignments. Hint: Items like agendas, calendars, the Notes App on your phone, or even alarms are useful tools. 

Scenario:

French (MWF 1:30-2:50pm)- On Monday at the end of class, you are given an assignment to submit a recording of you and another student in class introducing yourself in Spanish. The recorded conversation between you and your classmate must include: your name, age, where you are from, how you are doing, and your plans after school. This assignment is due on Canvas on Wednesday at 11:59pm. 

Seminar (TuTh 10-11:30am)- On Tuesday at the end of class, you are assigned to read the Introduction of your new class book, 25 pages. You must read the introduction, write a one page summary, and highlight any terms or concepts you did not understand by the next class meeting (Thursday at 10 am). 

Your Schedule:

- Practice/ Extracurricular from 4-6pm Mon-Fri

 

Please ask one high school staff or faculty member to write you a short recommendation using the Bard Early College provided link that will be provided to them. 

Because we will send out the Faculty & Staff Recommendation link directly to your high school faculty and staff, students do not submit recommendations with their application. However, all students should indicate who they have requested a recommendation from in the field below.   

If you have any questions about the status of your recommendation, please contact Dean of Students Candace Colbert at ccolbert@bec.bard.edu. 

IMPORTANT: Please be sure to select the green "Submit" button below to complete your submission

You will receive a confirmation message to the student email you have listed once your application is received.

This message will also contain directions on the next step of the admissions process, your Academic Audition (Mock Class) scheduled for the week of April 2. 

If you do not receive this message or have any questions about your application status, please contact Dean of Students Candace Colbert at ccolbert@bec.bard.edu.