answer:Every university has a reputation of some sort and some people will judge you based on the reputation of the university you attend. If you decide to go to Bard, in situations where your alma mater arises (job interviews, second dates, your Facebook profile, etc.) some people may to judge you as a “mediocre pothead”. If you choose Yale, those same people may think you’re snobby. If you choose Wesleyan, they may think you’re a whiny liberal. You get the point. The question you have to answer for yourself (Ask-public can’t do it for you) is whether you care what these people who will make snap judgments about you think more or less than you care about going to the university of your choice. Going to Bard may mean that you don’t land a job on Wall Street because someone thinks you’re a slacker, but maybe working on Wall Street isn’t your dream job. Maybe your dream starts at Bard. Prepare to apply to a bunch of schools. There’s no guarantee you’ll even be admitted to Bard and there’s no reason to apply early if you’re still unsure. Once you find out where you’ve been accepted, you’ll have a more concrete set of options from which to choose. Perhaps your second choice offers you a full scholarship. Would you rather go there or graduate from Bard with $150,000 in debt? In general, I think people put too much emphasis on deciding what college you go to. It’s important to find a good match, but I’m sure you’d be able to thrive at any of the excellent institutions that you mentioned. Ultimately, your college experience is defined by you, more than the place you go.